About Us

Angelo Agonoy has been a lifelong recreational shooter. As a boy, he started shooting pellet guns and hunting small game with his father and friends. As he got older, he played airsoft  and shot recreationally into his adult life. 

 

In college as a religion major, he began researching formal firearms training and learning about his Constitutional rights. As active killer events began to rampage, he began to learn more about his God-given rights to self-defense. 

 

On December 15 at approximately 11:04 am everything changed. He received a text message from his mother who was at work at the Inland Regional Center. She was sheltering in her manager’s office.

Two active killers had shot up a Christmas party in the campus auditorium with rifles, killing 14 innocent lives and injuring 22 more.  

 

Angelo remembers to this day the feeling of his heart sinking in his chest when he got the text message from his mother. Angelo and his father felt utterly helpless as they watched on TV as SWAT teams and helicopters swarmed in. He begged his mother to turn the ringer off on her phone, seek cover, barricade the door, close the blinds and turn off the lights. He wanted to do something more, but knew he could do nothing to affect the situation. All he did was hope and pray. 

 

Angelo was reunited with his mother later that day. He thanks God for His protection over her. It has taken years for her to overcome what she experienced. That day, as he held his mother in his arms, he vowed in his heart to do something to hopefully make a difference in stopping active killers. That day redirected the course of his life. 

 

In the weeks following the San Bernardino Terrorist Attack, Angelo researched violent crime, tactical training and active shooter response. His training journey began when he attended his first formal 4-day defensive handgun course that winter. He began to train extensively for the next several years racking up hundreds of hours for formal training. 

 

After training for several years at Front Sight Firearms Training Institute, he was recruited to work as an instructor. He taught part-time for several months before transitioning out of pastoral ministry into working as a full-time firearms instructor. 

 

While working at Front Sight, Angelo taught courses in multiple weapon platforms and disciplines. He trained thousands of law enforcement officers, military personnel, security professionals and responsibly armed citizens on the range. After obtaining first responder

certification, attending EMT school and obtaining first aid instructor training, Angelo also taught trauma management courses for and joined Front Sight’s medical response team. 

 

Angelo accepted an invitation to serve a local congregation as a safety team leader in the fall of 2019, while still working for Front Sight full-time as a Range Master. He oversaw the training of the church safety team in tactical and medical training, provided close protection service to the pastoral team and implemented updates for the church’s safety plan. He did this while spearheading a collegiate and young adult ministry.

 

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Angelo accepted a call to serve the same church as a member of the pastoral staff. He now serves as the assistant pastor overseeing youth, collegiate, young adult and church safety team ministries. He is passionate about getting people training and integrating church safety and security into the mission of the church. 

 

In April of 2022, Angelo left his full-time employment at Front Sight and started Higher Purpose Training. His mission through HPT is to empower people with the mindset and skills necessary to be capable defenders of innocent life, to teach them how to integrate those skills into a higher purpose of living beyond themselves and to serve others in times of need. He believes we defend others out of an extension of love for our fellow man. 

 

Angelo has every intention of remaining in ministry while running the company. It is his life’s calling. He resides in Las Vegas with his wife, Judy. She is his companion, his inspiration, his ride-or-die and his best friend.