Carey McWilliams (marksman)

Carey McWilliams (born July 5, 1973 in Fargo, North Dakota) is an American author, marksman and predator hunter.

Carey McWilliams
Born (1973-07-05) July 5, 1973
Fargo, North Dakota, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
OccupationAuthor, marksman, predator hunter
Spouse(s)
Victoria McWilliams
​
(m. 2004)​
Websitehttp://www.careymcwilliams.com/

He gained worldwide fame in 2001, when he became the first blind person to acquire a concealed weapons permit to allow him to carry a firearm for self-defense. His achievement made global headlines, travelling as far as the UPI and the National Enquirer, among others. Soon after, the documentary Bowling for Columbine featured him.

Life

McWilliams was born the son of Janice McWilliams. His blindness, caused by a late-blooming birth defect that failed to appear at birth, occurred at age ten. Despite complete blindness, at age 14, McWilliams joined the Civil Air Patrol, where he had the opportunity to copilot many small aircraft and tour an active ICBM launch facility at Whitman Air Force Base, Missouri. It was through the cadet program that he learned to disassemble, clean, reassemble and fire his first gun, the M16.

After passing a pistol marksmanship course through the Army ROTC with a GPA of 4.0 at age eighteen, McWilliams went on to achieve world fame age twenty-seven, when he passed all shooting and written exams to receive his first concealed weapons permit from North Dakota. In 2005, he became a figure in the National Gun Debate when he publicly opposed a move by his home state’s legislature to remove the shooting portion of the CCW permit, stating that such allowed the carrying of loaded firearms by individuals who may have no knowledge of safe gun operation. Despite opposition from many sides of the issue, in 2007, he pursued other state’s carry permits, obtaining a second CCW from the state of Utah, allowing him to carry a firearm in most of the United States with reciprocity. After over a decade, he still carries a loaded firearm in public for self-defense.

McWilliams married singer and minister Victoria Rice from Moorhead, Minnesota, on May 25, 2004 in Germany. Rice has cerebral palsy.

In 2008, McWilliams became an avid outdoorsman, hooking sharks and tarpon, while hunting deer and elk by rifle, shotgun, and crossbow. even Savage Arms CEO, Ron Coburn, marveled at a 156-yard shot McWilliams made on an antelope from a standing vehicle. His wing shooting of ducks, doves, and pheasants also earned him a place in the history books as the first case of a totally blind hunter downing a variety of birds in flight.

On August 16, 2011, McWilliams made a different kind of history by traveling to the Florida Everglades, harvesting by 44-magnum bangstick an over 11-foot, estimated between quarter-ton and half-ton bull alligator. Standing on the mud between two gators of about equal length, he killed his gator at a frightening range of six inches during this night hunt on shore. After obtaining the legal rights to his new title of World’s First Totally Blind Alligator Hunter, he took a second major predator in a possible Boon and Crocket, around 300-pound Idaho black bear at ground level on May 31, 2012, at 60 yards with his personal 30.06 bolt-action rifle. Adding Totally Blind Bear Hunter to the list, McWilliams continues hunting dangerous game, while promoting the outdoors to the disabled through his website.

Bibliography
  • Carey McWilliams: Moonlight's Meridian: Nuclear Terrorism And the Undead, Red Lead Books 2005 - ISBN 0-8059-8029-6
  • Carey McWilliams: Guide Dogs and Guns: America's First Blind Marksman Fires Back, Airleaf Publishing 2007 - ISBN 978-1-60002-295-1
Republished: Washington, D.C.: National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress, 2008.
Dewey No.: 362.41092 B ANF
Book Number: RC 65699 (2 sound cassettes (C-90): analog, 15/16 ips, 4 track, mono.
Book Number: DB 65699 (access: downloadable talking book)
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.nls/db.65699
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