On Friday, October 17, 2008, a man named Brian L. Rooney was sentenced to life in prison with no opportunity for parole. The charges? Sexual assault and aggravated murder of 21 ? year ? old Michelle Garnder-Quinn in October of 2006. The young girl had celebrated her twenty first birthday the night before and was walking back to her dorm room at the University of Vermont. Her cell phone died and she approached Rooney and asked if she could use his. The next time she was seen was jammed into a rock crevice at Huntington Gorge, leaves covering her half dressed lifeless body. She had been sexually assaulted. She had been beaten. She had been strangled.



In 1996, Rooney was charged with lewd and lascivious conduct with a thirteen year old girl. Two years later, he attacked the same girl, was accused and charged with sexual assault. Two different girls, a number of crimes. Dr. Ignatius Piazza wants to prevent things like this from happening. Dr. Piazza is the founder and director of Front Sight Firearms Training Institute.

It can not be said that Michelle Garnder-Quinn caused her attack, but had she had proper self defense training, such as the training offered at Front Sight, her death and assault may have been prevented. Front Sight Firearms Training Institute is located on five hundred acres of land near Las Vegas, Nevada. It offers students incredible ? even considered world class ? training in the areas of firearms, knives, martial arts, defensive driving, and other areas of self defense. Instructors for Front Sight are highly trained individuals and give only top quality training to their students ? training that rises above standards of law enforcement and the military.

The main concentration for Front Sight is gun training, but it goes beyond that. One course offered trains students how to defend themselves without weapons. It shows how to use the human body as a weapon through martial arts. When faced with a threat such as the one Garnder-Quinn endured, martial arts comes in handy. However, just knowing how to fight is not always enough. Many people freeze while looking into the eyes of danger. With the training provided at Front Sight anyone will be more than prepared to have the physical and mental capability to take on and out perform an attacker.

In the case of the teenage girl being assaulted, parents across the nation can find comfort in the fact that Dr. Piazza's program also offers child and youth safety programs. In the child safety course, kids ages five to ten can learn how to handle and avoid harmful situations. They will learn how to recognize the people that pose a threat, how to call for help and how to run for safety. Children will gain the ability to be aware of their environment, thus making it easier to prevent or escape a sticky situation. In the youth safety course adolescents ages eleven to fifteen will learn about peer pressure?how to be aware of and avoid alcohol, drugs, and immoral activities. They will be taught about violence?how to recognize and avoid it, as well as how to defend themselves. In addition, they will gain an understanding of the internet and the predators that use the internet to their advantage, while learning how to protect themselves against these people.

In short, crimes such as the ones Rooney was convicted of can be handled and many times, prevented with proper self defense skills, such as those taught at Front Sight.