Carey McWilliams (marksman)
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Carey McWilliams (born July 5, 1973 in Fargo, North Dakota) is an American author, marksman and skydiver.
He gained worldwide fame in 2001, when he became the first blind person to acquire a concealed weapons permit to allow him to carry a firearm for self-defense. His achievement made global headlines, travelling as far as the UPI and the National Inquirer, among others. Soon after, the documentary Bowling for Columbine featured him.
[edit] Life
McWilliams was born as the son of Janice McWilliams. His blindness, caused by a late blooming birth defect that failed to appear at birth, occurred at age ten, when he hit puberty and his bones began to fuse together. Despite his blindness, at age 14, McWilliams joined the Air Force Auxiliary, where he received training in the proper use of firearms. After taking a pistol marksmenship course through the Army ROTC at age eighteen, McWilliams went on to achieve world fame age twenty-seven, when he got his concealed weapons permit.
When taking his concealed weapons test, McWilliams received 105 out of 100 possible points. He hit the reflector, the bullet bounced back through the target, and that resulted in an additional five points added to his perfect score.
McWilliams married singer Victoria Rice from Moorhead, Minnesota, on May 25, 2004. Rice has cerebral palsy. They currently live in Fargo, ND.
McWilliams' first book, a work of fiction involving vampires and nuclear holocaust, Moonlight's Meridian: Nuclear Terrorism and the Undead, was published in 2005. His second book, an autobiography, Guide Dogs and Guns: America's First Blind Marksman Fires Back was published in January 2007.
[edit] Literature
- Carey McWilliams: Moonlight's Meridian: Nuclear Terrorism And the Undead, Red Lead Books 2005 - ISBN 0805980296
- Carey McWilliams: Guide Dogs and Guns: America's First Blind Marksman Fires Back, Airleaf Publishing 2007 - ISBN 978-1-60002-295-1
