Gats and Heaters and Roscoes, Oh My!

Well, my friend Henning Wallgren — ace professional shooter for Tanfoglio, practical shooting champion in numerous countries, including the U.S. — has a slogan: Winning is a motivation, but having fun doing it is key.

I'm 100% on that, which is why I'm enthused at yet another of Henning's interests, the newly formed American Zoot Shooters Association. Here's the new sport's description from the website:

AZSA is a multi-gun sport in which participants dress in 1920s costumes and compete against the clock engaging targets for the best possible score. Zoot Shooters must use firearms that are correct for the time surrounding Prohibition. Costumes may be of any character type reflecting the era (i.e. gangster, law enforcement, flapper, bootlegger, politician, etc.).

The predominant AZSA guns are Thompsons and 1911 pistols but other firearms may be considered. Though many shooters may already own a 1911 type pistol, most probably do not own a Thompson sub-machine gun. Fortunately, Kahr/Auto-Ordnance is reproducing high quality semi-automatic Tommy Guns that do not require special permits. If you are lucky (or wealthy) enough to own a legally registered, full-auto Tommy by all means use it providing the host range will allow it!

The competitions have multiple stages referred to as Capers. Each Caper has a specific course of direction in which the shooter must safely engage targets in the quickest amount of time. Capers may reflect a moment in history, a scene from a movie or part of a story that gives a feeling of going back to a time when gangsters made Tommy Guns roar! Most importantly participants must be safe, maintain good sportsmanship and have fun.

Oh come on, Tactical Tommys, lighten up...it's supposed to be fun! Shuck those 5.11s, the tactical vests, Oakley shades and boots, and that long-billed baseball cap with the SureFire logo and light up a nice Thompson!

Besides, while you can argue all you want about the efficacy of a Single Action Army as a self-defense tool, you gotta give it up for 1911 Super .38s, .45 Thompsons and that every-popular Browning A5/Remington Model 11.