Gunsite Academy turns 50 this year and CEO Sheriff Ken Campbell dishes on this monumental period. We talked about custom guns, their charity shoot, and even cigars and rye whiskey.
While attending the 2026 National Rifle Association Annual Meeting, Campbell stopped by to discuss Gunsite’s 50th anniversary, the academy, their charity shoot, beginners getting involved at Gunsite, youth camp, and much more. This interview was made possible by Beretta Holding, the sponsor of the Voices of the Second Amendment at the NRAAM.
The Gunsite Academy was founded in 1976 by Lt. Col. Jeff Cooper. When the academy originally launched it was named the American Pistol Institute. Buz Mills purchased the American Pistol Institute in 1999 and named the facility Gunsite. Sheriff Ken Campbell started teaching at the academy in 1992, became the chief operating officer in 2014, and has been the CEO of Gunsite since 2019. He’s excited about this big year for the organization.
“Life’s better than I deserve,” Campbell said when asked how he was doing at the NRAAM. On the topic of what Gunsite even is, he chided that he and the marketing director are doing a lousy job if people don’t know. Succinctly, Campbell said that Gunsite is like Disneyland with guns.
“The legendary Jeff Cooper founded Gunsite in 1976,” Campbell said. “When they opened the doors, it was 162 acres. There were two square ranges — traditional ranges — one live-fire shoot house and one outdoor live-fire simulator. 50 years later, we’re over 3,200 acres. We have 27 ranges — that we admit to the insurance company. We have multiple live-fire indoor and outdoor simulators.”
Campbell said that they “keep good Americans alive” and teach gunfighting skills. “We’re not a competition-based school,” he said. “We’re teaching you how to fight with your pistol, carbine, shotgun, general rifle, (or) edged weapon …”
Gunsite is celebrating their 50th anniversary all year long, with some events already passed since chatting with him in April. Campbell said that the big celebration will be occurring on Oct. 3 during their annual Alumni Match. Annually the academy has a special benefit fundraiser match open only to alumni of the program.
“The alumni shoot’s always the first Saturday in October, and it’s a charity match,” Campbell explained. “Our great instructors donate their time and their travel. We donate the ranges, and we do a charity match.” He said that the proceeds go to the Jeff Cooper Legacy Foundation, a 501(c)(3). The foundation was started by Cooper’s family after his passing and they grant scholarships to people looking to attend classes at the academy.
Campbell said that there’s going to be a pretty significant prize table at the charity shoot, “I don’t mean hats and t- shirts.” He said that there’s going to be an array of prizes from generous industry partners including items like Mossberg shotguns, Vang Comp shotguns, Aero Precision rifles, Crimson Trace products, and items from SureFire.
What else does Campbell and the team have rolling out to celebrate the 50th anniversary?
“Two special things we’re doing is Granite Mountain Distillery is in Prescott, Arizona, they are doing the Gunsite Range Master Reserve Rye with our own label on it, and that’ll be available with the GAS match,” Campbell noted. “And then, being many of us are cigar guys, we’re having a Gunsite label cigar as part of our celebration … Because shooting and a good drink after you put the guns away and a cigar are great things.”
While the Gunsite Academy is a top-rated facility that provides intense training, you don’t have to be a bona fide sharpshooter or tactical junkie to come on out and take a class. When asked about people who say, “Well, I’m not the best shooter. What should I do? Should I come? Should I not come? I’m worried about embarrassing myself.” Campbell said, “don’t be” and that their main focus is catering to everyday people.
“A lot of people think that our primary business is law enforcement and military, and we are very proud of the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, Coasties, Space Force that come and take classes with us,” Campbell explained. “We’re very proud of the law enforcement, whether it’s that little bitty police department that the officer or the deputy has saved their nickels and dimes to get there, or whether it’s those alphabet agencies that we’re not supposed to talk about that come and take training, that’s not our primary business. You are our primary business. I call them Earth people.”
Part of that business model involves teaching people how to keep themselves and their families safe and alive. The academy will cater to every level of experience. “Whether you come in and you’re saying, ‘Can you help me open this box and make this work?’ or you’re coming in with some skill sets, we work with both,” Campbell said.
“Please, please don’t be intimidated,” he continued. “And ladies, you’re a big part of the firearms industry now. We do some ladies only classes. And guys, if you’re watching and listening, plug your ears. Ladies, perk up here. You’re better students than the men are.”
For the true novice shooters, Gunsite Academy has been teaching a 101-level beginner class just over the last half decade now. The Day Zero class is taught prior to an accompanying five-day class.
“‘Day Zero’ is a new course offered for the novice or new gun owner who lacks knowledge or experience in gun handling and marksmanship,” the Gunsite website says. “We have found our first training day in the 250 Pistol Class goes by very quickly and may be overwhelming to the new gun owner. So, we took the 250 Monday morning class and turned it into a separate full day on Sunday, the day before, so you’re fully prepared for the next morning.”
The class is a mix between classroom and range time and covers a bunch of different entry-level topics such as “types of guns, holsters, belts and loading devices.” Campbell notes that the class “literally is explaining: this is a gun, this is the muzzle, this is the trigger. And so we go, this is a good holster. This is why. This is a bad holster. This is why. And then when we go down range …”
Other things that Campbell said Gunsite has done to celebrate this milestone are a number of custom and collaborative firearms. He said that they’ve partnered with Ruger and Davidson’s to make a 50th anniversary RXM, Steyr is offering limited-run gray stock Jeff Cooper Edition scout rifle, Aero Precision is making a carbine and accessory package, and Shadow Systems is making an anniversary LE edition pistol outfitted with an Aimpoint COA.
In preparation for the big anniversary and to also accommodate record numbers of students, Gunsite has undergone some serious transformations. They’ve put nearly $3 million back into improving the facility.
Campbell said that the last 11 years they’ve been having record numbers of attendees and they’ve run out of classroom space. Some of the upgrades include more classrooms, larger bathrooms, new instructor quarters, a new “mess deck” that seats 125 diners, and a new maintenance barn.
For those who are thinking that Gunsite is just an adult-only destination, think again. Campbell talked about their hugely popular “send your youth to gun camp” program. It’s geared toward 12-to-16-year-olds. Campbell says it’s more of a maturity-related thing than an age thing. Participants will go through the exact same course that adults would.
“It is so great to see those young Americans with those young minds,” Campbell mused. He further noted that “the media portrays the bad kids, the good kids don’t get the publicity. Well, these aren’t good kids. These are great kids. These are great Americans.” Kids who are responsible with firearms, Campbell says, are “going to be responsible with drinking and driving and dating and life.”
It was a pleasure to get to sit down and chat with Sheriff Ken Campbell about everything Gunsite. The problem with chatting with a pro like Ken is that it’s so easy and we could have gone on more than three times the amount we discussed the happenings at the Academy. One thing I won’t tell you about is a special habit Brother Campbell has when he’s traveling, for that, you’ll have to tune into the full interview to find out.
For more information about Gunsite Academy, you can head over to Gunsite.com. If you’d like to tune into the full interview with Sheriff Ken Campbell, you can do so HERE or check it out in the embed below.
]]>
Editor’s Note: President Trump and Republicans across the country are doing everything they can to protect our Second Amendment rights and right to self-defense.
Help us continue to report on their efforts and legislative successes. Join Bearing Arms VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.
Read the full article here
