Chris Costa helping take the gun world mainstream?

  OK, the fifteen hundred dollar S&W M&P is more than a little surprising.  Once can only hope it shoots better than 6" at 25 yards though according to S&W, that's acceptable......  Great attention has been paid to aesthetics.  Personally, I'd like to get a reward posted for the first guy to take this to a Vickers handgun class (and I'd like to be there giggling as Larry Vickers casts his eyes upon this tactical bling or "tactibling"?   Hell, this thing seems a bargain compared to the laughably priced GlockVector "PV" which is a stippled and reshaped Glock 17 with some sights and a wee bit o' trigger work for fourteen hundred dollars.  (don't read the advert for it if you are immune to "operators" and multicam). 

 

  

  It's a sad day when utilitarian polymer pistols are treated like ornamental 1911s. 

  However, is the Costa starpower or hysteria making the firearms training world more mainstream ala the television series Top Shot?  After all, I'm pretty sure that Costa's Adidas sponsorship is a firearms industry first outside of hiking boots manufacturers.  Of course, there's Larry Vickers and his videogame partnership.  So, what is it?  Are video games giving us more shooters?  Is shooting becoming mainstream?  Are we sneering too quickly or do we need to make sure that shooting remains a serious pursuit sans starpower and idolization of certain firearms trainers?

  As always, when choosing a well known trainer, remember their roots.