You know those guys at the gun store that start their sentences with “back in my day” followed with some nonsense about pump actions, the 1911, or a home defense lever gun that you generally ignore? Well, Colonel Charles Askins was not the kinda guy that you should ignore.

Charles Askins had quite a career starting as a wildland firefighter in Montana then moving to New Mexico to be a Park Ranger. Where his career got fascinating was when the U.S. Border Patrol recruited him in 1930. Charles went on to head up the handgun skills program and stated in his memoir that he was involved in at least one gunfight every week. As a result of the volume of gunplay in his life, Charles figured he had killed 27 men in his career but never kept track of the number of men for whatever reason. Who knows how many lives Askins ended, I doubt even he knew.

In addition to being a damn good gunslinger, Charlie also wrote. A lot. He produced over 1,000 magazine articles over a 70 year period. If you want to learn more, I recommend reading his memoir, Unrepentant Sinner. 

Enjoy this magazine article he wrote a while back about concealed carry.