Team ProArms
Jon STRAYER is a life-long shooter, who in two short years proceeded from his very first handgun competition to becoming one of only seven of 13,000 members of IDPA (the International Defensive Pistol Association) to earn the title of Five-Gun Master, a feat memorialized on the Association’s website at www.idpa.com under “Five-Gun Classifications.” Jon STRAYER is the current Florida State Champion, and Florida/Georgia Regional Champion, in the Enhanced Service Revolver category. He has won many matches and awards in Florida and elsewhere, and has competed at the national level. He has appeared in many magazine articles in the firearms press. STRAYER is also one of three factory-certified Glock pistol armorers on staff at Pro-Arms.
Terri STRAYER is a long-time Suwannee County resident, remembered by many from the days when she beat all contestants, male and female alike, in long-range IHMSA (International Handgun Metallic Silhouette Association) shooting matches. She is also a former Florida State Woman’s Champion in IDPA. Mrs. STRAYER specializes in teaching women the skills, and the mind-set, that allow them to “beat men at their own games.” She is also a recognized authority on the breeding and training of Rottweilers and similar protection dogs. She, like Jon, is a veteran of multiple national championship “combat shooting” tournaments.
Massad AYOOB served for decades as law enforcement editor of American Handgunner magazine, handgun editor for Guns magazine, and associate editor for Combat Handguns and Guns & Weapons for Law Enforcement magazines. The author of several books and videos on weapons and self-defense, he divides his time between a home in Live Oak, and New Hampshire, where he is still commissioned as a police captain, serving part-time. AYOOB, shooting for Team Pro-Arms, is the current Florida/Georgia regional champion of IDPA in Stock Service Revolver category, and state champion of Florida, Wisconsin, and New Hampshire. He was named Outstanding American Handgunner of the Year in 1998.
Steve DENNEY is a member of Team Pro-Arms who retired to Live Oak after a public safety career in California and Pennsylvania in which he rose to the rank of Captain. His experience includes SWAT team operations. DENNEY has for some time been a regular columnist on firearms and officer safety and survival issues for an electronic media police training organization, officer.com. He has also served on the firearms committee of the American Society of Law Enforcement Trainers, and has attended a huge number of police and firearms training seminars. Steve DENNEY will be the host of the Pro-Arms Podcast Series. He is multiply certified as a firearms instructor, and is also a certified deadly force instructor. DENNEY is also a factory-certified Glock armorer.
Gail PEPIN, RN, moved to Live Oak in 2007 from Chicago, and has already twice won the Regional Woman’s Championship of the International Defensive Pistol Association for the Florida-Georgia region, and has been known to win overall in competition against all male contestants present as well. Extensively trained at major schools around the nation, PEPIN specializes in training other women in self-defense and responsible firearms use. She is an IDPA-certified range safety officer, and a member of Team Pro-Arms. PEPIN is the producer of the Pro-Arms podcast.
Herman GUNTER, III is a long-time Live Oak resident and businessman, and an experienced advocate for gun owners’ civil rights. He is a highly experienced and highly regarded instructor for Florida concealed carry handgun permits, GUNTER is Pro-Arms’ resident specialist on Class III weapons, including fully automatic firearms and sound suppressors. As a Team Pro-Arms shooter, he recently tied for Most Accurate at a hotly contested handgun match in Jacksonville. GUNTER is Pro-Arms’ referral Class III weapons dealer, and a factory certified Glock armorer.
Chris CHRISTIAN is a former U.S. Navy small arms/security force instructor who has spent the last 25 years as an outdoor writer, hunting and fishing guide, and gun book author. He is currently a contributing writer for SHOT Business magazine and the National Shooting Sports Foundation, in addition to numerous other publications. As a pistol competitor shooting for Team Pro-Arms, he has won IDPA Regional Championship trophies, finished in the top 25% overall at the 2007 IDPA National Championship, and became the first competitor in North Florida to win an open IDPA match shooting a six-shot revolver against eleven-shot semiautomatic pistols. An accomplished hunter and hunting guide, CHRISTIAN will be Pro-Arms’ leading consultant on hunting weaponry and gear.
Mike LARNEY is a member of Team Pro-Arms and is a retired New York City police officer who has lived in Suwannee County for many years. He has won many “service gun” matches, and has appeared in national magazines and books as a result of his successful participation in the popular sport of Cowboy Action Shooting (rifle, revolver, and shotgun), where he competes under the “alias” of Roland Darktower. LARNEY will be Pro-Arms’ resident expert on Cowboy Action competition.
Jay Hershberger is the newest member of the Pro Arms sales team. Jay has over four years of experience in serving retail gun shop customers, as well as being a retired tool and die maker. He has been a life-long sportsman, enjoying hunting, fishing and other outdoor activities. He is an NRA Life Member and promoter of our Second Amendment rights. Jay will be working full-time in the Pro Arms gun store.
