Massachussetts: CCW & "Action Pistol" Training

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--> SouthCoast is up in arms

As the sun set outside the Rod and Gun Club of New Bedford, members of the Action Pistol Committee gathered in its basement range, inspecting their firearms and unpacking ammunition onto a table.

At the other end of the room stood three targets, separated by two placards with handprints painted on them. Those represented "bystanders," and one of the challenges was to avoid hitting them.

Action Pistol combines the need for speed, accuracy and the ability to hit multiple targets. At some ranges, the targets move or pop up out of nowhere, giving it the excitement of a real-life situation.

"It's a recreational sport that happens to involve firearms," the practice's supervisor said. "The people who participate in this sort of thing come out of it with better gun-handling skills."

The supervisor spoke on the condition that his name would not be printed, noting he did not want to make his home the target for gun-seeking thieves. Furthermore, he said, part of the idea behind owning a gun for protection is to keep criminals from knowing who has one and who doesn't.

The marksman and the rest of the committee are just a few of the thousands of registered gun owners in SouthCoast, most of whom have permits allowing them to carry concealed pistols.

Local gun owners say their firearms are primarily for hunting and target shooting -- but they also like the feeling of protection that they get from keeping a gun in the house.

"The nice thing about a firearm is that it's an ultimate equalizer," the supervisor said. "There are some women who are very good at this sport. You put a 300-pound guy on the other end and a woman's going to lose. But put a gun in her hands and that takes his advantage away."

Lately, the supervisor -- like many local gun owners -- has been spending a lot of time discussing Charles D. Chieppa, a New Bedford homeowner who used a legal Walther P38 semiautomatic to kill a suspected burglar in 2004. A jury found Mr. Chieppa not guilty of second-degree murder last Tuesday.

Many gun owners reacted to the ruling with both surprise and satisfaction. But the supervisor said the verdict also made him and colleagues at the range think about what would happen if they ever drew their weapons on a real person, not just a paper target.

"Anybody who's going to carry a gun is going to think, 'What happens if I have to shoot this thing to save my life? What's going to happen to me afterward?' It really is a device that could save your life. But the other side is, you could take someone else's life. [...]