A New Business in the Wild, Wild West!

Pat has made an appearance here before - twice in a post about moving the LSST mirror. He retired from the Mirror Lab the end of January, and is the big part of the reason I'm back to full time there... One of the hardest workers we had there, he chose to leave the stress of the Lab for the stress of being a business owner. With over 25 years in the military and with both of his sons also serving, he is a firearm and shooting expert. So it seemed a natural to open a gun store. Today was the grand opening of Gunsite Pass!




Located near Pantano and 22nd, the shop is located in a little strip mall. Pat and his wife Betty did a huge amount of work over the last few months reforming the place into the haven they envisioned - tile floors, wood paneling and a living room area with sofas and wide screen TV to sit and chat about hunting and guns in general. The plan is to run it with son Alex when he leaves the military in a few weeks.


It was like old home week at the Mirror Lab - at one point, I counted 7 current and former employees from the lab both buying and supporting Pat with their good wishes. Here Kirk, Pat and Ray talk about old times.


Even Melinda got into the act - here, she is bypassing the sniper and hunting rifles on the counter, but buying the little tripod-mounted spotter scope she found on the used shelf. She plans to use it for birding - it has a little window mount, so she can keep it in the car and fasten it to the driver's side window when she spots something.


The place has a nice feel to it - it will be nice to go back and chat sometimes when he isn't so busy, though at the same time, I hope he stays busy and profitable!