Blake Miguez is a man of many parts. Some may know him from one aspect of his life and not realize there are other, equally demandi ng and robust, roles he plays every day. The Louisiana House Representative is also a world champion sharpshooter, an advocate for gun rights and gun safety, president/CEO in the oil and gas industry, and a husband and father. 

Miguez grew up as many young boys do in Louisiana, hunting and fishing with his father and grandfather. The Loreauville native, who began shooting at 8, became a world champion pistol shooter who now brings a unique perspective to gun safety, the right to bear arms, and the learned skills that competitive shooting can carry over into adulthood – including being a father, husband, oil and gas exec, and legislator. 

Walking the fields and woods as an adventuresome youth with the Smith and Wesson Model 41 .22 pistol passed down from his father, his targets were leaves, sticks and tree trunks. “But then my dad got involved in pistol shooting when I was 11 and I would tag along to the weekend meets,” recalls Miguez. “After he let me shoot one of his hand-me-down pistols, I was hooked and started participating in father-son events a few years later. At one point, I was one of the best junior shooters in the U.S. in the 18-and-under division and top in the world among those 21 and under.” 

By his late 20s, having just passed the bar exam, the up-and-coming lawyer (and Eagle Scout) reached another milestone: competing in seasons 1 and 5 of Top Shot, the History Channel’s reality television show that brings together 16 of the country’s top sharpshooters. “The competition had us using guns and weapons of history: axes, Bowie knives, longbows, semi auto pistols and rifles, including the Kentucky long rifle,” he recounts. “We were hanging from a rope, going through barbed wire, making shots from a few hundred yards away.” As a champion in action pistol shooting, Miguez also served as an expert on the Season 2 challenge.

“Action pistol shooting is the most difficult discipline,” contends Miguez. “It teaches discipline and skills like how to control your nerves, and how to work under pressure and on a time clock. Learning to react well on my feet has certainly helped me in the legislature.”

As a competitor since he was 16, Miguez has accrued state, national and world champion titles, including a silver medal in individual competition in 2008, a team gold and individual gold in the world competition in Greece in 2011. He was the Louisiana champion and top shooter for Area 4, covering Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Mississippi. 

This past December, he competed with Team USA at the 2022 IPSC World Shoot in Thailand, an international competition considered the Olympics for handgun shooting. As wife Ashley, youngest daughter Julianna, and his mother and father looked on, the team earned a silver team medal, and Miquez finished fifth place in the individual competition. 

Woven into the timeline of his competitive shooting life are huge milestones for Miguez, like meeting and marrying wife Ashley, starting an instant family with his two stepchildren (Izabel and Colin), and welcoming youngest daughter Julianna into the world. “She was born on the campaign trail when I was first elected to office,” he says. “She is as old as my political career, 8 years.”

To appreciate all that the 41-year-old has achieved is to understand the physical and mental demands of the sport as much as the marksmanship. Shooting competition is more than just aiming and shooting at a target. “Imagine,” he says “I start off standing, kneeling or laying down and draw my pistol, and then start shooting targets in a rapid-fire manner while running through a course that will include either walls, barricades, doors, swinging targets, windows, stairs or bridges. It requires transitioning your eyesight very quickly between targets. I have an average of 16 seconds to unload 25 to 30 rounds as accurately and quickly as possible – and reload my gun while on the move!”

Many would contend that Miguez’s best performance in the shooting arena is as an advocate in defense of gun rights. He is reportedly the lead advocate in the entire legislature. Last month, at the Shot Show in Las Vegas, the National Shooting Sports Foundation named him State Legislator of the Year for his work on gun rights. The American Conservative Union named him the most conservative member of the Louisiana Legislature in 2022.

In addition to gun rights, the District 49 representative also uses sharpshooting as a platform to promote gun safety. Eight years ago he passed the Eddie Eagle Firearm Safety Education Bill which teaches young public school students basic principles of gun safety using a cartoon from the National Rifle Association. Miguez also recently passed the Louisiana Firearm Safety Awareness Act enacting Louisiana State Police to provide a free, two-hour online handgun course educating the public on firearm safety and use. 

For several years Miguez has leveraged his notoriety from Top Shot for good causes, raffling time on the range with him as a fundraiser that has brought over $50,000 to non-profits in Iberia Parish, including $10,000 to help New Iberia city police promote gun safety.

Miguez, who is also President/CEO of SeaTran Marine and a partner of Miguez Fuel and Lubricants along with his father and brother, finds that juggling this with all of his other roles – as House Majority Leader, as member of the Appropriations Committee, as a candidate in his upcoming campaign for State Senate this November – makes it challenging for him to stay on top of his game, but credits his family’s support for his success. “It’s a family event for me because I couldn’t do it without the support of my wife, three children, mom and dad,” he says. “They have always been supportive of my shooting, my public service and my business career. I couldn’t do what I do without their support. They are my backbone!”

For now, Miguez maintains all of his roles while still ranking among the top five competitive shooters in the world. “I’ve achieved all my goals,” he says. “It’s not about winning, but having the chance to win.” 

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BULLET POINTS

Something few people know: Sings with daughter on the morning drive to school

Favorite food: Mom’s crawfish etouffee

Hobbies: Jeep/ATV trail riding; camping

Worth Rereading: The Rise of the Cajun Mariner; The Old Man and the Sea

Favorite singer: Garth Brooks

Little known talents: Photographic memory; types fast