Obituary: Jeff Cooper / Firearms expert, writer; founded training center
Died Sept. 25, 2006
Monday, October 02, 2006
By Dennis McLellan, Los Angeles Times
Jeff Cooper, a firearms expert who formulated the widely used “modern technique of the pistol” and founded a highly regarded firearms training center in Arizona, has died. He was 86.
Mr. Cooper, an author and longtime Guns & Ammo magazine columnist who had experienced health problems in recent years, died last Monday at his home near the training center on Gunsite Ranch, his family said.
A big-game hunter and retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel, Mr. Cooper founded what originally was called the American Pistol Institute on Gunsite Ranch in the Sonora Desert just west of Paulden, Ariz., in 1976.
The training center expanded from teaching pistol techniques to covering military carbines, shotguns, submachine guns, hunting rifles and various other small arms. Now called Gunsite Academy, it boasts an estimated 40,000 graduates, including law enforcement officers, military personnel from around the world and civilians.
Mr. Cooper, who wrote several books on firearms and was one of the original writers for Guns & Ammo, sold the training center in 1992 but continued to live on the property.
Mr. Cooper, said Owen Mills, owner of Gunsite Academy, “codified the use and deployment of small arms for personal defense.”
Mr. Cooper, who served as the first president of the International Practical Shooting Confederation, also served on the National Rifle Association board of directors.
In 1995, he received the Outstanding American Handgunner Award.
Source: http://www.postgazette.com/pg/06275/726705-122.stm
I count among my fortunes in life meeting this man, and benefiting from his wisdom. Simply put, his training, and concepts have saved the lives of many people. Those same concepts about leading an honorable life have been a beacon of inspiration to many young people. He now guards the gates of heaven. Well done Marine.
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