Great Christmas Presents!

I never grew up around guns. My Pops has never been one to go out hunting for the occasional beast. He has been known to have said "Once you have hunted humans, a helpless deer just isn't much fun." It really doesn't bother me. It isn't like we needed that to help us bond. We have always had a great relationship. I can remember Cousin Josh finding out that Pops didn't own a gun. He just could not understand why. I have always enjoyed shooting. Growing up I spent many hours behind Aunt Cheryl's house with Josh looking for birds. To be honest I don't remember me ever killing one, Josh on the other hand was a Killing Machine. I am sure with as much time as we spent out in that field I would have at least hit one, but the memory of it has faded.

Besides the Red Rider BB gun, the only guns I have owed was the ones the Army had issued to me, and unfortunately they frown on Soldiers taking them home to practice with. About two weeks before Christmas this year The Misses and I had our friends Little Dickie and his wife over to watch a fight and have a few pops. I don't know what got me on the subject (to be honest I don't remember really saying it. Of course I don't remember a lot of things), but I decided I really wanted them to know I wanted a hand gun. I have always wanted one, but couldn't see me spending that much money. I guess that night I went on and on how I wanted a .40 caliber handgun. "I wanted more stopping power then a 9mm, but didn't want a gun that would go through quit so many walls as a .45 ......." I supposedly made quit a fuss.

Little did I know The Misses had in fact went out with Little Dickie and purchased me just what I had wanted, a .40 Caliber Heckler and Koch killing, I mean protecting device. After I got over the fact that she went WAY, WAY, WAY over her $50 budget. I truly couldn't have been happier.

A few weekends ago The Misses and I signed up for a Concealed Carry Weapons Permit class. We both have been around weapons in the military. But anyone with such a deadly device should take every class they can to learn more about them (that's our humble opinion). I had searched the Internet and there were about 200 people qualified to teach the class. I started to inquire and came across Welden Anderson (aka Gun Master). His class seemed to take things one step further then the rest. So we signed up.

You can tell Gun Master was in the military by his emails. Very structured, with and emphasis on punctuation. The class started at 0800 sharp. He began the class by going through all the class that he has taken:

- Utah Certified Firearms Instructor
- Police Academy graduate
- FBI Citizens Academy graduate
- Provo SWAT (Threat Management Group)
trained in Edged Weapons Defense I, II
- Counter-Terrorism Institute of America
trained in Tactical Pistol
- And about 15 other classes, always quick to point out he was the Distinguished Honor Graduate for most of the classes. When I say this guy lays in bed at night thinking about blowing someone away, I mean it. If I was ever in an area where there was an active shooter I would want this guy in the area too. He started showing us his guns and where he cared them (notice I used the plural form of this). A full size .40 caliber Glock on his right hip, a .40 caliber mini Glock on his right butt, and a knife in his left pocket. When we asked if he carried a gun on his ankle he went into a rant about not giving away your hand in poker (so yes, a gun on his ankle). To make a long story shorter, lets just say he is a bit out of control.

The class was great. He went through the laws and as many scenarios as he could in the 8 hr class. The bottom line of his class could be summed up by; If you pull out your hand gun for any reason, pull out your check book with the other hand cause its going to cost you no matter what. At the end of the class was supposed to be the time we went up on the range to fire. I was really looking forward to some teaching from someone other than the army. Unfortunately it was getting late and The Misses and I had to get home. So we didn't get the opportunity.

A week or so later we went together and fired the hand gun. I am not as good as the Gun Master but with practice Eagle Eye Taylor will be even deadlier.

P.S. I would like to thank The Misses brother The Missionary for supplying us with the target. As soon as The Misses opened her Christmas Present I knew exactly how we could use it (either as a door mat to wipe our feet, or a target).