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.
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. Despite being totally blind, at age 14, McWilliams joined the Civil Air Patrol, where he had the opportunity to copilot many small aircraft and tour an active ICBM launch facility at Whitman Air Force Base, Missouri. It was through the cadet program that he learned to disassemble, clean, reassemble and fire his first gun, the M16.
After passing a pistol marksmanship course through the Army ROTC with a GPA of 4.0 at age eighteen, McWilliams went on to achieve world fame age twenty-seven, when he passed all shooting and written exams to receive his concealed weapons permit from North Dakota. In 2005, he became a figure in the National Gun Debate when he publicly opposed a move by North Dakota’s state legislature to remove the shooting portion of the CCW permit, stating that such allowed the carrying of loaded firearms by individuals who may never have even touched a gun before. To bring this problem to the forefront, in 2007, he pursued other state’s carry permits, obtaining a second CCW from the state of Utah, allowing him to carry a firearm in a total of 32 states with reciprocity. After a decade, he still carries a loaded gun for self-defense.
McWilliams married singer and minister Victoria Rice from Moorhead, Minnesota, on May 25, 2004 in Germany. Rice has cerebral palsy.
In 2008, McWilliams entered the sports of hunting and fishing, hooking sharks and tarpon, while hunting deer and elk by rifle, shotgun, and crossbow. His wing shooting of ducks, doves, and pheasants earned him a place in the history books as the first case of a totally blind hunter downing birds in flight. He then demonstrated his marksmanship to Savage Arms CEO, Ron Coburn, who thrilled at the making of a 156-yard shot on an antelope.
On August 16th, 2011, Mcwilliams traveled to the heart of the Everglades to harvest by 44-magnum bangstick an 11-foot, quarter-ton bull alligator at pointblank range during a night hunt on shore. Now quite possably the World’s First Totally Blind Alligator Hunter, he currently promotes the outdoors to the disabled through his website http://www.careymcwilliams.com.