Outdoors: Area gunsmith, firearms coach Ron Paul Duning in battle for his life

By Jeffrey L. Frischkorn JFrischkorn@News-Herald.com @FieldKorn

Breathing hard and walking slowly to a dinette set, Ron Paul Duning clutched the end of a chair before carefully easing his gaunt frame into the support piece of furniture.

With a weak cough, Ron Paul as virtually everyone calls him began his oral personal history.

Ron Paul is working against the clock, though. He has terminal cancer and every moment has become a struggle.

The 61-year-old Ron Paul also wants his friends to remember who he is and the trail he's hiked. What a remarkable journey it's been, too.

While just about everyone who knows Ron Paul is aware that he's a master gunsmith, a world-record-holding fast-draw champion, a Marine Corps veteran, and the founder of a local defensive shooting program, likely few are aware of his other life experiences.

Born in 1961 in Richmond, Ind., Ron Paul led an ordinary, quiet life like most every other rural kid. He will tell you with happy recollection that he grew up on a farm.

"No one in my family except my cousin was even remotely interested in firearms," Ron Paul said recently in an interview from his Willowick residence. "I started shooting with him and I found that I liked it."

Following his stint with the Marine Corps, Ron Paul became of all things a guide for the owners of a privately owned cave in Kentucky.

"I did that for 12 years," he said.

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Outdoors: Area gunsmith, firearms coach Ron Paul Duning in battle for his life