Dedication.

want to introduce you to a young man named Scott.

Scott first came to us about a year ago. 

He had an interest in weapons training, but it was for him at the time somewhat of a vague concept.

He wanted to learn how to shoot a gun but two things were holding him back:

He was nervous about going to the range and shooting without instruction, and his budget limited him to the amount of ammunition he could afford.

He came into Artemis hoping to learn how to shoot, unaware just how deep of a journey he was about to undertake.

I was the first instructor to work with him.

We started on the VirTra 100 and realized early on that this was probably going to be his home for a while. 

(If you arrived here from our newsletter, continue reading here:)

To put it bluntly… Scott could barely get the firearm pointed in the general direction of the screen… let alone hit a target.

Scenarios would have to wait. 

Scott needed to focus on learning fundamentals.

Each week Scott has become a fixture. 

Every Saturday we can expect Scott to come in for his half hour training session. 

He has a standing appointment with us.

Over the months he has been with us he has worked with just about every instructor we have in the shop. Shane, Kavon, Madison, Katie, Kyle… and yes even Sandy, Chaney and myself from time to time take turns focusing and modifying Scotts shooting style and skill at arms. 

Some of our instruction has had to be a little unorthodox at times. From making Scott do push ups or burpies, to having him listen to metal rock and Mozart while shooting, we have all worked hard to help Scott.

None has worked as hard as Scott himself though.

Scott will wear his GoPro camera during his sessions so he can review what we have done during the week and dry fire practice at home.

Some sessions are better than others.

Sometimes he hits the steel target like a master….Other days… well not so much.

Each session ends with him asking the same question, “What should I work on… what can I do better?”

The journey is about process though, not product… at least not until today.

Today Scott shined.

Scott decided to forgo his regular session and instead joined our monthly defensive tactics class.

This class is made up of some fairly experienced shooters, many of them current CCW holders.

We end the class with our traditional shoot off. Each student getting the opportunity to draw from the holster and fire one round against another student at a digital steel target. The student that strikes steel first moves into the winners circle and fights off against all the winners.

Ultimately a single student is left standing. 

That day’s “top shot”.

Scott… this student, that a number of months ago could barely hit the screen let alone a target… flat out smoked it…. he earned his position as todays “top shot”.

In the lobby he beamed with pride and before he left he wanted to show me pictures of his targets from a recent trip to the range.

He is a proud of his accomplishments… as well as he should be… and as he left our building he wanted me to confirm that he his standing appointment is still set for next week. 

Scotts journey is far from over… it never really is… but along the way we need to stop and look back at how far we have come. 

Scott… you have without a doubt come a very very long way.

All of us at Artemis are extremely proud of you!

See you next week!