TargetTalk

Folks, I just found this in the info inbox. If I had known in time, I would have considered flying out for this. Sandy was real hero in this sport. He was responsible for getting the Olympic Gun exemptions passed in California. a big job anyway you look at it. A hardworking volunteer at our nationals and faithful promoter of his sport. Helped many a junior, not to mention his daughter who competed on the International level for awhile. A man who didn't mind calling a spade a spade when it needed it. Any sport would be lucky to have a man like him involved with it.

I last spoke with in Sandy in late December, he told me he was dying then, he had told me once before some months ago, but he sounded great and what did it really mean. Well, in this case, it meant the end was near. Wow, Sandy, we will miss you. I know your shooting 10's

If any of you want to send a card, there is an address at the end.


Dear Friends:
As some of you may know, Sandy was diagnosed with prostate cancer in early 1998. This past summer, we learned that his cancer had spread to the liver, and in December, to his colon. Sandy died on January 20 at home, surrounded by his family. My husband was a proud man, and very few ever knew Sandy had cancer because he never complained, even in the last few months when things got rough. He had a great attitude and kept his unique sense of humor right up to the end. I miss him terribly, but I am thankful that Sandy is now at peace.

Leah, Lauren, and I will be hosting a celebration of Sandy's life at our home this Saturday, February 10, from 2:00 to 5:00 PM. We would like to invite you to attend. We will be dedicating a small, Japanese maple to Sandy at about 4pm followed by a champagne toast, and Lauren will be performinhg a flamenco dance in honor of her dad.

We've tried to contact everyone that we thought Sandy would have invited. If there is someone we have left out that you think Sandy would have wanted us to invite, from either BMSC or SD City College, would you please extend this invitation to him or her also? The girls and I really aren't sure how well some people listed in his address book really knew Sandy, so your help is appreciated. If you do think of someone, you could email me at , and I will call or send them an email.

Our address is 14006 Davenport Ave., San Diego 92129.
Kind regards,
Becky Santibanez

Sandy was truly one of the great defenders of our sport. His work in California with the legislature was simply incredible. I really enjoyed talking to him about that fight and many others that he fought in our behalf.

The prayers of my family go out to his wife and daughters. They were blessed with a great man to share their lives with.

We are diminished.

Marc

He will be sorely missed. I never met the man personaly, but he e-mailed a couple of times with encouragement and sound advice.

pilkguns wrote:Folks, I just found this in the info inbox. If I had known in time, I would have considered flying out for this. Sandy was real hero in this sport. He was responsible for getting the Olympic Gun exemptions passed in California. a big job anyway you look at it. A hardworking volunteer at our nationals and faithful promoter of his sport. Helped many a junior, not to mention his daughter who competed on the International level for awhile. A man who didn't mind calling a spade a spade when it needed it. Any sport would be lucky to have a man like him involved with it.

I last spoke with in Sandy in late December, he told me he was dying then, he had told me once before some months ago, but he sounded great and what did it really mean. Well, in this case, it meant the end was near. Wow, Sandy, we will miss you. I know your shooting 10's

If any of you want to send a card, there is an address at the end.


Dear Friends:
As some of you may know, Sandy was diagnosed with prostate cancer in early 1998. This past summer, we learned that his cancer had spread to the liver, and in December, to his colon. Sandy died on January 20 at home, surrounded by his family. My husband was a proud man, and very few ever knew Sandy had cancer because he never complained, even in the last few months when things got rough. He had a great attitude and kept his unique sense of humor right up to the end. I miss him terribly, but I am thankful that Sandy is now at peace.

Leah, Lauren, and I will be hosting a celebration of Sandy's life at our home this Saturday, February 10, from 2:00 to 5:00 PM. We would like to invite you to attend. We will be dedicating a small, Japanese maple to Sandy at about 4pm followed by a champagne toast, and Lauren will be performinhg a flamenco dance in honor of her dad.

We've tried to contact everyone that we thought Sandy would have invited. If there is someone we have left out that you think Sandy would have wanted us to invite, from either BMSC or SD City College, would you please extend this invitation to him or her also? The girls and I really aren't sure how well some people listed in his address book really knew Sandy, so your help is appreciated. If you do think of someone, you could email me at , and I will call or send them an email.

Our address is 14006 Davenport Ave., San Diego 92129.
Kind regards,
Becky Santibanez

I have entered Santy under the Shooting Personalities section of the wiki, and I will scrape this post for what details i can get. but If you can provide more bio information and possible a photo, Ill male sure there is a proper page dedicated to him.

Julian

I was not a close friend of Sandy's, but I did help out in the effort to pass the California "Olympic handgun" exemption law. Unless you know the composition of the California legislature, you can have no idea of the magnitude of Sandy's accomplishment.

The California legislature is probably 2/3 anti-gun, and some of the most rabid anti-gunners are in leadership positions. At the time of passage of the "assault weapon" law, Sandy's daughter, Lauren, was under 18, and had a very good chance of making the Olympic team in Sport Pistol. The law made it illegal for her to even touch her Walther, let alone train with it. The current head of the Senate, when asked about Lauren's predicament, replied "If she wants to shoot, let her move to Texas." So much for Olympic dreams!

Even though the situation looked hopeless, Sandy would not accept it. He realized that, since the Olympics were upcoming, if he put the focus on the Olympic dream instead of on the gun, he might have a chance getting through to the more reasonable politicians. The strategy succeeded, but only after countless hours of work, phone calls, letters, and trips from Southern California to the state capital, Sacramento. Lauren was an important part of the public face of this effort. Who would not want to help such a responsible hardworking teenager have an opportunity to fulfill her dream?

It's important to note that Sandy did this pretty much on his own. A few of us helped out in various ways, but Sandy did the vast majority of the work. And what help did he get from the NRA and its California affiliate, the CRPA? Well, the CRPA publically opposed the exemption for "Olympic handguns" because, as they said, it was "elitist." With friends like that....

The "Olympic" exemption law is by no means the total of Sandy's contributions to ISSF shooting in California and the US, but it does show his commitment and dedication. So many in California owe him the ability to continue practising their sport, and so many in the US will remember his helpfulness in many ways. Goodby Sandy, we will miss you greatly.

FredB