Who Would Have Thought It?

Who would have thought that the dead Libyan dictator Col. Moammar Gaddafi was a devotee of John Moses Browning? In the picture is his gold-plated Browning Hi-Power which was found on him when rebels captured him hiding out in a culvert.

Given that Libya once was ruled by Italy, you would have thought he would have a Beretta 92 or something similar. Conversely, given the close relationship over the years between Libya and the former Soviet Union, it would seem reasonable that he might have carried one of the Eastern Bloc pistols like a Makarov or a Tokarev.

As it is, I can’t fault his taste in pistols however gaudy this specimen might be. He might have been an evil dictator and wacked in the head about a lot of things but this is one thing in my opinion he got right.

The British newspaper,  The Telegraph has a full story on Gaddafi and his golden guns. In addition to the golden Hi-Power, he had a golden AK-74 and a golden Dragunov. Like that other guy with the golden AK, Saddam Hussein, Gaddafi is dead. I guess it could be called the Curse of the Golden AK.

Stephen Camp Passes Away

Stephen A. Camp, probably the Browning Hi-Power expert, has passed away on Friday at the age of 59 from a brain aneurysm. His obituary as published in the Denton Record-Chronicle is below. His website, Hi-Powers and Handguns, was the first place to go to find out anything and everything you wanted to know about the Browning Hi-Power.

For those of us who love the Browning Hi-Power, it is a sad day.

Stephen Allen Camp, 59, of Krum passed away on Friday, May 27, 2011.Steve was born on June 18, 1951, in Fort Worth, TX to Cecil and Taloma Camp. He married Sandy Bailey on August 26, 1999.As a young man Steve became a believer in Jesus Christ at Birdville Baptist Church in Haltom City, Texas.

Steve retired in 1998 from the Denton Police Department after 25 years of loyal and very dedicated service. He left a special legacy at the PD, and many of the people there remember him with love and respect. He left a piece of himself at the Police Department that will remain forever in the hearts of all who knew him. He definitely touched their lives in a very special way.

He had a passion for guns that was legendary. Target practice was a part of his daily life, and he was known as the premier expert on the Browning Hi Power. Many people sought his advice and he was always willing to give of himself to explain anything asked of him, answering emails from perfect strangers on a daily basis. Steve was an accomplished writer who could always express himself very eloquently on paper. After he retired, he started writing manuals about his beloved firearms. He was a self-published author who wrote four gun-related books that were very well received in the gun community. He even wrote one novel that impresses everyone who reads it. He was a very talented man.

Steve lived his life by a strict moral code and expected others to do the same. He could be rigid and uncompromising at times, but he was the most giving, loving, decent man who ever lived. You always knew where you stood with Steve because he would tell you. Everyone who knew him loved him and wanted to be his friend, because Steve was true-blue and always there for those he cared about.

He is survived by his wife, Sandy Camp; mother, Taloma Camp; mother-in-law, Florence Boehnemann; sister, Jan Clifton and husband Tommy; sister-in-law Kathie Boehnemann; niece, Kim Bolton and husband J J; nephew, Clint Jarrett and wife Jinelle; nephew, Stephen Boehnemann and wife Eve; niece, Lauren Hadley and husband Josh; and many other aunts, uncles, cousins and loyal friends.

He was preceded in death by his father, Cecil Camp; father-in-law, Delphine Boehnemann; and brother-in-law, Larry Boehnemann.

Visitation will be in Denton at DeBerry Funeral Directors, 2025 W University, on Tuesday, May 31, from 6:00 to 8:00 pm.

Services will be held at 10:30 am on Wednesday, June 1, at the First United Methodist Church of Denton located at 201 S Locust.

Memorials: Denton Police Officers Association, PO Box 5103, Denton, TX, 76205.