This article by Frank Winn writing for America's First Freedom. If you consider only the lowest-hanging fruit, there are still about six ways to come at an “Exercise Your Freedom” column about Gunsite Academy. Choosing the most proximate topic, you’d have to observe how close to the 40th anniversary of the original school of “The Modern Technique” of pistol craft we are. The first week in October will mark the actual occasion, but don’t gloss over those 40 years: No other remotely similar institution comes close to that longevity, or the pervasiveness of its influence. Photo by … [Read more...]
Gun school stresses self-confidence
Article taken from 'The Dallas Morning News' Sunday June 23, 1985 by Terese Greene David Keith is tense. Scanning the dusty clay banks of the gully, he tries to figure where his enemies hide. He knows they are somewhere in the ditch waiting to attack. He must stop them first. Breathing rapidly, Keith descends into the wash and draws his .45 caliber (semi) automatic pistol from its leather holster. His two-handed grip is firm. Pointing the gun down at the ground in front of him, he starts walking. Within seconds, Keith spots an assailant camouflaged behind a juniper bush and fires two … [Read more...]
Part 3 – Two in the belly, one in the head
This is part three of an article taken from the ‘Tucson Citizen’ May 1981 by Thom Walker At the moment, he is testing a new laser-aimed pistol. He aims and a red laser beam cuts through the dusky-lighted gun room. Rifles hang on the knotty-pine paneling, walnut stocks gleaming. Think about how far lasers have come since 1981. It does not surprise Cooper to hear law enforcement officials admit that crime is out of control. Police have never been able to stop crime, he said. "They take care of problems afterwards." But he is concerned that the breakdown of law and order seems to be … [Read more...]
Part 2 – Two in the belly, one in the head
This article taken from the ‘Tucson Citizen’ May 1981 by Thom Walker The 'modern technique" of training that Cooper helped develop is based on "open, unrestricted, unlimited, realistic, diversified competition," he said. Two handed Weaver stance, flash=sight technique, "kinesthetic" presentation - an approach that makes "this fairly inefficient hand weapon" an effective instrument. In terms of learning objectives, the goal of the general pistol course is to "place a student in command of an environment," Cooper explained. "That's it - he controls. When he leaves here as an expert of … [Read more...]
Two in the belly, one in the head
This article taken from the 'Tucson Citizen' May 1981 by Thom Walker A golden eagle guarded a freshly killed jackrabbit under a juniper tree beside a rutted-out road that twisted back into the foothills above Chino Valley. A buzzard waited nearby, hoping for leftovers. Welcome to Gunsite Ranch. A world of black and white, good guys and bad guys, survival of the fittest. Jeff Cooper country. Gunsite, located 25 miles north of Prescott, is the home of the American Pistol Institute, an internationally known school with a unique specialty. If you want to learn law, you go to Harvard. … [Read more...]
Jeff Cooper Shoots from the Hip
From Personal Defense World Throwing Stones As we have long known, a man’s weapon is less important than the man. Up in Littleton, Colorado, recently some creep went on a rampage and started shooting people. Since no firearm was ready to hand, a local construction worker terminated the action cleanly with a rock. The article did not say what caliber the rock was. Sleep Safe In going back over some of the hunting adventures from the English colonial period I discovered the custom of sleeping with a pistol under one’s pillow. This was presumably because field accommodations were pretty … [Read more...]
An Armed Society is a Polite Society
This article taken from the Sacramento Union Monday March 2, 1981 by Peter Arnett AP Special Correspondent PRESCOTT, Ariz. (AP) - In circles where the gun is king, Jeff Cooper is a crown prince. "An Armed society is a polite society," he tells his subjects and in his company people are very polite indeed. The former U.S. marine colonel, a tanned, fit 60, entertains visitors by cocking his Colt .45 automatic pistol and shooting berries off the juniper bushes in his 200 acre backyard. "THERE ARE PEOPLE in America who have never seen a real gun," he complained. "This is the first time … [Read more...]
Part 2 – Weapons for readiness, not violence
Part 2 - Weapons for readiness, not violence. Houseaux, a native of France, grew up in the shadow of his father, a commander in the French air force. The French military trains its personnel in the handling of guns, but strict gun control laws in Europe prohibit private ownership of handguns, he said. "People don't realize that all over Europe, only the bad guys have guns," he said. "For me, owning a handgun is a symbol of freedom. "But if you do't know anything about a gun, then you shouldn't own one. There's nothing more dangerous than somebody having a gun and not knowing how to … [Read more...]
Weapons for readiness, not violence
This excerpt taken from the Sunday Tribune, Mesa AZ. September 27, 1981 by Mike Padgett A dozen people stand shoulder to shoulder in ad deadly gauntlet. A tough-looking ex-Marine shouts: "Ready o the right. Ready on the left. Fire!" Jeff Cooper watches carefully as his proteges unholster their weapons and open fire on human shaped paper targets, trying to put every bullet through the heart. When the gunfire stops about half-minute later, Cooper walks along the targets, inspecting them and dishing out compliments or criticism to the shootists. Twice a month the rapid gunfire … [Read more...]
Jeff Cooper Shoots from the Hip
Throwing Stones As we have long known, a man’s weapon is less important than the man. Up in Littleton, Colorado, recently some creep went on a rampage and started shooting people. Since no firearm was ready to hand, a local construction worker terminated the action cleanly with a rock. The article did not say what caliber the rock was. Check out these classic snippets from Jeff Cooper's Gunsite Gargantuan Gossip - See more at: http://www.personaldefenseworld.com/2015/12/gunsite-gossip-jeff-cooper-shoots-from-the-hip/#jeff-cooper-gunsite-1 … [Read more...]
Guns for the Good Guys…part 3 continued
Excerpt taken from an article in the ‘Telegraph Sunday Magazine’ London, November 1981 After asserting that a man who preys on society has "signed his own release", the Colonel raised a giggle amoung the students with what Americans like to call typical British understatement. "When a man is trying to shoot you, he gets your attention", he said, adding: "Fortunately, the creeps of this world are generally bad shots". At the mid-morning break the students strolled out to their cars and tents udner the juniper trees. Some started practicing the "compressed surprise break" (the Colonel's … [Read more...]
Guns for the Good Guys…part 2 continued
Continued from... Excerpt taken from an article in the 'Telegraph Sunday Magazine' London, November 1981 After a course with the FBI he became engrossed in what he likes to call "pistolcraft". He was to be seen wherever marksmen gathered - at Bisley and across the world. Over the years Col. Cooper has taught gunhandling in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Germany, Sweden, Southwest Africa, South Africa and Rhodesia. He has published books about guns and has written numerous articles for gun magazines. For someone so obsessed, running a gun school was a natural progression. … [Read more...]
Guns for the Good Guys
Excerpt taken from an article in the 'Telegraph Sunday Magazine' London, November 1981 The boss of Gunsite Ranch, Colonel Jeff Cooper, trains ordinary Americans to shoot to kill. He believes private citizens must defend themselves - preferably with a Colt .45. "Are guns to shoot people? Of course!...The fact is there are people who must be shot in order to stop their dreadful acts. Thank God there is an effective way to stop them". So says a tract issued by the Doctrinal Bible Church of Richardson, Texas. "The U.S. government has neither the wit nor the muscle to carry out … [Read more...]
Developing a Defensive Mindset
In case you aren’t familiar with the late Col. John Dean “Jeff” Cooper—which probably means you’re new to defensive shooting—allow me to introduce you. Born in 1920, Cooper earned a political science degree from Stanford before receiving a commission from the United States Marine Corps, and he fought in the Pacific in World War II and later in Korea before retiring as a lieutenant colonel. Cooper went on to earn his master’s degree and taught high school and college classes before he opened American Pistol Institute (API), now known as Gunsite, one of the nation’s top training destinations for … [Read more...]
The Picture … The Men … The Story
Story by Elden Carl (Second from the left.) There were five pistoleros who are credited with developing the modern technique of the combat pistol. Jeff Cooper, practical pistol shooting’s founder and driving force, arrived first in the mid 1950’s followed closely by Jack Weaver. I arrived on the scene in 1960, with Thell Reed and Ray Chapman joining the fray the following year. By the end of 1961 all of the important techniques of the craft had been developed. At a later time I will discuss the developmental process that led to the modern technique of the pistol, but for now I’d like to … [Read more...]
Jeff Cooper’s Gunsite Gargantuan Gossip
The editorial staff of the Southwest Pistol League magazine has come up with a curious debate about what may be the purpose of the Southwest Pistol League. Well, I do not know what the purpose is now, but I do know what it was when the league was founded, because I founded it. The purpose of the league, when founded, was to discover, by means of open, unrestricted, diversified competition with the heavy-duty sidearm, just what weapons, what tactics, what principles and what general equipment would serve best in a fight. I remember that on one occasion the late, great John Plähn exclaimed … [Read more...]
Excerpts From Jeff Cooper’s Gargantuan Gunsite Gossip 2
Of course not all pundits are our enemies. Joe Sobran is a strong warrior on our side. Consider the following, extracted from his column appearing on 12 December in the Washington Times. “Because the state can no longer protect us from crime, it wants to take away from us the means of protecting ourselves. This is the logic of gun control.” RELATED STORY: Jeff Cooper’s 4 Levels of Situational Awareness So law-abiding citizens are left at a disadvantage—caught between a criminal class that disdains the law and a ruling class that disdains the Constitution. That is beautifully put and, … [Read more...]
