Confronted with his first vote as Jackson County Commissioners’ Chairman, Brian McMahan didn’t say “yes” or “no.” In fact, he — along with three of four fellow commissioners — didn’t say anything at all.

After a months-long battle over a proposed shooting range in the county’s Tilley Creek community, McMahan, Vice-Chairman Roberta Crawford, commissioner Eddie Madden and newly appointed commissioner Conrad Burrell let commissioner Joe Cowan’s motion to enact a moratorium on ranges die without a second.

“They couldn’t even vote no, they didn’t vote at all,” said Caney Fork resident Gerlinde Lindy after commissioners called a recess to Monday night’s meeting.

McMahan said no vote was just as good as a vote no.

“I don’t think that it’s any different really than a no vote,” he said.

A second would only have opened up the floor to discussion amongst commissioners about whether to enact a moratorium and, if so, for how long. Another separate vote held at a later date would have addressed the creation of an ordinance to regulate shooting ranges.

“I don’t think the moratorium really would have hurt anything,” Cowan said, noting Smoke Rise Gun Club’s intent not to close the deal on its chosen property in Tilley Creek for approximately three months.

During that time, Cowan said he would have liked to see a committee of five to 10 members created with the purpose of weighing the pros and cons of the situation and developing some form of compromise.

“I was wishing for a win-win,” Cowan said.

While opponents of the moratorium cited personal property rights, Cowan said that if anyone had property rights it is the residents of Tilley Creek, those who are already there, not those coming in.

“It’s between the people that live here and the people that want to play here,” Tilley Creek resident David Fox said during the meeting’s public comment period.

Commissioners’ lack of convictions, one way or another, left a sour taste in some audience members’ mouths.

“They’ve shown us what they’re made of and I’ll do everything I can to get each one of them out of office,” said Vera Guise, moratorium proponent and visiting assistant professor of political science at Western Carolina University.