| Geeks with Guns 5.0 |
So there I was in Phoenix to speak at PC Forum '99, and some guys from the local Linux User's Group (Jiva deVoe and Ed Nusbaum) came to get me at the airport. We proceeded to dinner and my first-ever game of Laser Tag; I got killed a lot, but had the best accuracy rating in our group of five. While all this was going on, we planned my Sunday -- a run up to the Sedona red-rock country in Ed's SUV, followed by a rendezvous with other LUGers at the Ben Avery Range just north of my hotel.
The red-rock country was gorgeous -- no wonder half the Westerns and car commercials ever filmed have made the place a bit of a visual cliche. The pueblo ruins at Montezuma's Castle were pretty interesting, too, but made us an hour late hitting I17 back to Phoenix. Then we got stuck in a 5-mile backup behind somebody's accident. The upshot is that we only got to the range a bit before sunset, after a good many LUGers had gone home. A small and stalwart band remained, however, and that made it the official GWG 5.
Ben Avery is a big, clean, well-managed outdoor range run by friendly rangers from Arizona's Fish & Game Dept. The slanting sun over the rugged desert hills made a lovely backdrop. The pistols available for my perusal included a Glock 21 and a well-tuned Springfield Armory 1911A1 (thanks, Bob Eaton!). Both nice guns in my favorite calibers, but where the Glock talked the Springfield sang opera -- I nailed the black zone on a virgin B-2 at fifteen yards, fourteen out of fourteen shots.
OK, the pictures. First, me, firing Bob's Colt. Then, one I took of Wes proudly displaying both the ``Tactical Tupperware'' Glock 21 and Tux. Protect the right to bear penguins! Finally, here's a picture of most of the gang after shooting. From left: Wes Bateman, me, Bob Eaton, and Ed Nusbaum. That's my 14-out-of-14 target I'm hugging.
