David W. Arnold, known to many here as a writer/editor of gun books and magazines, died on Nov. 5.
I first encountered him as a pen pal many years ago, when he was a police supervisor in then-Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. Still have some African animal carvings that he sent to me then.
Dave was born in East London, South Africa in 1939, and following army service in tanks, moved to Rhodesia where he joined the British South Africa Police, a famed force similar in reputation to the RCMP in Canada. He rose to become a counter-terrorism expert who was later a consultant in this field for the Rand Corporation.
Emigrating to the USA in the 1980's he initially trained security officers, then joined Petersen Publishing. He wrote a couple of books on his own, also. One, "Shoot a Handgun", has been printed in both his native South Africa and in the US. It is one of the best volumes of its kind, ever. He was a member of the Rhodesian national pistol team that won the IPSC event some years ago.
There isn't space here for all of his achievements, so I will refer you to the two-page obituary in the Feb/Mar, 2005, "Handguns" (formerly "Petersen's Handguns"), which is in bookstores now. The obit. writer notes that what would have been boulders in many a man's path were seen by Dave as stepping stones. He even learned to drive,type, and shoot with one hand following a stroke that cost him the use of an arm a few years ago.
We corresponded for awhile, and I count myself fortunate to have finally met him at the SHOT show one year. The world is the poorer for his loss, and my prayers will go up for his widow, Pat (a very talented artist) and their family and close friends. He was a man among men. He will be missed.
Lone Star
I first encountered him as a pen pal many years ago, when he was a police supervisor in then-Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. Still have some African animal carvings that he sent to me then.
Dave was born in East London, South Africa in 1939, and following army service in tanks, moved to Rhodesia where he joined the British South Africa Police, a famed force similar in reputation to the RCMP in Canada. He rose to become a counter-terrorism expert who was later a consultant in this field for the Rand Corporation.
Emigrating to the USA in the 1980's he initially trained security officers, then joined Petersen Publishing. He wrote a couple of books on his own, also. One, "Shoot a Handgun", has been printed in both his native South Africa and in the US. It is one of the best volumes of its kind, ever. He was a member of the Rhodesian national pistol team that won the IPSC event some years ago.
There isn't space here for all of his achievements, so I will refer you to the two-page obituary in the Feb/Mar, 2005, "Handguns" (formerly "Petersen's Handguns"), which is in bookstores now. The obit. writer notes that what would have been boulders in many a man's path were seen by Dave as stepping stones. He even learned to drive,type, and shoot with one hand following a stroke that cost him the use of an arm a few years ago.
We corresponded for awhile, and I count myself fortunate to have finally met him at the SHOT show one year. The world is the poorer for his loss, and my prayers will go up for his widow, Pat (a very talented artist) and their family and close friends. He was a man among men. He will be missed.
Lone Star
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