By Jim Tuttle
A hunter since age 8, 12-year-old Miguel Millan was one of 16 kids attending a weeklong Christian Outdoor Alliance camp in June at the Mobley Ranch near College Station, Texas. His days at the camp started early as he sat for hours in a hunting blind with a guide and camp counselor. Photo by Jim Tuttle/News21.
Miguel decided to hunt a wild pig as part of his camp experience at Mobley Ranch. Their intelligence and nocturnality make pigs the most challenging animal to hunt there, guide Andrew Garay said. Photo by Jim Tuttle/News21.
Safety is a major focus for the Christian Outdoor Alliance, so campers are not allowed to hunt until they’ve passed a state certification test. Counselors such as Andrew Garay, left, handle and load the rifles, providing supervision and instruction throughout the hunt. Photo by Jim Tuttle/News21.
Miguel shot a pig shortly after nightfall on one of his last days at camp. He had missed a few hours earlier and was about to quit for the night when this animal wandered into the clearing in front of his blind. Garay called the kill “sweet redemption.” Photo by Jim Tuttle/News21.
After bringing the dead pig back to camp, Garay skins it as Miguel and two fellow campers, from left, Cristian Salinas and Tristan Hardin, look on. The kids take home some of the meat they harvest; some of it is kept to feed future camps. Miguel said he planned to have the pig’s head mounted as a trophy. Photo by Jim Tuttle/News21.
From left, counselors Jarrett Hall, left, and Clint Parkhill discuss the next day’s hunting plans with Michael Marbach, the Christian Outdoor Alliance’s founder and executive director. Photo by Jim Tuttle/News21.
Campers celebrate a week of successful hunting at one of the Mobley Ranch’s swimming pools. Photo by Jim Tuttle/News21.
Counselor Jarrett Hall plays air guitar with camper Cody Lindholm. Hall is a college student and started working at the Christian Outdoor Alliance in 2014. He plays in a Christian rock band and hopes to make a career in Christian music. Photo by Jim Tuttle/News21.
One of the campers received an encouraging note from his mother during “mail call.” Photo by Jim Tuttle/News21.
Campers and counselors share meals in the Mobley Ranch hunting lodge. Photo by Jim Tuttle/News21.
Much of the hunting is done early in the morning and in the evening. Campers spend the hottest hours of the day swimming and playing in the pool. Photo by Jim Tuttle/News21.
Once every camper had killed a pig, ram or deer, the counselors took them to hunt small game. Drew West poses outside the lodge with two rabbits he shot. Photo by Jim Tuttle/News21.
Counselors use a whiteboard to plan each day’s hunt and to keep track of the campers who have killed an animal during the week. Photo by Jim Tuttle/News21.
Camper Drew West sights in his rifle with help from counselor Andrew Garay. Photo by Jim Tuttle/News21.
Camper Michael Canterbury and counselor Jarrett Hall walk during a morning deer hunt on one of the last days at the camp. Photo by Jim Tuttle/News21.
Canterbury rests his eyes as he and Hall wait for several hours in a hunting blind. The 13-year-old said that he has been hunting since he was 7 and that he first fired a gun when he was 5. Photo by Jim Tuttle/News21.
After nearly a week of hunting, Canterbury killed a sika doe. Shooting the sika and other species not native to Texas is not limited to traditional hunting seasons. Photo by Jim Tuttle/News21.
Canterbury was a returning Christian Outdoor Alliance camper this year. “It’s really exciting, getting to shoot your animal and skin it and then later on hopefully getting to eat it,” he said. Photo by Jim Tuttle/News21.
By Alex Lancial and Jim Tuttle
The Oklahoma Full Auto Shoot & Trade Show is one of the largest events of its kind in the United States. Photo by Jim Tuttle/News21.
Matt Jones shoots during the sniper challenge at the 2014 Oklahoma Full Auto Shoot & Trade Show in Wyandotte, Okla. Photo by Jim Tuttle/News21.
Kendall Beaver, a gunsmith for Firing Line, shoots a fully automatic M60 rifle during the Oklahoma Full Auto Shoot & Trade Show in Wyandotte, Okla. Photo by Jim Tuttle/News21.
Licensed firearms dealer Jerry Lovik, owner of Jerry’s Machine Guns in Plymouth, Iowa, rented guns at the first Oklahoma Full Auto Shoot & Trade Show. Today, he is one of nearly 100 vendors at the event. Photo by Jim Tuttle/News21.
Federal law prevents private citizens from owning machine guns manufactured after 1986. But it permits licensed firearms dealers to make those weapons and sell them to law enforcement agencies and fellow dealers. Photo by Jim Tuttle/News21.
After a full day of shooting, machine gun fire lit up the night with tracer rounds and fireballs. Waco Tomlinson, of Mustang, Okla., fires one of the weapons rented at Jerry's Machine Guns. Photo by Jim Tuttle/News21.
By Jessica Boehm and Aaron Maybin
High school junior Kerri Mueller shows off her trapshooting gear after practice at the Park Sportsmens Club in Orono, Minn. Mueller, who placed in the top 100 high school shooters across the state, qualified for the first high school-sanctioned trapshooting tournament. Photo by Jessica Boehm/News21.
Mueller practices with the Wayzata High School trapshooting team two days before the tournament. She is one of three girls on the team of 40. "I'm in the minority, but that's all right. It's still fun," she said. Photo by Jessica Boehm/News21.
Wayzata trapshooting team members, from left, Andrew Rhodes, Max Bunning, Kerri Mueller, and Connor Czech practice at Park Sportsmens Club as Connor’s father, Mark, looks on. An influx of high school trapshooters revived the struggling gun clubs in Minnesota. "It just means that we know that the sport will live on and that it won't be a smaller sport," Mueller said of the increase in young shooters. Photo by Jessica Boehm/News21.
Mueller aims at a clay pigeon during practice. She started trapshooting in seventh grade with her dad as a way to practice for deer and pheasant hunting. Photo by Jessica Boehm/News21.
Mueller practices with members of the Wayzata High School trapshooting team. "The kids that are in the program are all very mature, they all know how to act around guns," she said. Photo by Jessica Boehm/News21.
Mueller looks out at the pieces of orange clay targets at the Park Sportsmens Club during trapshooting practice. "It's mostly a mental game, so you just need to stay focused and not get too distracted," she said. Photo by Jessica Boehm/News21.
Crushed clay targets cover the ground at the Park Sportsmens Club. Mueller hit 97 out of 100 clay targets, a personal best, at the state championship in Alexandria, Minn. "I'm pretty proud of that," she said. Photo by Jessica Boehm/News21.
Multiple high school trapshooting teams, including Wayzata’s, use the club to practice. "All the guys there have been really welcoming, and they've taught me a lot about shooting over the couple of years," Mueller said. Photo by Jessica Boehm/News21.
Peggy Mueller waits on a bench at the Park Sportsmens Club as her daughter, Kerri, practices for the state tournament with her trapshooting team. Growing up in a hunting family, Mueller said she was happy that her daughter wanted to join the trapshooting team. "It's just a great opportunity to get out and meet new people and learn a new sport," Peggy Mueller said. Photo by Jessica Boehm/News21.
From left, Max Bunning, Andrew Rhodes and Mueller relax at the Park Sportsmens Club after practice with the trapshooting team. Mueller said people that question trapshooting as a high school sport likely do not have any experience with guns. "The kids that shoot are very mature, and they're not going to be playing with the guns," she said. Photo by Jessica Boehm/News21.
By Alex Lancial and Jim Tuttle
PLAY Mark Glidewell, founding member of Citizens Militia of Mississippi
PLAY Robert Mitchell, founder and commander of Citizens Militia of Mississippi
PLAY Doug Jones, founding member of Citizens Militia of Mississippi
PLAY Lexie Muse, junior member of Citizens Militia of Mississippi
PLAY David Bowen, member of Citizens Militia of Mississippi
PLAY Kevan Owen, member of Citizens Militia of Mississippi
Founded a little more than a year ago, the Citizens Militia of Mississippi is one of the newest groups of its kind in the United States. Members and their families gather for a Fourth of July barbecue at Sardis Lake near Batesville, Miss. Photo by Jim Tuttle/News21.
Kevan Owen, of the Citizens Militia of Mississippi’s northeast chapter, has a tattoo of a Greek phrase on his forearm. "Molon Labe," or "Come and take them," is a rallying cry in the militia movement. Photo by Jim Tuttle/News21.
Active militia members participate in training exercises once a month. Tate County chapter Cmdr. Billy May carries an AR-15 during a patrol drill in Batesville, Miss. Photo by Jim Tuttle/News21.
Raven Jones,16, crouches with an AR-15 during a Citizens Militia of Mississippi patrol drill. Her parents, Kim and Doug Jones, are founding members of the group. Photo by Jim Tuttle/News21.
Militia members practice advancing through the woods and to spot Brandy Davis, right, posing as an enemy combatant. His 10-year-old son, Dalton Davis, left, also participated in the patrol drill. Photo by Jim Tuttle/News21.
Junior militia member Dalton Davis, 10, carries an AR-15 and a pistol during the Citizens Militia of Mississippi exercise. As a precaution, the guns were unloaded and the rifle bolt removed prior to the drill. Photo by Jim Tuttle/News21.
Davis, a fifth-grader, said he enjoys shooting and participating in drills whenever he can. But he hasn’t told all his friends at school that he’s in a militia. “They don't really understand it as much as grown-ups,” he said. “I was born around guns, but it's kind of hard to explain. So I tell my best friends, but that's about it.” Photo by Jim Tuttle/News21.
Army veteran Robert "Bobby" Mitchell said he founded the Citizens Militia of Mississippi as a way to "give back" to his community. A machine operator at Batesville Casket Company, he spends nearly all of his free time on militia business, Mitchell added. Photo by Jim Tuttle/News21.
Citizens Militia of Mississippi members pray before a training drill in the woods near Batesville, Miss. They say they believe that they have a God-given right to use firearms to protect themselves and their families. Photo by Jim Tuttle/News21.
Dale Drewery, a militia member from Itawamba County, Miss., fires a Glock handgun during target practice near Booneville, Miss. The group requires applicants to pass a background check so as not to give felons access to to firearms. Photo by Jim Tuttle/News21.
Northeast chapter member Shannon Muse sets up targets for practice on his property near Booneville, Miss. The Citizens Militia of Mississippi uses his rural property as a training facility. Photo by Jim Tuttle/News21.
Kimberly Jones fires a semi-automatic tactical shotgun as junior member Lexie Muse, 14, looks on. Photo by Jim Tuttle/News21.
“We have a very close relationship, and that's really what made me join the militia,” Lexie Muse said of her father, Shannon Muse. “Through everything, the militia has just made me and my dad grow closer together.” Photo by Jim Tuttle/News21.
By Sam Stites
Donny Adair, center, the founder and president of the African American Hunting Association, and his sons Kenneth, left, and Donnell, right, prepare to target shoot in the forest of the Coast Mountain Range near Scappoose, Ore., on June 17, 2014. Photo by Sam Stites/News21.
From left, Kenny, Donny and Donnell pose with their guns in front of targets in the Coast Mountain Range forest near Scappoose, Ore. Photo by Sam Stites/News21.
By Kristen Hwang
Alex Tham, director of the American Marksman Training Group, teaches gun safety to a group of students at an open range day hosted by his firearms training school June 28, 2014. Tham's small company based in southern California teaches novice shooters how to enjoy using firearms, he said. Photo by Kristen Hwang/News21.
Participants in the open range day gather at the Burro Canyon Shooting Park in the Angeles National Forest in southern California. Instructors from the American Marksman Training Group taught participants how to handle firearms safely. Photo by Kristen Hwang/News21.
Alex Tham uses an imitation gun to illustrate what he calls the four rules of firearm safety: Treat every gun like it's loaded; never point a gun at something you do not want to destroy; keep your finger off the trigger until the target is in your sights; and be aware of your target and what is beyond it. Photo by Kristen Hwang/News21.
Firearms instructor Ben Kong teaches Ellie Lim the basics of using a handgun. Lim practices properly gripping an imitation gun before picking up a real weapon. Photo by Kristen Hwang/News21.
Tham and his instructors supply the firearms at the open range day; participants only need to bring ammunition. The restrictive gun laws in California frustrate him many other law abiding firearm owners, Tham said. But everyone should give guns a chance, he added. Photo by Kristen Hwang/News21.
Boxes of ammunition are piled behind the shooting line. Instructors said they hoped to show people who had never held a gun before that using firearms could be a positive experience. Photo by Kristen Hwang/News21.
Fred Kawashima hones his target shooting skills at the open range day hosted by the American Marksman Training Group on June 28, 2014. Photo by Kristen Hwang/News21.
A firearms instructor sets up targets at the Burro Canyon Shooting Park in southern California. Participants practiced their marksmanship on bowling pins, zombie posters, plastic bottles and clay pigeons. Photo by Kristen Hwang/News21.
Firearms enthusiast Robin Lee shows his niece, Kaitlyn Lee, the different parts of an AR 15 rifle. Kaitlyn smiled as she learned how to use various types of firearms. Photo by Kristen Hwang/News21.
Firearms instructors use a handheld clay pigeon thrower so novice shooters can practice their aim on a moving target. Photo by Kristen Hwang/News21.
Ellie Lim points a Glock 19 handgun at a paper target during the American Marksman Training Group open range day. She lines up the sights before pulling the trigger. Photo by Kristen Hwang/News21.
By Jacob Byk and Kristen Hwang
Bird refits a handmade holster for his .38-caliber pistol in his workshop on July 12, 2014. He sold his last holster, an item he wears everywhere except in church. Photo by Jacob Byk/News21.
Bird laughs with his 12-year-old daughter Emily as he closes Twin Birds Saddlery, his Wickenburg, Ariz., store. Photo by Jacob Byk/News21.
Bird feeds animals at his desert home in Surprise, Ariz. He often uses his rifle to scare off coyotes that try to attack his horses. Photo by Jacob Byk/News21.
Bird lives in a desert area near the outskirts of Surprise, Ariz., where he cares for his animals. He always keeps two "snake rounds," also known as shot shells, in his revolver. Photo by Jacob Byk/News21.
Bird embraces his daughter's horse at his Arizona home. He picked his .38-caliber revolver as his go-to firearm because it will not fire if he falls off or is thrown from one of his animals. Photo by Jacob Byk/News21.
Bird finishes drawing the outline of a custom holster for a customer, whose gun sits on the table beside him. Photo by Jacob Byk/News21.
Bird slices rawhide to get an exact mold of the gun whose holster he is making. The material sits on the counter, swirled into a tube. Photo by Jacob Byk/News21.
Bird uses sharp blades to parcel sections of his holsters and traces the customer's firearm. Photo by Jacob Byk/News21.
Down time in the shop can make days drag on, Bird said. Photo by Jacob Byk/News21.
Using a mallet and symbol tools to design patterns, Bird creates decorative prints on the leather after sizing it for the gun. Photo by Jacob Byk/News21.
Imprinting leather can be expensive with patterns costing about $50. Bird uses them to give his work a “handmade” touch. Photo by Jacob Byk/News21.
Bird relaxes after he finishes etching a holster for a customer. Photo by Jacob Byk/News21.
