--Quorum Unity through Superior Firepower—

On a cold and clear January morning, the McQueen 1st ward militia, aka, the Elders Quorum, caravanned to Casa Grande for a little cathartic mayhem.

Brother Steve Larson provided most of the weaponry which consisted of several fully automatic and semi-automatic rifles. Specifically:

Rifles:

2 x Heckler & Koch (HK) G36 .223/5.56x45mm
2 x HK MP5 .40SW/10mm – Suppressed
2 x HK 53 .223/5.56x45mm
1 Hydromatic (GM) M16A1 .223/5.56x45mm
3 Colt AR15 in various configs but all chambered in .223/5.56x45mm.

1 Romanian AK-47, .308 / 7.62x39

Tim had a single shot .204 with a telescope! It certainly was a beautiful rifle.

Handguns:

Steve had 5 Glocks in various sizes. A couple Glock 22's and his back-up gun a Glock 27 and maybe even a Glock 35. All chambered in .40SW
A SW Semi-auto in .40SW.
Mike C. had his Springfield XD-40 Compact
Tim had a 1911 .45ACP on his hip, but I didn’t get a look at it to know any more.
Tim had a Thompson Center Arms Contender w/ a .44Mag barrel.
A Sig Sauer P229 .40SW

3 Remington 870 shotguns with LE (18”) barrels.
1 HK MP5 9mm

Amped on sugar from the doughnuts we consumed, but even more by the awesome display of lethal hardware sitting serenely on the benches before us, we eagerly listened to Steve as he explained the intricacies of the machinery, and the safety that would be required of all of us.

Palpable excitement coursed through our veins as we watched Budge Johl step to the line, fully automatic rifle in hand. Steve explained the settings on the rifle, how it could be set to operate as a semi-automatic rifle, i.e. it would fire as quickly as you could pull the trigger, or switch the setting and two bullets would fire with a single squeeze; or, how it could be set to fully automatic and fire thirty rounds in less than two seconds. Budge first fired a single round, and then flipped the switch to fire two rounds at once, but the hooting and hollering began as he set the rifle to fully automatic and then discharged the remaining rounds in less time than it took me to type the words, “Good Golly!”

Rhys Childs followed Budge, and then quickly everyone wanted to experience the rush of shooting the automatic rifles.

Steve was quietly diligent as he kept a trained eye on the firing line. A tactical expert, he sacrificed his time, bullets, and shared his rifles, so that the rest of the quorum could have an extremely memorable experience.

President Ox showed all of us why you would never want to be on the opposing side of a well trained Marine in a firefight. He hit everything he aimed at. At two hundred yards, I witnessed him make a small box jump as he gently squeezed the trigger, time and again.

Thank you so much Steve for giving us the opportunity to build camaraderie and experience the thrill of shooting your weapons.

Dan