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| Livery's shooting events draw various characters to town |
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| Written by Taylor Reed |
| Friday, 12 February 2010 18:09 |
 Shootouts at the Tombstone Livery Stable are bringing the Wild West back to Tombstone while boosting the local economy.
The Ghost Rider Outlaws will present the third annual High Noon speed shooting competition Feb. 10-14. "The livery stable is what Tombstone was," said owner Doug Evans. "Real guns and real gun fight scenarios."The livery stable has been hosting events for the Single Action Shooting Society (SASS) for the past three years and bringing 3,000people to Tombstone annually.
"We moved here because Tombstone is the Holy Grail of shooters," Evans said. "We want to do our part to make this the gun fight capital of the world." The mission of the livery, according to Evans, is "preserving our western heritage." Evans said the events draw in shooters from all over the world, including Germany, England, Australia, Italy and Canada. "People travel here in the winter because shooting is a year-round sport in Tombstone," said Tombstone Ghost Rider Outlaws Club President Jerry DePuma. The SASS Arizona State Championship is held in October at the Livery Stable and the ranges are home to many local club shooters in southern Arizona, according to seven-year SASS member Dave Stout. The Livery has six themed shooting bays, all with different scenarios. Some of the scenarios include the "Hang 'Em High Courthouse" which kicks off the first bay and ends with a showdown with the town marshal. In another, shooters enter a "mine office" and then head into the "mine shaft" to finish off the targets. "We all love the game; the people are hilarious and the adults get to act like kids," Stout said. "It's the history of the old west, the romance, being able to dress up and shoot guns," said Terri Evans who also cooks the chuck wagon dinners for the events. "We serve the food right off the back of the wagon." "The only bad thing about this sport is you don't know anyone's real names – all aliases," said Debbie DePuma, treasurer of the Tombstone Ghost Rider Outlaws. This year, the High Noon match is expected to have 175 participants and its sponsorship has grown over the past three years to 28 sponsors, including 17 local Tombstone businesses, DePuma said. The livery stable is six years old and is trying to build itself up like an old western town, by adding one building at a time. Through the years, the Evans' have added a Wyatt Earp replica house, club house, restrooms, a bunkhouse, dining hall, commercial kitchen and theater room. "Hospitality is what we are all about," Evans said. High Noon competition
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