August Newsletter
The Rainy Season - August is well upon us at the Gunsite Ranch and it is unusually green. The rain has blessed us, and punished us, both this year. A few weeks ago during our Youth 250 Pistol class, we had a monsoon rain that turned us into an island for an hour or so. We also lost two (2) six … Read More »
July Newsletter
"It [Independence Day] ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time … Read More »
Team Gunsite at the King of 2 Miles Match
Team Gunsite finished 3rd out of 49 teams at the King of 2 Miles match at the NRA Whittington Center 27-29 June. With Walter Wilkinson shooting his Steyr HS-50 (50BMG) and Tessa Wyrick spotting it was a recipe for success. Tessa controlled the whole shooting session on Day two. She ran the numbers … Read More »
June Gunsite Newsletter
My agenda for this morning was to write the June Gunsite Newsletter and wax on eloquently about Memorial Day and how we need to remember the sacrifices of all our veterans these last 200+ years. Then discuss the many training opportunities we have across the country and the happenings at the … Read More »
May Gunsite Newsletter
“When the flag flies” (As Col. Cooper would say), will you be ready? The old photo of a young SWAT Captain, after the successful capture of a murderer, is a grand example. A young woman was brutally beaten and left in a pond to drown. A day or so later, a tip was received as to where the … Read More »
April Gunsite Newsletter
Another Double 250 Pistol Class is underway this week at Gunsite. I tell the students, “I can’t sit in my office and listen to gunfire on the ranges without coming to visit.” And what a pleasure it is to have so many good people, recognizing their unalienable right to defend themselves and their … Read More »
March 2017 Newsletter
March Roars In Like A Lion! While the weather at the Gunsite Ranch is beautiful today ushering in the month of March, it also is roaring in like a lion and we hope it continues throughout the year! With the March schedule, it will also go out like a lion. Nothing roars quite like the … Read More »
February Newsletter
February . . . In some of the Republic, the depth of winter, grey skies, snow that no longer is “fun” and pristine white. Col. Cooper chose wisely when he selected this area for “The American Pistol Institute.” (Now Gunsite Academy.) In the high desert of Arizona at the Gunsite Ranch, we are well … Read More »
Christmas Newsletter
“This is the Christmas that a war-weary world has prayed for through long and awful years. . . . We meet in the spirit of the first Christmas, when the midnight choir sang the hymn of joy: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” Harry Truman, … Read More »
November Newsletter
Election Day is upon us. If you are a gun owner, it is incumbent upon you to Vote! It is incumbent upon you to find like-minded gun owners and have them vote. We recognize that some of our gun owners favorite candidate did not make the ballot. Regardless of that, lack of a vote is as good as a … Read More »
Gunsite Alumni Shoot News
After months of planning and hours of meetings, Gunsite’s 40th Anniversary Celebration is upon us. A tremendous amount of effort is being expended to make this GAS a huge success. October 1st’s GAS will be the biggest Gunsite Alumni Shoot EVER. We anticipate 250 participants (plus family) … Read More »
September Newsletter
After months of planning and hours of meetings, Gunsite’s 40th Anniversary Celebration is upon us. October 1 (Four weeks from Saturday!) will be the biggest Gunsite Alumni Shoot (GAS Match) in our history. We anticipate 250 participants plus family plus instructors, staff and our great … Read More »
Why I defend the Second Amendment and my right to own an AR-15
Yesterday I listened as a progressive spokesman asked a television anchor-person why any private person would need an “assault rifle”. Let me tell him why. However, before I proceed let me remind everyone that “Assault Rifles” are fully-automatic weapons capable of firing more than one shot with … Read More »
August Newsletter
Dog Days of Summer! It has been warm at Gunsite this month and the wonderful Summer Monsoons are finally arriving. Fortunately, the lesson plans of The Modern Technique allow us flexibility to work around the warm temperatures and the sudden rains. (Remember that you can usually subtract 15-20 … Read More »
July Newsletter
Independence Day – So many think of July 4 as the holiday as opposed to it being Independence Day. But, history is no longer taught as many of us learned it, on our stone tablets, after we rode our dinosaurs to and from school, uphill, both ways. Independence Day is recognized as the day the … Read More »
May Gunsite Newsletter
Last Friday I posted on our Social Media (You do follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram don’t you?) that one of the great pleasures of my job at Gunsite is taking the recent 250 Course Graduates to visit Mrs. Cooper at the Sconce for her legendary tea, lemonade (Arnold Palmers) and brownies. … Read More »
April Newsletter
Hope Springs Eternal While pondering the monthly newsletter, so many thoughts came to mind: the state of the world, Presidential Politics, Terrorism, And the price of gas . . . Some of the thoughts were near depressing. But yesterday’s client changed the tone for me. During a Ladies’ … Read More »
Gunsite Zombie Drill
There are a handful of places in this world where I feel truly content. At home with my wife and kids. In a tree stand in the fall woods as dawn approaches. On a sailboat ripping through small waves on a steady salt breeze… and in the high desert of Paulden, Arizona, at Gunsite Academy. Last … Read More »
March Newsletter
“Super Tuesday” is upon us and other elections to follow. It is always significant for a citizen to exercise their right to vote, but more so this year. Do your due diligence and determine which candidate will support what your belief is. As a Gunsite Family Member, we feel confident that you … Read More »
February Newsletter
Winter in the High Desert Our first 250 Pistol Class for 2016 as we begin Gunsite’s 40th Year is complete! It seems so appropriate that this group was all NEW to Gunsite. During their greeting on Monday morning I said: “You’ll be back!” True to that, more than one has enrolled for their next … Read More »
January Newsletter
The new year is well upon us and Spring must be around the corner. We know this because we are about to make the trek to the Shooting, Hunting Outdoor Show (SHOT SHOW) in las Vegas. The Gunsite staff walks miles and miles of the aisles to meet with vendors of our various product lines, meet … 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 … Read More »
A Thanksgiving Mindset
With Thanksgiving upon us, many Gunsite family members will be travelling throughout the Republic for family festivities. We recognize the state of the world and the threats by our enemies to strike the homeland. As a result, we try to travel prepared. (Read: Armed!) We also need to remember … Read More »
October Newsletter
Fall is well upon us in the High Desert at Gunsite. We know that because the mornings are wonderfully cool, the days are bright, the sunsets are beautiful and we have completed another Gunsite Alumni Shoot (GAS)! What a great week it was preceding GAS: The “Knuckleheads” (An affectionate term … Read More »
September Newsletter
This was copied from a social media site I follow attributed to a fellow Sheriff in Illinois. It claims that it is in the Sheriff’s handwriting and is posted on the door so all his staff members can see as they come and go from the Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff: Well said sir and please pardon me … Read More »
August Newsletter
July has come and gone . . . . . Many of the young Americans are already headed back to school. Where did the summer go? We know where two (2) weeks of the summer went: Our two (2) Youth 250 “Summer Camp” courses were grand events! Having these young Americans here was outstanding. At … Read More »
July Newsletter
So many good sources come to mind to consider for an Independence Day Newsletter: Teddy Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson, Ronald Reagan and more. But with pondering, it came to me that my best consideration of topic and source was here at Gunsite last week. As the United States celebrates our 239th … Read More »
June Newsletter
As we tell the students on Monday morning as their Gunsite class begins, “blink and it will be Friday.” That seems to be what has happened here in May. We blinked and Mother’s Day, Jeff Cooper’s Birthday, The Yavapai Friends of the NRA Banquet, Armed Forces Day, John Wayne’s birthday and Memorial … Read More »
May Newsletter
Garland Texas . . . . . Are you ready when the fight comes to your community? It appears that Garland Texas was exercising their God given rights to express themselves when alleged Jihadists “took offense” and appeared with rifles and other weapons and equipment to stop the exercise of … Read More »
May Newsletter
Garland Texas . . . . . Are you ready when the fight comes to your community? It appears that Garland Texas was exercising their God given rights to express themselves when alleged Jihadists “took offense” and appeared with rifles and other weapons and equipment to stop the exercise of … Read More »
This Long Range Rifle course really challenged me. I am the lead LE Instructor for SWAT and I was truly humbled by this course. The instructors knowledge and understanding with the course’s lesson plans was amazing.
Gordon Shugart Ridge
