Chris Bird has been a journalist for 35 years and a handgun shooter for more than 50. He was born in England and his interest in shooting has steered him through the bureaucratic red tape of owning handguns in England, Canada, Australia and the United States. As a commissioned officer in the Royal Military Police of the British Army in the 1960s, Bird was stationed in Berlin, West Germany, and Belgium, serving as company weapon-training officer and winning awards for shooting in competition. After leaving the military, Bird migrated to Canada where he worked as a cowboy in British Columbia while shooting and hunting extensively.

He became a journalist and worked as a crime and investigative reporter for the Vancouver Province newspaper and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. He has also worked as a salesman, a private investigator, and a shotgun guard for an armored car company in Australia. In 1986, Bird competed in the Canadian Practical Pistol Championships. In the late 1980s, he and his wife sailed a 27-foot boat from Vancouver, Canada, to Sydney, Australia, and back to San Francisco.

He is a former police reporter for the San Antonio Express-News. Arriving in Texas in 1989, he worked for the newspaper, mostly covering crime and law enforcement at all levels from municipal to federal. Currently, he is author and publisher of The Concealed Handgun Manual which is now in its sixth edition. Bird is certified in Texas as a concealed-handgun instructor. He is a former president of the Texas Concealed Handgun Association, and a member of both the Texas State Rifle Association and the National Rifle Association.

Bird lives with his wife Anita in San Antonio, Texas. He has two daughters, Katy and Rebecca. He is particularly incensed that Katy who lives in Chicago is unable to own a handgun legally for protection.