Earlier today, John Dean "Jeff" Cooper, passed on from complications arising from an earlier stroke and heart attack.
Whatever you think of him, and there are many who hated that man, as well as many who loved him; one cannot deny his impact on the world of shooting. He, along with Jack Weaver, and diverse others created the modern sport of practical shooting, and he helped found the International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC); serving as the founding chairman and first president.
Jeff also founded the American Pistol Institue, called "Gunsite" (of which I am a graduate); and through the school popularized what are now commonly known as "the four rules of firearms safety", and the "color codes" for alertness and situational response.
Jeff had 86 years on this earth; 70 someodd of them as a shooter, and 20 someodd as a Marine. You can't sum up a life like that with a few sentences, but there's one quote that I think represents him quite well. When asked if violence did not simply beget more violence, Colonel Cooper responded "It is my earnest endeavor to see that it does. I would like very much to ensure — and in some cases I have — that any man who offers violence to his fellow citizen begets a whole lot more in return than he can enjoy"
Semper Fi Marine
