Letter to Dr. Piazza (December 14, 2012)

Dear Dr. Piazza,

I took some time yesterday morning to go around to my local gun stores and the shooting range to promote Front Sight. I got some interesting responses. I thought you should know them, whether or not you are able to respond.

At the first gun store, I was told that Front Sight was too expensive, as this guy had a range in his back yard and could shoot there. I pointed out that not everyone had that luxury, and even those with room might not have the training resources to take advantage. He stuck with his too expensive story. Given that you see Diamond memberships advertised for less than $100 once in awhile, I took this to mean he somehow feels threatened by Front Sight’s success.

At the second gun store, the guy was more receptive, but he said a friend of his had been through a bunch of Front Sight classes and the last time had shot himself through the leg when the R.O. grabbed his shoulder during reholstering. I tried to probe this story more to get details, but none were forthcoming.

At the third gun store, the lady said she’d never heard of Front Sight. I told her a bit about it, and left some information for her to read.

At the range, I ran into a guy who I recognized as someone who had been pointed out to me as being a part-time gunsmith. I asked him if he was familiar with Front Sight, and astonishingly, he repeated the story about the guy who shot himself during training there. He said the guy’s name was Claude, and that he was doing a drill where he was backing up while firing three shots. After firing his three shots, he was attempting to reholster when the R.O. jerked his shoulder so violently that somehow the pistol discharge, and the .45 round went through his calf. I told him that safe reholstering was just about the first thing they teach at Front Sight. I also mentioned that the R.O. will block your shoulder if you attempt to turn on the firing line. He said that he as an R.O. did somewhat the same thing, but that in the Front Sight case, the R.O. had jerked the guy’s shoulder, helping to precipitate the discharge. He also informed me that he had won a $4,000 Front Sight membership of some sort, but that he refused to go because he didn’t want to sit through all the beginner stuff. He said he shot on the U.S. Match team (?) in 1968, and had asked about starting at a higher level but been refused. Therefore, he was not interested in attending Front Sight, and as a result was thinking that he should sell his membership.

Like I said, I don’t know what if anything you can do with this information, but thought you might profit from learning it.

If I don’t hear from you before then, have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Greg Raven
Apple Valley, CA
main
family
tennis
cycling
2A

I’m not a Democrat, and I’m not a Republican. I’m an American, and I want my country back.