American Craftsman: The old Gunsmith

There certainly is something to be said of the unassuming; the people whom you would never expect something from, and there are few who personify this more than a Chicago born Italian named Dan Cooper. Standing just over 5’3’’ with a lazy eye and in his 70s, Dan appears of humble stature but lives a life on many fronts. Through his worn hands one can see that Dan is, at heart a true craftsman, and a master in his trade.

In 1966 Dan was drafted into the military and was to go to Vietnam. He wanted to go but says that God had other plans. Because of his eye he was sent home, much to his dissatisfaction. His father had been in the military, and he was eager to serve his country. Dan found another life in construction, and anything he could do with his hands, and though he never went into the military he followed his passion of guns and gunwork. He and his family moved from Chicago in 1975, to Boaz, Alabama to escape from the crime and high population for a quieter atmosphere. “Too many rats in that cage.” As he put it. When they arrived in rural Boaz, where the highway was still populated by horses and carriages, the land he moved upon was empty. Within a relatively short amount of time that would all change. He borrowed a tractor and cleared that land himself then he built his home, and future workplace from the ground up.

“I started with rifles..” he said. Hunters he knew, “friends and family, and friends of friends..” who needed repair work or needed their rifles sighted in properly. He started with simple projects. Dan had an affinity for the work before he moved, however it soon become clear that he would need to expand his expertise. Dan was a crack shot since his youth, and gun work came naturally to him, but it soon become clear that “this was going to be a full time job”. At the time, in 1979, he was working construction and auto repair out of a small shop he built himself. He was doing decent and could find time to do his gun work on the side; more as a hobby. However, soon he had “more guns coming through the door than cars.” Dan’s work smithing was catching the public eye. He had magnificent work ethic, and cared more about doing the job right, than the money he would get for projects. He also worked with a level of professionalism that stuck with his customers, so much so that, in 1987, a group of doctors donated a trailer for him to use for his gun smithing, because they wanted him to have a proper place to work on their expensive guns. By this point he had already started the Sand Mountain Shooters Club, back in 1981. Throughout his time working with Firearms, and many other interests, he constantly went to the local library, and bought every book he could on any subject he was interested in. His motto in life became that you were never too young to learn, and that every day was a learning experience. In 1990, Dan opened the doors, full time as a gun smith, and as he put it: “and boy, there it went.”

Every year the Cooper family expanded and built new buildings on their property, mostly to accommodate for the expanding business. Soon they opened a restaurant in the upper portion of the shop for customers and shooters who used their range. The shop was a bit out of the way from any place to eat, so “it seemed to make sense.” His wife is a fantastic cook, and they had the family for help, and with God they believed that they can do anything. The restaurant started with two booths and was open on Sundays for family meals. Soon it went from 8 seats, in 18 years, to 48 seats and a line out the door on some days. They grew a table a year to compensate for the growing crowd. Now the shop restaurant: Mama Misitano's, which serves Italian food, is open 11am-2pm Tuesday- Friday, 11am-5pm on Saturday, and noon-3pm on Sundays. The Gun Shop is open 10am-7pm Tuesday-Friday, 10am-6pm on Saturday and Sunday and closed Mondays, except on holidays. His wife wasn’t the only one looking to help with the family business, his son decided against college and wanted to stay and work at the shop.

When Cooper’s son was young, he was into paintball and became quite proficient at it. When he got older they decided that would be an effective way to expand the shop more. Dan, and his son, started working on paintball guns as much as they could legally at the time. To work on many paintball guns, one must have the necessary certifications, to avoid voiding the warranties and other legal hurdles. The problem was that no one in the area was certified to work on the guns, and so they had to be shipped to California, and then shipped back, which was expensive and time consuming. The idea came up to get Dan’s son certified, however this would be expensive. He would have to fly out to California to go to school and certify, for two weeks. A wealthy man, who was friends with the Coopers, paid for it, so that they could once again expand the shop, and so that Dan’s son could keep doing what he loved since youth. When he came back, sure enough, they expanded once more. Now they fully service paintball guns and are one of the only places that do so on the east coast. They also opened their own paintball court on the property.

Now Sand Mountain Shooters Club services more than 1000 guns per year, about as many paintball guns, and have three people working on guns daily. They also get calls from all over the country to work on people’s firearms. They employ all family and have as many as 5 people working at a time. The grand kids also contribute and help where they can. The shop has also made it onto Fox6 New’s “Absolutely Alabama” show and are well known around the south east. Dan and his family have built a little empire, and all on the philosophy of paying it forward in life. He has many interests, including herbology, science, metaphysics, and much more, along with being a devout Christian.