Jeff Cooper, 1920-2006: "World-renowned firearms expert Jeff Cooper, founder of the Gunsite firearms training center in Paulden, died Monday afternoon at his home near the training center. ... In the 1960s, he organized a group called the Bear Valley Gunslingers and the Southwest Combat League. During the organizations' shooting competitions at Big Bear, he formulated the Modern Technique of combat handgun shooting which incorporates a large-caliber semi-automatic pistol, a two handed Weaver stance, breath control and a surprise trigger break. In 1976, he founded the American Pistol Institute, or Gunsite, at Paulden to teach those pistol techniques and later added a full curriculum on pistols, rifles and shotguns. Since then, more than 18,000 students, including celebrities like Tom Selleck, law enforcement officers, military members from many nations and many civilians have graduated from courses there. ... He was editor at large of Guns & Ammo Magazine and a prolific writer on firearms. ... He also produced 'Cooper's Commentaries,' a series of monthly essays on the Internet. In his writings, Cooper coined the term 'hoplophobia' to denote the irrational fear of weapons."


AZ: Meth and guns a bad combination: "Carlos Dash was not supposed to visit his ex-wife or the two young children inside her apartment. The gun Dash had with him could have been used to "inflict harm," detectives said Friday. His visit was in violation of a protective order. The 31-year-old was shot and killed by Scottsdale police outside his ex-wife's front door after he ignored commands to drop his pistol, which he is accused of trying to aim at officers, after taking it out of a case... Scottsdale Officer Thaddius Benton, a second-year officer, fired several shots at Dash after he ignored repeated commands to drop his weapon. It was unclear Friday how many shots struck Dash, though police said he was dead on the scene, around 8 p.m. Dash's ex-wife, Christine Webster, filed an order of protection against the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community resident in April. "Carlos has been using meth for quite some time," she wrote in the order of protection filed at Scottsdale Municipal Court. "I feel he is an endangerment if our son is in his custody, and I am scared of him," Webster said. "He has made verbal threats that my life is now in danger because of my actions." ... In her 911 call, Webster said her ex-husband was not known to carry weapons. "There was nothing in that phone call that indicated this would turn into a deadly incident," Clark said. "She didn't indicate that he had any weapons. When officers got there, they saw (Dash) at the door and they saw the gun." Dash ignored the commands to drop the pistol and made a "threatening gesture" with the gun, Clark said."