Blake Miguez is a straight shooter, and he has the titles to prove it.

The local businessman, who also has a law degree and is a constitutional scholar, is the national and world champion for the United States Practical Shooting Association and the International Practical Shooting Confederation. He said he has been the Louisiana shooting champion since he was 18. He’s 31 now.

In the years he has been involved in shooting semi-professionally (considered semi-pro because he has a regular job), he has turned into a bit of a celebrity. The national and international titles he’s earned, as well as being known for his skills in shooting quickly and accurately, got him a spot on the inaugural season of “Top Shot,” a reality show on the History Channel cable network. Miguez competed well, but finished seventh and was knocked out just before the finals.

His talent and, no doubt, South Louisiana personality, got him an invitation to return to the show now in its fifth season.

“This All-Stars Season brought back the best of the best that didn’t win their season,” said Ashley Fidler, of The Lippin Group, an entertainment communications and marketing firm based in New York.

The fifth season opener begins at 9 p.m. Wednesday on the History Channel.

Business Side

Miguez said as the first show was filmed, participants lived in a large house, which was nice, but they were cooped up for a long time. It was a different experience for him.

“It’s sort of like being in college,” he said, as the only responsibility contestants have is the competition. Outside of that, there are few obligations. “You can get bored. You’ve got pool and darts. You almost become a child again in that you start making up games.

“You have to figure out how to entertain yourself.”

The businessman in him, however, also noticed some of the mechanics of the entertainment industry. There are companies that perform different tasks, much like companies in the oilfield where Miguez has expertise, and it all comes together to get a product to the public.

“When you take all the face paint off, what you have at the core is a thriving industry,” he said.

Miguez knows a lot about being part of a larger industry in running two businesses, Miguez Fuel and Iberia Marine Service, which provides crew boats for the oil and gas industry.

“I let him do all the hard stuff,” said Steve Miguez, Blake’s father.

Much like he approaches his training at his shooting range in rural St. Mary Parish and competition all over the world, Blake Miguez has aggressively pursued his businesses, making them even more successful, Steve Miguez said. In the short time he has run the company founded by his father in the 1970s, the Miguez businesses went from employing 40 people to more than 100.

Safety First

His father has been a big influence in his life, Blake Miguez said, from taking over the family businesses to shooting. While talking about how stringent the rules are in competitive shooting, Blake Miguez said he first learned gun safety from his dad. If a contestant loads his gun before he gets in the line a, he gets disqualified. If during the competition, the gun’s angle goes past the line, disqualified. If a gun crosses a limb during competition, disqualified. So strictly enforced are these rules, that no competitor has every been killed.

But the safety factor was drilled into him by Steve Miguez at an early age. And he adhered to it so well that he was able to be go off on his own and practice shooting a .22-caliber handgun at an early age.

“He thought he was on his own,” Steve Miguez chuckled, saying that he was always close by and paying attention to his son’s handling of weapons.

When the Howard Brothers department store closed down years ago, Steve Miguez purchased every round of .22-caliber ammunition on the shelf, about 200,000. Blake Miguez shot just about all of them.

“Blake pretty much shot two-thirds of them,” Steve Miguez said. “He actually wore out a pistol doing that. Who ever heard about wearing out a 22?”

Cool Stuff

Competitive shooting has given Blake Miguez a lot of opportunities to travel the world. He’s competed in 63 countries. And he has met his share of celebrities. In fact, he claims to have beaten former NBA and LSU basketball star Shaquille O’Neal at free shots. At a shooting range he challenged the 7-foot-1-inch NBA center to a shootout on Miguez’s court. Miguez handily won, leaving the Shaq flatfooted.

He also has met several celebrities while at California shooting ranges, some shooting for pleasure, others getting comfortable handling guns for their movie roles and applying those skills to their performance.

But what Miguez speaks about with much pride is his work with special military forces helping train some of the top military from allies of the United States after the 911 attacks.

“I was 19 years old making $20 an hour,” Miguez said, making it a pretty cool college job.

The world handgun champion said he and another college student played roles as terrorists. The rounds used had paint for projectiles, but the rounds used were for military-style handguns. A close-up shot would do more than coat the protective gear with the primary colors.

“I’d shoot under trucks (the agents hid behind) and shoot their ankles out,” Miguez said, putting pressure on the allied forces to improve their skills to fight terrorists in their own countries.

“Anything I can do to make these guys better,” he said.

Constitutional Law

Steve Miguez said it was after his son earned his law degree from Southern Law School that he changed. The younger Miguez was more organized and more focused. He applied this to his business and shooting. Part of that focus includes him being a driving force at the Legislature during this year’s session in helping to get strong gun laws passed.

Following the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook school in which 26 people were killed, including 20 children, state legislatures and Congress attempted to pass restrictive gun control laws. Despite the appalling event, Miguez said no restrictive gun law could have saved the children.

“Every time you pass a gun control law, you’re affecting the good, law-abiding citizens,” Blake Miguez said. “Criminals don’t have to follow them.”

The Future

At the moment, Miguez plans to continue running his businesses at the Port of Iberia and competing around the world. When he first began competing at 11, his father would travel with him. The elder Miguez went on practically all of the competitions until about five years ago.

“It’s easy for him to go by himself rather than drag daddy around,” Steve Miguez chuckled.

With a political science degree from LSU, Blake Miguez said it is possible that politics could be in the future, but he’s not going out looking for it. He will continue to use his skills to compete, shooting possibly up to a million rounds each year. He also will offer his skills to be auctioned for selected nonprofit groups. He said he could take anyone and with a little time at a private lesson have their shooting greatly improved. And if his support of the Second Amendment is needed in the political ring, he’ll be there too.

“I’ll never turn down an opportunity to serve my community and my country,” Miguez said. “I’m very principled.”