At industry-only-people SHOT, as at the ordinary folks-accessible NRA annual meeting, you get to talk to the manufacturers and, more importantly, the engineers who are responsible for new guns and related gear.  I’ve found them to be generally responsive to questions.

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Photo courtesy Laura Burgess Marketing

You also get to pick the brains of the many experts who congregate there. World champion shooters like Max Michel at the SIG booth and Rob Leatham at the Safariland booth are happy to dispense advice. SHOT_6_05

At the Harris Publications booth I got to chat with Janelle Cooper, widow of the great Col. Jeff Cooper, and their beautiful daughter Lindy Cooper Wisdom, who wrote a superb biography of her ground-breaking dad.  Some good reminiscences, occasionally amusing, were shared.

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Spent some time chatting with fellow gun writers and gun owners’ civil rights activists. It was good catching up on things with Sheriff Jim Wilson, and many others.SHOT_6_03

Gun owners being very much a persecuted minority today, it is good for us to immerse ourselves now and then in large groups of like-minded people.  It’s a recharging of the batteries for a political fight that’s going to last longer than any of us will live, and it never hurts to be reminded that we’re on the right side of that fight.

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A lot of business is done away from the show floor. Here is a snapshot from a meeting of the Armed Citizens Legal Defense Network board of advisors. From left: Vincent Shuck, Lynn Givens, Tom GIvens, Marty Hayes, John Farnam, Gila Hayes, Dennis Tueller, Mas, Jim Fleming. Not visible: Manny Kapelsohn.

8 COMMENTS

  1. I’m not so sure gun owners are in the minority. Surveys have shown a high 40% of households would answer that they had guns. The surveyors calculated mid 50%, base on other survey answers, if you counted people who would not answer for privacy concerns.

    We can not forget that in 2015 every 4 min for 365 day 24 hours a day, a back ground check for a gun(s) purchase was submitted.

  2. Mas, how many years of practical gun handling experience do you think is represented in that Board meeting photo?

  5. It is good to see John F. peeking out behind Marty. Many years ago John was running a house clearing excersize in an old farm house that was pretty well shot up. When my turn came I entered an upstairs bedroom and my attention was focused on the closet but suddenly realized that I had just turned my back on a corner of the room, I spun around and there was no target but John was. I flipped the muzzle of my 1911 up and I think both of our hearts missed a couple of beats. When the adrenaline is pumping be very,very careful!
    Last time I saw John, I believe, was at the Superdome in the New Orleans Shot show.

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