Bruce was born in a typical 1961 suburban family, the youngest of 4 boys.  Living in New Jersey, 20 miles north of New York City, Bruce took an interest in his grandfather’s guns, yet had no land to shoot.  Sometime around age 10 or 11, he began asking his father to take him hunting and shooting.  

Bruce read everything he could on the subject, idolizing the shooting heroes of the time, Olympic Champion Lones Wigger, National Bullseye Champion Bill Blankenship and Jim Clark Sr. His dad told him, “If you’re going to shoot, you’re going to shoot safely” and enrolled Bruce in the NRA 50ft. Small Bore Junior’s Program at a local indoor police range.  Rising thru the ranks, the interest in girls kept him 5 targets short of qualifying for the Distinguished Expert rank before he was too old for the juniors.  

During that time two things happened that shaped the rest of his life.  First of all was the quest for the perfect shot.  Knowing that his heroes started out just like he did, there’s no reason why Bruce couldn’t master shooting as well.  The second thing happened when nobody in his family was available to drive him to the range for a local match.  Bruce, mad and disappointed, grabbed his gun box, equipment bag, and headed out the door on foot.  Sometime during that 30-minute walk to the range, he told himself that when he was to get his driver’s license, he would travel around the country to every match he could.  The seed was planted and his course was set.

Bruce’s shooting remained an, on again off again interest, but perked up in the mid 80’s when IPSC shooting hit the scene.  Attending his first IPSC match, that yearning for perfection took hold again.  Bruce traveled to local NJ & NY area matches, utilizing the limited vacation days allotted at the hydraulic mechanics job he had at the time.  In 1986, Bruce landed his dream job, graduating from the New Jersey State Police Academy and becoming a police officer in the town he grew up in.  The flexible work schedule and greater vacation time allowed Bruce to follow his childhood dream of traveling the country, shooting every match he could.  

Early success didn’t go unrecognized and in 1989, Gary Smith at Caspian Arms took Bruce on as a sponsored shooter.  Since then Bruce has grown into a successful Professional Sponsored Shooter, a respected Police Firearms Instructor, and a determined competitor in NRA Action, Tactical 3-Gun, Sportsman Team Challenge, Masters, or whatever shooting game he sets his mind to.   

Bruce married the love of his life days before the 1993 Bianchi Cup.  He and his beautiful wife Reyhan spent their first wedded week in Columbia Missouri, winning his first match as a married man.  The following year their first child, Deniz was born followed the following year by a beautiful daughter Ariel.  Today, Bruce’s first priority is his wife and family, yet he still finds the time to balance the busy work, shooting and family schedule.   So if you see Bruce at the range sometime, be sure to stop by and ask about his family, his guns, or anything at all.  You see, Bruce will be the first to tell you just how lucky he is because …. He’s living his dream.