Until 2005, Blanchfield was at Harvard, probably living in Cambridge MA.
It looks like Blanchfield spent some part of 2005, probably the summer, overseas in Europe.
From September 2005 until May 2006 his resume says he was " Director of Communications for the International Debate Education Association (IDEA) at Willamette University, Salem, Oregon." So that's presumably when he was "out West."
By Fall 2008 Blanchfield was apparently living in Georgia, which is when and where he had his supposed epiphany.
So objectively, the period of time from when he went "out West" to his epiphany was about 3 years. He describes in his article as:
"But when I moved first out West, and then to the South, I got into guns big-time. I’ve owned a dozen guns over the years, including a Bushmaster AR-15, and have fired scores more. I’ve put in countless hours at the range, in the woods, and at gun shows."
Just the kind of spinning of the facts that probably makes one highly valuable in the world of for hire resume and essay "editing".
Hell, shooting at a “gun show” is completely off limits. Pull a dry fire at a retail shop on watch your ass being escorted out the door.
This story is 100% bullshit lib left from the get go.