Riding Shotgun With Charlie

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #229 John Turrell Armed Lifestyle Magazine   There are some nice perks about going to SHOT Show as media and having more than one media gig. After I was asked to write for Armed Lifestyle Magazine, I got to meet the other contributors at SHOT. One of the ALM writers is John Turrell. John, as you'll hear, is from England. This is my second international passenger! I'm glad we were able to connect with a crazy busy SHOT schedule. Not just mine, he keeps busy in Vegas, too. And not with the night life. With writing! He and his team put out daily reviews from SHOT.   Like many folks, John started shooting as a young child, around 10 years old, with his father. He's worked his way up to competitive shooting in UKPSA and IPSC. UKPSA is the United Kingdom Practical Shooting Association. He enjoys shooting pistols competitively and even went up against Jerry Miculek, who got him into shooting revolvers.    He is currently the sales manager at a gun range, where he offers a shooting experience for new folks. The hopes are to turn them into licensed individuals who get into firearms and shooting. The range is unique particularly in the UK.They have an indoor range with turning targets. With the range shooting experience, people can get a safety briefing, how to shoot session, then fire 50 rounds, ending with a little fun competition with turning targets. The range is very much like an indoor range here in the US.    In 1996, there was a mass shooting. The government decided that it was time to ban all pistols from the “subjects”. There are several limitations…ahem…infringements. The barrel length must be 12 inches long and the overall length has to be at least 24 inches. That sounds like a rifle to me rather than a pistol. Obviously, that makes it hard to carry on one's body, which the government doesn't want them to do.    To get a license in the UK, you have to attend a class, join a range, then you have a probationary period of at least three months. Then you apply to your local country police force for the license, with the usual background check and references. Of course, you're not guaranteed to get the license either. If all goes well, you get a certificate.    There are two types of certificates. The section one certificate is for centerfire rifles and long barreled pistols and shotguns with a more than three round capacity. The type of action doesn't matter, just the capacity. The section two license is for shotguns which hold two rounds in the magazine and one in the chamber. Despite the limitations, John enjoys having to do all the reloading. Seeing some Mossberg's at SHOT, he'd really love to have a 590, but due to the barrel length, he wouldn't be able to get home.    We also talk about suppressors. As I've learned the original name was a silencer, but in the UK, they call them moderators. First, in order to purchase one, it has to be on your license that you can have them. To have it added to your license, it's only about $25. At the gun store, you tell them which one you'd like, then add the serial number to the license, you pay for it, and then go home with it. Boom. Easy!   The main reason these are legal is for hearing protection. There is a possibility that the moderators will become an item that they don't keep track of on your license. However, if you buy one for your air rifle, no license information is required. He says it could be possible that it gets as easy as going to the store to buy groceries and then picking up a moderator like it's any other item. Very different than it is here.    I really enjoyed getting to know John better. He's a great guy with a lot of knowledge. While at SHOT, he and his team crank out daily reports of the guns and gear they see.So he's there truly for work and not necessarily pleasure. It was great to learn the difference in our gun cultures between the UK and the US. Please keep an eye out in the free online resource of Armed Lifestyle Magazine for John's writings and reviews. Favorite quotes: “The government at the time, then banned all pistols.” “The current laws state that the barrel must be at least 12 inches long and the overall length of the pistol has to be 24 inches.” “Suppressors have to be on your license.” “We call them moderators in the UK.”   Armed Lifestyle Magazine website https://www.armedlifestylemagazine.com/   Armed Lifestyle Magazine Facebook https://www.facebook.com/thearmedlifestylemagazine/   Armed Lifestyle Magazine Instagram https://www.instagram.com/armedlifestyle/ Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun    Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   SABRE Red Pepper Spray  https://lddy.no/1iq1n   Or listen on: iTunes/Apple podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/riding-shotgun-with-charlie/id1275691565

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #228 Jay Grazio Executive Editor, Shooting Illustrated   I was down in Fairfax, VA, filming shows with the NRA staff. One of the folks who I had lunch with was Jay Grazio. He's originally from Massachusetts, a funny guy, and we hit it off well. So we filmed a show!    One of the perks of his position is that he gets to train. When we did the show, he'd recently visited Gunstie in Arizona. It also sounds like the NRA has the employees do training together, which he says he did with one of the other staff members.    As a Bay Stater, it's hard to be a gun person, with all the limitations (infringements) and laws (more infringements) that we have. As much as he loved growing up in small town New England, it wasn't good as a gun activist and writer. When he took the position at Shooting Illustrated, he made the move to free America in Virginia.    At a young age, the shooting bug hit him. His father was a Mass State Police police officer and his grandfather was a town police officer. Firearms were always around and safety was emphasised by the elders. Guns were tools to the family. His grandfather would tell him stories of when he was young and owned a diner. During the Depression, often people would settle up with bills and exchange meals for firearms. This makes the history of firearms a big interest for Jay.    One prized possession is his grandfather's Colt revolver that he carried, which was made in the 1930's. Another is a 1911 from 1917, which still fires without any issues, just like it did over 100 years ago.    Always one to look for a good gun story, Jay would help friends in need by offering to buy guns from friends and when they could pay him back, he'd give the gun back. But there was one Colt Python that he wasn't able to come up with the money for and it got away from him. He also had to pass on a fully, lawfully transferable M16 that was only $10,000 back then.    He has a degree in biology and a master's degree in biochemistry, so of course he became an editor. In the early days, Jay was involved in lots of blogging on various websites and topics. He used to argue over politics online, like many of us still do. Then a friend had him write as the resident “gun guy”. He started his own blog about firearms by reviewing LaserLyte products, which he saw in an American Rifleman magazine. That led to more and more reviews and products.    Things just kept rolling from there. Since then he's written for Shooting Illustrated, Recoil, and Western Shooting Journal. When there was an opening at Shooting Illustrated, he was encouraged to apply. He took the chance and it worked out. Getting a degree and masters with a biology and sciences background, he understood writing, working on thesis, and meeting deadlines. Having some experience in sales marketing and websites came in handy, too. All transferable skills as he admits.    At a previous job, Jay shares what's really a typical story for a gun owner in “occupied territory.” One colleague, who was an avid hunter, kept a knife in his truck in case there was an incident. This person wasn't a fan of ARs. He thanked Jay on his last day at the job for not causing an incident when he left. This is a display that not all gun owners are created equally. It was OK for the man to have a “military grade sniper rifle”, but not acceptable, to him, for someone else to own an AR. Hypocrisy has no bounds.    Jay was a great guy to spend time with! He's a great story teller. His position gives him exposure to all sorts of training, gear, and personalities in the gun community. This was a fun interview and I hope y'all enjoy it. You can check out Shooting Illustrated from or the link below, or NRA's website, and read all of Jay's articles and the work he does.  Favorite quotes: “Massachusetts is the birthplace, and graveyard, of liberty.” “It's a way of connecting with the past in a manner that you can use it the way it was intended.” “Massachusetts doesn't make it easy to be a Second Amendment advocate.” ”Guns are not good, guns are not evil. Guns are chunks of metal.” Shooting Illustrated https://www.shootingillustrated.com/   National Rifle Association https://home.nra.org/   Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun    Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   SABRE Red Pepper Spray  https://lddy.no/1iq1n   Or listen on: iTunes/Apple podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/riding-shotgun-with-charlie/id1275691565

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #227  Jonathan Goldstein NRA BOD, NRA 2.0 Candidate   This is a small first, but a first nonetheless. Jonathan Goldstein flew up from Philadelphia to Boston just to film a show with me! Yes, I'm beyond honored! He's also working that hard to get elected for the NRA Board of Directors. And in his home state of Pennsylvania for their gun owners. It's always fun to meet someone new and widen my circle of friends. I picked up Jonathan at the airport and we drove for a bit to get to know each other.  We kick things off quickly and jump in deep, talking about Bruen, open carry v concealed, and why some laws aren't conducive to logic. He's got a great line, borrowed from Chris Conte from the NRA ILA, about “New Jersey being the North Korea of gun ownership.” I knew things were going to be fun after that.    Jonathan didn't really grow up as a gun guy. He owned IT businesses and sold them before going to law school. Besides that, he was a newlywed and applied for law school, and was on the ballot for the state legislature. After not liking the big law firm, he got together with some other friends and started outsourcing legal work to India.  But as he says everyone “hates outsourcing, but they hate lawyers more.”    Back in 1994, the gun laws were being redone in the Pa. There were lots of folks against it and he wanted to see what they were against. Each of the towns and cities were supposed to have the same laws. But they decided they were going to have different classes of cities, and thus, Philly was in its own class. Therefore, having its own laws that the rest of the state didn't have. He started thinking about why the politicians were so set against lawful gun ownership. That piqued his interest and that's when he became a gun owner. He got a permit, bought a snub revolver, got into shotguns and bird hunting and found a new passion.    Around the time Heller was going on in 2008, he was getting more involved in getting cases and getting noticed by the NRA. This is where he became friends with Chris Conte at NRA ILA. In 2011, he was awarded the Defender of Justice by NRA ILA. He also helped raise money for the NRA.    On the radar of the NRA, he ends up on a couple committees, one for the legal affairs and one for the non-traditional gun owner, those of racial and sexual minorities. With enough trust, he was placed on the nominating committee. That's when he started seeing that things were not necessarily going so well. That's when he started seeing that some BOD members weren't there for wholesome reasons. He saw that they weren't all rowing in the same direction. Some of the folks haven't seen that the old tactics aren't working, haven't been, and don't want to change.    We got into it a bit more of course. He's very passionate about the NRA and what is going on and what needs to be changed. I really enjoyed the conversation with Jonathan and I look forward to seeing him in Atlanta in April.    This wraps up the five interviews I've done with the NRA 2.0 Candidates running on the reform ticket. I've had another five or so on the show over the years. I'm voting for all 28 of the “Reformers”. I enjoyed the conversations with them all. As with the NRA staff that I've had on the show, I can see the passion for the NRA and our rights that they have and they're fighting for. These 28 candidates know that the NRA didn't earn the respect of the members, their funds, and their support. I do have faith in them and what they plan on doing to resurrect the NRA from what has been going on. I have confidence in them and I'm looking forward to the progress for gun owners across the country.    While it is too late to become a life member and be able to vote, it's not too late to vote for those who haven't yet. Ballots were sent out in the February magazines and have to be received by April 6, 2025.    Favorite quotes: “The goal is to frustrate the gun owner.” “The modality that works best today is concealed carry. Not open carry.” “The fact that I carry a gun keeps you safer. You're welcome.” “What do these politicians intend to do to me that my ownership of firearms is a threat to them.” “NRA is back on the map. We're clean. We're well run. We deserve to get out seat at the table back.”   Elect A New NRA Website https://electanewnra.com/   Goldstein Law Partners https://goldsteinlp.com/   Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun    Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   SABRE Red Pepper Spray  https://lddy.no/1iq1n   Or listen on: iTunes/Apple podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/riding-shotgun-with-charlie/id1275691565

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #226 Jim Wallace NRA BOD, NRA 2.0 Candidate GOAL, Executive Director   I've known Jim Wallace and Gun Owners Action League as long as I've been a gun owner. I took a class with GOAL in 2002 before I even owned a gun. I became an instructor though GOAL, volunteered teaching with them, and even sat in their booth at the local outdoor expo. Having Jim on the show was a long time coming. And since he's an NRA 2.0 candidate, now was the perfect time.    Jim was a letter carrier with the postal system when he joined the Georgetown Fish & Game Club. He got  involved in the League of Essex County Sportsmen's Club. After doing some searching around, he found out that the people doing the licensing for hunting and fishing were going to be online and it was going to be most costly. At the time, he wasn't much of a speaker or activist, he was just looking to see where the money was going and why it was going up. This got the attention of the folks at Gun Owners Action League. They invited him to the office to see what he found, and they figured if he could do this while maintaining a full-time job, they could pay him and he could find out more.    Back in the day, Jim spent a lot of time in the Mass State House on Beacon Hill. He was able to spend his days there just talking with the state reps and senators. They often had questions for him about upcoming bills and legislation. He was able to educate and inform them about how this was going to affect hunters, fishers, and shooters.    Jim and GOAL have faced so many issues over the years in the anti-gun commonwealth of Massachusetts. We talked about the 1994 AWB and what happened   in 2004 when Governor Romney signed what he thought was going to be an improvement to the Mass gun laws, but ended up being a lot of gun control. Sometimes gun owners accept some bad laws to get some better laws that can, and should, be changed later.    We cover a lot about the Gun Law Listening Tour of 2023 and how that was a sham hosted by the anti-gun politicians. I covered many of those events on News2A.com. After the tour and before the bill dropped, the main “writer” of the bill was visited by Gabby Giffords. I assumed that she gave the representative a hefty check and the legislation she wanted passed because when addressed about the contents of the bill, the Rep didn't know what was in the bill.   We also got into the NRA stuff, covering how the board has been changing for the positive with new people and new blood. Wallace also brings up that NY AG Letitia James could be the person credited with saving the NRA by going after the association.    As with all the episodes with the NRA 2.0 candidates, I want to emphasize that the 28 candidates running as the reformers need to be elected as a whole if we want to see changes to the NRA BOD. The ballots were sent out in the February NRA magazine issues and need to be in by April 6, 2025. The only members who can vote have to be a dues paying member for 5 years in a row or have a life membership.    I went up to where Jim lives to record the episode. He lives on the very North Shore of Boston. We got to drive through his hometown area, see some of the scenery of those who live by the ocean, and where he used to hunt, and still lives an active outdoorsmen lifestyle. Favorite quotes: “I just dug because something didn't look right.” “As a result, I had weekly meetings with his Chief of Staff until he left office.” “They didn't care about input. They already had the bill written.” “We didn't turn that bill 180 but we certainly turned it 175 degrees.” “There's a little bit of education that's going to have to happen with new people being on the board and how things work. But I think we're heading in the right direction.”   Elect A New NRA Website https://electanewnra.com/   Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun    Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   SABRE Red Pepper Spray  https://lddy.no/1iq1n   Or listen on: iTunes/Apple podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/riding-shotgun-with-charlie/id1275691565

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #225 Charlie Hiltunen III NRA BOD, NRA 2.0 Candidate   Here's another great interview with one of the NRA Board of Director members and NRA 2.0 Reform Candidate, Charlie Hiltunen III. At the Great American Outdoor Show, I got to meet several of the NRA 2.0 Candidates and set up to film some shows with a few of them. He had some commitments on the morning we filmed and asked if I could get him back so he was able to get to the airport. I told him I could do him one better and take him there. Currently, he's finishing his first term on the board.    Hiltunen was born and raised in Indiana. He grew up shooting and hunting as part of the midwest family life. He grew up in a time where high schoolers would bring a .22 rifle to school to hunt on the way home. This was a tradition with his father and he wanted to pass it along to his own children. When his kids were old enough, he was instructing and coaching them in the Scholastic Clay Target Program and Scholastic Action Program. With all the coaching and working with young people, he thinks he got more from it than they did.    His career was as an attorney working with government affairs, lobbying, and politics. When the traditions he shared as a son and father were at risk, he got more involved in activism. Part of this journey got him involved with the Indiana State Rifle and Pistol Association. The “family bond in the 2A community became even stronger.”    As an instructor and coach and president of ISRPA, he was asked if he wanted to be a candidate for the NRA BOD. While on a hiking trip in Michigan, he got the message about the offer. When he asked when they needed a bio, they said right away! With his experience as an attorney, lobbyist, and as the president of a state association, it was a great fit! One of his personal goals is to reconnect the NRA with its members, new and old.    The messaging from the BOD members I've talked to have all been the same. They want to increase members which will bring back some political clout. They want to focus on safety training, education, and competitions. The board is working more with each other to make the improvements they see fit. They all want to make sure the association stays around for another 150 years. But they do know that getting the message out is going to be a challenge.    Part of the conversation is about permitless carry and training. When Indiana went to permitless carry, there were more people who wanted to get training. Of course, it's needed for responsible gun owners. The need for those without permits is different from a regular licensing course. When the state requires training for a carry permit, that's often the only thing people take. But when they don't need a license, they have more practical needs for shooting and training.    We talk about training the women being the largest growing demographic of gun owners. He brought up fellow board member Rick Ector and the event he does in Detroit every year. It is important to get new people to try shooting so that they get that shooting is fun and training and safety are important for everyone.    It is important to vote for all 28 of the Reform Candidates. In the past, people have encouraged “bullet voting” to try and get a message to the board. That method raises only a few candidates and pushes the others down. But this slate of candidates is going to work together to make the changes they think are needed. With more of the reformers on the board, there will be less of the “old guard” who had allegiance to the former EVP. Ballots were sent out in the February issues of the NRA magazines. They're due on April 6, 2025.   It was great to get to know Charlie more during this conversation. I'm looking forward to seeing what the reformers will do and hoping the changes they make will be positive changes for the association.    Favorite quotes: “There's so many great people on the board of directors.” “Change is difficult for any organization.” “The NRA is not an organization, it's an organism.” “If you forget your history, you're going to lose your future.” Elect A New NRA Website https://electanewnra.com/   Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun    Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   SABRE Red Pepper Spray  https://lddy.no/1iq1n   Or listen on: iTunes/Apple podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/riding-shotgun-with-charlie/id1275691565  

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #224 Philip Gray NRA BOD, NRA 2.0 Candidate   It was a busy weekend at the Great American Outdoor Show earlier this month. I was able to film three episodes with NRA Board of Director candidates who are on the reform ticket. This is a slate of 28 people who are up to reforming the way the NRA has been conducting business and some of the shenanigans that have been going on. Everyone I talked to was excited about the future of the NRA.   One of the passengers I got to spend some time with was Philip Gray. He's from Ohio and grew up shooting and hunting like so many Americans. It really was an integral part of his youth and family time. Shooting clays is still a treasured time for Philip and his family, which they do on the family farm with the kids and grandkids. His family got a land grant years ago. The family has been there with a farm  since the mid-1800's for five generations.   Philip has a lifetime hunting license. I think he said it was like $2 when he got it at eight years old. And he's been using it since he was young. He started off shooting small game and trapping. He spent 20 years working electric power as an engineer.    He's been involved with the Friends of the NRA program since 1994. Working as a field representative and climbing the ladder at NRA. Half of the funds raised by FNRA stay in the state where the money is raised. The other half helps the NRA's many other programs. The program grew until they needed to split Ohio up into two groups. Then he was the director of the east central region. His territory was eight states with nine employees.    As a field rep, he goes around to ranges and gun stores telling them the benefits of the NRA. They can lead the way with range insurance, training and safety programs, and the Eddie Eagle program. The field rep has lots of volunteers helping get the word out. Since we all have different strengths, it's good to have a large group of people with lots of different skills. He was responsible for events in six time zones from Maine to Alaska and Hawaii. During his time working as a field rep for NRA, he did the Wall of Guns. I was able to get the mic from a friend who was making the announcements and I tried to get some sales for Wall of Guns. The good news is the Wall of Guns has a cash option should those of us in occupied territory win and it's not an “approved firearm.” They also take the winner's information and send the firearm they won to their favorite and local FFL to make the transfer. Not gun show loopholes here!   He retired from NRA just before the 2020 virus that shall not be named. Things were changing politically and he decided it was time to get involved a bit more. He got involved with the local Republican party and joined two Senate campaigns. Recently, they voted him as the chairman of the local Republican Party. Talking with his grandson, the boy asked why he is spending so much time and money working on these things. Philip replied "If we don't, you might not get anything that we have.”   We did talk about bullet voting and how that was effective in the past. But this time we need to support 28 reform candidates and vote for all of them. With these 28 people, there will be a majority of reformers and we will see some changes, but it will take time.    The NRA is needed and it needs to be strong to face the anti gun crowd. This group of diverse people can and will make it happen. Some of the candidates are lawyers, some have business backgrounds, and others have political minds.    I'm going to have a handful more of the NRA BOD reform candidates over the next month. Please be on the lookout for those upcoming shows. And share them with your friends.    Favorite quotes: “I had some concerns at the NRA when I left.” “Working with the right people does pay off down the road.” “I think the turnout, the number of people voting, is going to be a record high.” “You should always be learning the job above you.” “Getting the Board changed to a little different direction. And then getting started getting the members back will be the two most important things we do.” Elect A New NRA Website https://electanewnra.com/   Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun    Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   SABRE Red Pepper Spray  https://lddy.no/1iq1n   Or listen on: iTunes/Apple podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/riding-shotgun-with-charlie/id1275691565

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #223 Al Hammond NRA BOD, NRA 2.0 Candidate   I get to travel the country and film RSWC episodes. I take the cameras just about every time I hit the road. Recently, I went down to the NRA's Great American Outdoor Show in Harrisburg, Pa. On the eve of the beginning, I went to a Friends of the NRA dinner. There were several of the NRA BOD reform candidates at the dinner. I was able to connect with them and arrange to film shows over the weekend.    First I had Al Hammond. He's one of the newer board members, having only served one three-year term. However, he has worked as NRA staff for 28 years. One of the reasons he ran for the BOD is that he saw things that didn't sit well for him while he was on staff. He wanted to make some changes and he's with the 28 who are being billed as the ‘reformers.'   Al was raised in a shooting family in Florida. He's spent much of his career and life in the agriculture business. Shooting and hunting has always been a part of his life. It's a cultural thing for him. It's important to him to be able to pass this on to his children and his grandchildren.    Before his career with NRA, he worked for several agriculture companies and was involved in some farm co-ops. He helped conservation groups raise money, and has even testified about conservation. He had a friend who was working for the NRA and they were looking for help with the Friends of the NRA program. Al and others were involved in starting and growing the FNRA program back in 1993. He was the field representative for Florida and that position grew. Over the years, he became the regional director and ultimately, the director of field staff.    The main responsibilities for a field representative are raising funds for the NRA and the foundation. Half of the money raised in the state, stays in the state for programs for the youth programs, grants for ranges, training, and the shooting sports. They also end up being a liaison between the NRA HQ and the members in the area.    The Florida permit comes up in the conversation. I'm a Utah instructor. I tell him the Utah permit is cheaper than Florida, but he retorts that it's good for 7 years. Which leads into why we need to have national reciprocity. Let's hope this can get passed before 2028! It should be possible with 29 states that have Constitutional/permitless carry. It would make things much easier for someone like me who carries on most of my adventures.    We talk about how passing this on to future generations is important. He wants to make sure that his grandkids are able to go shooting. I talked about going to the library and getting the Eddie Eagle video on VHS and watching it with my children. It's important for children to learn firearm safety, not just because you have firearms. But because they could go into the home of a friend who doesn't keep their guns locked up. There could very easily be an accident if they don't know the simple Eddie Eagle rules.    The whole weekend when I would talk with those on the ballot as reformers, they emphasised that the NRA needs to get back to their roots, which is education, training, and competition. They all talked about gaining back the trust of the members and growing the membership. They want to get past the legal hurdles they've gone through with the New York Attorney General and build and expand on the fundamentals of what the NRA was.  The number of gun owners vs the number of NRA members is vastly different. Some say there's 100 million gun owners but only about 4 million NRA members. There can be an NRA member who has family members who align with the same beliefs and even votes like the NRA member. The latter may not be a dues paying member, but they consider themselves as part of the NRA.    I'm going to have a handful more of the NRA BOD reform candidates over the next month. Please be on the lookout for those upcoming shows. And share them with your friends.    Favorite quotes: “I saw some things that just didn't sit with me as well as they should have, for the organization.” “We don't advocate everyone should own a firearm. We advocate they should have the right to choose. And if you choose to own a firearm, we want to make you a responsible firearms owner.” “We were built on education, training, and safety.” “It wasn't a job for me; it was a lifestyle.” “We believe in what we're doing.” Elect A New NRA Website https://electanewnra.com/ Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun    Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   SABRE Red Pepper Spray  https://lddy.no/1iq1n   Or listen on: iTunes/Apple podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/riding-shotgun-with-charlie/id1275691565

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #222 Ed Monk Last Resort Firearm Training   Ed Monk is a name I've heard several times over the years. In October 2024, Matt Mallory and I did a live show with Ed and I was able to talk him into letting me drive him around Boston. Last fall, I had a chance to film a show with him before he was presenting at a conference for law enforcement officers. His area of expertise is analyzing the aftermath of school shootings. As a teacher for over 3 decades, this is a topic that hits home for me.    Monk grew up in Arkansas with a family with firearms, mostly for hunting. Around 1999, he connected with Jim Higginbothom who taught Ed that there's a whole new world with defensive gun fighting and shooting. His training resume is beyond impressive. He's taken classes at Front Sight, Tactical Defense Institute, and Rangemaster with Tom Givens. He also had training in the Army, where he spent 24 years. He's been teaching for about 15 years. His brother built a range on the family property. Their range went from 3 pistol bays, to another bay that was covered from the weather. Then his brother became “terminally ill with long range shooting” and added a 480 yard range, too. And they have a 50 yard range that holds 15 people.    Just after finishing his time in Iraq, he got a job teaching at a high school, where he taught for 4 years. Going from a profession that only dealt with deadly violence to one that avoids it was a difficult change. During some professional development, he realized that the school was prepared and didn't know how to prepare for a school shooter. The school's plan was to gather all the students and put them in one area, thus making it easier for the shooter to hit more targets. With the school's staff not knowing how to prepare and deal with violence, they thought this was an acceptable answer. But Ed knew it wasn't. That put him on the path to study school shootings and how they're committed.    Ed has done the work and crunched the numbers. He's realized that it becomes a math problem of sorts. The longer it takes to get someone who is prepared and ready to deal with the shooter, the higher the victim count goes. Locking the doors and hiding under the desks works well every day the shooter doesn't show up.    There are things that can be done. He suggests things like painting the hallways in different colors. Instead of having the art wing, the police can go to the green hallway. Elementary schools can also put barriers up on the playgrounds, ones that can be filled with sand or water. They can even have ballistic tables in the lunchroom. All things that would slow someone down who is committing a heinous crime.    When it comes to stopping a shooter, the time it takes to respond matters, and relates to the number of victims. Ed says that schools don't need everyone to carry but they need some people who are willing to step up and stop the carnage. But that person also needs to be at the school, where the action is taking place. Not several minutes away or even on the other side of the school.    We have a treat in this episode. One of my friends, Mark Lindblom, aka The Bay State King of GLOCKS (BSKOG as we call him), calls in with a question for Ed.Mark has been talking to me about Ed and several other trainers. And he turned me on to Ed's series on the Active Self Protection app.    Ed offers classes and seminars all around the country. He can bring his program to your school as well. You can find where he's teaching and presenting on his Facebook page. If you can get him to come to your district, that would be very beneficial to your community. He also offers training for churches.    In August 2025, at his home range, he is hosting Hero's Conference. You'll be able to hear from heroes who stopped active shooters. People like Jack Wilson, Greg Stevens, Stephen Willeford, and Pastor David George.  Favorite quotes: “Then plopped into a public teaching profession, where we don't discuss violence at all.” “The locking the doors and hiding under the desks works very, very well the shooter doesn't show up.” “They like putting stuff in the plans that's easy to type, that's easy to drill, that's not controversial, that doesn't trigger anybody.” “The longer we let him shoot us, the more of us get shot. Or the sooner we stop him, the fewer of us get shot.” Last Resort Firearms Training https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057584853533 Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun    Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   SABRE Red Pepper Spray  https://lddy.no/1iq1n   Or listen on: iTunes/Apple podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/riding-shotgun-with-charlie/id1275691565

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #221 Mark Oliva NSSF,  Managing Director of Public Affairs   Heading down to Virginia for a few other shows, I was able to connect with Mark Oliva. He's been on my radar as a potential passenger for sometime. I met him last year at SHOT. You can't miss him. He wears a big cowboy hat. Many others do, too. But he has an NSSF badge that says “All Access.” We were able to meet at an “undisclosed location” in Northern Virginia. His job at NSSF takes him into DC regularly.    We start off with some Range Day benefits, like Mark being able to figure out what he wants on his Christmas list. Then we cover talking about taking new folks shooting and shopping for their first gun. And why it's important for ranges to have family friendly facilities and not just a five gallon bucket for a portable bathroom. If we want to get more people into the shooting sports, then we need to make it more comfortable and enjoyable for them. If places aren't welcoming to women, he calls it the “hey, little lady complex.” He and his wife, a former Marine, went to one of those ranges and his wife outshoot everyone else in the class.    Mark was born in New England and went into the Marine Corps right out of high school. He spent 25 years serving the country. He's lived all around the country while serving. And picked up a drawl living in the Carolinas. He got orders to work on Capitol Hill and then he was offered a position at the NSSF. Summing up one career into the other, he says that he went “from one big gun club to another.”   With his current position at NSSF as the Managing Director of Public Affairs, he's on 24/7. He's got two phones; a personal and a work phone. When the work phone rings, he has to answer it. Any day. Any time. Because he has to be knowledgeable about everything that's going on, he says he knows “a lot about a lot of things but it's hard to drill down and become a subject matter expert.” His job in the military was also in public affairs, so this was an easy transition. He enjoyed talking about the Marines and wanted the same thing in his other career.   I do love it when people say the 2A events around the country, SHOT, NRA AM, GRPC, are a family reunion. It is exciting to go to these events, but it's just as important to see and catch up with friends that we've made and the relationships we've built. Mark says the folks at the NSSF, no matter what they do, love hunting and shooting and keeping the firearm industry going and thriving.    Mark talks about how he doesn't give any credence to the media who want to take our rights away. So he can and does have to be firm with them. With everything that is going on, he can't walk blindly into conversations with reporters. When he has these discussions, he's got to have the facts to refute some of the untruths that reporters throw at him.    We talk about how big the industry is, but also about how small it is. He runs into people that are with one company, then move to another company doing the same thing. All these folks, the movers and shakers, know each other. It's a bit like the six degrees of separation. Or as I've heard it called, the Olympic rings of the gun community.    I ran into Mark at SHOT last week. He was wearing a cowboy hat. Shocking, I know. He's all over making sure everyone is getting the things they need and taken care of. SHOT week is really the NSSF's Super Bowl of the shooting and outdoor industry. Everyone is on the go, on their feet, from sunup to way after sundown. And it's always a great week!   Favorite quotes: “You come out to SHOT Show, you can't buy anything at the show. But man this is a great place to make a Christmas list.” “It was really easy and natural for me to have that kind of job, so why would I not want to do that in my next career?”  “When it comes to the facts, you've got to have a good solid knowledge of those facts, and a handle on those facts.” “You've seen Justice Thomas repeatedly say that the lower courts are denigrating the Second Amendment to a second class right. And he's frustrated with it.” NSSF Website https://www.nssf.org/   NSSF Facebook https://www.facebook.com/NSSFcomm/   NSSF Instagram https://www.instagram.com/thenssf/   NSSF LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/national-shooting-sports-foundation   NSSF YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/thenssf   NSSF X https://x.com/NSSF Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun    Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Dennis McCurdy Author, Speaker, Firewalker http://www.find-away.com/   Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   SABRE Red Pepper Spray  https://lddy.no/1iq1n   Or listen on: iTunes/Apple podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/riding-shotgun-with-charlie/id1275691565

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #220 Matthias Quellenberg San Diego Firearms Academy   In 2022, I went to GunProm, hosted by San Diego Gun Owners. It was a huge event with over 750 attendees, the biggest 2A dinner I've attended. I was there with John Petrolino and we didn't really know many folks. We were put at the table with Matthais. We talked all night and exchanged contact info. The next day, he messaged me via Instagram and said he's seen the show, but didn't put it together after seeing me. The next week, Petrolinio messages me and says he's been messaging Matthias. I asked who and he replied “The German.” The name stuck.    In 2024, GRPC was held in San Diego, where he lives. We were able to film a show at the end of GRPC. Everyone was talking about “the wall” and I thought it was some sort of Pink Floyd tribute. Alas, it was the border wall. When he asked where we were driving, I replied “the wall.” We had to make sure we didn't cross into Mexico. I don't have a passport. He was packing.    Matthias grew up in Germany and served in the army. That was his first exposure to shooting and firearms. If it was a choice and an option for the citizens, he would have been a gun owner. But it's very elitist in Germany. The first gun he got to shoot was a Walther P1, the predecessor to the P38. He did boot camp, specialized training, then some office work, and ended up in the Ministry of Defense, similar to the Pentagon here. Then he became a boot camp instructor.    He met an American woman and they had a long distance relationship. Eventually, he made it to Boston. After they got married, he was able to get a green card and he applied for a License To Carry right away. They moved to California and settled in San Francisco. He found out there were only 2 carry permits issued in the city when he got there. In the same time, Fresno County issued over 6,000 permits.    Then life brought them to San Diego. Doing some research, he found out you needed to list your guns and serial numbers on your license and you could only have three guns on that carry license. He looked for an attorney who may want to pursue suing the state about this and ended up talking with the lawyers from the Peruta case. The lawyers thought they may be able to pair the cases, but it didn't fit their strategy.    Back in 2020 while he was Ubering, he would talk with his riders and gun owning came up. They were looking for guidance and opinions. Realizing that there could be a market, he became an NRA certified instructor and started San Diego Firearms School.    We got into talking about teaching gun classes. He teaches a couple classes a month. The next step for him is to get certified by the sheriff's department to be an instructor. In California, you have to take a short test to get the firearm safety certificate, which you need to purchase a firearm. Then you have to do a shooting qualification to be able to take the 16 hour course needed for the CCW permit.     Matthais won tickets to the GunProm back in 2022. That's when he started to see that there are so many more people involved in firearms and the bigger gun community in general. He's good friends with Desi Bergman (RSWC #217) and they both do lots for San Diego County Gun Owners. He even presented for one of their seminars.    I had a great time with Matthais. He's a great guy and he's out there busting his tail to make things happen. He's very active on Instagram, so follow him.  If you end up in San Diego, get an Uber driver with a German accent, and his good dog, Lucky,  there's a good chance it's Matthias!   Favorite quotes: “We don't have gun rights. Guns is not a thing in Germany.” “Within a week of me getting a greencard, I got my first gun and I applied for a License To Carry.”  “At the time, you can only have three guns on your license.” “So many people were asking me questions and looking for help and guidance.” San Diego Firearms School Website https://sandiegofirearmssc.wixsite.com/home   San Diego Firearms School Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sandiegofirearmsschool/   San Diego County Gun Owners https://sandiegocountygunowners.com/   Gun Owners Radio https://www.gunownersradio.com/ Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun    Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Dennis McCurdy Author, Speaker, Firewalker http://www.find-away.com/   Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   SABRE Red Pepper Spray  https://lddy.no/1iq1n   Or listen on: iTunes/Apple podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/riding-shotgun-with-charlie/id1275691565

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #219 Liz Bush Deputy Executive Director,  NRA General Operations   I had a chance to film some shows with the NRA staff at the NRA HQ in Fairfax, VA. With time in my schedule, I asked a friend on the BOD who else I could have. She suggested Liz Bush. I wasn't familiar with her name, but she's got her hands on many things going on at NRA. It was great to have some time with her. I was in need of some NRA teaching materials, but wasn't able to get those from HQ on this trip. They come from a warehouse somewhere else.    Liz's position at NRA is the Deputy Executive Director of General Operations. It covers everything that isn't political. She works with everything from Community Engagement Departments to Women On Target to Friends of the NRA. She tends to the community outreach, clubs and range associations, education and training, law enforcement training division, competitive shooting, NRA Museum, the NRA range, shows and exhibits department, and even the Eddie Eagle program. Like she said, everything but politics! She may have donned the Eagle costume once. But there was a height requirement.    Growing up, her family had a number of firearms and her father was into shooting where she grew up in south New Jersey. Eventually she and her husband moved to the DC metro area. She went into marketing and worked retail but didn't enjoy it. Her father suggested applying for a job at NRA.   But when she got a job at NRA is when she really got into learning about firearms and shooting. She did go through much of the NRA Training Programs. And when there are changes within the programs, she gets to be part of the test case. She's gotten really good at trap shooting and often her husband won't go shooting with her. Doing a project with Mark Keefe (RSWC #216), Liz found she really likes the GLOCK 19. She talked her mother into buying one, too!   There's a lot more programs than I know or even realize that the NRA offers. There's a Youth Hunter Education Challenge. It's the next level after a regular hunter ed course.There's eight levels for challenge. This program has between 40-50 courses and reaches about 4,000 students. The NRA Day program is a mixed bag of all the disciplines for new shooters and gun owners. It's like an open house for shooting. The clubs that host NRA Day have the flexibility to design the program to what they'd like to offer participants. The Women On Target hosts nearly 100 events a year and reaches 4,000-5,000 women each year. The Range Services department helps ranges and range owners who are looking to start or improve their ranges.    One of the programs is the Friends of the NRA. I've been to a few of these around the country. The great thing about them is not just hanging out with like minded people and having something in common. The funds raised are split between the NRA and the state where the money is raised in the form of grants.    Over the years with NRA, Liz has been moving through different departments and different areas. It's fantastic to see that one job can lead to several different positions and cover lots of various aspects of keeping the organization going. The people that work at NRA HQ genuinely enjoy working for them and doing what they do. They're there to support it's members and get the word out about shooting, gun ownership, and the benefits it brings.    We did talk about Phil Schreier (RSWC #182) the NRA Museum. Phil is a celebrity due to all his appearances on the History Channel and Outdoor Channel programs. And I need to find some time to get back down to take in the museum and all it has to offer. Maybe I'll get some other folks from the NRA to hop in the stagecoach!   Favorite quotes: “We really focus on the programs, any touch points with the members. Anything that gets them pulling triggers.” “It says a lot about for the people and the community and camaraderie that we have as employees at NRA.” “Eddie Eagle is probably one our most successful programs, reaches millions of kids a year.” “Sporting clays is fun, it's like a round of golf but for shooters.” “We're one big team and over the years learned what everyone else is doing.”   National Rifle Association https://home.nra.org/   NRA Explore/NRA Programs https://explore.nra.org/   NRA Facebook https://www.facebook.com/NRA   NRA Instagram https://www.instagram.com/nra/   Friends of the NRA https://www.friendsofnra.org/   Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun    Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Dennis McCurdy Author, Speaker, Firewalker http://www.find-away.com/   Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   SABRE Red Pepper Spray  https://lddy.no/1iq1n   Or listen on: iTunes/Apple podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/riding-shotgun-with-charlie/id1275691565

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #218 Jacek Waliszewki Code Name: Spike, Author   Sometimes the planets all line up for me. I was in Knoxville, TN, for the Gun Owners of America's G.O.A.L.S event. I was talking with Kirk Whatley from Samson Mfg. Kirk has been a friend for a long time. He was RSWC #005 back when I was learning how to edit video. Samson's booth was across from Liberty Mfg's booth. They have a pen gun. And at their booth was Jacek Waliszewski, author of Code Name: Spike.    Jacek was born in Poland but he was raised in a revolution. His father co-founded the Solidarity Movement there and they kicked communism out of Poland. As an infant, his mother would put propaganda papers in his diapers that he would take to his father while he was locked up. It all had to be done before he soiled the diaper! He was muling documents for his father to read and sign. The family eventually came to the United States as political refugees during the Reagan years.   After moving around the country with his father's job, Jacek joined the Army and went into Special Forces. He spent 20 years serving the country and he's working on his second career and spending time with his own family. His second career finds him as a writer. He's authored a book called Code Name: Spike. He was at the Liberty Mfg booth promoting his book because Liberty has a pen gun. And a story in his book involves the first real life use of a pen gun.    Going from Special Forces medic to Special Forces warrant officer, he got to spend time in the Nation Archives. Near George Washington's flag and maps from Normandy, still with sand in them, he finds a leather bound book. The book was written by two men in the Office of Strategic Services back in 1946. The CIA didn't declassify the documents until the 1980's. He wondered how this memoir existed and no one knew about it. When they tried to publish it in 1946, the CIA and the State Department refused to let them release these secrets into the public.    Jacek spent five years researching and working on this book. He cross referenced their Morse code messages. It even took him to England, where he found their secret Morse code messages. After chasing the background around the world, the Department of Defense finally cleared everything for the publication of the book.    One of the truly amazing things he did was reach out to the surviving family members of Steven Bizic & Joseph S. Kosky to let them know about the history of their fathers and grandfathers. That involved hundreds of calls and emails to find everyone. The family members didn't know these stories because they were super secret.  And it was a time when men didn't talk about what they did during war. He had a chance to bring their lives full circle with this book.    It's amazing that he discovered the things that formed Special Operations.The OSS was the foundation of many of the other groups like Spec Ops and CIA. The stories could also change the history of the communists. There's stories about how they would confiscate firearms from people, who would hand them over, because they think they're doing the right thing. Then they immediately found out that the partisans were the judge, jury, and executioner. The people who surrendered their guns would then be shot with their own firearms as punishment. In another chapter, he talks about how the OSS were able to derail a train which ended up taking the lives of 200 Nazis. This book reads like a novel. But a true history book that will keep you riveted and reading. To top it off, his next book is going to be how the same group of OSS were plotting to take out Mussolini. Somewhere, someone has Mussolini's pistol.   Favorite quotes: “I like to say I was born into revolution.” “It's the first Special Operations memoir written after the war.” “This book reveals all the things we did wrong in the war.” “To give back to the Special Operations community, this is the legacy book.”  “It's more disturbing to know that it's true.” Stories By Jack website https://www.storiesbyjacek.com/   Jacek Waliszewski on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/jw_jack_official/   Liberty Mfg https://www.liberty-mfg.us/   Code Name: Spike on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/CODE-NAME-SPECIAL-FORCES-GROUNDBREAKING/dp/B0D52QP3G3   Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun    Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Dennis McCurdy Author, Speaker, Firewalker http://www.find-away.com/   Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   SABRE Red Pepper Spray  https://lddy.no/1iq1n   Or listen on: iTunes/Apple podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/riding-shotgun-with-charlie/id1275691565

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #217 Desi Bergman Not Me SD   I met Desi Bergman at GunProm held by San Diego County Gun Owners back in June of 2022. I met a lot of people that weekend. I may have been “over self-served.” But at Gun Rights Policy Conference in 2024, we got to meet again. And I'll remember it this time. (Gulp!) I always plan on filming shows while I'm on a trip, and GPRC 2024 was no different. But I had to make changes to my plans. Desi and I caught up on the Friday evening social. I asked if she was interested in doing the show and she agreed to it. We headed to Coronado Island and got a selfie at Dog Beach.   As a young child, guns were always around for her and her family. Her grandparents owned a farm in central California. While her dad was out checking the property, she was the girl who was shooting at rabbits from the truck with a BB gun. Her father was a sheriff reserve and taught the kids to respect firearms, how to be safe, and how to shoot. One of her prized possessions is her father's Colt Python. When her mother inquires about it, she keeps telling her it's in for repair.    Having been in San Diego for 13 years, she discovered San Diego County Gun Owners about five years ago. I had Michael Schwartz from SDCGO on episode #153. Desi & Michael met at a BBQ for SDCGO. He was telling her about Not Me SD and how he was trying to get it up and going. She loved the idea and got involved in volunteering to learn more about it. When the virus that shall not be named hit,they needed someone to be more involved. She stepped up and took on the part-time role. There were some instructing certifications she needed and earned. Having them gives her more credentials for converting women to gun ownership.    Not Me SD is a program for women who are survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. The program takes the women all through the process to get a CCW in California. They have scholarships for those in need. They teach the women all aspects of self defense, from situational awareness, pepper spray, and firearms. Since 2020, females are the largest growing demographic of firearms owners and those who are seeking out training. Not Me is a huge resource for women who want help.    They have regular and monthly get-togethers for training and shooting socials, as they call them. This pairs women up with instructors. We do talk about the process to get a permit in The Golden State. There's a quick and easy 30 question test to get the firearm safety card, which is step one. We did talk about what makes a good first gun for a woman. Of course there is no “correct” answer, but it was fun to talk about. Desi used a term about GLOCK that I hadn't heard before. She called it the “Honda of the gun world.” Ya know, she's not wrong. We also talked about the SIG P365 getting added to the CA roster and using red dots.    One of the amazing success stories from Not Me SD is of a woman who was shot in the neck twice by her ex-husband. Not only did she survive the incident but she got into firearms and self protection, she enjoyed learning and turned into a survivor. A big step for DV survivors is actually hearing the gun being fired. Her program has reached over 1,300 women. Everytime she is on a local TV show, she has more and more people reaching out to get training and education.    California has a roster, much like Massachusetts. Both states have lots of restrictions and unconstitutional laws about firearms. We also have so-called assault weapon bans and magazine restrictions.    Desi and I talked more about Not Me SD while we drove to Coronado Island. We grabbed a selfie at Dog Beach. San Diego is a beautiful place. The weather is amazing. It could be a perfect place, but the gun laws in Cali… Not so much.  Favorite quotes: “I was holding a gun since I was two years old and I could hold one.” “I like to have all the qualifications because it help me articulate better when I'm teaching these classes.” “GLOCKS are the Honda of the gun world.” “We always end the day with a mag dump on the .22.” “I believe that women should have as many tools as they can to protect themselves.” Not Me SD https://sandiegocountygunowners.com/notmesd/ Not Me CA https://www.notmeca.org/   Not Me CA Facebook https://www.facebook.com/NotMeCA/   Gun Owners Radio Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sdgunowners Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun    Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Dennis McCurdy Author, Speaker, Firewalker http://www.find-away.com/   Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   SABRE Red Pepper Spray  https://lddy.no/1iq1n   Or listen on: iTunes/Apple podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/riding-shotgun-with-charlie/id1275691565

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #216 Mark Keefe NRA Managing Director of Editorial & Public Affairs   Like everyone who has read any of the NRA's magazines or watched American Rifleman, or even seen some shows on The Outdoor Channel or The History Channel, I've seen Mark Keefe for years. Emails between the NRA staff and me while setting up the show with Doug Hamlin (RSWC #213), I saw that Mark was on the email last. I had to ask if he would be available and interested. And he was.  I was pleasantly surprised when Mark came out before I interviewed Doug to check and make sure everything was good to go.   Mark has been shooting since he was young. His grandfather used to drink beef from a can. When the beer got old, they used to shoot the beer cans with the beer in them while using a BB gun. That's quite a reactive target, for sure! As a young teenager, the family elders decided he was “old enough for the Thompson.” But it was only semi-auto until he was older. He also did some shooting in the Boy Scouts.    In 1988, Mark wanted to be a Shooting Sports Director for the Boy Scouts so he could teach rifle, shotgun, and archery. To do this, he had to become an NRA Certified Instructor. In this process, he reconnected with Phil Schreier (RSWC #182). His interest in collecting historical firearms really took off. Mark told me the story about Phil getting a job volunteering at the NRA Museum and telling him that you never know where it will lead and you have to grow up sometime. The following year, Phil ended up offering Mark the weekend work at the Museum saying… you never know where it will lead and you have to grow up sometime. Mark has been there 34 years, and Phil has been there 35 years.   After being at the Museum a few years, he started as the assistant technical editor for some of the magazines. He worked through the ranks as associate technical editor, managing editor, and finally editor and he ran American Rifleman for 21 years. In the early 2000's, he was encouraged to start a column so the readers could learn more about the NRA contributors. That was the beginning of The Keefe Report. He still kept reviewing guns, the current issues, and his regular duties.     In the late 1990's/early 2000's, the NRA started having the staff and writers get out and gain experience with the firearms they were reviewing. That's when Mark had the chance to travel the world and do some training and hunting. Learning to shoot a rifle at moving game is different from hunting in the United States. These hunting trips and experiences really gave them the chance to experience the usefulness and dependability of the firearms they were using. While using firearms in the field, he began to see why some of the designs of rifles or cocking methods or stocks were built the way they are. It made more sense once they put them to use in real situations.    In the early 2000's Mark was on a hunt with people from The Outdoor Channel. They told Mark there really needed to be an American Rifleman TV show. But he didn't have a lot of video experience. He, his staff, and Phil came up with a plan to get the show going and what the content would be. He told me a great story about someone who went back to Europe and was able to find brass from rounds fired by Alvin York! It's an amazing story!   Mark's most recent title is the Managing Director of Editorial & Public Affairs. He's got his hands in many things NRA and media related, from The Keefe Report to American Rifleman, but also keeping up with the new trends in social media. Mark is NRA to the core. And a firearm guy through and through. He told me after we were done filming that we didn't even get to any of the hunting stores. I can't wait for those.   Favorite quotes: “I think he's probably old enough for the Thompson.” “You can't really slap a rifle trigger, but you can pull it quickly.” “We wanted to take people places they couldn't go.” “We blend the story of the people who used these guns.” “We're involved in things that we just don't get credit for.”   National Rifle Association https://home.nra.org/   American Rifleman https://www.americanrifleman.org/   NRA Publications on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@NRApubs   NRA Explore/NRA Programs https://explore.nra.org/   NRA Facebook https://www.facebook.com/NRA   NRA Instagram https://www.instagram.com/nra/   Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun    Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Dennis McCurdy Author, Speaker, Firewalker http://www.find-away.com/   Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   SABRE Red Pepper Spray  https://lddy.no/1iq1n   Or listen on: iTunes/Apple podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/riding-shotgun-with-charlie/id1275691565  

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #215 Keith Barry (KB) 51Fifty Rifles/Optimum   At the NRA Annual Meeting, I got a message from Frank Johnson to meet him at the 51Fifty/Optimum booth. I was asked to be on Frank's show Range Report earlier in the year, so I wanted to meet him in person. At the 51Fifty booth was Keith Berry (KB). I was very impressed at how fast Frank was able to take down their AR style rifle. Legit, I looked away to see if my bag was still on the ground and the rifle was apart. They have a Rapid Access Cam that connects the upper and lower receivers. With the flip of a lever, similar to a safety switch, you can do the lock and take the rifle apart.    Recently, I got the time to go out and meet with KB. He's only in western Mass so it wasn't far of a drive to get together. He gave me a tour of the building and how they build their rifles. They've got a room in the back where they do all their videos with a number of “wall decorations” as their backdrop.    KB grew up shooting since he was young, like for years old! His father ingrained the safety rules at a young age, which gave him a strong basis on safe gun handling. He progressed from BB guns, to pellet guns, to .22 rifles. His father served in Viet Nam and was much of the inspiration and motivation for the beginning of 51Fifty. Their first rifle was a tribute to KB's dad. Once he started making rifles, he would ask his dad what he would want for this part and for that part. That's what KB was putting together just for his dad. One of his dad's life long goals was to become a certified gunsmith, which he achieved before passing away.    Many of the rifles made by 51Fifty have been made to commemorate things like the slaying of the five Dallas police officers a few years ago. They remade the rifle for his father and added some coating to make it look distressed and used. The company that worked with them asked them to join them at SHOT Show, which they were happy to go along with.   Before getting into the firearm business, KB spent 20 years doing printing. Due to health issues from printing, he needed a new career. He got into working in the auto industry and financing. Within a year, he got into helping non-compliant companies and did that in five states for the next 20 years.    When KB was based in Texas, there was a lot of back and forth between the Lone State and the Bay State, where the parts were being built. Building parts were in Mass while painting and assembly was in Texas.  So KB and his wife moved to New England to help run the business and the shop from here.    One of the things 51Fifty prides themselves on is listening to what their customers want. Their rifles are in several countries with their troops. When they give feedback to 51Fifty, they listen, take notes, and make changes. They're addressing issues that have been around with the AR platform since the beginning and they're working to make superior rifles for everyone, whether in the military, law enforcement, or civilians. At their first SHOT Show, a veteran was going by their booth in a wheelchair. He couldn't believe how fast the disassembly of the AR was done.    There are several big name folks that have the 51Fifty rifles. They make a lot of specialty rifles and they donate several of them to charities. One of their rifles is a .308 and is worth about $50,000. It only gets brought out for big charity events. The engraving on it is just incredible. They are doing a big event for SHOT Show 2025, so if you're in the media, make sure you stop by and try out their rifles. If you can't make it, please visit their website and check out all the cool and wild designs they've got.  Favorite quotes: “You take the curiosity away. You don't make it taboo.” “We need to do something to help these families.” “Right now we're not Goliath we're David, but we want to slay Goliath.” “If I had had this system, I'd still have my legs.” 51Fifty Rifles https://51fiftyrifles.com/   51Fifty Rifles Facebook https://www.facebook.com/51FiftyRifles   51Fifty Rifles Instagram https://www.instagram.com/51fifty/   51Fifty Rifles X https://x.com/OP51_usa   51Fifty Rifles YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@OP51USA   51Fifty Rifles LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/51fifty/posts/?feedView=all   51Fifty Rifles Truth Social https://truthsocial.com/@51Fifty Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun    Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Dennis McCurdy Author, Speaker, Firewalker http://www.find-away.com/   Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   SABRE Red Pepper Spray  https://lddy.no/1iq1n   Or listen on: iTunes/Apple podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/riding-shotgun-with-charlie/id1275691565

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #214 News2A Shawn Abramson & Grant Kielczewski   Last year, I filmed a show with Shawn and Grant from News2A. Due to camera issues, we decided to scrap it and do it another time. That time was in Knoxville, Tenn, at the Gun Owners of America's G.O.A.L.s event. Since we first tried this, Grant up and moved from New Jersey to middle Tennessee, so this was the ideal time to make it happen again.    Shawn grew up in a mostly non-gun house, but he and his brother took any chance they could to go out and shoot with their father's friends. At 18, getting an FID and joining the NRA was on the top of the things he wanted to do as an adult. For Grant growing up in the Midwest, guns were just tools. Also buying his first gun at 18, he spent years just being a casual shooter. In the last five years, things changed for him. He's been more active in taking courses and in helping others get started on their gun owning path. He's been working more towards becoming a better instructor.    Shawn and Grant were both New Jersey guys with an idea to start a website with a focus on the Garden State.  News2A (N2A) was launched after the Bruen decision in June 2022. New Jersey finally caved, kicking and screaming, to allow their peasants to have pitchforks. And allow them to carry their pitchforks. For a while, it was a hotbed of overreaching government having a post-Bruen hissy fit. There were lots of things going on. The gents thought there needed to be a place where people could get the up to date and correct info on the goings on.   We spend some time talking about the differences between states like, New Jersey & Massachusetts, versus other states, like Florida & Tennessee. It is bad in Jersey. You cannot carry in sensitive places so you have to disarm in your car and do a lot of administrative loading and unloading. Post Bruen, New York and New Jersey really tried tamping down the rights and abilities of gun owners.    When the guys started getting more involved, they went to Trenton to watch the testimonies and see how the sausage is made. And it ain't pretty. None of the things we may have been taught in school, or from Schoolhouse Rock, really happens like that. It was an education and eye opening for them.    At one point, John Petrolino, RSWC #093, reached out to me and asked if I wanted to do some writing. He said that N2A was looking for writers and contributors for their website. He said I could send things to him to edit, then I could pass it along to N2A. In the meantime, he wrote to Shawn and Grant, saying that maybe they could publish some of my writings there. It's been a great outlet for me as a writer. I was able to cover the nonsense of the Gun Law Listening Tour in early 2023.    The website is chock full of writers. Covering topics of politics, gun rights, training, editorials. They've got about eight writers plus Shawn and Grant contributing to the site. Some I've had on the show and some still need to get in the stagecoach. They also have sections on the site that are great resources for Jersey residents, where you can carry, how to carry, how to apply for everyone. And, of course, safety tips, too.    Let me tell you, the gun folks from Jersey have aggravation in their blood about their process, licensing scheme, and the nonsense they have to deal with. There's only a handful of states that the Bruen decision really affected. These states are the most egregious about doing their best to make sure that lawful and responsible citizens have a hard time with owning, possessing, and carrying firearms. Fortunately, they've got Shawn and Grant putting in time, love, and money in keeping everyone informed and on top of the situation.  Favorite quotes: Shawn: “You meet the right people, too. They have the right values. They're just friendly people willing to help others in general.” Shawn: “They only care about making sure their party's agenda happens.” Grant:”We've tried to take this very complex information and make it as applicable to people as possible.” Grant: “I know people underestimate the value of training.” News2A Website https://www.news2a.com/   News2A Twitter/X https://twitter.com/News2ATeam   News2A Facebook https://www.facebook.com/news2a/   News2A Gab https://gab.com/News2A   US Law Shield (Code:NEWS2A) https://www.uslawshield.com/?affid=ad008c31-331d-11ef-bda8-0615552639c3 Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun    Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Dennis McCurdy Author, Speaker, Firewalker http://www.find-away.com/   Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   SABRE Red Pepper Spray  https://lddy.no/1iq1n   Or listen on: iTunes/Apple podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/riding-shotgun-with-charlie/id1275691565

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #213 Doug Hamlin  NRA, Executive Vice President   It's not everyday you get to interview the Executive Vice President of the National Rifle Association, let alone take him for a drive around Fairfax. But when the chance comes up, you take it. I owe a huge Thank You to Amanda Suffecool for making the connection. It's pretty cool when Mark Keefe, who I've seen on TV and in magazines, comes out to make sure everything is ready for the interview.    Like many folks, firearms were a family tradition for Doug. He learned to hunt from his grandfather and they had a “healthy collection” of firearms, many which were military surplus. When he was old enough, Doug joined the Marines. The years in service were very beneficial in forming the self confidence that people need. It also taught him that life is competitive and that you need to step up or step out.    After the Marines, he had a friend who was working with Petersen Publishing Company in Detroit. His friend was doing well. He asked his friend to put in a good word at the Petersen headquarters in LA. He got to meet with Mr. Robert Petersen and was offered a job at Guns & Ammo magazine in the late 1980's. Mr. Petersen, of course, is the largest donor to the National Firearm Museum at NRA HQ.Petersen was a big role model and mentor to Doug. He moved from ad sales to publisher in 4 years.    Eventually Petersen moved Doug over to publish MotorTrend Magazine, which was a very important property to Petersen Publishing. Being a bit of a car guy, this was a good fit. The day after getting the new job, Petersen jetted him off to the New York auto show. Doug got to travel the world with Petersen, including trips to London. Often, they'd stop at Purdy and Holland & Holland to “make an investment”. Many of these investments happen to be in the NRA Museum. His NRA roots run deep!   Having lunch with Ken Elliot, his former boss at Petersen, it came up that Joe Graham was retiring from NRA Publications. Ken asked if some NRA folks, including Wayne LaPierre, could join them for lunch. Having Doug as the executive director of publications came up in the conversation. He started the position in early 2014, and spent 10 years working as publisher.    When LaPierre stepped down in February, there were going to be changes on the Board. There were the “old guard” and the “reformers”. It came down to Doug and Ronnie Barrett. Doug speaks extensively on what happened at the meetings and election. Getting back to NRA HQ after the election and with almost no sleep, Doug got right to work.   Doug has ignited a spark to the staff. Everyone at NRA has a much brighter outlook on the future of NRA. They're working to rebuild the trust with membership, as well as grow it to what it was just a few years ago. There's only a small percentage of gun owners who are members. With around 100 million gun owners and only 4 million NRA members, there's a lot of room for expansion.   The NRA has several publications and over 40 programs. Things from helping ranges get started, Eddie Eagle, lobbying in every state, several websites,and training. Their publications have been rebranded as NRA Media, and Mark Keefe is the leader there. (And the interview with Mark will be dropping soon!) With all their media, they're reaching 20 million people a month!   We do need a strong and stable NRA. I've said this several times, the NRA is taking the arrows from the antis while the other groups are doing work. The antis don't know about the other groups since they are smaller than the NRA. I did get a chance to interview a few others at NRA while I was there. Everyone loves their jobs at NRA and enjoy working there. It's good to see and hear this. Like I said, we need a strong NRA.  Favorite quotes: “You better step up or step out.” “They also understand the significance of a strong NRA. It benefits the entire industry when you have a strong NRA.” “You can count on us. You can trust us.” “NRA is a tremendous institution and we're doing a lot to get us back on track and rebuild our membership.” National Rifle Association https://home.nra.org/   Friends of NRA  https://www.friendsofnra.org/   NRA Foundation Grants https://www.nrafoundation.org/grants   NRA Explore/NRA Programs https://explore.nra.org/   NRA Facebook https://www.facebook.com/NRA   NRA Instagram https://www.instagram.com/nra/ Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun    Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Dennis McCurdy Author, Speaker, Firewalker http://www.find-away.com/   Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   SABRE Red Pepper Spray  https://lddy.no/1iq1n   Or listen on: iTunes/Apple podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/riding-shotgun-with-charlie/id1275691565

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #212 Irv Gill Blackbelt Ammunition   I love it when a plan comes together. I was heading to New Jersey and it was a vacation week, so I had some extra time. I'd been in contact with Irv Gill from Blackbelt Ammunition and we were able to meet at Tanner's Sports Center in Jamison, Pa. I met Nayara Andrejczyk there last year to film a show with her. It isn't too far from Reading so we all met there.    Irv has been a long time shooter and hunter, like many folks. His grandfather taught him to shoot and he got his first .22 rifle around 12 years old. During his junior high and high school years, he joined the rifle team. He bought some muzzleloading handguns and it felt like reloading since you have to apply all the components of ammunition. He also started casting his own bullets as well. By 18 years old, he got his mom to buy him his first revolver.    When he was younger, he got into hunting boar with handguns. It was much more exciting because you have to get a little closer to the animals. During those years, he got into reloading his own ammunition. Then started loading it for friends and family, too.    This led to getting some single stage presses and reloading ammo. He does say that no one really saves money by reloading because you end up shooting more and needing more supplies. Even though it works out to be a few cents a round and you're shooting more, it's more about control of the ammo and the bullet.    Irv is also a black belt in martial arts and has been practicing for years. He even wrote a book about the martial arts. Self defense training in its various forms is something he's been doing his whole life. Back in 2020 when things changed, he decided to take this hobby of making ammunition and making it a real thing, a real business. He wasn't sure what to call it. While his wife was napping one day, she woke up and said it should be Blackbelt Ammunition. His plan was to cater to local gun stores who had a hard time keeping stock. Then he met a woman who helped Blackbelt with online sales.    After studying various types of bullets and ballistics, he decided it was time to move forward and make this dream come true. Irv compares his ammo to small batch micro brews or whiskeys. He isn't cranking out thousands and thousands of rounds. He's got small batch ammo that specializes in self defense and not bulk target ammo. I love that he calls the big ammo companies “Rem-Fed-Chester”, short of Remington, Federal, and Winchester. They can produce all the target ammo but he's got them beat for self defense ballistics. His bullets expand more and transfer more energy to its intended target. Another good thing about being a small business and doing small batches, if he wants to make a change, it doesn't take too much work.    One of his newest rounds is the Red Devil. It's for customers in New Jersey. In the Garden State, someone cannot use hollow point or hollow tip ammo. If there is an insert in the tip, then it is ok to use or carry. Another brand has a red ball inserted into the tip. Blackbelt has a steel BB that they use for the Red Devil. He's been in contact with the powers that be in New Jersey to make sure it will be ok to sell there. If you're in Jersey, check Blackbelt's social media. Irv and his team are often at local gun shows selling ammo.    This is a good episode. It's great to hear someone who has a dream and makes it happen at any age. Irv obviously loves what he's doing and he's doing a great job at it. Please check out his socials and buy some of his ammo.    Favorite quotes: “You have to dedicate time to it.” “I got into martial arts because I've always been into self defense.” “I got into martial arts so that you didn't have to shoot somebody.” “We don't need more regulation. We need smart regulation.” Blackbelt Ammunition https://www.blackbeltammunition.com/   Blackbelt Ammunition Instagram https://www.instagram.com/blackbelt_ammunition   Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089942570085 Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun    Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Buy RSWC & GunGram shirts & hoodies, stickers & patches, and mugs at the store! http://ridingshotgunwithcharlie.com/rswc-shop/   Dennis McCurdy Author, Speaker, Firewalker http://www.find-away.com/   Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   SABRE Red Pepper Spray  https://lddy.no/1iq1n   Or listen on: iTunes/Apple podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/riding-shotgun-with-charlie/id1275691565

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #211 Dick Heller Heller v DC   Back in 2018, I was heading to hear some friends speak at the Heller 10 Celebration hosted by Second Amendment Institute. I got a call from one of my friends and she said “we're going to Heller's house”. I wondered “who's we? Is it her? Am I part of we?”. She called back and I got to go hang out at the Heller resident. The next day, I found myself being asked/told that I was going to give an impromptu speech on the Supreme Court Steps. I've seen Dick at a number of events and got to film this show on our way to go shoot sporting clays at the M&M Hunting Preserve in New Jersey. He was the keynote at a fundraiser the night before. We shot clays with John Petrolino (RSWC #093), Gabby Franco (RSWC #), and Eric, who was helping get Dick around for the weekend.    We've all heard of the Heller decision. We all know what happened in the Heller case. It's been cited and referenced in cases upon cases. It's referenced in the McDonald v Chicago and NYSRPA v Bruen. If you haven't read that “magnificent Scalia decision”, you need to do some homework.    The Heller case was ruled in 2008, but it started years before. Getting a case to the SCOTUS takes time and money. And lots of both. Several years before, Dick was friends with a fighter pilot and instructor and Vietnam veteran. He was also an Olympic shooter in 1980. Dick rented him a room. So he came over with a truck full of guns, which was illegal at the time, and said they're all going to jail. The friend got the guns out of DC and decided that he was going to go to law school to fight this nonsense. Heller said he was going to become a cop and they'll give him a gun to protect them, but he won't be able to protect himself. This is the beginning of the case.    When the case was done, Heller had to sign 12 more papers for another case just so the lawyers would get paid. He points out that the government pays to fight us with our own money in the form of taxes. And we also have to pay with our own money to fight the government. Heller's team of lawyers were able to win the case despite the unlimited funds that DC has.    The case went to a federal court since it was a Constitutional issue. But it didn't rule in Heller's favor the first time. So they appealed to the DC Circuit Court. There they prevail. During one of the trials, the opposing attorney admits to the judge that they just don't want guns in DC. The lawyer hadn't seen or heard the news that crimes in DC at the time was rising and a very violent city to live in.   Heller also shares that with his ruling in 2008 and with Sandy Hook happening in 2012, he was posed with what kind of influence his case could have been responsible for that incident. Ultimately, each individual has to be responsible for their actions. His ruling shouldn't, and didn't, have anything to do with other acts of evil people.    For years now, Heller has been associated with Gun Owners of America because they are the group that will not compromise our rights away. He's been to a number of the Coalition of New Jersey Gun Owners and Women for Gun Rights events up and down the east coast. And he's been to several of the other national 2A events around the country. If you get a chance to see him and hear him speak, you need to take that. He's a national treasure. And you can hear some of his story here.    Favorite quotes: “Everybody out there can do a little bit of something.” “The city has unlimited funding in the form of our tax dollars… with which to hurt us with our own money.” “You don't whimp your way to the Supreme Court.” “In the arrogance of government, they thought they would have the high court voting on their side of the law.” “Sometimes you have to pull up your big  boy pants and understand who you are and what you're doing.” Heller Foundation https://www.hellerfoundation.org/   The Heller Decision https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/usrep/usrep554/usrep554570/usrep554570.pdf   Gun Owners of America https://www.gunowners.org/   Coalition of New Jersey Firearm Owners https://www.cnjfo.com/ Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun    Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Buy RSWC & GunGram shirts & hoodies, stickers & patches, and mugs at the store! http://ridingshotgunwithcharlie.com/rswc-shop/   Dennis McCurdy Author, Speaker, Firewalker http://www.find-away.com/   Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   SABRE Red Pepper Spray  https://lddy.no/1iq1n   Or listen on: iTunes/Apple podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/riding-shotgun-with-charlie/id1275691565

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #210 Don Mann SEAL Team 1, 2, & 6, Author   It's great when someone calls you and says “Hey, Don Mann is looking to do some media. Can I give him your contact info?”. The answer is “of course”. Thanks to Rich Yumul from Gun Owners Radio for reaching out. I called Don and talked with him. I had some time off from work and it was easy to plan.    I'd heard of Don's name. A couple people I knew have been on his TV show, Surviving Mann.  It's a reality competition show that involves lots of shooting and lots of physical exercise. I listened to the show with my friends on the drive down to the Blue Ridge Mountain area of Virginia. It was very enjoyable to listen to, more enjoyable if I was able to watch.    I headed up the mountain to Don's house.The house faced the Blue Ridge Mountains. It's a spectacular view! Besides being a SEAL, an author of 23 books, and hosting some TV shows where he sets the mission, Don is a motivational speaker. This really is a mix of all the things I like. It's like Jeff Cooper meets Zig Ziglar.    Don was raised in New England. He joined the military at a young age.. As a young man, he enjoyed working out.  He knew he wanted to become a SEAL but he also knew it took lots of work to get there. He spent several years training and preparing to get into BUD/S. It also took him a few tries before he was able to succeed.    Not completing BUD/S training gave him the chance to develop a method of success. Working this way gave him a way to think and achieve his goals. He talks about the macro goals and  micro goals you need to achieve success. This worked for his training, but it's worked in several other ways, too.   The overall goal of everyday for Don is to do four things everyday. If he can do those, he can be better and get better at everything he does. And he emphasizes that anyone can, and should, do these four things. These things will make you better and make you a better person.   One of the things he enjoys is physical training. He really enjoyed pushing himself to and beyond his limit. When he wasn't training the SEALs he was off doing high adventure. Things like Ironman competitions, climbing Mt Everest, and just all around pushing his limits. He likes to find out what the limit is and just get to that line then back off.    When he retired, he was approached to write a book about firearms. Obviously, he is very well versed in all things gun related. After writing the book, the editor had to cut it down because it was too much. The result is called The Modern Day Gunfighter and it's just over 400 pages.    With all his SEALs experience, he was asked to write a book about being a SEAL, but he can't really talk about what they did. So he developed a fictional book about life as a SEAL and some potential missions in the future. That went well and became a series of books, each book having new characters and a new nemesis.    He was offered a reality show. Don was to train them all then face all of them in an elimination contest. With contestants in the 20's and 30's, he had to convince the producers it would be better if they did the training, eliminated contestants, then had a final mission to rescue someone. This is a show called Surviving Mann. Currently, Season 3 is out there for people to watch. He did say that maybe I could come for an All Stars season, but only to record interviews. Whew! I'd never survive.    This really was a motivational episode. Don has careers writing books, filming TV shows, and as a motivational speaker, too. I get the RSWC is about people in the firearm community, but having someone that is inspiring as Don Mann, it's truly an honor to have some time with him and get his uplifting stories out for everyone to hear.  Favorite quotes: “The SEALs were everything and more than ever I could wished for a lifestyle and a career.”  “I'd think ‘Today was hard, but it wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it was going to be'.” “It just proved to him that he can do a lot more than he thought he could.” “You have to have the mindset and the ability to think real big.” “The only way to do it so people don't get hurt is to make training really easy. But then you go to war and you're going to get slaughtered.” Don Mann Website https://www.usfrogmann.com/   Don Mann Facebook https://www.facebook.com/usfrogmann   Don Mann Instagram https://www.instagram.com/us_frogmann/   Don Mann Speaker website https://speakerdonmann.com/   Surviving Mann https://survivingmann.com/   The Mission https://www.usfrogmann.com/the-mission Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun    Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Buy RSWC & GunGram shirts & hoodies, stickers & patches, and mugs at the store! http://ridingshotgunwithcharlie.com/rswc-shop/   Dennis McCurdy Author, Speaker, Firewalker http://www.find-away.com/   Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   SABRE Red Pepper Spray  https://lddy.no/1iq1n   Or listen on: iTunes/Apple podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/riding-shotgun-with-charlie/id1275691565

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #209  Mike Harris Gun Owners Action League, Director of Public Policy   A couple years ago, I got a call from Jim Wallace from Gun Owners Action League (GOAL). He was sending out a couple of the GOAL staff to Gun Rights Policy Conference. He asked if I would introduce them to folks. Not a problem. One of the staff was Mike Harris. He's a great guy with a lot of personality, good stories, and he's worked on Beacon Hill. Mike also joined me with the Women for Gun Rights episode, RSWC #180, last fall.    There have been a lot of bad things happening in Massachusetts for gun owners. It started with the Gun Law Listening Tour from January 2023-June 2023. It was hosted by State Representative Michael Day. Day said he didn't know what the new bill was going to look like.  At some point, Day met with Gabby Giffords, who is wildly anti-gun. I assume she gave him what she wanted in the bill with a hefty check for his services rendered.    The bill was dropped just days after the end of the GLLT. The MA gun laws were overhauled and not in a positive way. The bill was shut down by the Bay State gun owners who called and wrote their representatives and senators. But Day was determined to get the bill through the House. It passed in October 2023. In early 2024, the MA Senate needed to write their version which was bad, but not as extreme. It was still littered with infringements. It ended up passing the MA Senate then headed to a special Conference Committee of only six people.    They dropped the Bill on July 17, 2024. It was 116 pages of new restrictions on the subjects of the Commonwealth. Things like new definitions for firearms, including calling a rifle handguard a “barrel shroud”, more confusing dates for so-called assault weapon bans, adding rifles and shotguns to the approved weapons roster, and limiting possession of any semi automatic rifle or shotgun to anyone under 21 years old. The bill was signed by Governor Maura Healey (D) on July 25, 2024. It's been a mess since then. There was confusion on the start date of the law from August 1 to August 2 to October 23.    Mike called me and asked if I would sign as a registered voter a form to call for a referendum on the law. And if we could film a show driving into Boston to drop the form off. We were met near the State House by Garet Holcomb, President of GOAL, Toby Leary, owner of Cape Gun Works and host of Rapid Fire Radio, and Jessica Kedziora. There were enough correctly certified signatures for the referendum to go to the Attorney General. The next steps include waiting for the AG to write the question and get it approved. Once completed and approved, there will be signature sheets that can be distributed and signed in all the counties and towns across Massachusetts. There needs to be 50,000 signatures of registered voters to get this on the ballot.    This is the worst post-Bruen temper tantrum by any state since 2022. It is going to make it more difficult to get an FID/LTC in Massachusetts. It makes the training requirement more stringent and difficult. It's going to put a burden on the local police to do more for the law abiding, background check passing citizens. There are things like gun registration which is a problem. But they did not lay out how this is going to be funded or where the information is going to be held. Not that I want them to have the registration at all! The new curriculum for approved courses hasn't been developed so the state police are allowed to accept the current courses until October 23, 2024. It is bad. It is all bad.    If you'd like to join or donate to GOAL, there's a link below.    Favorite quotes: “We're never the aggressor, we're the ones reacting to things.” “They basically cut off half the legislative process by holding an unusual hearing.” “It was a gigantic burdensome, self-referential, piece of gun control wishlist nonsense.” “If we gather enough signatures from across all 14 counties, we will be able to repeal the bill.” Gun Owners Action League https://www.goal.org/   GOAL Gun Law Info Page https://www.goal.org/gunban   GOAL 135 Referendum Page https://www.goal.org/petiition   GOAL Testimony from 11/28/2023 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jK QU5NEe7gk&t=10s   GOAL Join & Donate https://www.goal.org/join---donate   Cape Gun Works YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@CapeGunWorks   Bringing the Chap 135 Referendum to Boston https://www.youtube.com/live/6TiEmqjrj5Q?si=Wt3o5oGEb0KDS-Nu   Mike, & Jason Guida with Toby Leary https://www.youtube.com/live/y3WSJK3xMW0?si=qh9-o-z2fOvIa4Kd Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun    Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Buy RSWC & GunGram shirts & hoodies, stickers & patches, and mugs at the store! http://ridingshotgunwithcharlie.com/rswc-shop/   Dennis McCurdy Author, Speaker, Firewalker http://www.find-away.com/   Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   SABRE Red Pepper Spray  https://lddy.no/1iq1n  

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #208 Lucretia Hughes Klucken   This is a name you want to know. And a person you want to follow. I learned about her with the Women for Gun Rights group. I saw her testify in front of Congress. She lost her son to gang violence but she didn't turn into an anti-gun red shirt. She donned the teal and knew that it wasn't a gun that killed her son. I got to have Lucretia in the stagecoach at an event in New Jersey recently. She is an unstoppable force to be reckoned with.    Lucretia grew up in Georgia in a small country town. Her father raised her and her eight siblings in a junkyard. Whatever the boys would do, she would do so she was considered a tomboy. She had three fathers: one was a leader of the Black Panthers and the other two were in the military during Vietnam. Her grandparents were the first interracial couple in the area. She grew up shooting and hunting like her brothers.  By the time she was 20, she had four kids.    She worked hard to make sure that her kids didn't grow up in the situation she did. She lived in the hood and wanted to get out. Of course, she grew up in a Democrat household as she thought black people were supposed to vote that way. But she realized the Democrat party wasn't doing anything to help her. Being involved in gangs and the thug lifestyle, going to funerals of friends, she knew she was the only person that could make changes and get her family out of that lifestyle.She worked hard to get her and her kids out of that way of life.    When the NRA Annual Meeting was in Atlanta, she went at the encouragement of a friend. While there alone, she was talking with lots of folks. A photographer saw her and realized she had something. He dared her to go talk to “that short man over there”. It just happened to be Wayne LaPierre. She didn't know this. She told him her story and he gave her his phone number. Six months later he reached out and invited her to Texas to be part of the Board of Directors nominating committee.    She is also associated with the Women for Gun Rights group. Being around women like Dianna Muller (RSWC #059 & #164) and Amanda Suffecool (RSWC #009 & #180), she's learned a lot. She's had to learn to refine her story, skills, and be a positive role model. WGR help prepare her to speak in front of Congress and share the story about her son being murdered.    One of the things Lucretia does is a daily show, from 5-7 pm et, which has been growing to reach hundreds of thousands of people. Through the show, she met her husband. The show is called Real New with Lucretia Hughes. One of the people watching her show was Star Parker. She's the author of Pimps, Whores, & Welfare Brats. Star went from a tough life into a conservative. Lucretia's story is very similar. They did have a chance to meet and become friends. .    She's got some amazing stories, like driving up to DC for an event, with a pistol on the passenger's seat, and going up a one way road the wrong way. Fortunately, she was pulled over by a black police officer who was also from Georgia and he advised her to go home. She talks about getting off the welfare system and working hard to do so. She worked in federal penitentiaries in the medical department. These are the amazing stories I loved to get out for all to hear.     Besides the show, she's also working on running for the NRA Board of Directors. She was on the nominating committee that helped Dean Cain and Mark Keith Robinson get voted onto the BOD. Like I said, she's a force. When she spoke at the CNJFO/WGR dinner, she got everyone going. If you search her name, you'll find her from Turning Point USA to Real Clear Politics to FOX News. And now RSWC.  Favorite quotes: “I won't bow down. And I won't kiss no ring.” “I learned to stop beating up on myself because no one is perfect.” “I got tired of looking at death.” “They changed a lot of women's minds and their hearts.And a lot of women are now wanting gun rights.” Lucretia Hughes Facebook https://www.facebook.com/lucretia.b.hughes   Instagram https://www.instagram.com/reallucretiahughes/   Rumble Real News with Lucretia Hughes https://rumble.com/user/RealNewsWithLucretiaHughes   FallBackUSA2 Shop https://fallbackusa2.myshopify.com/ Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun    Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Buy RSWC & GunGram shirts & hoodies, stickers & patches, and mugs at the store! http://ridingshotgunwithcharlie.com/rswc-shop/   Dennis McCurdy Author, Speaker, Firewalker http://www.find-away.com/   Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   SABRE Red Pepper Spray  https://lddy.no/1iq1n    

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #206 Joe Meaux Aklys Defense  There has only been one other time when someone has driven the stagecoach and I was in the shotgun seat. That was episode #039 with Kevin Sona from Florida Carry. This time Joe Meaux because he had “sensitive materials” in the car and I wouldn't know what to tell the police if we were pulled over. I met Joe in 2023 at NRA AM in Indianapolis. There was a group of us that went for dinner. This year, Brent, my roomie for the weekend ran into Joe and said he had a van full of machine guns and silencers.  How can I not film this show?   Joe lives in Louisiana and he took an interest in building firearms at a young age. He also spent time repairing lawn mowers when he was young, which came in handy when it was time to build AR. Building an AR was much more affordable than buying one. He would buy kits and put them together. Being a subject matter expert on building and working with computers gave him the chance to teach information technology and business at a local high school where he was only a few years older than the students.    Currently, he owns Aklys Defense. His company makes silencers, suppressors, gun muffler quiet technology, a can, or a yeeter discreeter. Aklys makes their own products, but they also make some OEM products for other manufacturers. Let's get this debate over: the first patent was for a silencer. Yes, we all know it doesn't “silence” the sound, but the first gun muffler was called a silencer. Joe also says the ATF refers to it as a silencer, too. We've also just learned the ATF may be wrong about what they call items (Hello, Mr Michael Cargill!)   Joe's teaching gig and experience with computers and web design was able to help him connect with Red Jacket Firearms. After some bartering, he was able to get a nicer AK kit in exchange for helping with their computers. He was offered a position to help build guns and he took it.    Unbeknownst to Joe, Will Hayden, Red Jacket's owner, submitted a sizzle reel to Discovery. It took some time to pick up Sons of Guns and make it happen. Joe says it was a little weird trying to do work, but Will wanted to build in some drama. They also had a business to run and keep going. Sons of Guns went on for five seasons and during the filming of season six, things got bad. (You can google what went down.) Joe and his partners ended up managing the business and working to change the image and branding. He made the decision to rebrand and start over as Aklys Defense.    We do drive through Dealey Plaza twice. It's become a tradition when we're filming in Dallas. The second time through, I saw someone in tan pants and a black polo shirt. It ended up being Matt Mallory with Klint Macro. I've done two shows with the Meet The Pressers gents. I did get a copy of the clip of us driving through their video, which adds some fun!    Joe gives us some insight into the business side of things, like having SKUs and UPCs. He's fired many different machine guns in his time. And he also tells us his top machine guns and why he feels a connection to the grease gun from World War II. Ok.. maybe a little bit about the Vegas shooting comes up, too.  Aklys Defense is doing well and will keep doing well. If you need a silencer, check their website and get one from Aklys. I say it often, I really love my gig! I enjoy making all kinds of friends in the gun community.  Favorite quotes: “While the computer was defragging, I went and assembled an AK.” “There wasn't a lot of business drive, I thought I could help with that.” “I lost a lot of investment money, time, credibility,” “I worked hard to make sure the Red Jacket brand was inserted before the Sons of Guns brand.” “We've made suppressors, need to learn how to make these good,” Meaux Guns https://www.meauxguns.com/   Aklys Defense https://www.aklysdefense.com/   Aklys Defense https://www.facebook.com/Aklysdefense   Aklys Defense Instagram https://www.instagram.com/aklysdefense   Aklys Defense X https://x.com/Aklysdefense   Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun    Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Buy RSWC & GunGram shirts & hoodies, stickers & patches, and mugs at the store! http://ridingshotgunwithcharlie.com/rswc-shop/   Dennis McCurdy Author, Speaker, Firewalker http://www.find-away.com/   Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   SABRE Red Pepper Spray  https://lddy.no/1iq1n   Or listen on: iTunes/Apple podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/riding-shotgun-with-charlie/id1275691565

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #205 Rabbi Andy Mars   I was asked to emcee an event in New Jersey for the Coalition of New Jersey Firearm Owners and Women for Gun Rights. The lineup of speakers was great! Gabby Franco (RSWC #117), Lucretia Hughes & Dick Heller (episodes coming soon), and Rabbi Andy Mars. He's a great speaker with lots of thought provoking ideas. We met in the hotel lobby the morning after the event while everyone was having breakfast.    The Rabbi is a straight shooter. We start right off talking about how it says in the Torah that if someone tries to kill you, you should kill him first.  We have the right and the responsibility to protect ourselves. Going back to the Old Testament days, he points out that if God banned rocks because Cain killed Abel then David wouldn't have been able to use one against Goliath. He brings up how Dr. Ben Carson talked often about how if we didn't let the German authorities take away the guns of the Jewish people, then World War II would have been a lot different.    The Rabbi lived in Los Angeles for 30 years. He was introduced to shooting then and often went to the LAPD shooting range with officers he's worked with. He spent years working with the police on how to deal with kids in crisis. He's also gone shooting in New Jersey, also a wildly anti-gun state.    One of the talking points from his speech the night before he brings up again. It's that killing and murdering are not the same thing. Killing doesn't have a criminal intent or act with it, while murdering does have criminal intent and is unlawful. This is something that gun owners need to be clear on and make sure you know the distinction between them. He points out that we shouldn't murder someone, but we do have the right to kill someone in self defense. One thing the Germans did back in 1938 is register firearms. I'm a firm believer in what Evan Nappen (RSWC #148) says which is, legislation leads to registration, registration leads to confiscation, and confiscation leads to extermination. Since all firearms were registered, they knew who's doors to knock on and what they had for firearms.    The Rabbi has been working with children and has a non-profit organization called Kids Make a Difference Foundation. Its mission statement is “Helping make a difference in the life of kids, helping kids make a difference in life.” Of course, to work with children, he's CPR certified. But very similar to firearms, he has to know how to administer first aid in case it's needed. That takes training and preparedness on his part to be able to do that. Hopefully, he'll never need to use it, but if he does he's prepared.    He also talks about the fact that everyone is worried about the liability of trying to save or defend someone else. I've heard of people who have some medical/first aid training because they carry and use firearms and know that something can happen. But they also have medical training and carry a first aid kit on their ankle and keep one in the car. And they've used them more for injuries in a car accident than ever needed one after a gunfight. Living in California, the Rabbi also had an earthquake bag that had necessary supplies in it should there be a quake and they need to leave quickly.    We talk about where he learned about these topics and he says it's from The Torah, which he calls the Guide Book of Life. It's like an instruction manual. Bringing up an old TV show, The Greatest American Hero, he points out that the main character finds a superhero outfit, but he doesn't know what his superhero skills and abilities are. The series is him trying to figure out what he is supposed to be doing with these skills.    It is really great to talk with someone that has different religious beliefs, but still has the same values. We don't all have to be the same people, which is true diversity. We can have differences and still get along because we have the same values. It shows us that gun people are the best people.  Favorite quotes: “Every Rabbi should be a pro-gun Rabbi.” “Had God banned rocks at that time, what would David had against Goliath?” “If someone comes to kill you, kill them first. It's clear.” “Respectable,respectful people should be able to respectably, respectfully disagree.” Bnai Tov bnaitov.org   Bnai Tov Facebook https://facebook.com/BnaiTov/   Bnai Tov YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@BnaiTov/videos Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun    Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Buy RSWC & GunGram shirts & hoodies, stickers & patches, and mugs at the store! http://ridingshotgunwithcharlie.com/rswc-shop/   Dennis McCurdy Author, Speaker, Firewalker http://www.find-away.com/   Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   SABRE Red Pepper Spray  https://lddy.no/1iq1n   Or listen on: iTunes/Apple podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/riding-shotgun-with-charlie/id1275691565

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #204 Deb Ferns Women's Outdoor Media Association The “Olympic Rings” of the gun community are alive and well. At SHOT Show 2024, I was supposed to help Brooke Cheney (RSWC #075) film some video with Deb Ferns. Brooke was able to talk Deb into filming an RSWC with me. But I failed Brooke and got very busy and couldn't help Brooke. I ended up running around on my last day and making the connection with Matt Mallory to borrow his rental vehicle. (Thanks, Matt!  RSWC #096 & 201)   Deb is an interesting and busy woman! She didn't get involved in the shooting sports until she was 45 years old and an empty nester. Her first excursion was with International Defensive Pistol Association (IDPA). A couple years into it, she connected with Lisa Monson, who is a world class competitive shooter. Lisa offered some help with just about everything Deb was doing. Lisa offered to help Deb at the home range of Kay and Jerry Miculek! That particular weekend, Kay was in the middle of practicing for the World Handgun Shoot. At the end of the weekend, Deb was overwhelmed and didn't want to leave. She talked with Lisa and Kay and wondered how to get their training out to more female shooters. They told Deb she needed to start a camp and they would teach there. Deb's background as a corporate meeting planner came in very handy.    Brainstorming with others at events like the NRA Annual Meetings, Deb was able to get Sandy Froman to write the foreword for her book, “Babes with Bullets”. Babes With Bullets is the name of the camp where they train women in all aspects of gun ownership. The camps have been empowering women for nearly 20 years!  Not only that, the women would go back to their home ranges and pay it forward. They would spread the message to new female shooters. Thousands of women have done this. This is how gun owners get more people involved.    Ted and Shemane Nugent reached out to Deb and wanted to host her camp in Michigan. At Ted's encouragement, he said if she wanted to do something for women, she needed to do it herself. In 2009, she started Women's Outdoor Media Association (WOMA). Their mission is to train women in shooting, fishing, archery, and hunting. When we filmed the show, Deb was scheduled to go on a hunt with some female veterans. WOMA has a weekend in April where they train women in all the disciplines and they raise money. She said they've raised over $300,000 for various groups.    Another part of the group's mission is reaching out to other media to be guests on shows and let people know about WOMA  and their doing for female first responders and veterans. Deb tells a story about being interviewed by someone from CNN. The host was trying to get Deb to say something she didn't want to say. She knew from her media training that they were trying to trip her and she didn't fall for it.     Deb has also been a sponsored shooter with Fiocchi and they sent her to be a Super Senior at the Heavy Metal Three Gun, meaning that she's shooting .308, 12 gauge, and .45 ACP in competition. She's the only female in the 65+ age group. For this competition, she had Jerry & Kay as her “roadies” lugging all of her gear. She's got a great relationship with the Miculeks. At the events, she claims Jerry is her sister, but he denies it. She knows she's lucky to have them as friends. But most gun owners are great people, willing to help out, and give to others. Maybe let them use some gear if something breaks down.    Deb has had lots of great opportunities. She's made opportunities, too. She's got Babes With Bullets, WOMA, and she's empowering and influencing women by the thousands to learn about guns & shooting, fishing & hunting, and all things outdoors related. You've got to love and appreciate that.  Favorite quotes: “It was amazing to train with all these world female champions.” “What can I do besides Babes with Bullets?” “It was never my intention to be Joan of Arc.” “I felt very blessed that I got to do things that other people didn't get a chance to do, but I'm more than willing to share those experiences and that knowledge.”   Women's Outdoor Media Association https://www.thewoma.org/   WOMA Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TheWOMA/   WOMA Instagram https://www.instagram.com/womensoutdoormediaassociation/   WOMA Twitter/X https://twitter.com/WOMA_the Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun    Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Buy RSWC & GunGram shirts & hoodies, stickers & patches, and mugs at the store! http://ridingshotgunwithcharlie.com/rswc-shop/   Dennis McCurdy Author, Speaker, Firewalker http://www.find-away.com/   Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   SABRE Red Pepper Spray  https://lddy.no/1iq1n  

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #203 John Castillo Father of Kendrick Castillo   While on a trip to Denver to film some shows, Laura Carno (RSWC #188) introduced me to John Castillo. He's the father of a hero, Kendrick Castillo, in the truest sense of the word. Just over 5 years ago, there was a school shooting at the STEM School in Highlands Ranch, Colorado.    Two students decided to attack the school and shoot as many people as possible then commit suicide. They entered in two separate locations. According to one of the students, one of the shooters entered a room and yelled to everyone ‘don't move'. Kendrick jumped up and attacked one student, while getting shot in the chest. This gave two other students time to jump up and go after the shooter. One was shot with non-life threatening injuries. Kendrick's injury was fatal.    John tells me how he was notified and went to the school. He was texting some other parents, looking for Kendrick. No one saw him. Eventually he made it to the police. There he was able to describe Kendrick and what he was wearing. The officer told him to follow them. They confirmed that Kendrick was shot and died. But John and his wife, Maria, were not able to see Kendrick as his body was at the crime scene. It was several days before he was able to see Kendrick.    Just the week before, John and Kendrick were out doing some shooting and training at Front Sight Training Institute in Pahrump, NV. There they learned that the best thing to do is to go after the shooter. Most of the time, the shooter is not expecting someone to fight back. Kendrick knew what he was facing, dying while hiding or dying while fighting and saving others.    While in Littleton, I was able to visit Castillo's home. Kendrick's bedroom is a shrine to him and his bravery and heroism. There are lots of posthumous awards from several organizations. There's also awards he earned in robotics. There is also a local brewery, Strange Craft Beer Company,  that makes a special brew in honor of Kendrick every year. John gave me a can from the most recent batch of “Kendrick's Ale.”   The silver lining is that John and Maria know it wasn't any of the firearms used that are the reason for Kendrick's death. It's the people who wanted to do harm to others before they took their own lives. It's Kendrick who saved lives and gave his for those people. This hasn't turned the Castillos into anti gun people. Quite the opposite. They are totally on board with arming school staff.   This led to Laura Carno and John connecting. Laura is with FASTER Colorado FASTER has trained a few thousand school staff in over 300 schools around the country. The program isn't just for teachers. It's for any school staff- secretaries, custodians, or teachers. The program started with Jim Irvine (RSWC #186) after the Sandy Hook tragedy. It's been spreading across the country and currently in Colorado, Ohio, and Arizona. The program takes school staff who want to protect students from learning firearm safety and fundamentals, through trauma first aid, and then into responding to active shooters. I've been through the Level 1 course in Ohio a few years ago. It was very impressive! The active shooter training for my group was done in a real school when school was out of session.    John has been able to go out and speak at various rallies around Colorado talking about how arming school staff. is what needs to be done for the people who want the training and are willing to carry in schools. He does this so other parents won't have to go through what he and Maria have gone through. They live close to where Kendrick was put to rest. They visit the site everyday.    I think it's time to crack that beer. I've been waiting to have it until I put this show out.    Thank you for your heroism. Rest In Peace, Kendrick.  Favorite quotes: “Mr. Castillo, Kendrick rushed the shooter.” “We discovered FASTER Colorado, which supports having armed school staff.” “He knew what the consequences and the odds if he didn't act at that moment.” “Mental health threats, or self harm threats, are not the same as a physical threat." “We don't want his life to be in vain that he just rushed a shooter and it was over. There has to be more to it than that.”   FASTER Colorado https://fastercolorado.org/   FASTER Saves Lives https://fastersaveslives.org/   Denver 7 News recent story https://www.denver7.com/follow-up/nearly-70-000-donated-to-construct-memorial-to-2019-stem-school-shooting-hero Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun    Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Buy RSWC & GunGram shirts & hoodies, stickers & patches, and mugs at the store! http://ridingshotgunwithcharlie.com/rswc-shop/   Dennis McCurdy Author, Speaker, Firewalker http://www.find-away.com/   Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   SABRE Red Pepper Spray  https://lddy.no/1iq1n   Or listen on: iTunes/Apple podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/riding-shotgun-with-charlie/id1275691565

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #202 Paul Kricher Artist & Author, Jim Cirillo's Tales from the Stakeout Squad   I've seen the book “Jim Cirillo's Tales from the Stakeout Squad” online for years. It's always been very expensive, often selling for $250. I saw that Alex Sansone, The Suited Shootist, (RSWC #162) was suggesting that folks buy the book no matter the cost. Well, I started hunting for it. I found a copy at GunBroker for $30 with shipping. I messaged the seller asking if it was a pdf of the book. Well, I found gold! Paul Kirchner, the author, was selling the book on GunBroker. Not only that, he lives about an hour from me in Connecticut. We talked and set up to film a show after I read the book.    Not only has Paul written the book about Cirillo and the SOU, he's penned a several other books including “The Deadliest Men” and “More of the World's Deadliest Men”. He's also a comic book artist with several credits to his name.. And he's done the drawing in several of Jeff Cooper's books, including “To Ride, Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth” and several others.    I headed down to Connecticut to Paul's house on a trip that was bringing me to Virginia. Paul invited me into his office. It was what I would expect: a drawing table, lots of art gear all around the studio. He had some copies of his books, both of his comic books and his other books. We talked for about an hour to get familiar before we headed out.    Paul studied art in New York and didn't want to be a fine artist, he wanted to do comic books. After a few years in art school, he found a gig and took it. He eventually moved to Connecticut while working in New York. During his nearly 2 hour commute, he decided to read books about real life heroes. This led to him writing “The Deadliest Men” covering people like Alexander the Great, Geronimo, Andrew Jackson, and Wild Bill Hickok.    He had a hard time finding a publisher but Paladin Press thought it was exactly what their readers would want. They wanted another book, which is “More of the Deadliest Men Who Ever Lived”. The second book was about more contemporary men. Paul had the chance to interview some who were still around. One of the folks was Jim Cirillo, former NYPD member of the Stake Out Unit. Spending hours on the phone with Cirillo, Paul decided that Jim was worth his own book.Cirillo had his own book, “Guns, Bullets, and Gunfights” which covered several of his stories. Paul wanted to make a serious book about Jim.    Paul and Jim became good friends through these calls. Jim was retired from law enforcement and training, but wanted to get together with Paul for some social hangout time. Unfortunately, Jim's life was taken in a car accident and they never met. Reading the book, in my mind's ear I heard what I assumed someone from NYC who was a police officer sounded like.    Paul also had a close connection to Jeff Cooper. He ended up doing several drawings for Cooper's books like “To Ride, Shoot Straight, and Speak the Truth”, “C Stories”, “Another Country”, and “Principles of Personal Defense”. He said he's got a pile of handwritten letters from Cooper that is about 8 inches high.    Paul shared several amazing stories about Jim, Jeff, and some of the people that are associated with them. He confirmed what we know, that gun owners are the best people. We're just like everyone else. I'm really honored to have his stories and that he gave me some time. These stories need to be written down and preserved for the future. You can find Paul's books on GunBroker.com. His username is “stayingamused”. I've got copies of a few of the books and I'm looking forward to reading them.  Favorite quotes: “I think he (Cirillo) realized that I was trying to write a serious book. And that he kind of switched gears from the storytelling to trying to nail down what really happened.” “He (Cirillo) imparts a lot of wisdom from his experience.” “I am fascinated by people whose lives and experiences are so much different from my own.” “He (Cooper) said ‘Whatever you have done, whatever you have experienced, if you do not write it down, it will one day be as if it had never happened'.”    Paul Kirchner Website https://www.paulkirchner.com/   GunBroker.com https://www.gunbroker.com/a/feedback/profile/2175461 to buy Paul's books Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun    Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Buy RSWC & GunGram shirts & hoodies, stickers & patches, and mugs at the store! http://ridingshotgunwithcharlie.com/rswc-shop/   Dennis McCurdy Author, Speaker, Firewalker http://www.find-away.com/   Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   SABRE Red Pepper Spray https://lddy.no/1iq1n  

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #201 Matt Mallory & Klint Macro Meet The Pressers   It's always a great time to run into Matt & Klint from Meet The Pressers. We filmed a show at SHOT in 2020. And they let me use their car to film a couple other shows. This year we were able to film another show on SHOT's Range Day.    Since our last show, Matt has been busy getting and giving training with Public Safety & Education, his training company. He offers several of the NRA and USCCA courses. But he is also a Master Instructor for SABRE Pepper Spray and for the TASER Civilian Course. He travels the country teaching these classes. Of course, he also offers several other training opportunities. Since the Bruen decision in June 2022, he's been doing the 18, yes EIGHTEEN, hour course to get a carry permit in New York. The NY Governor signed the Concealed Carry Improvement Act, or the Concealed Carry Improvement Atrocity as he calls it. He was able to take topics and lessons from his other courses to meet the 18 hour requirement and qualification. Some states like Massachusetts, have approved courses. States like New York have approved content in the course.    Another new course is the Build Your Own 2A BeAR. You can build your own AR-15 style rifle, with a pinned magazine, which makes the rifle not an “assault weapon”. Matt offers about 95 different courses through PS&Ed, including teaching at the local police academy.   Other than that, Matt and I have been doing a LIVE show on our YouTube channels. We're honored that Mantis and Next Level Training are our sponsors of the show. And we give away a Mantis X10 and a SIRT pistol every month.    Klint is holding his own in the keeping busy department. He's had LASIK surgery on his eyes. Yes, it may seem weird to talk about eye surgery on a gun show. The reason he did it is because if someone broke into his home, got into a confrontation, and swiped his face and knocked his glasses off, he wouldn't be able to see them anymore. This is the outside of the box thinking that Klint does.    He's also a consultant with the USCCA. They have him training the trainers all around the country. As a consultant for the USCCA''s official partners, he helps instructors build a training path for their clients. Some duties include helping with marketing and retaining clients.    He's been working with them for years, but they offered him a position he couldn't turn down. He's also been able to keep his training company, Trigger Pressers Union, offering courses. He's doing classes with Personal Defense Network, running National Train a Teacher's Day, president of Allegheny County Sportsman League. He's the Vice President of Firearm Owners Against Crime. The most challenging part of all Klint's gigs is keeping his hats separated and on correctly. He can't speak for one group when he's representing a different one or speaking to a different group.    Klint talks about how after the government lockdowns of 2020, there were lots of people making purchases and seeking out training. This was very different from previous generations of gun owners. People want to buy firearms and take some training not because its required, but because they want to know how to use their new guns safely. Often he'll tell folks to offer a basic course on having a firearm in the home and teach people how to be better consumers.    Matt and Klint have a lot going on, individually and as a team. Between the courses locally and around the country, they're always on the go. You should take a course with either of them when they're in your area. And tell them Charlie said Hello! Favorite quotes: Matt: “It's a corrupt government in New York state… It's legalized crime.” Matt: “I'm not going to let them walk out with a certificate if they can't keep their finger off the trigger when it's important.” Klint: “All the stuff I had in place would mean nothing if you knocked off my glasses.” Klint: “I believe my purpose is to help empower my fellow Americans to exercise that Right to protect themselves and their families and to be their own first responders.” MTP Website https://meetthepressers.com/   MTP YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/meetthepressers   MTP FB https://www.facebook.com/MeetThePressers/   MTP IG https://www.instagram.com/meetthepressers   Trigger Pressers Union https://triggerpressersunion.com/index.html   Trigger Pressers Union https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063643621298   Trigger Pressers Union https://www.instagram.com/trigger_pressers_union/   PS & Ed Website https://psanded.com/   PS & Ed IG https://www.instagram.com/psandeducation/   PS & Ed FB https://www.facebook.com/psanded/ Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun    Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Buy RSWC & GunGram shirts & hoodies, stickers & patches, and mugs at the store! http://ridingshotgunwithcharlie.com/rswc-shop/   Dennis McCurdy Author, Speaker, Firewalker http://www.find-away.com/   Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   SABRE Red Pepper Spray  https://lddy.no/1iq1n  

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #200 Michael Bane MichaelBane.tv   Michael Bane. What can I say? I watched Michael for a long time as a new gun owner back on The Outdoor Channel on the shows Shooting Gallery and The Best Defense. I really enjoyed them and got a lot from The Best Defense! If I had a VHS player, I'm sure there are some tapes in storage. I met him at SHOT a couple years ago and asked for a selfie and he happily obliged. In November of 2022, Matt Mallory and I did a LIVE Show with him and I really had no idea about all of his history. Michael is an amazing storyteller so I just sat back and listened. This show isn't much different.    I posted on my social media that I was going to Denver for a few days. Michael asked when I was coming out and said if I had the time, he would love to be on the show. He said I could visit the Secret Hidden Bunker. How am I going to pass this up?    The last 24 hours of this trip were spent with Michael and his sweetie. We had dinner the night the previous night and I got some stories that just seemed over the top. It was amazing! The next morning, I headed to the Secret Hidden Bunker. Before we even started I got two hours of stories. His sweetie finally said that we needed to film my show.  I needed to get to the airport, too.  Once we were the appropriate distance from the Bunker, we started filming.    We headed to Estes Park, CO, to The Stanley Hotel, which was the inspiration for The Shining. Michael talked about his writing career and working for Country Music magazine back in his youth. He grew up in Memphis and took in all the R&B, blues, and early rock. He spent time writing for local newspapers over the years. When a friend showed him a check from writing for a magazine, he knew that was the path for him. He traveled with and became friends with many of the country singers and musicians. I love the story about how he went to Hank Williams Jr's house and ended up touring with and writing Hank Jr's autobiography. He's written a number of books about country musicians, from Travis Tritt to Willie Nelson. His stories and experiences are unmatched!   Once at the Stanley Hotel, we may have had a drink with Lloyd the bartender. On the way back to the Bunker, we talked about guns, TV careers, and life lessons. Michael shared how Shooting Gallery got started with four episodes and the producer thinking it won't last.  With no experience writing for TV or hosting a show, he moved ahead and took the chance.  It ran for 22 years. There's a story about how the Best Defense saved a woman's life. I'm sure more than one person's life, too. He worked with several counter terrorist experts to film an episode in a hangar about what really happens during a terror attack on a plane. He's got connections to the best people with first hand knowledge and experience. And he did the last interview of Jeff Cooper!   I am truly honored to have had Michael on the show. I'm excited that I have a lot of his stories on video. I know there's many, many more stories, too. This episode is really all the things that I enjoy. Stories about music, guns, and why you should take opportunities in life. I'm looking forward to listening to the show myself, even though I was there and I edited it. I need to take it all in. Happy 200th episode! Favorite quotes: “You can get paid to write but you don't have to work for a newspaper?” “You've just got to move with the opportunity.” “You just keep going. People say “are you willing to do X?” You always say yes.” “How do most people get this information that is literally life and death information?” “I learned competency in different fields.” “Excellence never comes from a consensus. Never.” “The history of arms is the history of the world.” Michael Bane TV https://www.michaelbane.tv/   Blog Spot https://michaelbane.blogspot.com/   Triggered YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZC5Bnfhwlv449SIAZs3fPQ   Twitter/X https://twitter.com/michaelbanetv   Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mbaneacp Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun    Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Buy RSWC & GunGram shirts & hoodies, stickers & patches, and mugs at the store! http://ridingshotgunwithcharlie.com/rswc-shop/   Dennis McCurdy Author, Speaker, Firewalker http://www.find-away.com/   Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   SABRE Red Pepper Spray  https://lddy.no/1iq1n    

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #199 Brad Landseadel Central Virginia Sporting Clays   A trip to Central Virginia Sporting Clays last July led to another trip in October. I headed down to CVSC with good friends John Petrolino and Cam Edwards. On the first trip, we encountered Brad Landseadel, the owner. He's a great guy and started telling us some jokes. We got to talking, telling him what we do. John wrote an article about the trip. Cam suggested we should do this again. John said I should film a show with Brad. Brad suggested we do the show in one of his planes. On the trip in fall, I brought the GoPros and filmed a show from a shotgun cart driving around the path of the stations.. It was a bit noisy with the cameras rattling for 7 minutes  but we stopped and the audio was better.    Brad started Central Virginia Sporting Clays back in 2007. He grew up in a military family and they traveled often. He had a career in the government. When he got married he took a job doing construction. They ended up in central Virginia when they retired. Moving to this area, they finally felt at home. Brad said most of the gun clubs were private clubs with a waiting list so he started his own.     Not growing up hunting or shooting, shotguns didn't become an interest until he blew out his knee playing basketball. After some surgeries and recoveries, he was still moping around the house. His wife told him he needed to find something to do and suggested he go shotgunning. Without having any shooting experience, he found out that the gun community is full of great people who want to help you learn about firearms, safety, and shooting. He found the comradery, friendship, and competitiveness he was missing from basketball on the range. Naturally, he's made lifelong friends from the shooting sports.    Some of the challenges of running a sporting clays range include getting the town to be on board with all of the permitting needed. Currently, his property is just under 400 acres. He bought it little by little, starting with 95 acres. He bought more property as it came up. Adding more land parcels keeps any neighbors from getting close or complaining about noise levels.He buys the land, takes the timber off, sells it, and uses those funds to purchase more land.    When we were there, Brad unfortunately locked himself out of his house. So he needed to tend to getting into the house. With that excitement, he forgot to give us score cards. We went into the office and picked up the clipboard and white sheets, thinking that was the easiest course of fire. Turns out, we were wrong. It was the hardest course. John was wondering if Brad was hitting the sauce when he layed out the white course. We all shot less than we usually would, but still had a great day.    One of the wonderful things about CVSC is that every 30 days, Brad changes the course of fire. He's out there moving the targets around so every month is different. It takes a day for him to move the throwers and make changes. There are four throwers at most stations. The next day he goes out and shoots the course himself. If there's something he can't hit, he makes adjustments.The throwing machines at CVSC have timed delays so someone could go out and shoot a round alone. But it's always more fun with friends.   They have shotguns to rent and ammo to buy at CVSC. The rental fees aren't much and the cost per box is about what you'd pay at your local gun shop. Of course shotgun carts are available for rent, too. I'd always suggest getting the carts. There's a lot to lug around: guns, ammo, water bottles, cigars, etc. Throughout the year, they host some fun shoots and competitions. He offers some instruction, too, so if you need help you'll get it. Obviously, safety is the top concern. But after that, having a good time is a close second when it comes to what's important.    If you find yourself in central Virginia, you need to take an afternoon and shoot some clays at CVSC. I'm looking forward to going back and filming a show from his plane. As long as I can get a higher score than Petrolino, it'll be a great day! Favorite quotes: “I haven't left a single target out there, I don't leave any of them, if I can't hit them.” “I did shoot trap and skeet... As soon as I found sporting clays, I was hooked.” “When we're out here shooting, it's all an even platform.” “Want to hear something unfair? This is me at work.” “I don't drink. I don't smoke. I don't womanize. I have airplanes and guns.”   Central Virginia Sporting Clays https://www.centralvasportingclays.com/ Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun    Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Buy RSWC & GunGram shirts & hoodies, stickers & patches, and mugs at the store! http://ridingshotgunwithcharlie.com/rswc-shop/   Dennis McCurdy Author, Speaker, Firewalker http://www.find-away.com/   Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   SABRE Red Pepper Spray  https://lddy.no/1iq1n   Or listen on: iTunes/Apple podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/riding-shotgun-with-charlie/id1275691565

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #198 David Laird DSC Training & FASTER Saves Lives In the summer of 2021, I was fortunate to have taken a FASTER Saves Lives Level 1 course in Ohio. A number of friends and passengers of the show were there with me. David Laird was there, too, and he was nailing everything like it was nothing. Doing all the drills. Nailing the targets. Finishing before everyone else. It was impressive to say the least. I did interview him on that trip (RSWC #127). David was taking the FASTER course to see if it was something worth bringing back to Arizona. It was.    David was a presenter at AMMcon (Alternative Multimedia Conference), which is hosted by Second Amendment Foundation. His topic the last two years at AMMcon have been on how to better use your social media. Here some of his presentation in 2022.  Here's some From AMMcon 2023 part 1.  And here is part 2.. He was at AMMcon & GRPC and we hopped in the stagecoach to talk about FASTER. He does spend some time talking about using various means of the socials, who is using each different one, and why its important to have content at each of the platforms.    As a perpetual student, he takes several courses as the student attendee. There's always something you can learn from another instructor. He runs Dynamic Combative Solutions Training. DCS offers training on all firearms, CCW, and private courses around the country. He's trained with many of the top instructors and he's an instructor at the Active Self Protection Instructor.    Besides being an instructor, David has been helping the AZCDL (Arizona Citizens Defense League) bring the FASTER program to The Grand Canyon State. Cheryl Todd (RSWC #060) and David went to Ohio's FASTER course to see the Level 1 & 2 classes to make sure it was solid and going to be good for Arizona. Since the 1994 gun bill that Biden brags about didn't end violence with guns in schools. Iit increased.   The FASTER program has various levels of courses. There are basic Foundations courses to teach anyone new to firearms the fundamentals of shooting and gun handling. The Level 2, 3 and 4 courses get much more into scenario training and response and force on force. States like Arizona, Ohio, Colorado, and Idaho already have legislation that allows school staff to carry. So the program needs to get into more schools and make this the norm from schools around the country. Particularly for rural schools and counties, this is an important aspect of school safety. Oftentimes, the police can be anywhere from 15-45 minutes away from the school. An incident can be over in that amount of time.    I will say that the big takeaway from the FASTER course for me was the medical aspect. There are lots of people who get wounded during a mass shooting whose medical needs are not met until the event is over. Meaning police have stopped the threat and then medical comes in. During that time is crucial for the wounded so they don't bleed out. The medical training can be used outside of a shooting. It can be used on the playground. But it can also be used for car accidents or even at home if someone is injured.    It was great to have some time with David. He's very well trained and educated, very professional in all ways. I love running into him at GPRC or SHOT or where the road and the training takes us around the country.  Favorite quotes: “When I do retire and make training my full time thing, I need to know how to use the social webs.” “Think of using it (TikTok) as a teaser trailer to where you main content is.” “Stick to what you're already doing, just find snippets of what you're already doing, then blast that out to the other areas, and bring that traffics back to you primary thing.” “We shouldn't restrict self defense anywhere.” “Your body won't go where the mind hasn't been.” “You can carry it but how often do you train with it?”   Dynamic Combative Solutions https://www.dcs.training/   FASTER Saves Lives https://fastersaveslives.org/   Arizona Citizens Defense League https://azcdl.org/   AZCDL FASTER Page https://azcdlfoundation.org/faster-saves-lives/ Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun    Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/   Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.  Dennis McCurdy Author, Speaker, Firewalker http://www.find-away.com/   Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   SABRE Red Pepper Spray  https://lddy.no/1iq1n

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #197 Erin Mihalik Throom Targets, CEO   At the Great American Outdoor Show in 2022, I got to meet Erin. I was there with John Petrolino and we were in search of Tony Simon. Well, we were pretending we didn't see Tony while he was behind us and we were talking smack about him. Erin wasn't sure what we were up to, but she just went with it. That's the kind of fun spirited person she is. We saw her again at GAOS in 2023 and she wanted to be on the show as things have been growing at Throom over the last year and she has lots to talk about!   She starts us off with some lofty goals for the show. She wanted to see a bear. We did run into a pig (cop). Hehe! We were in the way northern part of New Jersey, Sussex Country, and drove into New York state for about a ½ mile, maybe less. I was honored to hear that she has watched several shows and knew the format well. She tracked out a path for us to drive and didn't want to get lost. Part of the route took us over the Appalachian Trail.    We do talk about some of the ridiculousness of the New Jersey gun laws, hollow point ammo, and jug handles. She also tells us the difference between living in central New Jersey, where gun owners stay in the closet versus northern New Jersey where it's a bit more conservative and people are gun owners and not hiding it. She used to say she was in manufacturing but can now say she's with a company that makes targets.    Getting a degree in public relations and psychology, she noticed that her family were great engineers but not great marketers or communicating with people. She grew up in manufacturing with the rest of the family. Erin's grandfather started an engineering business in the 1970's and her dad and uncle grew up in the business. They started a side hustle in 1995 called Newbold Targets, which was the first self healing,reactive,  ricochet free targets. The only benefit she had is that she had targets to shoot.    Throom is a small family owned and run business. This year, Erin is the CEO. Her previous titles were Managing Director and Director of Sales before that. I don't want to say that titles aren't important, but they do have someone who manages the dummy rounds they make. He's the Dummy Director.    After working for a big car company, Erin came back to the family business in 2013. She realized that they had a brand image issue and people were mistaking Newbold for other brands of targets. She's got a great story about someone coming up to them at SHOT show and telling them their targets are junk. But they realized that they were talking about a different self healing target that didn't heal so well. This is when the marketing stepped in and made a change in the color and packaging.  Throom was rebranding before the lockdowns of 2020. There were big plans for SHOT 2021, which didn't happen. So they had started selling via the big online company. And sales took off! People were stuck at home, buying online, and shooting in the back yards. (Not in the Garden State, of course!) Neighbors weren't complaining because there wasn't noise from the Throom targets. More and more people started buying them.    The exciting news is that Throom is now in lots of new stores, the big box stores, the small mom & pop stores, and even some of the online suppliers, too. New to the product line is a remote target  Favorite quotes: “My husband says ‘Erin, we're in Sussex County now. You can tell people what you do.” “I am the CEO this year.” “We're just always having fun. We're lucky we all get to work together. Most of us are family. And the people who aren't technically family, we consider family.” “This industry, they respect people that make things in the US” Throom Targets Website https://throomtargets.com/   Throom Targets Facebook https://www.facebook.com/throomtargets   Throom Targets YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@throom6307   Throom Targets Instagram https://www.instagram.com/throomtargets/ Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun    Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Buy RSWC & GunGram shirts & hoodies, stickers & patches, and mugs at the store! http://ridingshotgunwithcharlie.com/rswc-shop/   Dennis McCurdy Author, Speaker, Firewalker http://www.find-away.com/   Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   SABRE Red Pepper Spray  https://lddy.no/1iq1n   Or listen on: iTunes/Apple podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/riding-shotgun-with-charlie/id1275691565

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #196 Karise & Jerel Crew That Gun Talk   I've been going to the Rod of Iron Freedom Festival at the Tommy Gun Warehouse in Greeley, PA, for about 5 years now. While I was hanging out in the VIP room with a friend, Karise Crew came in and sat across the room. I invited her to come join us. I'm glad I did. Karise and her husband, Jerel, are instructors in Philadelphia. They were speaking at the event, too. So after some talking with them, I thought it would be a great idea to have them in the stagecoach.    I have to start out saying that I love seeing and husband and wife teaming working together! This was the first year that they've been to the Rod of Iron. They were hoping to bring a whole group of people but a few didn't due to the weather. I also love that they know some of the folks that I know and both of our circles of friendship are growing.    Jerel has family from Georgia and his father took him shooting as the youngest of five children. Karise used to hunt with her father, but her first purchase was with Jerel. He bought her a gun because she was robbed while only 10 feet from the police station. She got her permit before Jerel got his and she started carrying right away. Heading out on a trip to Mexico, Karise forgot that she had a gun in her purse. Of course she was stopped at the airport by the TSA. Fortunately, some of the police were Jerel's friends from his youth and they were lenient on her.    This was the turning point for them. Someone saw her on the news and told her about the USCCA. They saw the passion from this man and wanted to learn as much as they could and pass that on to their friends and community. For Father's Day, Karise got Jerel enrolled in an instructor program. At his instructor course was the man who told Karise about the USCCA. It's truly a small world.    It's always interesting to hear about the process to get permits around the country. I got my PA permit a couple years ago and it was easy.  I went to the county sheriff's office, paid the $20,and waited an hour. Jerel talked about some people waiting 6 months in Philly. A friend of theirs moved from Philly to the suburbs and applied for a license. The people were about the leave and the woman at the office called them back and said their permits were ready right then.    Once That Gun Stuff started offering classes, there was a “mystery shopper” in the class. It was someone from the Philadelphia gun permitting unit who came in to see what they were doing. The great news is the officer came up and told him that he was doing an excellent job and to keep it going.    Jerel & Karise also run events for NAAGA, National African American Gun Association. NAAGA promotes gun rights to African Americans. Currently, they have more than 75 chapters around the country. A big part of their clients are women, which is the largest growing demographic of gun owners. Karise said she had a 73 year old woman whose daughter had been shot in the head twice and lived. This woman wants to get training and education so that this doesn't happen to her and that she can pass this on to her family. That Gun Club was nominated for gun club of the year at the NAAGA conference.      They've been really knocking it out of the park with That Gun Talk. Both of them have worked in schools as a teacher and IT tech. Jerel said he's about to do full time as an instructor. They're taking their passion for firearms and teaching and turning it into a successful business. That's just great to hear from someone who started their business just a few years ago.  Favorite quotes: Karise: “This is your American right. This is your 2A right. You have to exercise your right.” Jerel: “He said ‘I'm from the Philadelphia Police Department Gun Permitting Unit. I came here to see what you're teaching.' He shook my hand and said ‘you're doing an excellent job'.” Jerel: “She refused to let that situation turn her away from guns.” Karise: “Women have been coming out in droves to get more educated.” That Gun Talk https://www.thatguntalk.com/   That Gun Talk YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@JCrew4uthatguntalk   That Gun Talk Instagram https://instagram.com/thatguntalk/   National African American Gun Association https://naaga.co/ Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun    Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Buy RSWC & GunGram shirts & hoodies, stickers & patches, and mugs at the store! http://ridingshotgunwithcharlie.com/rswc-shop/   Dennis McCurdy Author, Speaker, Firewalker http://www.find-away.com/   Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   SABRE Red Pepper Spray  https://lddy.no/1iq1n   Or listen on: iTunes/Apple podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/riding-shotgun-with-charlie/id1275691565

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #195 Riley Bowman ConcealedCarry.com    I met Riley in passing at SHOT Show a few years ago. We exchanged info and he said he would enjoy being on the show. On a trip to Denver, I reached out and messaged him and we were good to go. Then on the day I was heading there, I didn't hear from him. I called Neil Weidner (RSWC #116) to double check the number. When I did get in touch with Riley, he wrote a text but didn't come through. Regardless, it all worked out. I met him at the ConcealedCarry.com offices in Sheridan, CO.    Riley grew up in Idaho and has been a lifelong shooter and hunter. During the crash of 2008, he had a construction company that went out of business.   In 2009, he moved to Colorado to a bigger city due to the economy. He was a project manager for the government doing construction projects. After a few years he went back to having his own construction company, but then an interest grew in becoming a firearm instructor. He started with some of the NRA training programs and started doing some volunteer police work. Those duties varied between things like driving a patrol car and filling a shift, crowd control at large events, and even responding to natural disasters.    Eventually, he became certified for pistol and rifle and started to teach more. Once the classes picked up more, he stopped volunteering and focused on instructing, expanding his knowledge base and offering more classes to clients. Riley also started competing more often, too. By 2015, he was working full time with ConcealedCarry.com. The new business was geared towards helping new instructors with booking classes, marketing, and developing websites. While offering the courses, he started offering products to clients. Products ranged from holsters and belts to training aids, books, and other classes. Seven years later, they've got hundreds of products offered to help people carry. Over the years, they went from more training and less products to more products and less training.    On his personal website, you'll see that Riley does offer training around the country. He has also done some instructing at the Active Self Protection Conference.He also keeps his schedule busy with competitive shooting, too. Besides the businesses, instructing, and competing, he's got a wife and five children that he also wants to spend time with. As he says, he's trying to raise some freedom loving Americans.    The great thing about people like Riley is their business sense. He's taken ConcealedCarry.com and purchased several other companies over the years. Each one has its own customer base, marketing plan, and business plan. Keeping several businesses going is similar to when he was a project manager and running the construction business. There's lots of things going on that need attention and never a dull moment.    The current businesses under the ConcealedCarry.com umbrella are: Range Tech Timer, Mountain Man Medical, Barrel Blok, KSG Armory, Dry Fire Pro Shop, and Ready Up Gear. Links are below, of course. Riley and his team also have their own conference, called The Guardian Conference.    I'm always excited to hear about people who make massive changes in their careers. Going from construction to volunteer policing to firearm instructing and running several businesses with hundreds of products cannot be easy. But Riley and his team have great products. And he wouldn't go back to construction and project managing because every day he gets to do what he loves.  Favorite quotes:  “Now it's fully reversed. Used to be training and a little bit of product sales. Now it's a little bit of training and a lot of product sales.” “Juggling a lot of things doesn't cause me a lot of stress.” “It's also important to us that we help people be well rounded self defenders.” “I really, really enjoy what I do now. It doesn't feel like work.” “Everyday, I get to talk about, teach about, or actually do guns.” Riley Bowman Website https://www.rileytbowman.com/   ConcealedCarry.com https://www.concealedcarry.com/   Range Tech Timer https://www.rangetechtimer.com/   Mountain Man Medical https://www.mountainmanmedical.com/   Barrel Blok https://bloksafety.com/   KSG Armory https://ksgarmory.com/   The Guardian Conference https://guardianconference.com/   Dry Fire Pro Shop https://dryfireproshop.com/   Ready Up Gear https://readyupgear.com/ Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun    Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Buy RSWC & GunGram shirts & hoodies, stickers & patches, and mugs at the store! http://ridingshotgunwithcharlie.com/rswc-shop/   Dennis McCurdy Author, Speaker, Firewalker http://www.find-away.com/   Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   SABRE Red Pepper Spray  https://lddy.no/1iq1n  

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #194 Rob Campbell Eye On The Target Radio   You have absolutely no idea when or where you're going to meet your next best friend. I replied to a Facebook post about a radio show wanting to talk to instructors from every state. I replied because it was 2015 and I was teaching NRA courses in Massachusetts. I made two great friends during that show but I didn't know it.   In 2016, I was at the Gun Rights Policy Conference and I ran into Amanda Suffecool. She's Rob Campbell's sister. They were the radio show hosts I talked to. We became fast friends. The following February I went to Cleveland to emcee a concealed carry fashion show with Amanda for Realize FAC, their non-profit to help educate people about firearms. After the fashion show then a Friends of the NRA dinner, we raced to the local radio station to do Eye On The Target Radio. We've raced all around the country, SHOT Show, NRA AM, GPRC, Florida Cary events, and the Rod of Iron Freedom Festival.    Rob is a very relaxed guy. He's been called “Rob Dude” for sometime. His father was a collector of Ruger .357s. They have been going to SHOT Show for about 20 years.  Rob and Amanda have owned a gun store and they spend time buying and selling some collectibles. Campbell has an extensive knowledge of firearm history and origins. They've got a segment on the history of guns on their show. Amanda just gives him a topic and he's off.    Like many folks, Campbell has a day job that keeps him busy. But since EOTT has gone from a station in Akron OH, to a nationally syndicated show on the Salem Network, he hasn't really changed. He loves all the events they go to but he's the catalyst that pushes Amanda. He says he's along for the ride and would be OK if they weren't going everywhere. But I think he secretly enjoys it.    We talk about how he does some training with friends. Most of it is defensive training. They like pushing a firearm's limit to see how much abuse it can take. He's at the range weekly trying new things and shooting different guns.    Having a radio show gives you some credibility. One day; Rob got a call from a local sheriff and the Ohio Attorney General. They inquired about a blind man who wanted a carry permit. Campbell said he would train him and pass on his knowledge and skill information because the blind man also needs to be able to defend himself. When they asked if Campbell would give him a carry permit, he said it's not up to him. Because the man would have to apply, then be denied, then sue the state over his rights. Then they would have to determine how blind was too blind.    Campbell really is a walking encyclopedia of firearm knowledge and history. At some events, he brings his Blue Book of Gun Values and helps evaluate guns for people. He has a story about a man who had a gun and didn't know what he had. Rob told him to have someone else evaluate it and it ended up being worth thousands of dollars.    He's also told Amanda to go buy a particular gun because he knows it's worth more than the store is asking. Another time at an auction, someone got into a bidding war. The other person knew that if Campbell kept bidding, it had to have a high value. Turns out it was just going to be a parts gun for another one he was building.    Rob is a great guy to hang out with and tell stories with. And I'm not necessarily talking about the tinfoil hat theories or what happened to Epstein.  Favorite quotes:  “I've been a student of the gun since I was a little kid.” “If you got a shotgun, you can find somebody that will buy it.” “I never paid too much for a gun, I just bought it too early.” “Shooting is a memory game: you gotta remember what you did last time you hit the bull's eye.” “You think the West Coast is anti-gun, but they like Rob & Amanda's radio show.”  “It's not about the gun, it's all in the mechanics of keeping your eye open.” Eye On The Target Radio https://eyeonthetargetradio.com/   Realize FAC https://eyeonthetargetradio.com/realizefaq/ Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun    Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Buy RSWC & GunGram shirts & hoodies, stickers & patches, and mugs at the store! http://ridingshotgunwithcharlie.com/rswc-shop/   Dennis McCurdy Author, Speaker, Firewalker http://www.find-away.com/   Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   SABRE Red Pepper Spray  https://lddy.no/1iq1n   Or listen on: iTunes/Apple podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/riding-shotgun-with-charlie/id1275691565

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #193 Lenny Magill The GLOCK Store   I've known about Lenny Magill probably since I started getting gun catalogs in the mail. I even have a VHS, yes VHS!, tape that he did back in 1993! Before I learned about the other instructors, I knew about Lenny Magill.    Lenny now owns The GLOCK Store. But he started out selling advertisements on radio and tv. Back in 1893, he did some commercials and ads for a San Diego area gun store and instructor. The ads did well and lead to some other things.The more he got into firearms, the more he wanted to get involved.  Lenny heard about the newly formed ESPN. Yes, there was a day when ESPN was new. The sports channel was looking for more content. Lenny found out that they only wanted $10,000 to run a half hour show.    The Bianchi Cup was in southern California and Lenny approached John Bianchi and asked if he could film the competition then put it on ESPN. Bianchi liked the idea, but didn't have a budget for something like that. The deal they made was that Lenny could film the competition but he wanted the rights to the film. Bianchi agreed. At the games, Bianchi had Lenny pitch the idea for advertisers for the sponsors for a one-minute on the video to help fund the video. They all agreed and chipped in.  Meanwhile, Lenny's filming team went and made flyers to hand out at the competition. Everyone wanted the film and he found 300 orders for the full 90 video. He also had the 24 minute show for ESPN. Soon after, Lenny was filming several other competitions around the country.    After nearly 10 years of these videos, he decided to get in front of the camera to show people how to take down this new people everyone was raving about, the GLOCK. After making several more videos on GLOCKs and helping people with competitive shooting, he decided that he was going to start GunVideos. The catalog, which many of us used to get, featured over 150 different videos.    As time passed, he opened The GLOCK Store in San Diego, getting pieces and parts for the striker fired pistol and also doing videos on installing and using these new parts. The GLOCK Store started producing their own parts which may be sturdier than some original parts. Besides parts, he also did more shooting and testing of their parts. Which led to other people wanting to shoot at his facility. Eventually, they opened a shooting range for everyone to have access to use.    After being in San Diego, Lenny's wife had the idea to leave southern California and find somewhere new. Searching all around the country, they settled on Nashville, Tenn. The move started with building a new facility and getting that opened around 2018. They built an amazing and big facility, around 75,000 square feet. They make, install, fix, and repair all their parts there. Cerakoting and some other work gets sent out, but they've installed several thousand red dots for their customers. The GLOCK Store is going as strong as ever and doesn't have any signs of letting up.  Before the show, Lenny took me around the facility. I got to see the storefront, of course. But I also went through where they manufacture their parts, do all the installing and upgrading, and where Lenny has the “corner office”. The GLOCK Store is only 2 miles from the airport in Nashville. So when you're in town and waiting for a flight, you should stop by and pick up some new parts for your GLOCK. And tell Lenny “Hello”! Favorite quotes:  “I'll do the show, as long as I get to own it.” “At the end of the deal, I got the $30,000. Everybody committed.” “I think I can also do some instructional videos…” “The challenge with the lane is that you'll end up shooting in one direction and that'll be your skill level.”   Lenny Magill Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lennymagill   GLOCK Store YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@glockstore   GLOCK Store https://www.glockstore.com/   GunVideo Website https://gunvideo.com/ Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun    Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Buy RSWC & GunGram shirts & hoodies, stickers & patches, and mugs at the store! http://ridingshotgunwithcharlie.com/rswc-shop/   Dennis McCurdy Author, Speaker, Firewalker http://www.find-away.com/   Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   SABRE Red Pepper Spray  https://lddy.no/1iq1n   Or listen on: iTunes/Apple podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/riding-shotgun-with-charlie/id1275691565

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #192 Quinn Cunningham FASTER Colorado   I've mentioned the “Olympic rings” idea before. It's where I know person A and they know person B, but I don't know person B. Ok, it's a classier version of the Six Degrees of Separation. In this case, I know Laura Carno (RSWC #188), and Laura knows Quinn Cunningham. If you missed The Gun Experiment Ep 83, Laura said Quinn is who she wants on her side in a gunfight. He is someone you'd want too and you could also train with him.    Laura was selling me on having Quinn in the stagecoach. Not a hard sell. She gave me some of his back story. Again, it's a story that I've heard and read about. You may have heard it, too.  And you'll hear it right from him at the end of the show.    Quinn is a SWAT officer, a FASTER Colorado instructor, and a competitive shooter, sponsored by Shadow Systems. An influence on what being a man is came from his brother in law. He showed Quinn about virtue, leadership, and shooting and marksmanship. He grew up in Nebraska and would take the .22 rifle out shooting and tell his folks he didn't know why the ammo supply was depleting. His decision to get into law enforcement was due to watching Lethal Weapon back in the 1980's. They drove fast and shot guns and he knew he wanted to do that.    After 22 years of being a police officer, he worked in the jail, got to work the streets, and finally got on the SWAT team. To get on SWAT, there's more training, you need to be an LEO for a number of years, have good performance evaluations, mental and physical challenges, and performance under stress. Now, he instructs at the local police academy.   Getting into competition shooting was a way for Quinn to check some of the things he was teaching at the academy. Going to a GLOCK competition, he thought shooting at stable targets from a standing position would be easy. When the buzzer went off, he started shaking and missing shots. There was going to be a lot to learn from this kind of shooting. He had to focus on mindset, marksmanship, and fundamentals under stress. This opened up the world of high performance shooting to him. He found himself completely addicted to it. He worked his way through the rankings and in 2017, found himself at number 2 in the World Police & Fire Games. That year the French team took 1st, 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 7th. But Quinn was at 2nd. Talking with the competitors from around the world and hearing how they trained was also beneficial to him.    Quinn is one of the lead instructors with FASTER Colorado. His years as a police officer, SWAT, competitive shooter, and trainer has been instrumental with this position. FASTER Colorado has four levels of courses, each building off the other. FASTER gives school staff the skills and information needed to respond to active shooter incidents. I've done a number of shows with people from FASTER Saves Lives, and I have a few more coming soon.    He skimmed over the incident during the conversation.I wasn't sure about asking about the story, the reason Quinn does FASTER, but he offered it up and I wanted to hear it. You will too. The shooting at Arapahoe High School happened in 2013 and it lasted 80 seconds long. Quinn was one of the responding SWAT members. He was injured at the time and responded regardless. He took someone else's rifle and a traffic jacket to identify himself as a good guy.  What he saw changed his life and his direction. He works with FASTER trying to make sure incidents like this don't happen again.  Favorite quotes:  “I was a SWAT guy. I walked up there thinking I was this big, bad dude. And I just got my ass kicked.” “Dry fire will get you so much better.” “Every school, there is someone in every school planning to shoot that school, right now.” “You act totally different than you think you act.” “We need to get this message out. If I have to go through a little bit of pain so kids live, then… so be it.” FASTER Colorado Website https://fastercolorado.org/   FASTER Colorado Facebook https://www.facebook.com/FasterColorado/   FASTER Colorado Twitter https://twitter.com/FASTERColorado   FASTER Saves Lives Website https://fastersaveslives.org/   Shadow Systems https://shadowsystemscorp.com/   Quinn Cunningham Instagram https://www.instagram.com/qcunningham9859/ Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun    Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Buy RSWC & GunGram shirts & hoodies, stickers & patches, and mugs at the store! http://ridingshotgunwithcharlie.com/rswc-shop/   Dennis McCurdy Author, Speaker, Firewalker http://www.find-away.com/   Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   SABRE Red Pepper Spray  https://lddy.no/1iq1n   Or listen on: iTunes/Apple podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/riding-shotgun-with-charlie/id1275691565

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #191 Candy & Michael Petticord FASTER Saves Lives   In Detroit in the summer of 2022, I was giving time, energy, and effort to Rick Ector (RSWC #032) of LAID, Legally Armed In Detroit. Rick has instructors from around the country help at this event. Two of the people I got to meet were Candy & Michael Petticord. They're both from FASTER Saves Lives in Ohio. Candy is also with Women For Gun Rights and A Girl & A Gun. She's a busy woman!   As the mother of several kids, it was only about 6 years ago when she got into firearms. It was something her husband suggested she do.  She was hooked from the beginning. In the evening, she would sneak out of the house and not tell anyone she was going to the range. This spilled over into long weekends when she would take some advanced classes and be away for a few days.    At more than a few of the classes she took, she ran into issues. The issues, she found out, weren't really issues with her; it was the instructors. I'm not sure how to say this but Candy is a minority. She's left handed. The instructors she took classes with weren't really prepared to deal with left handed shooters.  Yes, we often call these folks “Fudds”. It would have been much more professional for them to turn this into a learning moment for themselves and figure out a way that she could do things left-handed. Here's what makes it worse. This happened a few times. Each time, the instructor made it seem like it was Candy who was ruining his day.    She also shares that she went to a course for advanced shooters. But she was a little over her head. At one point, she thought of leaving the class at a break. But another student picked up on this and reminded her that everyone was a beginner once. She toughed it out and made it through the class.    At one of the advanced classes, she met Jim Irvine (RSWC #0186) and Joe Eaton, from FASTER Saves Lives. They noticed that she was doing wonderfully and they were able to connect, which led to Candy being on the Board for FASTER.    Michael started going to some of the courses she was taking, as was one of her daughters. Both of the kids really took to shooting and were doing a great job. Her daughter went through an instructor level course, but wasn't old enough to get certified. She did pass the course and when she's old enough, she will get that certification.  FASTER Saves Lives teaches school staff how to respond to active shooter situations. It's not just firearm training. There's a Foundations course teaching those new to firearms about safety. Day One is lots of range time, shooting various distances and positions. Day Two is more basics then a qualification. A perfect score is needed to pass the FASTER qual. They also teach some medical which is very important for the immediate responders. Many students are lost due to needing some non-life threatening medical help, but do not get it in time. DayThree is working in a school and doing scenario based training. This is world class training.Often Michael ends up being the “bad guy” and wears chest and face protection. He's been shot at several times. And yes, it does hurt to get hit!   You'll get a lot out of this episode. Candy has some good stories you'll enjoy. She's funny to hand around with. And Michael needs to keep it down while in the back seat.  Favorite quotes:  “As my kids started growing up, I started noticing that we didn't live in Mayberry anymore and Mayberry is never coming back.” “This is the beginning. Please don't leave this class thinking that this is all that you need or you're ready to gear up and go. This is your starting point.” “I know what you're thinking. Don't. All of us started somewhere.” “I learned to shoot right handed because I was humiliated by those instructors.” “Once I got involved in FASTER and these horrible school shootings started happening, then the pieces started coming together as to how important and how amazing what we do really is.” FASTER Saves Lives https://fastersaveslives.org/   Women For Gun Rights-The DC Project https://www.womenforgunrights.org/   A Girl & A Gun Shooting League https://www.agirlandagun.org/ Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun    Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Buy RSWC & GunGram shirts & hoodies, stickers & patches, and mugs at the store! http://ridingshotgunwithcharlie.com/rswc-shop/   Dennis McCurdy Author, Speaker, Firewalker http://www.find-away.com/   Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   SABRE Red Pepper Spray  https://lddy.no/1iq1n   Or listen on: iTunes/Apple podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/riding-shotgun-with-charlie/id1275691565

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #190 Charl van Wyk Author & Stopped Terror Attack   This was a once in a life chance that had to be taken. I was speaking at a pro- gun event outside of Boston. The emcee said there was a special guest, Charl van Wyk. I knew that name. Then he said van Wyk stopped a terror attack in Cape Town, South Africa, with a .38 Special five-shot revolver. I remember hearing this story from years ago. As I sat at the table waiting to speak, I Facebook requested him. When the speakers were done, I went right over to where he was and introduced myself. I told him about RSWC and said I'd love to have him on the show. I talked to the gentleman who was handling all of Charl's plans. He was going to be free the next morning, but he was speaking at 2 events later in the day. I said tell me when and where I'll be there!   I picked Charl up in Lexington, MA, before his first speaking engagement. It was a rainy day and I didn't get any usable footage from the hood cam, but we did drive around the Lexington Battle Green where there's a statue of Captain John Parker and his famous quote "Stand your ground. Don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here". We did get a selfie in front of the statue of Parker. It felt significant to have that in our background.    Charl was in Massachusetts doing a nine state book and speaking tour. He was promoting his book, “Reloaded: Shooting Back Again." His other book is titled, “Shooting Back- The Right and Duty of Self Defense." Both are about his experiences having to use a handgun in self defense and in the defense of others. He's also got another e-book, “How To Win a Gun Fight Even if You're Not a Great Shot” is a free resource you can get.    On a trip out to a friend's farm for a weekend while in South Africa, Charl and his friend ran into a gang on the street who were burning tires and didn't look like they wanted company. They were able to make a U-turn while the truck was being hit by bricks and stones. Then headed right to the police station to report the incident.  Previously he did two years of national service with the army but afterwards didn't think he needed to arm himself for self defense. As a Christian missionary, he saw serving in the army in defense of the country as one thing and self defense as something else. An article by Larry Pratt, from Gun Owners of America, led Charl to believe that there is a biblical reason for firearm ownership.    Charl gives us lots of details about the incident in 1993 at the church when it was attacked by terrorists.The terrorists were armed with fully automatic rifles and grenades.. He also talks about how he stopped it with his .38 snub revolver. The attack lasted about 7 seconds. (Not enough time to call the police and have them stop it.)  And about how a police officer wanted to charge him with manslaughter if he had accidently killed a parishioner, with his return fire.. Then he talks about going to the jail where the attackers were locked up and reaching out to them as a missionary. There's also another story which leads to the “Reloaded” book.  There are several lessons to be learned from these stories. Some about where to carry. Charl and I both often carry on our ankles and carry five-shot revolvers. His stories also point out that gun free zones are where attacks happen, bad guys don't like resistance, and even a five shot revolver can end an attack. There's lessons from every interview, so grab your notebook and jot some things down. This was a once in a lifetime chance to get his stories in person and on film.  Favorite quotes:  “People have become far more aware…generally speaking, is becoming more open to the idea of people having firearms to protect themselves.” “They just see government as the Big Daddy that has to look after them from when they're born until the time they die.” “Now that they're in power, they're not sharing the freedom with us.” “It was only when I saw the splinters shooting out of the wooden benches that I realized this is not a show.” “Have a plan. And even if the plan doesn't work, it's better to have a plan than not have one.” Shooting Back Book https://shootingbackbook.com/   Charl on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgA947eUvQIRPU3wLihF8kA   How To Win A Gun Fight e-book https://www.godgunsandgrit.com/how-to-win-a-gunfight Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun    Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Buy RSWC & GunGram shirts & hoodies, stickers & patches, and mugs at the store! http://ridingshotgunwithcharlie.com/rswc-shop/   Dennis McCurdy Author, Speaker, Firewalker http://www.find-away.com/   Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   SABRE Red Pepper Spray  https://lddy.no/1iq1n    

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #189 Sarah Riggle Attorneys for Freedom   I've been going to Gun Rights Policy Conference for years now. I love that it's like a family reunion with old friends. It's also great to meet new people. Sarah Riggle is one of the people I met right at the end. I just had lunch on the last day with friends and we were walking back into the hotel. We ran into Sarah and her friend Laura Snyder, who was a guest on the Polite Society Podcast. I wanted to have Laura on the show but she had to take care of things at home and she said Sarah would be good to do a show with. So I got the cameras and we filmed a show.    Sarah moved to the Phoenix area from Pennsylvania. She moved there with a long time friend about three years ago. This was her first GPRC. She's currently working in marketing for Attorneys For Freedom. With plans to get a marketing and graphic design degree, Sarah ended up in the restaurant business for several years. Making the move was a chance to try something new somewhere else. When she was young, she did a little bit of shooting growing up. But she realized she needed to get more serious about it when there was a shooting right outside of her house in Pennsylvania. Shocking it was as drug deal gone bad and the person who got shot did not want to go the hospital.    We start off talking about what Attorneys On Retainer and Attorneys For Freedom do. Attorneys For Freedom is located in Phoenix. Attorneys On Retainer is all across the United States. They're a subscription based law firm, not an insurance program. They've had several clients over the last three years go purchase a firearm and found out doing the background check, that they're a prohibited person for something that may have been a misdemeanor and stopped them from being able to purchase a firearm. She also brings up that people who have been admitted to a mental health institution aren't able to pass background checks and that does stop people from getting help needed when they're in crisis. She brings up the great things that Hold My Guns (RSWC #092) and Walk The Talk America (RSWC #067) are doing.    The interesting misconception about some of the self defense insurance policy programs is that if someone takes a plea deal, the insurance doesn't kick in and pay for things. You have to be the innocent party. If you admit guilt and take a plea, the insurance cannot cover acts that are not lawful and intentional. For example, your car insurance won't cover an accident that you caused on purpose. She also brings up that some of the insurance companies will not cover acts that happen with someone you know, particularly with domestic violence.    Often what people don't think about are the other costs that go with a court case. Things like expert witnesses, investigations, and medical testing that may need to be done. Of course, the cost varies, but it can easily be $10,000-$15,000 that someone may need to pay an attorney up front just to start the case. Both Attorneys For Freedom and Attorneys On Retainer have YouTube channels and you can see some of what they're about there. Should legal services ever be needed, it's important to have a lawyer that is familiar with firearms, firearm cases, and other topics that are gun related. Often that is not your court appointed attorney.    Let's get a few things straight, Sarah is not a lawyer and doesn't offer legal advice. Everyone needs to do research on any program they sign up for to help them with legal situations and the aftermath of using force in self defense.    Favorite quotes:  “It's great to see more responsible gun owners getting involved with how to help other responsible gun owners.” “No one is going to protect me but myself.” “If you're forced to defend your life and now you need to defend your freedom, that's exactly what we're there for.” “Attorneys On Retainer and Attorneys For Freedom we don't have any problem covering all of these circumstances.” Attorneys For Freedom Website https://attorneysforfreedom.com/   Attorneys For Freedom Facebook https://www.facebook.com/AttorneysForFreedom   Attorneys For Freedom Instagram https://www.instagram.com/attorneysforfreedom/   Attorneys For Freedom YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@AttorneysForFreedomLawFirm   Attorneys On Retainer Website https://attorneysonretainer.us/   Attorneys On Retainer YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@AttorneysOnRetainer   Attorneys For Freedom X/Twitter https://twitter.com/freedomattorney Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun    Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Buy RSWC & GunGram shirts & hoodies, stickers & patches, and mugs at the store! http://ridingshotgunwithcharlie.com/rswc-shop/   Dennis McCurdy Author, Speaker, Firewalker http://www.find-away.com/   Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   SABRE Red Pepper Spray  https://lddy.no/1iq1n   Or listen on: iTunes/Apple podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/riding-shotgun-with-charlie/id1275691565

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #188 Laura Carno FASTER Colorado   It seems like I've known Laura Carno since I started this journey. In 2019 at GRPC, she asked me and Derek Leblanc (RSWC #033) why we called each other “brother” and we weren't calling her “sister”. Since then, she has been our “sister from a different mister”.  This year, I was going to Colorado for some personal stuff, and I was able to reach out to Laura to talk about FASTER Colorado.  FASTER, as it is known, is Faculty & Administrator Safety Training and Emergency Response.   Laura grew up in California with a very pro police and pro military family, but they weren't necessarily a “gun family”. As a young woman in her early 20's she was followed out of a gym by a big guy and her “spidey senses” went off. The only thing she had was a metal pipe for self defense. That was what opened her eyes and realized she may need to be able to protect herself.    Before FASTER, Laura was involved with some local politics and she wrote a book called Government Ruins Nearly Everything which you can, and should, buy on Amazon. The book is a great read, and I do suggest it for everyone! It isn't expensive and it is eye opening!   When she started paying attention to politics, her California friends said the Republicans weren't really doing much, particularly for gun rights, so maybe she should become a “small L libertarian”. In 2008, she realized that Mr Obama wasn't going to do anything good for guns and gun owners.  She kept saying “yes” to new opportunities and she found herself doing new things she never dreamt of doing. By 2013, when Michael Bloomberg came to Colorado for a voting recall, she was running an ad that said “If guns are for you, don't own one. But don't you dare tell me how to defend myself.”  That led to a connection to NRA TV and Cam Edwards (RSWC #168). Eventually, Laura was friends with folks from the Buckeye Firearms Association and school security came up.    Laura went to Ohio to see what this FASTER program was about. She saw that the people taking the class were willing to die for their students. So why shouldn't they have the necessary tools to save the same students. She put in lots of calls and contacts to county sheriffs to let them know about FASTER and see if they were interested in having this in their rural areas. They've got law enforcement and military who train the school staff. Currently they have graduates in 37 school districts and have over 300 people trained to save school children.    One of the events that has opened the eyes of the public was the shooting in Uvalde, TX. People have started to realize that the police are not going to be there to stop school shootings in progress. But the biggest one so far was the Covenant Christian School shooting in Nashville. The police were there in 12 minutes and started taking care of business when they got there. One of the things that also changed is how fast the body-cam and school camera videos were released. These videos made people realize that if the school office was able to return fire and stop the murderer at the school entrance, it would have ended differently.    When talking about things they've learned during the last 8 years, not knowing who would be the teachers/staff willing to step up and take the FASTER courses has shown them some of the least likely people are the willing ones. They're the quiet professionals willing to do what's necessary to save their students' lives.    We talk a lot about the program and the different levels that they do training on. They're up to Level 4 in Colorado. Each of the levels do get more challenging. It's not just shooting, then shooting and moving. It's very realistic to what you're seeing on the body-cam videos.    Please check out the whole conversation with Laura. There's a mountain of work that they're doing. And that we need all over the rest of the country. There's also more interviews with FASTER Saves Lives staff coming up! So stay tuned!   Favorite quotes:  “I know how to take care of myself in other realms of my life, but how do I protect myself.” “I kept saying ‘yes' to things I could have never predicted for myself.” “There are certain attacks that happen that there is no other defense than another firearm.” “Nothing bad has happened in these schools where there's armed employees.” FASTER Colorado Website https://fastercolorado.org/   FASTER Colorado Facebook https://www.facebook.com/FasterColorado/   FASTER Colorado Twitter https://twitter.com/FASTERColorado   FASTER Saves Lives Website https://fastersaveslives.org/ Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun    Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Buy RSWC & GunGram shirts & hoodies, stickers & patches, and mugs at the store! http://ridingshotgunwithcharlie.com/rswc-shop/   Dennis McCurdy Author, Speaker, Firewalker http://www.find-away.com/   Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   SABRE Red Pepper Spray  https://lddy.no/1iq1n    

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #187  Jim Stoker Firearms Owners Against Crime   I love when the Olympic rings of the 2A community  come into play and expands my circle. I was at the Rod of Iron Freedom Festival in Greely, PA, for may/be the 5th year in a row. I was running around with Rob Campbell & Amada Suffecool from Eye On The Target Radio. Amanda messaged me and said Klint Macro (RSWC #069) from Meet The Pressers & USCCA was here with Jim Stoker from Firearm Owners Against Crime and I needed to have Jim on the show. Jim and Klint were in western PA for an NRA event the night before. They drove hours to Greely so Jim could speak at the Rod of Iron event.    Jim is now the president of Firearm Owners Against Crime (FOAC). Their long time president and founder, Kim Stolfer, stepped down due to health issues and passed away earlier this year. FOAC has been involved in Pennsylvania only gun issues since the 1990's, including reciprocity, castle doctrine, and licensing requirements.  Jim has recently retired as a police officer. Before he took the role as president, he wanted to make sure that the FOAC board was ok with him taking the role. Since he's taken this position, there have been over 50 anti-gun bills from the PA House. The split between parties is only one vote. And the votes are mostly down party lines. He gets information every day about what is going in PA politics and writes about it in the FOAC newsletter.   Even though PA has 850,000 hunters and is a very pro gun state, there's still work that needs to be done. Over the years, there's lots of compromising done to try and keep some rights for gun owners. Some in the community feel there's nothing they can do but compromise and they give up 5% of their rights everytime. FOAC tried to get Constitutional Carry, or permitless carry, passed though both houses, but the governor vetoed it. And the current governor won't sign it either.    One of their fights is one that we all have: getting our 2A friends and gun owners to vote for the pro-Second Amendment candidates. A good friend likes to say “each one, reach one”, meaning if everyone that is a gun owner gets just one more person to become a gun owner, then we can not only make changes, but keep the rights we have and maybe get more of them back.    Someone cannot hunt big game with a semi-automatic centerfire rifle in PA, even though it's legal, but the gaming commission said they cannot hunt with those rifles. The fall out of that is that people thinking that the Second Amendment is for hunting and not being able to hunt with a semi-auto centerfire rifle plays into the anti-gun agenda. If the 2A is about hunting and you can't hunt with an AR, then you don't need it, which is how they want that to play out. FOAC is out there educating the people that it isn't just about hunting.    We have a great conversation about  background checks, permitless carry, and what can be done to help get more people educated, trained, and voting. He brings up that 91% of law enforcement think citizens should have an AR 15. We also talk about how if people don't get involved in the 2A fight, then PA can become much more like MA.    Coming from “occupied territory” of Massachusetts, it's interesting to see that even in Free America states, there's an ongoing battle to keep the rights they have. It's not nice knowing that there is an anti-gun agenda that is being worked on in states that have a fantastic reputation for being a supporter of our Rights.    Favorite quotes:  “The AG can pretty much change on a whim, where we're going to have reciprocity and where we're not.” “We don't affiliate Republican or Democrat. We affiliate pro-gun or anti-gun.” “I'm out there talking about common sense gun rights.” “The idea of universal background checks is not to keep the guns out of bad guys hands, they know bad guys are going to get them anyway. It's to make you register what you have so they can confiscate them down the road.” “Unfortunately in the sportsmans community there's too much of ‘someone else will get it'”.   FOAC Website https://foac-pac.org/   Firearm Owners Against Crime, Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action https://foac-illea.org/   Facebook https://www.facebook.com/foacpac   Instagram https://www.instagram.com/foacpac/ Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun    Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Buy RSWC & GunGram shirts & hoodies, stickers & patches, and mugs at the store! http://ridingshotgunwithcharlie.com/rswc-shop/   Dennis McCurdy Author, Speaker, Firewalker http://www.find-away.com/   Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   SABRE Red Pepper Spray  https://lddy.no/1iq1n   Or listen on: iTunes/Apple podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/riding-shotgun-with-charlie/id1275691565

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #186 Jim Irvine FASTER Saves Lives   Jim Irvine and I have been trying to make this happen for a while. We finally filmed a show in Phoenix at Gun Rights Policy Conference, just before he had to speak. He helped start something that is near and dear to my heart, teaching school staff shooting, medical, and active shooter training. I've been working in public and private schools for longer than I'd like to admit. I was teaching at a public school on 9/11/2001 and it made me realize that I needed to learn to defend myself and my family. That's when I got a license to carry and began my journey as a gun guy.    Jim has been a pilot for years. After September 2001, GRPC was almost canceled as there were hardly any flights. A group of pilots at GRPC got together and ended up changing legislation so that pilots could carry guns again on airplanes. At one point, they were required to carry guns because they were transporting mail. It kind of worked so it was voluntary then it sort of went away.    After Sandy Hook, Jim reached out to John Benner who founded Tactical Defense Institute, and has been training school resource officers for years to carry guns in schools more than anyone else in the country. Jim hired Benner to teach a class to teachers and they had 24 spots to fill. At a town hall meeting Jim made the announcement of the course. After being mocked by the media, they had over 1,000 people interested in the course from all grade levels. One of the candidates said he was a former law enforcement officer, went into teaching, and carries everywhere he goes, except at school. Another candidate said she would do anything to protect her students and wanted to consider carrying at school, but it wasn't for her.    For the first class, they raised money for everything: materials, hotels, guns & ammo. They were concerned that they were going to spend everything they had. Everyone loved the course. Other people said that since FASTER is doing something other than having a vigil, they would be willing to donate to help them prevent the next event from happening. They ended up having more money than when they started. So they held another class. And another one. FASTER was growing. Jim thought they would be the middleman between the schools and the trainers. But lots of schools were reaching out to have their staff trained.    I took the FASTER Level 1 course in 2001. What I really got out of it was the active shooter training and the medical aspect. Lots of people die because they're wounded and waiting for help. After the police go in and stop the murderer, then the medics can come in. That's a critical time for the wounded. If the teachers can show the students how to apply pressure and apply tourniquets, then more people will survive school shootings.    One of the unintended benefits is getting the local police involved with the training. They are able to build relationships within the schools and that helps in and outside of the school. Jim talks about the teachers doing qualifications helps the police do better on their qualifications. To pass the FASTER courses, you need a perfect score. Some of the teachers were outshooting the police and they didn't want that to happen.    The FASTER program has trained over 3,000 teachers and school staff. FASTER qualified teachers are in over 300 schools around the country. FASTER has programs in Ohio, Colorado, and Arizona. And it's growing.    If you want to help your local schools, please reach out to FASTER and get them in touch with your community. This is the best way to stop school shootings from happening. Even if staff don't want to learn about firearms, they should be learning about medical and trauma. These are skills that will save lives.    Favorite quotes:  “You've got to carry a gun to protect mail and letters, but you can't carry a gun to protect children's lives.” ”We had about 1,000 people sign up in the first three weeks.” “I love my kids, that's why I have them.” “The response from other people saying“instead of doing a vigil, you're doing something that may stop the next event from happening. I'll donate to that.” “There's one problem they're going to solve. Every other problem they're solving the same way.” “After you stop the killing, now you've got to stop the dying.” “Fighting is not only acceptable, it's demanded!” “We are going to end school shootings in our country. Flat out end them.” FASTER Saves Lives Website https://fastersaveslives.org/   FASTER Saves Lives Instagram https://www.instagram.com/fastersaveslives/   FASTER Saves Lives Facebook https://www.facebook.com/FASTERSavesLives Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun   Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Buy RSWC & GunGram shirts & hoodies, stickers & patches, and mugs at the store! http://ridingshotgunwithcharlie.com/rswc-shop/   Dennis McCurdy Author, Speaker, Firewalker http://www.find-away.com/   Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   SABRE Red Pepper Spray Affiliate Link   Or listen on: iTunes/Apple podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/riding-shotgun-with-charlie/id1275691565

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #184 Alicia Garcia The Boomstick Babe   I had some personal business in Denver this past summer. Of course, I needed to film shows while I was out there, too. I reached out to Alicia Garcia and she said she was up for it! We met in person at NRA in Indianapolis in 2023 doing a march with the DC Project. I was really looking forward to meeting up in Denver. When I arrived, I met Alicia for breakfast at Snooze A.M Eatery. We got to talking and had a great time.      When fired up the AC and started the show. Alicia is a Colorado native. We start right out of the gate talking about cannabis and how it changed the economics of Colorado. Very much like firearms, there's laws and restrictions. And people will find ways around them. She grew up around firearms but as an adult she made the decision that she isn't going to be a closet gun owner. Afterall, if we're going to try to get more gun owners, we need to let others know we are gun owners. We have to make it part of our everyday culture and everyday life.    We took selfies at the Colorado Supreme Court and the Colorado State Capitol. And about the Capitol, Alicia is spending more and more time there. She's involved with a case with Rocky Mountain Gun Owners. They're pushing to eliminate the three day waiting period when you purchase a firearm from a dealer. The waiting period is definitely anti-Bruen. Since we got together, there has been more going on with the case, so please use the links to check it out and keep updated. Colorado has been turning more anti-gun in the last few years. Alicia and RMGO are working hard to keep it free.   Getting back to coming out of the closet as a gun owner, Alicia decided that she needs to live this lifestyle, too.  She's started her own t-shirt company that makes lots of pro 2A styles and designs.  She made the shirts of Kevin Dixie's (RSWC #064) event called Train and Learn in 2023.  She's got very strong feelings that anyone who is a gun owner needs to promote that they're gun owners and they need to let others know that we are the face of gun ownership.  And when people see that we aren't what the media makes us out to be, then we can change the perception of what being a gun owner is.    Besides Train & Learn, she's been making the rounds to several training events around the country.  She is very active as an instructor teaching all kinds of people not just firearm skills, but some situational awareness and everyday skills, too. The Boomstick Babe is very active on Instagram, which you should follow her. She keeps herself swagged up with her own swag and designs.    While we're driving around Denver, we hit some spots with some very cool graffiti. There's stories behind the graffiti of course and we get some of those. Some stories involve people that Alicia knew but who are no longer with us. We get some pictures of those too.  At one point, the hood-cam over heated and stopped recording, which I'm bummed about.    Alicia is a mover and shaker. She's out there getting things done, between the t-shirt business, teaching courses, taking courses, and suing the state of Colorado. The Boomstick Babe is going places and I'm glad she made time to share some time with us.    Favorite quotes:  “We strapped. But we don't want to do that. We de-escalate. We live smart. We don't put ourselves in compromising situations.” “The only way we're going to normalize gun ownership is if you start making it part of your everyday culture and everyday life.” “Everything that has to do with guns is hindered. It's censored. It's taboo.”' “I am the face of gun ownership. I am the face of the Second Amendment. “The whole point of being armed is to prevent bad things from happening.”     The Boomstick Babe Website https://www.boomstickbabe.com/   The Boomstick Babe Instagram https://www.instagram.com/theboomstickbabe/   The Boomstick Babe 2.0 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/boomstickbabe2.0   The Boomstick Babe Facebook https://www.facebook.com/BoomstickBabe/   About her court case… https://www.courthousenews.com/boomstick-babe-as   The Boomstick Babe & GOA https://donate.gunowners.org/boomstick-babe/ Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun   Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Buy RSWC & GunGram shirts & hoodies, stickers & patches, and mugs at the store! http://ridingshotgunwithcharlie.com/rswc-shop/   Dennis McCurdy Author, Speaker, Firewalker http://www.find-away.com/   Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   Or listen on: iTunes/Apple podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/riding-shotgun-with-charlie/id1275691565

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #183 Jim Shepherd The Outdoor Wire, Publisher   At SHOT SHow 2023, I was in the media room with my good friend, The Pen Patriot, John Petrolino. We decided to only have a half a cup of coffee before we hit the SHOT floor. We ran into Alan Gottlieb and he asked if we were going to be around, he wanted to talk with us. We told Alan we would be there. When Alan walked away, we looked at each other and said “Let's have a full cup”. While we were listening to Alan tell stories, Jim Shepherd came over. John & I didn't know him, but Alan introduced us and said he would be a great guest in the stagecoach. We swapped contact info and I said I would be in touch next time I'm heading to Nashville. When I reached out to Jim, he said he would like to be on the show.   Jim and I were going to meet at a burger shop in Murfreesboro, TN, but they were closed for the week. He's got so many amazing stories. He has employee badge #7 from CNN so he had a professional relationship with Ted Turner.. He did radio talking about financial news. He was an on air anchor for a while. He's been involved with The Golf Wire and The Golf Channel.    He used a term I never heard of before, a post gun. I had no idea what it was. He said his dad would buy some guns that may have been in rough shape. If he wasn't confident about their condition, his dad would tie the gun to a post, put a string on the trigger, then they would hide behind some trees or some cover and pull the string. If the gun fired, it was good. If it didn't, at least they had cover. He's always been a gun guy but like many, there are times in his life where he was less involved with them.    He was filming a commercial with Tiger Woods in Florida and the weather was not cooperating. So they were just hanging out. Tiger asked him if he was going to the gun show in town.  Jim made some calls and found out it was SHOT Show. Being in the media, he was able to finagle some passes and he recorded some interviews. At the time, he was publishing The Golf Wire.    When he went into the media room at SHOT Show, he saw there were stacks of magazines and CDs with all the catalogs and information on them. He took The Golf Wire idea and tweaked it a bit for the shooting industry. He took his computer, added an image,  added some ipsum lorem, and showed several gun industry businesses what they would be missing. He got them to sign up that day. And boom! The Outdoor Wire was created. That was 23 years ago. Now everyone who is in the know gets whichever Wire suits them. There's about 10 wires you can subscribe to and get in your mailbox.    What I really enjoyed about my time with Jim is his stories. He's an amazing guy with incredible stories. He flew to Tulsa for a job interview. He saw the city and knew, coming from New York City, that he didn't want to work there. He called the person he was going to meet and canceled the interview while he was at the airport and took the next flight back to New York. The man he was going to meet was thankful because that was the only day he was able to golf and now he had what I call “the gift of time”.    Jim has taken chances. He's been around the world. He's done some amazing things that he told me over lunch, which I can't repeat. I want to get the stories out about gun owners, which of course, Jim is. But I also want to hear about adventures and when people go out on a limb and try things that they don't know how they're going to end up. And they make them just fine. He's got a ton of these experiences in life. I'm glad I got some of them, on and off film.  Favorite quotes:  “My definition of an anchor is the thing that holds you in place and impedes any progress. But it also holds you on the bottom and keeps you from going.” “I've once again turned a hobby into work.” “Somebody figured out they needed it, and I haven't had to look for a job in years.” “I never set out to be anything other than a reporter.” “Everything happens for a reason, you may not know the reason, you may never know the reason.” “Sometimes the things you don't get are better than the things you get.” The Outdoor Wire https://www.theoutdoorwire.com/ Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun   Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Buy RSWC & GunGram shirts & hoodies, stickers & patches, and mugs at the store! http://ridingshotgunwithcharlie.com/rswc-shop/   Dennis McCurdy Author, Speaker, Firewalker http://www.find-away.com/   Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   Or listen on: iTunes/Apple podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/riding-shotgun-with-charlie/id1275691565

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #182 Phil Schreier NRA Museum, Director   In my formative years as a gun owner (then just a wanna be), I would watch The Outdoor Channel which had Shooting USA on it, shows on The History Channel, and other shows, too.  Any time a historical gun came up, Phil Schreier would be there with his white gloves on handling, talking about various firearms, and giving the history. When I “crashed” the NRA BOD party back in April, I got to introduce myself and tell him what I do. He said anytime I was in Fairfax, VA, he would be up for being on the show. Well, I was planning a roadtrip with John Petrolino, The Pen Patriot, and we made a pit stop at the NRA Museum and I was able to film a show with Phil.    Growing up, Phil was in a “Kennedy Democrat” household where firearms were encouraged but they weren't prohibited either. He learned to shoot at Boy Scout camp, like other passengers who have been on the show. He fell in love with shooting the Mossberg .22 rifle. His grandmother told him they were related to General Beauregard, who was a Confederate General in the Civil War. That also sparked an interest in history.    Majoring in Political Science and History in college, his first job was as a compliance inspector with the ATF.( Alcohol, tobacco, and firearms…who's bringing the chips?) But he didn't like the way they operated and left the position. Does this sound familiar? So Phil ended up going back to the Boy Scout camp as a counselor then worked up to run the camp. During the winter months, he worked at a cigar shop with a friend who he grew up with. Then he got a call from someone from Scout Camp who was also with the NRA and he offered Phil a job to work weekends at the NRA Museum. He was less than thrilled working weekends because he was also doing some reenacting on the weekends. But he took the gig working 6 hours each weekend day. Within 6 months, he was working full time. Then he was able to hire his buddy from the cigar shop to work with him. For the record, his buddy is  Mark Keefe, the Editorial Director of all NRA publications.    Certainly the “virus that shall not be named” eliminated nearly all the positions at the museum, and Phil has several of the titles. During the last two and a half years, he was the only one working there. There's much more to running a museum than just “playing” with the guns. Phil will go weeks working there without even touching one of the firearms.    Like many jobs that look glamorous, working as a museum director has aspects that have become less glamorous over the years.  The lectures at various museums don't get old, but traveling does. I've heard several traveling comedians say they'd do comedy for free, but they get paid to travel.    What I really enjoyed learning about was how manufacturing helped change the way things were produced. We talk about the Eli Whitney and the cotton gin, but what Whitney really brought about was mass production and being able to make replaceable parts for machines. Then that spilled into Sam Colt making revolvers. We also talked about the impact of AI on history and writing. Phil said his personal book collection is over 5,000 books!   There's really a lot to learn from people like Phil. He's got a lot of wisdom. But he's also still the youngest guy at some of the history conventions. If we don't want out history to die or be erased, we need more people like Phil who has a love of the stories and shares them in ways we all enjoy.  Favorite quotes:  “Very upset with the way they (ATF) operated as stewards of public trust.” “It doesn't matter if we're (ATF) right or wrong, we'll just bankrupt them.” “I think the biggest misconception is you get to play with guns all day.” “It's stuff like that that changes the world because of firearms.” “I look at it as having more friends and the effort of spreading the knowledge about firearms, their history, their heritage.” NRA Museum Website https://www.nramuseum.org/ There's 3 different NRA museums around the country.    Articles written by Phil Schreier https://www.nramuseum.org/gun-info-research.aspx   Galleries at the NRA Museum https://www.nramuseum.org/guns/the-galleries Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun   Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Buy RSWC & GunGram shirts & hoodies, stickers & patches, and mugs at the store! http://ridingshotgunwithcharlie.com/rswc-shop/   Dennis McCurdy Author, Speaker, Firewalker http://www.find-away.com/   Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC  

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #181 Yuri Zalzman Philly Gun Range   Gun people are the best people. I will say this often. On a trip to Philadelphia, I had a change of plans. Nayara Andrejczyk (RSWC #171) and her husband and I had dinner and we were talking over dinner about my “gift of time”. She suggested Yuri Zalzman as a potential guest. He was available to make the time and we filmed a show the next day.    Yuri was born in Ukraine and raised in Israel. His father brought them to Philadelphia and he's been there ever since. He passed on college for a few years but ended up pursuing a history degree and it was much more work than he thought. It was more than memorizing dates. There was a lot of reading and analysis of cause and effects. He calls it the “study of man”. Law school was more work that taught him the ultimate lesson which is to be efficient.    As a youth, he loved machines. He learned to drive stick shift at six, a front loader and shooting at seven. He used to fly planes and drive tanks, too.    Yuri bought a shooting range in Philadelphia. He runs the range like the special forces; you don't get hired, you get accepted. He trains the right people to be his employees. It's not just the gun range policies and procedures, it's how to handle a firearm and quickly. He treats his employees well. He wants all of his clients to be safe, of course, but also comfortable while they're at the range. It's important for his team members to realize that they've got the coolest retail job out there.    However buying a range comes with the old range reputation. Some of the previous range clients (gang members) needed to be chased away by Yuri and his staff. Sometimes a stern talking to. Sometimes with pepper spray.    Being a bit of an entrepreneur, he has been able to change that reputation. They're focused on safety and customers. And welcoming everyone from whatever background into the range.    The area where I met Yuri is where he's working on a new building expanding  the range and the offerings. He's got plans for 3 hot ranges (25, 50, & 100 meters), a 22,000 Sq ft retail space, a 3,000 Sq ft gym, an obstacle course, areas for simunition training, and a helicopter where people can repel down a rope.    Yuri has always been a dreamer and he works hard to make those dreams come true. Gun owners are doers and dreamers. They make things happen. And if you happen to be in Philadelphia, stop by The Gun Range and tell Yuri “hello”! Favorite quotes:  “Negative example and a positive example teaches equally important lessons.” “My customers may leave a lot of money at the range, but they never feel like they've been taken advantage of.” “I'm there to live out my passions, share them with the world, give back to society.” “A person that has nothing only has their dignity. And when you insult their dignity, they're going to fight to the death.” Philly Gun Range Website https://phillygunrange.com/   The Gun Range Instagram https://www.instagram.com/phillygunrange/   The Gun Range Facebook https://www.facebook.com/phillygunrange/ Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun   Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Buy RSWC & GunGram shirts & hoodies, stickers & patches, and mugs at the store! http://ridingshotgunwithcharlie.com/rswc-shop/   Dennis McCurdy Author, Speaker, Firewalker http://www.find-away.com/   Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC   Or listen on: iTunes/Apple podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/riding-shotgun-with-charlie/id1275691565  

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #180 The DCP Gals & GOAL    On August 27, Gun Owners Action League hosted an event called The 2A Freedom Celebration. They pulled in some names you've seen on RSWC. Amanda Suffecool (#009), Holly Sullivan (#036), Jared Yanis (#051). And some locals like Toby Leary, (#143) Kerrie Ann Auclair (#139). We were able to film a show with a few of the local DCP gals, Moe Palmer & Bonnie Marshall. Mike Harris, Director of Public Policy, also joined us. Yeah… it was a car full of teal shirts!   There were several folks that sent some love GOAL's way. Todd Eccles from Patriot Defense Podcast, Nikki Goeser, Michael Sodini, David Coy, Klint Macro, John Petrolino, and the closing video was Cam Edwards. Of course Jim Wallace spoke, Jon Green (#030 & #034), Mike & Angi gave away a couple rifles. And Garet & Jeff from the GOAL Podcast (#177) were there as well. It was really a great time. Lots of fun catching up with everyone. I've said for a long time, these kinds of events are family get-togethers.    We gave everyone the hot shotgun seat for today's show. Starting with Kerrie Ann, she doesn't get into Boston often so she was excited to see so much. We talked about the Gun Law Listening Tour and how it turned into HD.4420. But she talked about going to one of the stops and speaking with a woman who said she knew she would be dead if she tried to use a gun against her domestic abuser. Kerrie Ann helped her re-think if she had a gun and some training, the gun could have been an equalizer.    Mike Harris talked about his time working in the State House in Boston and learning the ropes there. But he also acted as a tour guide. He does know a bit of Boston history and how to get around BeanTown.    Holly Sullivan took the next spotlight. She brought up that the GOAL event is the kind of event where the states need to get together and have a conversation about what is working and what isn't. This is one of the things she really wants to work on and connect state groups so we can be just as organized as the antis.    Bonnie Marshall has only been shooting for a few years. She's become a Range Safety Officer and started helping Kerrie Ann with her other group, The Well Armed Woman. It was great to have Bonnie break out of her shell and join us for the fun adventure.    Moe Palmer is also a local Quincy MA gal. She's also an RSO working with some local instructors to run the shooting line at live fire courses. Moe reached out to me a few years ago.  We took a road trip to SIG Academy in 2022 when they opened. She's also a regular on the Patriot Defense Podcast with Todd Eccles.    And our closer is Amanda Suffecool. DC Project Advisor. NRA BOD member. Host of Eye On The Target Radio. Instructor. And my conscience. Amanda was great at the event. She talked about how GOAL is winning even though it feels like we may not be all the time. She had a busy week. She was in Nashville on Monday with the DCP. She met with Shelley Hill from The Complete Combatant in Georgia. Then she headed to Boston for the weekend. The following week, she headed to Dallas for NRA BOD meetings.    We stopped for selfies, got sidetracked, and saw some sights in Boston. Like Cheers, The Granary Burial Ground, The Old State House & where the Boston Massacre started. Kenmore Square and drove next to Fenway Park, followed by going down Boylston Street, where the Marathon bombings happened and finally up Newbury Street.    Yeah…it was an undertaking editing this beast with 6 cameras all together. Some of the batteries ran out, but we did the best we could. This is a long show, the longest I've done. But I wanted everyone to get some time Riding Shotgun.    Favorite quotes:  Kerrie Ann: “If you had a gun it creates an equalizer for someone that's 5'1”.” Mike: “The unintended consequences of that (covid) a lot of people were more activated so it's easier to get people focused on this bill (HD.4420)” Holly: “In such tiny states in New England, non-resident permits make life accessible.”  Bonnie: “It's a bunch of like minded people, really fun.” Moe: “I didn't know there was a community out there. I didn't realize it was a passion.” Amanda: “It's great when your life comes together and you have a mission that will make a difference and leave a legacy.”   The DC Project https://www.dcproject.info/   Gun Owners Action League https://goal.org/   Connecticut Citizens Defense League https://www.ccdl.us/   Eye On The Target Radio https://eyeonthetargetradio.com/   Sisters In Arms- A Firearms Story https://www.youtube.com/@SIA-AFirearmStory   Armed Women of America https://armedwomen.org/ Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun   Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Buy RSWC & GunGram shirts & hoodies, stickers & patches, and mugs at the store! http://ridingshotgunwithcharlie.com/rswc-shop/   Dennis McCurdy Author, Speaker, Firewalker http://www.find-away.com/   Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC  

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #179 Todd Ellis NRA Board of Directors   Back in April I may have snuck into the NRA BOD party.  May have. It was suggested that I work the room.  Someone took me around to meet folks that I haven't met and see if I could connect and maybe get them on the show. It's fantastic to me when people I haven't met come up, say hello, and want to talk. As I was sweeping around the room, Todd Ellis stopped me and asked when the episode with Nayara Andrejczyk (RSWC #171) was going to be published. Todd is an NRA BOD member, but also a Training Counselor. They were friends and she had done some training with him. We exchanged cards and I kept working the room.    I got home from NRA on a Monday morning. I had a live show to do that evening, then I was off for Philly to film some shows. There was a change in plans and I was given “the gift of time”. Having dinner with Naraya and her husband, we brainstormed who would be available to film a show in my newly found time. She reached out to Todd and he agreed to be on the show.    Todd started shooting in Boy Scouts. He was really good at it, enjoyed it, and took to it quickly. He went home and joined the Junior Marksmanship Club at the Rochester Rifle Club. He shot small bore through high school. It was suggested that he become an instructor and take several of the NRA certification courses.  He was working with lots of youth shooters with the Scouts, about 350 a year.This was before there was an online portal to report to the NRA the students that went through your courses. When that came around, he missed out on getting credit for about 3,500 students! The NRA Education and Training found out how many students he trained and decided it was time to get him to become a Training Counselor.    Todd was invited to be the State Training Counselor Liaison for Pennsylvania. There's 4,400 instructors and 125 training counselors in PA currently. According to him, the main objective of a TC is to make sure everyone is up to date and current with their teaching materials and to make sure they're successful. We talk a bit about how it's important for everyone to be an established shooter before they become an instructor. If an instructor doesn't know an answer that a student has, they need to find out the answer and get back to the student.    Back in 2020 while everyone was in lockdown, Todd was able to fill in on a two year term and get onto the NRA Board of Directors. He was talking to another BOD member about some issues and needed to convince him that Todd had some solutions to some problems. That leads us into talking about the process of getting nominated by someone on the board, which may lead to getting Some folks get in by being on committees. Someone can also go through a petition process and get signatures to be on the ballot. Many of the NRA members don't know if they can vote, don't vote, or think they can vote and they can't.    Todd has a story about a canoe trip he took with his son. The canoe tipped when they both ended up paddling on the same side. He uses this story as an analogy to what is happening with many folks in the gun community. If we aren't paddling together as a team in the Second Amendment canoe, we're going to capsize and all will be lost. We work for the Second Amendment. And we all need to work as a unit, doing what we need to do to keep this American tradition alive.    Favorite quotes:  “I really strongly believe in teaching the youth because they're the folks who are going to replace us tomorrow.” “We got some people that are like ‘they're never gonna take our shotgun.' But they will come and get your bolt action rifles, too. So you got to be very aware of why people are really fighting for your Rights.” “I'd love to see more people vote. They get the ballot and don't vote.” “We're in a Second Amendment canoe. We all have to paddle together or we're going to wind up in the ocean and your Second Amendment rights are going to go with the tide out to sea.” National Rifle Associatio http://www.nra.com/   National Rifle Association https://home.nra.org/   To become an NRA certified instructor https://www.nrainstructors.org/ Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun   Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/     Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie sponsors and supporters.    Dennis McCurdy Author, Speaker, Firewalker http://www.find-away.com/   Self Defense Radio Network http://sdrn.us/   Buy a Powertac Flashlight, use RSWC as the discount code and save 15% www.powertac.com/RSWC