Still a farm boy at heart, Dave Anderson, had the type of childhood most people only read about these days, “I spent as much time as I could exploring and hunting … building log cabins, making slingshots, bows and arrows,” he recalls from his boyhood days in Minnesota.

His doting parents indulged his love of outdoors and an October 1962 issue of Outdoor Life from his mother changed his life in an instant, “I was astounded to find there were people who loved hunting, fishing, camping and shooting enough to write about just for recreation.”

Dave’s career included stints as an economics teacher, research officer, mediator and farmer. An article he wrote about the practicality of competition shooting got the attention of American Handgunner’s editor in the early 1980s, and by 1988, Dave’s name starting appearing in issues regularly as well as in GUNS Magazine. Years ago, a chance conversation with the head of the FBI’s Firearms Training Unit earned Dave one of the highest compliments he’s received. He was informed his “Better Shooting” columns were the only articles from popular gun publications routinely distributed to instructors.

“I feel with Handgunner and GUNS I started at the top and would as soon not write for the competition. FMG maintains a fairly strict separation of advertising and editorial. I’ve had suggestions about a new product I might find interesting, but it’s always been my choice whether to cover it or not, and I’ve always been free to call ’em as I see ’em.”

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