Operation Z featuring Chris Costa

[Ed L]

Honestly, if just a few more shooters are exposed to the rules of firearms safety and shown the proper way to hold and shoot a firearm, this series will be positive. I like zombie movies, and have been known to make zombie jokes, but generally dislike the zombie craze in the firearms industry. I do think we tend to expect everyone to make the jump from "shooting a gun would be cool" to "how do I shave .0005 seconds of my draw" right away though. There are many steps a lot of people take in the journey to being a competent shooter. These videos could very well provide the impetuous for some new shooter to seek out someone to teach them that "supersickawesome reload" and they could get quality training as a result. Are they a little stupid? Yes. Are they as bad as a zombie themed Taurus judge? No.

This is an excellent point. More shooters and gunowners means more of a constituancy for gunrights. Better trained shooters means safer shooters--especially if the tape series is bought by people with no formal training. It can serve as a safety overview and encourage them to get training.

[Ed L]

TGS,

Excellent work with contacting Chris Costa!

Throughout all of my criticism, I always meantained that he was a great guy as evidenced by my past interactions and training with him and from seeing him teach and interact with other people. Here we have a big name instructor returning the call of someone whom he doesn't know for the purpose of responding to criticism and willing to consider and impliment changes.

If I was thinking, I probably should have done something likewise. I am not sure that he knew what to make of my comical over the top rants on his FB page.

[TGS]

TGS,

Excellent work with contacting Chris Costa!

Throughout all of my criticism, I always meantained that he was a great guy as evidenced by my past interactions and training with him and from seeing him teach and interact with other people. Here we have a big name instructor returning the call of someone whom he doesn't know for the purpose of responding to criticism and willing to consider and impliment changes.

If I was thinking, I probably should have done something likewise. I am not sure that he knew what to make of my comical over the top rants on his FB page.

In all honesty, it's not like I was the shining pillar of diplomacy in my voice-mail message...at the time, I was thinking of some foreign officers I had served with....lived with....from Africa who went through massacres and dedicated the last 15 years of their lives to non-stop warfare, in their back yards and among their families and neighbors, against horrible men that make Bin Laden look like a Ronald McDonald in comparison; so it's fair to say there was some emotion in my message. I didn't even leave my phone number for a return call, as I honestly didn't expect one and was just letting my point be known. He's apparently traveling right now, so he got my phone number on the machine from his office staff and called me back on his cell while traveling. He stated that one of the reasons he was calling back is because I obviously didn't have a problem with saying what I thought needed to be said, so he wanted to hear it straight from me and get my opinion.

I was definitely impressed by him. He mentioned some of the difficulties he's encountered with running his own company, and I certainly hope I'd be able to handle them as well as he does if I ever find myself in similar shoes.

[TCinVA]

Good on him for talking to you. Sure beats what others have done.

One hears lots of stuff about Mr. Costa...but whenever I've dealt with him one on one I've found him to be a very reasonable, respectful, polite fellow.