Hits and misses from SigEp's intro to Shotgun with the NRA

We had a post about this earlier, but now we have "Genuine Official Video from the NRA".

Hits and misses from SigEp's intro to Shotgun with the NRA

Centreville, Virginia - When members of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity made it up our way from Richmond's Virginia Commonwealth University, we decided to take a few cameras along to memorialize the occasion.

Above are some highlights (and lowlights) from the day's event.

Held at the Arlington Fairfax Chapter of the Izaak Walton League, the event was an introduction into the shotgun realm for most. With staff from NRA headquarters on hand, most took to the clays with the greatest of ease. Sure, there were a few stumbles at first, but everyone ultimately found their way.

If you'd like to try your hand at shotgun, head over to www.nrainstructors.org, click find a course, and start searching in your area. Soon enough, you'll be cracking clays of your own.

Sporting shotguns and breaking clays with VCU's SigEp | Survival

This brotherhood experience may not be for everyone but these guys from VA Commonwealth University - SEC had a fun and instructive outing. And they are much better prepared for the Zombie Apocalypse. 

Sporting shotguns and breaking clays with VCU's SigEp | Survival

It appears that our summer intern just can’t let go.
After bringing his brothers (from the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity) up from Virginia Commonwealth University for an afternoon of shotgun lessons, our Mister James Poole filed this report with NRAblog.

Centreville, Virginia – As the fog cleared that morning, blazers and bowties were turned in for shooting vests and 12 gauge shells. The students of Virginia Commonwealth University were on “Fall Break” and the fraternity brothers of Sigma Phi Epsilon (SigEp) took the opportunity to participate in a private Trap Shooting Clinic hosted by NRA Education and Training.

The SigEp brothers started the day with a safety briefing on shotguns and proper Trap Shooting etiquette. The brothers then took positions on the shooting line where they were given 1-on-1 coaching from NRA staff. When everyone was ready, the clays started flying. Cheers roared out as they began breaking target after target, it was obvious they were fast learners.

After two rounds the novice shooters had become pros (even if only in their own minds). Comparing scores and bragging about shots they crushed; you would never believe some of them had never handled a shotgun before.

For Abducted Guards, Iraq Wasn't Just About Money - washingtonpost.com

The Washington post has this update on a story we have been following (Previous posts here and here) It is an in-depth article with additional video footage of Jonathan Cotes.

ON MAIN SUPPLY ROUTE TAMPA, Iraq -- Surrounded by darkness, an AK-47 at his side, Jonathon Cote considered his future from the driver's seat of a black Chevy Avalanche hurtling through southern Iraq early last November.

Months earlier, Cote had been a reluctant accounting major at the University of Florida, a popular 23-year-old freshman who'd enrolled after four years in the Army. Cote pledged Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and collected $5 covers at a bar called the Whiskey Room. He drove a red Yamaha R1 motorcycle around campus until one evening he did a wheelie and was arrested for drunk driving.

Broke and despondent, Cote spoke to an Army buddy, who told him he could make $7,000 a month protecting supply convoys in Iraq. On his days off, his friend told him, he'd get to go jet-skiing on the Persian Gulf. Cote was concerned that he might lose his Florida driver's license, but in Iraq he would pilot a company "gun truck" with a belt-fed machine gun mounted in back.

"Basically I was looking for a feeling that I didn't have, and this job provided that," Cote said, his iPod set to shuffle as he steered his truck through the soft Iraqi night. "It's a distraction from the DUI, how I couldn't find a degree that I liked in college. And then there's the money. I have $30,000, and I'm going back to school with a plan."

"Life-threatening situations straighten you up fast," he said.

He had already announced his intention to return home on his U.S. voice mail and had picked a new major, exercise physiology.

On Nov. 16, Cote's plan was undone by the realities of Iraq. Driving their gun trucks along the same stretch of highway where he had sketched his future, he and four colleagues from Crescent Security Group, a small private firm, were ambushed and taken hostage. The status of the four Americans and one Austrian, 25-year-old Bert Nussbaumer of Vienna, is unknown. Cote's 24th birthday passed Feb. 11. His drunk-driving case was dismissed after the seizure.

For Abducted Guards, Iraq Wasn't Just About Money - washingtonpost.com

FLASH! At least 20 dead in campus shootings - CNN.com

Update 6:30 PM CDT: Va Kappa Chapter President Chandler Givins reports all SigEp members are accounted for and are unharmed. VA Kappa chapter web site has been updated.

Update 4:30 PM CDT: Va Tech Press conference reports a total of 33 deaths, including the shooter. Investigation is ongoing.
Link to VA Kappa chapter web site has been updated with a statement from the chapter president.

Update 3:00 PM CDT: CNN reports 32 dead, including the shooter. President Bush makes public statment of sorrow and pledges administration support for investigation.

Update 1:30 PM CDT: CNN reports 31 dead, 29 wounded.

• Link to VA Tech web page with latest information.
• Link to VA Kappa chapter web site.

No news yet on status of individual members.

Update 11:51 CDT: CNN reports 22 dead. Comparing it to Columbine and Chas. Whitman at U of Texas in '64.

I don't know what is happening here, but it looks ugly. Anyone on scene please comment.

The Virginia Tech Police Chief said at least 20 people were killed in twin shootings on the Blacksburg campus Monday morning.

"Some victims were shot in a classroom," Chief Wendell Flinchum said, adding that the gunman was dead.

President Charles Steger called the shootings "a tragedy of monumental proportions."

Chief: At least 20 dead in campus shootings - CNN.com

Chapel Hill Student Shooting Follow Up

Former student faces charges
By Jessica Rocha, Staff Writer

CHAPEL HILL --A former UNC student is in Raleigh's Central Prison after police say he shot himself in the hand and then days later hit his girlfriend with his casted hand.

Robert Blair Hunter, 21, of 207 W. Cameron Ave., home of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, was arrested Feb. 22 at UNC Hospitals on assault, drug possession and firearms charges.

As of last week, Hunter remained in Central Prison in lieu of $12,500 bail, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Office.

On Feb. 13, Hunter sought treatment at UNC Hospitals for a gunshot wound to his right hand, said a police spokeswoman, Jane Cousins. He originally told police he had been shot after wrestling a gun from two men demanding his wallet in downtown Chapel Hill, but he later said he shot himself.

Hunter is accused of hitting his girlfriend in the head with his keys, his fist and with his cast during an argument Feb. 19, Cousins said.

Then about 2 a.m. Thursday, Hunter was pulled over near the 300 block of West Rosemary Street. Police found a marijuana joint, a "smoking device" and 1.7 grams of cocaine, Cousins said.

Hunter was charged with assault with a deadly weapon inflicting injury, discharging a firearm in town limits, marijuana possession, cocaine possession, possession of drug paraphernalia and making a false police report, according to an arrest report.

Hunter's next scheduled court date is Friday.

Chapter of the Week?

(Here is the picture again. We lost it for a while, but "it got better.")


With all the news lately of hazing accusations, gunshot wounds, and fighting, we thought this picture best represents the way Sig Ep has been portrayed in the media lately. I sure hope the guys at the CLAs are learning better than that.

As they used to say on Hill Street Blues - "Let's be careful out there!"

From an undisclosed location...
I am Diogenes and I approved this message

Doing Shots - The hard way

Don't try this at home, folks.

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Police curious about man's shot to hand

Chapel Hill police are investigating how a UNC-Chapel Hill fraternity member shot himself in the hand.
[...]
The incident happened at 207 W. Cameron Ave., the home of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, according to a police report.

Hmmm. I'd say alcohol may have been involved.

newsobserver.com | Police curious about man's shot to hand