Drizzt
Member
The Associated Press State & Local Wire
May 30, 2003, Friday, BC cycle
10:41 AM Eastern Time
SECTION: State and Regional
LENGTH: 1012 words
HEADLINE: NRA member wears gun, Second Amendment beliefs proudly
BYLINE: By KEVIN WOSTER, Rapid City Journal
DATELINE: RAPID CITY, S.D.
BODY:
Sitting at his desk at the family business in Rapid City, 81-year-old Jack First wears the well-clipped mustache and gentle smile of a Main Street shopkeeper - a tailor, perhaps, or a master in watch or shoe repair.
But he also wears a .40-caliber handgun on his hip, just in case.
Because gentle smile or not, Jack First, a former U.S. Marine Corps sergeant who survived the World War II bloodbath at Iwo Jima, is well trained and fully prepared to defend himself with a firearm.
He's just as committed to defending what he considers to be this nation's pre-eminent constitutional freedom - the right of private citizens to own and use firearms.
"Only free people have weapons," First says in a soft voice that is both unthreatening and unwavering. "The Second Amendment is the right that protects all of our other rights."
First fought for those rights 58 years ago on that tiny Pacific island, honeycombed with bunkers and tunnels and resolute Japanese soldiers. He was nearby when a war photographer captured the inspirational image of his Marine Corps comrades laboring to raise the Stars and Stripes on a muddy hilltop of Iwo Jima.
"I was down at the base of the hill," First says. "We were all pleased to see the flag go up. We thought it would be easy after that. But that was just the start, the fifth day. It got tough after that."
For 31 more days the battle raged, with U.S. casualty rates that ran into the hundreds each day, First says.
"Nobody paid any attention to it," he says. "It was just something we had to do."
He feels the same about his lifelong defense of the Second Amendment and guns. It's something he has to do.
That commitment, along with his career as a gunsmith and parts supplier and his work as a gun-safety instructor, inspired the National Rifle Association to name First as America's 1st Freedom NRA Member of the Year.
The NRA gives the annual award, along with a story in the organization's magazine, America's 1st Freedom, to citizens who have made outstanding efforts to protect the Second Amendment.
Mark Chesnut, editor of America's 1st Freedom, said First was a unanimous choice from a strong field of nominees.
"Everybody agreed that he deserved the award, based on his many years of hard work to protect the Second Amendment, as well as the recruiting, working with legislators and volunteering in hunter safety instruction," Chesnut said. "He's quite a man. Our generation could use more like him."
Since he began as an apprentice gunsmith at 17, First has used, fixed and sold guns and their parts. When he returned from the war, he opened a gun shop in Lancaster, Calif., became noted for top-notch customer service as well as gun parts that other shops didn't offer. For 40 years, he ran the store in California, eventually being joined by his daughter, Nancy Errea, and her husband, Marty.
They moved to Rapid City a few years ago to escape the crime and increasingly stringent gun regulations in their home state.
There were other factors, too, First said. "First, the people here are nicer," he said. "And the crime is so much less. Friends back in California ask how I can stand the snow and cold out here. I say, 'I just put on a coat."'
Under the coat is a firearm, of course. First wears the .40-caliber Browning for self-protection but even more as a statement about his love for guns and gun freedoms. He hasn't fired at another human being since the war, although he did pull his handgun while working with the police reserve in California.
At his age, First could be spending his days looking back on a long life of adventure and accomplishments. But he prefers to look ahead - to the stacks of guns and gun parts that await his deft touch, and to the responsibility he carries to continue supporting gun owners. He does it all cheerfully.
"I like to work. I get up in the morning and think, 'By golly, I get to go to work again,"' First says. "I've got at least 20 years of work ahead of me right now."
That work most immediately means sitting at his bench in the parts area of the business, dismantling obsolete firearms to salvage parts for sale throughout the United States and other nations. F
First has turned over operation of Jack First Inc. to his daughter and son-in-law. But he still works from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., six days a week. "My wife won't let me work on Sundays anymore, darn it," First says, with just the hint of a grin under his white mustache. "That woman is just unreasonable."
Jack and Phyllis First have been married 56 years. She helped build the business for most of that time and still helps out at the store during busy times, but never on Sunday.
First was nominated for the NRA award by his granddaughter, Emily Berg, who lives in California and coordinates the Second Amendment Sisters program. Emily's mom, Nancy Errea, is the coordinator for the program in South Dakota. Nancy's older sister, Gail, is state coordinator for Texas. A third sister, Sue, lives in California, where she is an accomplished shooter and active proponent of the Second Amendment.
"Daddy had three daughters, so we kind of owed it to him to get involved," Nancy said.
The three sisters learned early about guns and gun rights. They also learned from the attitudes of teachers in their elementary schools in California that there was a strong distaste for guns among a segment of the population.
First believes such feelings result from a poor understanding of the Second Amendment and of the values of private gun ownership. He continues to preach that philosophy as well as to teach gun safety, something he began in 1954.
Gun safety programs have long been NRA priorities that receive little public attention but have saved lives for decades, First says. He makes that point, as he does all the others in support of the NRA, with soft-spoken conviction, something his friends and family have come to expect.
"I never heard Daddy swear around the house," Nancy Errea said. "I never heard him raise his voice, ever. He didn't have to."
May 30, 2003, Friday, BC cycle
10:41 AM Eastern Time
SECTION: State and Regional
LENGTH: 1012 words
HEADLINE: NRA member wears gun, Second Amendment beliefs proudly
BYLINE: By KEVIN WOSTER, Rapid City Journal
DATELINE: RAPID CITY, S.D.
BODY:
Sitting at his desk at the family business in Rapid City, 81-year-old Jack First wears the well-clipped mustache and gentle smile of a Main Street shopkeeper - a tailor, perhaps, or a master in watch or shoe repair.
But he also wears a .40-caliber handgun on his hip, just in case.
Because gentle smile or not, Jack First, a former U.S. Marine Corps sergeant who survived the World War II bloodbath at Iwo Jima, is well trained and fully prepared to defend himself with a firearm.
He's just as committed to defending what he considers to be this nation's pre-eminent constitutional freedom - the right of private citizens to own and use firearms.
"Only free people have weapons," First says in a soft voice that is both unthreatening and unwavering. "The Second Amendment is the right that protects all of our other rights."
First fought for those rights 58 years ago on that tiny Pacific island, honeycombed with bunkers and tunnels and resolute Japanese soldiers. He was nearby when a war photographer captured the inspirational image of his Marine Corps comrades laboring to raise the Stars and Stripes on a muddy hilltop of Iwo Jima.
"I was down at the base of the hill," First says. "We were all pleased to see the flag go up. We thought it would be easy after that. But that was just the start, the fifth day. It got tough after that."
For 31 more days the battle raged, with U.S. casualty rates that ran into the hundreds each day, First says.
"Nobody paid any attention to it," he says. "It was just something we had to do."
He feels the same about his lifelong defense of the Second Amendment and guns. It's something he has to do.
That commitment, along with his career as a gunsmith and parts supplier and his work as a gun-safety instructor, inspired the National Rifle Association to name First as America's 1st Freedom NRA Member of the Year.
The NRA gives the annual award, along with a story in the organization's magazine, America's 1st Freedom, to citizens who have made outstanding efforts to protect the Second Amendment.
Mark Chesnut, editor of America's 1st Freedom, said First was a unanimous choice from a strong field of nominees.
"Everybody agreed that he deserved the award, based on his many years of hard work to protect the Second Amendment, as well as the recruiting, working with legislators and volunteering in hunter safety instruction," Chesnut said. "He's quite a man. Our generation could use more like him."
Since he began as an apprentice gunsmith at 17, First has used, fixed and sold guns and their parts. When he returned from the war, he opened a gun shop in Lancaster, Calif., became noted for top-notch customer service as well as gun parts that other shops didn't offer. For 40 years, he ran the store in California, eventually being joined by his daughter, Nancy Errea, and her husband, Marty.
They moved to Rapid City a few years ago to escape the crime and increasingly stringent gun regulations in their home state.
There were other factors, too, First said. "First, the people here are nicer," he said. "And the crime is so much less. Friends back in California ask how I can stand the snow and cold out here. I say, 'I just put on a coat."'
Under the coat is a firearm, of course. First wears the .40-caliber Browning for self-protection but even more as a statement about his love for guns and gun freedoms. He hasn't fired at another human being since the war, although he did pull his handgun while working with the police reserve in California.
At his age, First could be spending his days looking back on a long life of adventure and accomplishments. But he prefers to look ahead - to the stacks of guns and gun parts that await his deft touch, and to the responsibility he carries to continue supporting gun owners. He does it all cheerfully.
"I like to work. I get up in the morning and think, 'By golly, I get to go to work again,"' First says. "I've got at least 20 years of work ahead of me right now."
That work most immediately means sitting at his bench in the parts area of the business, dismantling obsolete firearms to salvage parts for sale throughout the United States and other nations. F
First has turned over operation of Jack First Inc. to his daughter and son-in-law. But he still works from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., six days a week. "My wife won't let me work on Sundays anymore, darn it," First says, with just the hint of a grin under his white mustache. "That woman is just unreasonable."
Jack and Phyllis First have been married 56 years. She helped build the business for most of that time and still helps out at the store during busy times, but never on Sunday.
First was nominated for the NRA award by his granddaughter, Emily Berg, who lives in California and coordinates the Second Amendment Sisters program. Emily's mom, Nancy Errea, is the coordinator for the program in South Dakota. Nancy's older sister, Gail, is state coordinator for Texas. A third sister, Sue, lives in California, where she is an accomplished shooter and active proponent of the Second Amendment.
"Daddy had three daughters, so we kind of owed it to him to get involved," Nancy said.
The three sisters learned early about guns and gun rights. They also learned from the attitudes of teachers in their elementary schools in California that there was a strong distaste for guns among a segment of the population.
First believes such feelings result from a poor understanding of the Second Amendment and of the values of private gun ownership. He continues to preach that philosophy as well as to teach gun safety, something he began in 1954.
Gun safety programs have long been NRA priorities that receive little public attention but have saved lives for decades, First says. He makes that point, as he does all the others in support of the NRA, with soft-spoken conviction, something his friends and family have come to expect.
"I never heard Daddy swear around the house," Nancy Errea said. "I never heard him raise his voice, ever. He didn't have to."
