INDEPENDENCE DAY!
On July 2, 1776, Congress votes unanimously for independence.
“Where liberty dwells, there is my country.” Ben Franklin
As my friend Dave Workman said: “We have a Constitutional Republic. Some have said that it is the worst form of government there is, except for all the others. I’m inclined to agree with that.”
“The Constitution belongs to the people and not the people to the Constitution.” Theodore Roosevelt
Independence Day is upon us. Remember that we celebrate our independence on July 4. The holiday is Independence Day. You need to think of all the patriots who risked all when they declared independence from Britain. So many took a chance that a fledgling nation could survive. Never forget and never give up the struggle to remain independent and the greatest Nation on earth.
The long-awaited 2020 training calendar will be posted on the Gunsite website by July 3. The staff have worked for months getting the calendar ready. (The print version went to the printer last week and we hope to have some to begin mailing out in the next few weeks.) This is not an easy undertaking and I am proud of the hard work by all involved.
There are many new courses on the 2020 calendar. Due to requests, a returning course is the Team Tactics for Two. If you are interested in a specific course during a specific time, don’t wait to enroll. Many classes filled this year and we could not open a concurrent course. So, make sure you enroll so you get the courses you wish.
We have celebratory gunfire down range this week with a 150 Pistol Course. What an appropriate way to ring in Independence Day. Next week, things get busy again.
The Youth 250 Pistol course returns the week of July 8. It is the same as the regular 250, except there isn’t as much groaning when the young Americans get up from kneeling and prone. What a great way to spend “summer camp.” We also have a regular 250 Pistol, a two-day Edged Weapons followed by a three-day Pocket Pistol Course. A private SWAT course is being instructed as well by some of our best and most experienced SWAT staff. Many moving parts all over the 3,200 acres.
The following week is the ever-popular Pistol Range Day. This course (for Gunsite graduates) is one of the best deals around. It begins on the square range, but quickly moves to much more challenging shooting. The Youth alumni needed their next step, so the Youth 350 Pistol returns. Don’t you wish you would have had this opportunity when you didn’t have so many bad habits in shooting? Also, the Critical Skills Pistol-Carbine run that week. There are also numerous tutorials.
We close out the month in a grand way. We will have over 100 veterans attending the Veteran’s 250 Pistol and Veteran’s 223 Carbine courses. We donate Gunsite, the instructors donate their time and our veterans get the Gunsite experience. Two of our great Gunsite family members have very generously donated the monies so that none of the veterans will pay for lunch that week. The Gunsite family is the best! Thank you gentlemen.
August starts out strong with 250 Pistol, 270 Rifle, Ladies Pistol, the 150 Pistol at the Firearms Academy of Seattle, the new BRAVE 2 and much more. It is not too late to enroll! Remember, we are not as hot as Phoenix in the summer. The folks “in the valley” have escaped to the high country for many years to avoid the heat.
Now, what will you be doing to celebrate Independence Day? We believe celebratory gunfire is in order. If you can’t get to the range on July 4th, try to get there over the weekend.
One of the icons of Gunsite was resurrected this week. The windmill had to be taken down this Spring to repair the well. While it was down, refurbish and repaint was appropriate. The windmill, with fresh Raven on the tail fin was put back in place for all to see as they enter the Raven Gate.
Finally, something that seems so simple and clear to me needs to be said again. Keep this in mind with those who do not seem to understand the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
“Some have made the argument, bordering on the frivolous, that only those arms in existence in the 18th century are protected by the Second Amendment. We do not interpret constitutional rights that way. Just as the First Amendment protects modern forms of communications, e.g. Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union, 521 U.S. 844, 849, 117 S. Ct. 2329, 138 L. Ed.2d 874 (1997) and the Fourth Amendment applies to modern forms of search, e.g., Kyllo v. United States, 533 U.S. 27, 35036, 121 S. Ct. 2038, 150 L. Ed.2d 94 (2001), the Second Amend extends, prima facie, to all instruments that constitute bearable arms, even those that were not in existence at the time of the founding.” District of Columbia, et al. v. Heller, 128 S. Ct. 2783 (2008) at 2791-2792.
The Offices and Ranges of Gunsite Academy will be closed on Thursday July 4 and Friday July 5 for our staff to enjoy the holiday. We will re-open on Monday morning July 8 for classes.
Have a grand Independence Day.
DVC,
Ken
