Although guns and gun rights have become even more controversial in recent years, even in places like red-state Idaho, there is one thing that we all agree on—gun safety.
National Speed Shooting Champion and owner of the newly established Shaw Shooting School in Hagerman, Idaho, agrees.
“Gun safety is the most important thing—it’s the first thing I teach,” said Houston Shaw, a Memphis-born boy turned Idaho native and son of the famous John Shaw, founder of the Mid-South Institute for Combat Shooting in Tennessee.
During one of the summer classes offered at the Shaw Shooting School, six girls from Sun Valley (myself included) learned the importance, and necessity, of gun handling skills.
Trying to brush our scarves and hair out of our face, whipping in the strong southern Idaho wind, we learned the anatomy of a revolver, practiced with grip, aim and stance, and tried pulling out the “slack” in the trigger with slow and controlled fingers. But all without any rounds in the gun.
It was only after a few hours of this kind of training—familiarizing ourselves with the shooting line, where to point (and not point) the barrel, turning the safety on and off, and learning how to check the chamber for a bullet over and over (and over) again—that we were finally allowed to lock and load.
With “eyes and ears” on (aka, eye and ear protection), we took turns blasting at rectangular paper targets, trying to create a tight grouping of bullet holes from only a few feet away. Houston floated among us, repositioning our grip, re-aiming the barrel and murmuring the mantra of the day: “Slack out. Sight. Pull.”
For some girls, like Kristin Cheatwood, it was their first time ever pulling a trigger. For other born-and-bred Idahoans, like myself, who had been shooting at pop cans since age six, it was an important and self-effacing lesson.
“Most people think they know how to shoot, but in reality, they don’t,” explained Houston. “How can anyone expect to be good at something they only practice once or twice a year? If I’m a responsible citizen, then I consider it my duty to know how to shoot a gun.”
In Idaho, protection and particularly hunting (for food) were built into the foundation of the West, and with that came a culture of firearms. And although over 55% of people in Idaho own a gun (one of the highest ownership percentages in the country), it turns out few actually take the time and training to learn how to use them properly. This is especially true among women.
My disorganized splatter of bullet holes on the paper target was proof enough that Houston was right…
It’s a tough realization to swallow for the puffy-chested cowboys who arrive with a know-it-all attitude and ego in-tow. (Women are much better listeners, Houston said, which is why they make such good students). But most are humbled to attention after watching Houston hit five metal targets in 1.95 seconds from the draw. He is, after all, a two-time Production Steel Challenge National Champion, Man vs. Man Grand Nationals Master Champion and a 2nd Place Man vs. Man Grand Nationals Grand Master, among other titles.
For the last two years, Houston has been instructing at the Mid-South Institute of Combat Shooting in Tennessee, training United States Special Operators, until he decided to open the Shaw Shooting School in 2012. At 25-years-old, with a degree in Business Management from the University of Nevada, he now has a fully-functioning shooting range on the Snake River, with over 300 steel targets, 18 different ranges, all eight stages of the World Pistol Speed Shooting Championships and a pneumatic air system for repositioning targets.
His classes are open to anyone from beginners to grand masters and he offers one-day, two-day, advanced, custom, shotgun and law enforcement options. “I’ve taught everyone,” he said, including women’s self-defense classes, the Ada County Police Department, a bachelorette party, a group of chiropractors from Twin Falls and “anyone else who wants to learn to shoot correctly.”
The “Redneck Riviera,” as the property is nicknamed, shares 330 acres with the Hagerman Wings Farm, a world-class duck farm owned and operated by Houston’s father, John Shaw.
Although he is now semi-retired, John’s name is easily recognizable in the competitive shooting world today. His titles include two-time IPSC National Champion, winner of the Steel Challenge World Championships, Soldier of Fortune, American Hand-Gunner, Second Chance and captain of the US Shooting Team. In the mid-1980s, he was “hands down, the best shooter in the world,” said Houston. “He’d won it all.” There was only one major shooting competition he didn’t win, but he finished 2nd in it three times.
Back in 1981, John first opened the Mid-South Institute of Combat Shooting in Tennessee to be a self-defense class for civilians, much like Houston’s Shaw Shooting School. But John’s titles and trophies soon got the attention of the US military, and they asked him to start teaching their elite special operations units (can’t tell you who—it’s classified). The Mid-South Institute in Tennessee now teaches only military elite, where Houston is still a guest instructor.
John travels back to his home state of Tennessee to visit Mid-South every once in a while, but prefers to spend his time working on the duck farm and polishing his gun collection beside the river in Hagerman, watching Houston follow along his well-laid footsteps.
At one point during our day of shooting, John came out to pop off a few rounds with the shotgun, and later helped us support the heavy barrel so we could follow the clay pigeons in our sight. Watching Houston and John shoot together with terrifying accuracy, it was impossible to deny that the apple doesn’t get shot far from the tree.
For more information about the Shaw Shooting School, visit shawshooting.com or contact Houston at ShawH3@gmail.com or 208.481.0085.
Photo gallery courtesy Taylor Stoecklein.
