photo by Sarah A. Miller/Tyler Morning Telegraph Stone Range Gunsmith owner Mark Covey holds a Smith and Wesson model two from the 1800s that he will repair Wednesday March 25, 2015 at the shop's new location at 11726 Hwy 64 East in Tyler.

The mountain peaks in the logo of Stone Range Gunsmithing are a symbol of something lost — and something found.

Mark and Caitlin Covey are from Colorado, but they find themselves making a new life for themselves and their children in East Texas. Colorado changed, they said, and became a place they didn’t recognize.

“I lived there for a long time, and watched the changes that happened to the state,” said Mark, 37. “I wasn’t completely surprised. But I didn’t think it would be such a radical change, so quickly. We watched the state drift from deep red to purple to blue.”

Mark began his chosen trade after finishing a gunsmithing program at Trinidad State Junior College. It’s the top-ranked gunsmithing program in the nation.

He operated a shop from the family’s home in the small town of Rye, Colorado, in Pueblo County.

But in 2012 and 2013, some state officials started a push to enact new gun laws — including background checks for all firearm sales, at the customer’s expense.

The law is poorly written and was immediately challenged by 54 of the state’s 64 sheriffs.

But the law was fatal to the Coveys’ business.

“The background check law they had would have knocked out most of my customers,” Mark explained. “In order for me to get their gun back to them, I’d have to send the gun to an FFL (federal firearm licensee), and the customer would have to pay for a background check. It just raised the cost to my customers too much.”

There were other factors, as well. In November 2012, voters of the state approved the use of recreational marijuana.

“We were at a point where we had to make a decision of whether to stay in that area, move up to more populous areas such as Colorado Springs, or find a new hometown,” said Caitlin, 33. “That was the decision for us. And we decided to look outside of Colorado; we have kids to raise, too, and we saw where the culture was going.”

That’s how they came to Texas; as for how the family came to Tyler, “there’s no easy answer to that — God led us.”

And they couldn’t be happier, she added.

Since last summer, the family has worked to build Stone Range Gunsmithing, at 11726 Highway 64 East, into a viable business.

For Mark, the appeal of the trade is the craftsmanship.

“Gunsmithing is a dying art,” he said. “It’s being able to look at a piece of wood, form that stock with files and rasps, and build it around a person. It’s the physics of it, the ballistics, the art of making a gun. It’s function, too; knowing how a gun actually works, rather than just knowing how to replace a part that’s broken.”

Restoring heirloom firearms is a big part of the business.

“Restoration is particularly gratifying work, because it’s fun to see the gleam in a customer’s eye when you bring an old, family piece back to life or make a piece of history operational again,” he said.

Repair, cleaning and even custom work are all available.

“We get a lot of questions about customizations,” explains Covey, “and we can pretty much make a gun the way you want it, so that your gun feels like it’s a part of you. People don’t always understand the benefit of that until they feel it.”

Mark’s background is in construction, firefighting and emergency medical services.

Caitlin comes from a family background of strong Second Amendment supporters. She did an internship for the NRA. Her focus now is on the family business. She helps with marketing, social media and sales. The couple also have three daughters, ages 7, 2 and 2 months.

She wants to ensure the shop is family friendly.

“I want us to be a different kind of gun shop, one where you feel welcomed and enjoy being here,” she said. “I hope more women will feel comfortable coming, as well, to accessorize their carry piece or make it more natural for them. There is so much my husband (the gunsmith) can do to improve your shooting experience.”

Stone Range Gunsmithing will begin offering guns for sale by consignment and offering in-store or online auction sales, but its focus will continue to be on repair and customization, the Coveys said.

As for the name of the business — Stone Range — it’s not about those mountains in the logo. It’s about the goal of firearms.

“It was inspired by an explanation one of my mentors gave,” Mark explained. “Man started out throwing stones at each other; then came the sling-shot, then the catapult, and so on. We are trying to throw the stone farther and straighter down the range.”

Stone Range Gunsmithing is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The phone number is 903-707-3491.

Twitter: @TylerBusiness