CX Shooters Supplies

CX Shooters Supplies was founded in 1980 by John & Carol Vaughan as a means to help Police Pistol Combat (P.P.C) shooters in Canada. In the early 80’s, there was a supply void for leather gear, bullets, powder and competition Smith & Wesson hand guns. As John had developed many international contacts from his days of shooting, he began importing P.P.C products into Canada.

CX Shooters Supplies gets its name from a P.P.C term. In P.P.C, an NRA B27 silhouette target is used which has inner and outer ten point rings. The inner ring has an X in the centre that is used to break ties and is referred to as the Centre X. John ran with this term and came up with the name CX Shooters Supplies. In the early days of operation, John would sell P.P.C related products after matches to help pay for the next match. As the company progressed in the mid 80’s, John’s wife Carol and son Shane joined him in shooting P.P.C as well and while John and Carol were shooting, Shane would be selling bullets, leather gear and Smith & Wesson revolvers from the back of John’s truck.

The business began to grow when shooters started requesting other hunting and shooting related products and the Vaughans ended up with a garage full of firearms and firearm related products. John and Shane began travelling to gun shows throughout western Canada, buying and selling product, and building up inventory. In 1995, the family decided to open a store in Morinville, which they ran until 2004 when the store closed down due to John’s illness. After John’s passing in 2007, Carol and Shane decided to re-open in 2009 in the same location as the original store.

Shooting definitely runs in the Vaughan family blood. John set a record using an FN and a Bren gun, as a 17 year old, among the young soldiers from British Columbia. Later, as an RCMP office in 1989, he set a Canadian record in P.P.C shooting—scoring a 1494 – 98X out of 1500 possible points, which at the time was the highest score achieved by a Canadian. Shane was also an avid P.P.C shooter, obtaining the class of master, but his first love was always shotguns. In 2004, he competed in the Canadian Trapshooting Championships at the Edmonton Gun Club, winning the Canadian Handicap Championship with a score of 97 out of 100.

Not only are the Vaughan family involved in shooting, they have also been a part of the firearms industry and legislation since 1976 with John, an RCMP officer at the time, being sent to train all the North Alberta RCMP detachments on the first firearms legislation—Bill C-56—which became the Firearms Act. In the 90’s, John was again called upon to present on behalf of the Alberta Federation of Shooting Sports against Bill C-17.

The owners and staff of CX Shooters Supplies believe that through education and training, every law abiding citizen that wishes to obtain a firearm should be able to. The survival of our industry depends greatly on new shooters, especially women, who are our greatest asset. We in the industry must make shooting a safe and welcoming family activity. Shooting is no longer just a male-centric activity and anyone in the industry can attest to that. There are now numerous new firearms being produced strictly for women and youths from Rugers M77 Compact models to Savages Axis Muddy Girl. The firearm industry in Canada is under constant criticism and scrutiny and our best change of maintaining the industry is through these new shooters. The next time you head to the gun range or go gopher shooting, think about taking your wife, girlfriend or daughter. The greater the number and the diversity of shooters, the better the chance of survival for the industry.