JM
“That
will
forever
be in my mind as a gun that really told a story.”
AO: What’s more interesting, the gun
or the story? would you give to those who may be
just starting out?
JM: That’s a good question. I think ulti-
mately it is the story behind the gun, or
the story that involves the gun. For me
– being an actor – the story is every-
thing. I’m not a prop guy, and a gun is
somewhat of a prop, but the gun itself
tells a story, so the gun can sometimes
be the storyteller. We did an episode of
Gun Stories where we shot on my
grandfather’s farm in Oklahoma that he
got after coming over from Sicily, and I
was able to visit his grave. I was also ac-
tually able to shoot his original shotgun
on the farm, something that hadn’t been
done on that farm since he died in 1928.
To be able to do an episode where I
picked up that gun and shot it is so very
special to me. That will forever be in my
mind as a gun that really told a story. JM: First of all, as with anything, my ad-
vice would be to first get excellent pro-
fessional instruction, especially with
firearms. The last thing you want to do
is say, “I think I want to shoot a gun,” and
then just try to acquire one and go out
and start shooting it somewhere, think-
ing that that’s the way to do it. Whether
you’re taking up sport shooting, golf,
tennis, swimming – anything – you
want to do your research before you
start and then seek high-level profes-
sional instruction. With shooting sports,
a lot of it is easy to access. You can sim-
ply contact the NRA for a list of pro-
grams, from gun clubs to other things,
depending on where you live. But do
your research, because the main thing,
especially with firearms, is you want to
make sure that you’re handling them
safely and sanely. Once you learn those
aspects of it, then you’ve got a whole
AO: If you could give some advice
about sport shooting, what advice
90 | Spring 2018 | Adventure Outdoors
new world that is open to you. There
are lots of possibilities and different
types of shooting sports that you can
get involved with.
AO: Gun Stories is one of the more ed-
ucational and historically stimulating
programs on the Outdoor Channel.
How did the idea for the show come
about?
JM: Initially Tim Cremin from the Out-
door Channe l presented it to me. He
approached me over 8 years ago and
told me that they had an idea for a show
that would delve into the history of
firearms, and I think he read some-
where that I was somewhat of a shoot-
ing aficionado, and wanted to see if I’d
be interested. Lo and behold, I was. So,
it was really nothing more complicated
than that. It sounded like it would be a
lot of fun so I decided to give it a shot
and clearly I enjoyed it because I’m still
here!