Gun Hobbyists Hope to Achieve Their Aim

Tom Cacek dropped to a prone position, put the stock of his assault rifle snugly against his shoulder and in short order--only 55 seconds, to be exact--killed 20 pigeons with a loud and awesome display of firepower.

Clay pigeons, that is. Cacek got up, dusted off his shooting jacket and semiautomatic AR-15 and quietly accepted the congratulations of several other sportsmen at the shooting range outside of Piru. Cacek was one of the best marksmen Wednesday at the first Fourth of July “speed shoot.”

Call it a gnashing of “liberty teeth”--the term the event’s organizers said George Washington once used to describe the importance of firearms for keeping the nation free.

About 100 enthusiasts of semiautomatic weapons--the guns whose sale was banned last year by the state Legislature--gathered at the Piru Rifle Range for a shooting competition that was equal parts contest and campaign. The gun owners said their goal was to demonstrate the legitimate purpose of the weapons as well as to protest what they consider an unfair ban on ownership of the guns.

“We are celebrating our freedom on this Fourth of July by gnashing our liberty teeth,” said Michael McNulty, a coordinator of the speed shoot for the Gun Owners React Committee, a group that opposes the ban on assault rifles.

Although the guns are banned, those used by contest participants were purchased before Jan. 1, when the law went into effect. The owners must still register the guns with the state by the end of the year to continue possessing them legally.

“We are successfully showing that there is a sports purpose for these weapons,” McNulty said. “We want to get the message out that there are rules that must be followed, but there is still fun to be had with these weapons. We want to show the public they can be used for something other than drive-by shootings.”

Wednesday’s events included a competition in which participants attempted to hit 20 clay pigeons in less than a minute from a distance of 25 yards. The firepower included Uzis, AR-15s, AK-47s, even vintage World War II carbines. A few shooters--like Cacek--hit every pigeon in less than the time allotted.

“It’s not how fast you shoot, it’s just how well you can hit the targets,” said a smiling Cacek of Long Beach.

Shooters paid $25 to enter the competition, a charity event that raised $1,000 for the Sickle Cell Anemia Foundation of the Inland Empire. Throughout the morning, a cacophony of gunshots echoed through the desolate canyon where the firing range is located. Earplugs were a must.

The media, considered by many gun enthusiasts to be their nemesis, were courted at the event and encouraged to try out the high-powered weapons. Speed shoot organizers pressed their argument that their rights as law-abiding citizens were being unfairly restricted because of the acts of gang members and deranged killers such as Patrick Purdy. Purdy killed five children and injured 30 other people during a shooting spree with a semiautomatic AK-47 assault weapon at a Stockton schoolyard last year.

“There is a skill involved here and a legitimate sport,” said Cacek, 34, who has been target shooting with semiautomatic firearms for 22 years. “I don’t hunt. I don’t do any shooting for destruction. I just enjoy shooting targets. But because the drug users are using them for their drive-bys, these types of guns are being taken away from me. And it should be obvious that the drug dealers aren’t going to be the ones that say, ‘Oh, this is illegal, I better not use this type of gun anymore.’ It will be us that pays. It doesn’t make sense.”

Most of the riflemen at the competition bristled at the labeling of their guns as “assault weapons,” blaming the media for the tag that has added to the stigma of their hobby and sport.

Bob Ford used an M-16 while in combat during the Vietnam War. He used the civilian model, an AR-15, during the competition and hit all 20 pigeons. He said he shoots regularly at a range near his home in Hawthorne but traveled north to Piru on Wednesday to help make a point.

“The idea is to show there is more people using these than the crack dealers who want to shoot the cops,” Ford said. “I hope it works. People have the wrong impression.”

Indeed, several shooters at the competition did not wish to be quoted by name because they said ownership of a semiautomatic weapon now carries a stigma. For all their firepower, these gun owners said they are beginning to feel as if they are cornered prey.

Bart Moutier of Anaheim angrily denounced the gun ban and said the law makes him feel like a criminal though he legally owns a collection of semiautomatic rifles. He said owners of such weapons have trouble finding shooting ranges that allow the guns and often face criticism from other gun owners.

“We have been afraid to go to ranges to shoot,” Moutier said. “We don’t know what kind of harassment we will face. We are honest citizens and we are made to feel like criminals because of this insane kick” about semiautomatic weapons.

Moutier said the ban on the semiautomatic weapons may actually create a large population of “criminals”--gun owners who don’t register their weapons with the state by the end of the year.

Moutier said he has not registered his collection because he is waiting to see if a legal challenge to the weapons ban by various anti-gun control groups is successful.

Meantime, during his turn on the firing line Moutier hit only a few pigeons Wednesday. Disappointed, he explained that he was not used to firing the H&K; 94 rifle he brought because he had purchased it for his wife as protection, not for competition shooting.

“It has enough firepower, and it is light enough for her to use,” he said. “But I have to work on the sight.”