Ignatius Piazza and Front Sight Blog for Self Defense Firearms Training
Self Defense Firearms Training for Law Enforcement, Military, and Gun Owning Private Citizens Alike

Interviewed by Jim McMahon

Scott Anderson is a Master Gunnery Sergeant with the United States Marine Corps. He has 18 years in the Marines, and has been a reserve police officer for 13 years.

Scott has been an active shooter, as well as shooting competitor, since he was a teen, and has been a Front Sight First Family Member for the past five years. At the time of this interview, he had returned from active duty in Iraq. I caught up with Scott in his office at the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base, in California, just before his return, once…

Interviewed by Jim McMahon

Rick Kaufman has been an avid shooter for well over 20 years, and involved with Front Sight since its very inception. Not only was he in the very first class Front Sight offered, back in 1996, Rick was with Ignatius “Naish” Piazza back in the early 90’s where they trained together in a firearms class.

Rick has a unique perspective on the development of Front Sight that few others have experienced. One that spans the entire development of the Front Sight organization.

I caught up with Rick late in the night, off duty from his position as an aircraft…

Interviewed by Jim McMahon

Nola Hatch is a Front Sight student, as well as a teacher and owner of a private school in California. Moved by the school shootings of Columbine, Nola has taken it upon herself to become trained in the skills of firearms handling. Nola is also a First Family Member with a Gold Membership.

But what makes Nola really unique is her unwavering dedication to the personal safety of her family, and her support of Second Amendment rights. She has ensured that all of her six children, and their spouses, have First Family Memberships, and all of her…

Interviewed by Jim McMahon

Dr. Gary Cecchi has been a Front Sight First Family Member from the very beginning. Back in 1996, Gary was one of the first students to purchase a membership, and he has seen Front Sight evolve from its very first days back at the Bakersfield facility to its present state.

As a Hematologist/Oncologist living and working in the San Francisco Bay area, Gary had virtually no experience with firearms before Front Sight. He has brought to Front Sight as many as thirty friends and associates over the years, which he pilots in himself with his private…

Interviewed by Jim McMahon

Noble La Huillier is really catching a lot of eyes around Front Sight these days, not only from instructors, but from just about anyone who has the pleasure to share the same range with him.

Noble has achieved a Distinguished Graduate certificate for handgun, not once, but three times. And, he holds an Advanced Distinguished certificate for handgun, which he earned on Front Sight’s Combat Master Prep course. But to achieve this has taken a bit of work, to say the least. Noble has taken the Four-Day Defensive Handgun course five times, the Handgun Skill Builder…

Interviewed by Jim McMahon

Beth Fish has taken quite an avid interest in her self-defense training at Front Sight. Within the past 18 months Beth has completed a number of handgun courses, a rope and rappel course, and is now working on her third martial arts course at Front Sight. Originally signing up as a Copper First Family Member, she has recently upgraded to Gold.

But Beth isn’t doing her Front Sight training alone. Accompanying her is her husband, who is also a Gold First Family Member. And her two daughters, ages seven and nine, who have taken both the…

Interviewed by Jim McMahon

Michael Gutterres has taken just about every firearms course at Front Sight, most of them more than once, and Distinguished himself in rifle, shotgun, and a number of times in pistol. He first came to Front Sight in September of 1997, and one month later he signed on as one of the early First Family Members.

Michael has been shooting guns all his life, and has a lot to say about becoming skilled in the proficient use of firearms for defending oneself.

He is a Gold First Family Member, as is his wife, and his baby…

Interviewed by Jim McMahon

Ben Slater has owned and handled firearms for over fifty years, including some use of automatic weapons with the Marines. He is one staunch supporter of the Second Amendment. Having found Front Sight just a few years ago, Ben is very much at home with Front Sight’s training, and actions to safeguard our rights to own and bear arms. So much so that Ben has secured not only one First Family Membership, but four more for himself, for a total of five memberships – one Gold, two Bronze and two Copper.

What is even more amazing…

Interviewed by Jim McMahon

John Harrold is a police inspector for a large urban metropolis in the Western United States. He has not only been around guns in his profession, but throughout his entire life, from his early youth shooting targets and with the high school rifle team in Florida, to hunting in his later teens in Oklahoma. John has also taught firearms instruction while in the military at the Naval Academy.

But even with his lifetime-full firearms experience under his belt, John was not quite prepared for the training he was to experience one day in 1999, when he…

Interviewed by Jim McMahon

As the infamous California fires were burning their path of destruction throughout Southern California, Dave Lodarski, a Fire Captain and arson inspector from Colton, California, was on the front lines for weeks fighting the inferno in San Bernardino.

Dave is a Front Sight First Family Member. A Gold Member, as well as his two sons. When Dave is not fighting fires he can pretty much be found at Front Sight sizing up his aim and honing his skills. Dave has taken between 15 and 20 courses at Front Sight, and has Distinguished himself in both rifle…