Riding Shotgun With Charlie

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #178 Robin Bartlett Author, Vietnam Veteran   It's a great feeling when someone recommends a passenger and it works out well. Robin Bartlett was referred to me. I reached out, did an introduction, and he sent me a copy of his book. After reaching out and setting up an interview date, we were able to make the show happen.    We start by talking about some of the nonsense that are New Jersey gun laws. To add to the “fun”, in New Jersey BB guns aren’t legal. And aren’t serialized, too. When he goes out to target shoot, Robin transports everything legally, of course, and keeps his paper with him as well.    At the age of 8, Robin was caught with .22 rounds, a hammer, and a chisel. He and his friends were opening the cases and lighting the gunpowder.  It was then his dad knew it was time for some gun safety lessons! (PS: Don’t Try It At Home!)  While living in Virginia, he joined the Davy Crockett Junior Rifle Club and started with a .22 rifle doing the NRA qualification program. He’s d

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #177 The GOAL Podcast Garet Holcomb & Jeff Strider   Finally, I was able to get together with Jeff Strider and Garet Holcomb from The GOAL Podcast. Jeff & Garet are both board members of Gun Owners Action League. I’ve known them for some time and we’ve run into each other at all the GOAL events, of course, and at the SIG Academy in New Hampshire, too. I do need to say that we filmed this before HD.4420 was released as a bill.  We talked about how the Gun Law Listening Tour was going and speculated how it was going to turn out. Now we know.    The GOAL Podcast is also ranked in the top 5% of all podcasts according to John Petrolino’s (RSWC #093) recent Bearing Arms article. Besides that great news, Jeff & Garet enjoy doing the podcast and fortunately the roles on the podcast does not have anything to do as GOAL board members and they’ll keep doing the show when their terms expire.    Garet grew up in California but got the gun bug in South Carolina when he was a young m

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #175 John Kolis Instructor & Author, Pistol Practice   I noticed on my social media that “Pistol Practice” was coming up more often in my feed. Then I get a text from a friend who says “John Kolis wrote Pistol Practice. He’s in your area and just did Rob Beckman’s podcast. You should have him on your show.”. I tuned in to Beckman’s (RSWC #109) Firearm Trainer’s Podcast to check him out and knew he would be a good fit. We texted back and forth. Then before one of the “Gun Law Listening Tour” stops, John & I met up for a drink.  Then we had a few drinks with some other friends afterwards, too.    John & I met up at the Weston Shooters Club in Weston, MA, and we headed to On Target Firearms in Dracut, MA, to do some shooting. After a quick warm up, John proved to me that his book, Pistol Practice, truly works!  We shot one of the games from his book and he way outshot me! He’s been working on getting his book across the country and in the hands of instructors. So if you’re

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #174 Tom King New York State Rifle & Pistol Association National Rifle Association BOD Member   Last summer, I thought it would be good to have Tom King on the show before the NYSRPA v Bruen decision. I messaged him and he said yes to being on the show, but I didn’t follow up. This past April at the NRA Annual Meetings, Anthony Colandro (RSWC #003 & #025) introduced us and said I should have Tom on the show. With the summer here and the anniversary of the NYSRPA v Bruen decision, I figured it was a good time to film a show!    Tom grew up in an anti-gun household. His father was a pilot in World War 2 and didn’t want to have anything to do with guns when he got back. However, Tom learned to shoot, earning a merit badge in Boy Scouts.    Eventually, a friend asked Tom if he wanted to be the Legislative Director of NYSRPA because Tom and his wife owned a company that delivered memos to politicians. Reluctantly, he agreed to the job. After one year in this position, the then-p

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #173 Jose Morales Philly Firearms Academy   My familiarity with Jose Morales’ name started years ago. I’ve always been a fan of the Gun For Hire Radio podcast. The main host, Anthony Colandro (RSWC #003 & 025), would often bring up Jose’s name as someone helping with production of the show. Last summer, I was in Detroit for Rick Ector’s (RSWC #032) Ladies Event. As I was introducing myself to the other instructors, I met Jose. I kept running through my mind “how do I know his name?” Then it hit me! Gun For Hire Radio! So I went back up and said I knew his name and finally put it together. Like it is meeting with gun people, it felt like old home week.    Jose grew up in New York City and said his mother had a gun. At the time he didn’t know how difficult it was to get a gun as times were different. He spent 3 years serving in the Army and ended up in Philadelphia. He’s had a few careers, of course, doing non-gun stuff, until he decided that after taking several friends shooting

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #172 Paul Markel Student of the Gun (The Pimp Hand of America)   Paul Markel is someone I’ve heard on Armed American Radio several times. It's always great to hear his stance on anything. He doesn’t mince words. He doesn’t hold back. And you always know where he stands. A good friend said he would be at NRAAM in Indianapolis this year and at the GLOCK booth. So after an email and an introduction, he said he’d be up for doing the show. Special thanks to Rob & Amanda from Eye On The Target Radio for the use of their “stagecoach” to film the show.    We kicked off with Paul explaining that it wasn’t a job he was looking for, but a job he accepted, was to be the Pimp Hand of America because “this country needs a slap”. And he’s just the man to do it.  Paul is very direct and to the point about his stance on topics du jour. Our first topic was the homeless folks on the way to his hotel in Indy.    During his youth, Paul spent time running around the yard with a rifle shaped stick. T

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #171 Nayara Andrejczyk The Gun Evangelist, 2A Advocate   Back in February, I attended a Gun Law Seminar held by Gun Owners Action League. I was in the right seat at the right time!  I was alongside 2 of The DC Project members and behind me was The Gun Evangelist, Nayara Andrejczyk. She saw my RSWC hoodie and asked who I was and what RSWC was. I said RSWC is Riding Shotgun With Charlie and I am Charlie! She said she drove up from the Philly area just to come to this event. We became fast friends and started following each other on social media outlets. A week later, I was going to Tanner Sports Center in Jamison, PA, to interview Nayara. Then in April, she drove 4 hours to attend GOAL’s Concealed Carry Fashion Show & Expo, and drove back that night. Gun people are the best people.    Nayara, NayNay, as her friends who can’t roll the R’s call her, was born in Brazil and moved to Worcester, MA, near some other relatives. I found out she was friends with one of my Brazilian friends

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #170 Jill McDaniel Mom At Arms, The DC Project   Jill McDaniel is someone I’ve been following for awhile. Since she’s a DC Project gal, I already knew that she may be up for being on the show. I had a course scheduled in Virginia and I reached out to her to see how far she was from the class. Lynchburg, VA wasn’t too far so we set up a time and date to film a show.    Growing up in rural southern Virginia, she’s always been around firearms.  Her father was a police officer and worked about a half hour from their home. He instilled in his family that they were going to learn to shoot and handle firearms since worked that far away. She learned on a BB gun and rifle before she started on handguns.    In 2016 with the Clinton/Trump election is when she started to get active on social media and paying attention to the politics of firearms and Rights. This was the first time she saw and heard gun control ads and Moms Demand Action (MDA). She took to Twitter, where she usually crap-talks

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #169 Michael Cargill Central Texas Gun Works   Michael Cargill is getting a lot of attention and press.  First we had Heller in 2008, then McDonald in 2010, and Bruen in 2022.  It’s looking like Cargill V Garland is going to be in 2023. The Cargill case is going to bring us back the right to possess bump stocks.    To start this episode, I have a quick video meeting with Cargill to update us on what’s going on with getting his case to the Supreme Court. We talked at the end of March 2023, but things changed during the first week of April and you’ll hear the recent happenings.    Cargill has a lot going on. He’s the owner of Central Texas Gun Works (CTGW), located in Austin, TX, which offers several levels of training courses from handgun basics to private security qualifications The store offers rentals and purchases as well. If that isn’t enough, he also does a radio show that is focused on guns, training, and all things Second Amendment related.     He spent 12 years in the Army.

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #168 Cam Edwards Bearing Arms Cam & Co   Cam Edwards. What else can I say? I had Cam in the shotgun seat!    I’ve been listening to Cam Edwards since, forever.  Ok since he was on NRATV’s Cam & Co. I’ve had chances to meet with him several times over the years; at the New Jersey Safe Conference in 2017, at Rally For Your Rights in 2019 in DC, and I’ve seen him at several SHOT Shows and NRA Annual meetings. But when I say that, I mean I saw him in the media room working and didn’t want to bother him. He was working, I was “working it.”   Before we get into this, I need to say "thank you" to John Petrolino, The Pen Patriot, who is a contributor at Bearing Arms as well as AmmoLand News, for connecting me with Edwards, suggesting I  have him on the show. I was heading down to Virgina to teach a class and film another RSWC episode, and I saw that Farmville, VA, was between the towns I was traveling to.   Edwards was born in Massachusetts and after a couple of moves ended up in O

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #167 Chris Dover CloverTac   CloverTac is one of those creators that’s everywhere. He’s got gun reviews, podcasts, YouTube channels, he does a ‘lawn chair pop’ (which he had to explain to me), and his wife lets him take the car only to let me drive it! (Shhh…I’m not sure she knows yet!) He’s also got another YouTube channel where he helps others, both in and out of the 2A community, with their challenges. I’m not sure where or how I met Clover. But at GRPC in 2019 in Phoenix as I was pulling in to drop someone off, he got in front of the hood-cam and I had him hop in for the shortest episode of RSWC! You can check out episode #058 with CloverTac here. https://youtu.be/Xeb3VKyzU5o   We were finally able to film another show in Dallas at Gun Rights Policy Conference last year for a ‘real’ episode. Besides being the Tactical Leprechaun, he’s a YouTube wizard! But he’s not just a YouTube wizard, he’s building relationships with local gun stores and with manufacturers who love what he’s

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #165 Hank Yacek Point of Impact Group   One day last fall, I got a message via LinkedIn from Hank Yacek.  He said he’s been in the gun business for years and wanted to be a guest on the show. I thought he would be an interesting passenger, offering insight that others haven’t had on the show. He said he lives in Lexington, KY. I replied that this was great timing as I was heading to Nashville that weekend and I could ‘swing by’ Lexington on the way home.    Hank grew up shooting. At a very young age, Hank was doing competitive shooting at 9 years old!  He was traveling the country and doing rifle shooting inside schools with school rifle teams!  I really don’t remember that even though Hank and I are around the same age. But I do remember some guy who had shotguns in the trucks to hunt before school.    Then he started making money in the gun industry as a shotgun judge making $150-$300 a week!  Maybe it’s not a lot now, but as a 14 year old in the 1980’s he was rolling in it. (Say

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #164 Dianna Muller The DC Project   I first met Dianna Muller, founder of The DC Project (DCP), back in 2019, when I was headed down to DC and filming a show in Philadelphia on the way down, then some of the DCP ladies in DC. I’ve run into her and several of the DCP ladies across the country at Gun Rights Policy Conference, NRA Annual Meetings, Florida Carry events, the Rod of Iron Freedom Festival, and almost any 2A event I’ve been to. Last fall, I was going to the Rod of Iron event in Greely, PA, and I was asked if I could pick up Di at the Wilkes-Barre Airport. How can I not? Since I was going to be driving a 2A personality, I had to film a show.    The month before we filmed the show, Di and the DCP ladies all went to Washington to do some work. Their work consists of talking to politicians about the women’s side of gun ownership, the reason women own firearms, and why it's important for women to own and carry firearms. She also talks about why we need to take back the reins th

Riding Shotgun With Charlie#163Frank ScavoCoalition for Election Integrity   I’ve been going to the Rod of Iron Freedom Festival at the Tommy Gun Warehouse in Greely, PA, for about 4 years.  A couple years ago, the emcee duties went to Frank Scavo. Every year there are plenty of 2A big name folks at the festival and there are some conservative speakers and presenters as well. They have some live music, lots of food vendors, a gun raffle, and much more. Oh…and you can shoot some guns for free, too! In 2022, they had Alan Keyes and Sebastian Gorka as keynote speakers.    Frank Scavo was in Washington DC on January 6, 2021. That year, he had a bad year. And he missed the Rod of Iron.  In 2022, he was back with a vengeance and was able to take some time to hop in the stagecoach and tell me about his experience on that historical day.    On November 3, 2020, after the election,the secretary of state was told not to commingle the ballots. She did. She put different ballots in together. Frank’s Congressman invited h

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #162 Antonia Okafor Gun Owners of America   Back in 2017, I drove out to a very liberal college in western Massachusetts to hear Antonia Okafor speak.  She was out here doing some speaking at some colleges about campus safety. Just the day before, one of the schools canceled her speech because the topic was too controversial. I approached her about filming a show, but her schedule was too hectic that week.  This past summer, we were able to connect again in central Massachusetts at a Flag Day Rally, but couldn’t make it happen again.  Finally in Detroit at Rick Ector’s (RSWC #032) Ladies Event, we were both there and made the time.    Antonia’s parents are Nigerian immigrants and were very much in the playbook that they’re supposed to support Democrats and be anti-gun. She grew up in Dallas,Texas. During her college years, her attitude changed, particularly after she survived a sexual assault. She became much more interested in firearms, in Christianity, and empowering herself.   

Riding Shotgun With Charlie#161Renee Gagne & Kerrie Ann AuclairSisters In Arms, DC Project After I had Kerrie Ann Auclair (RSWC #139) on the show, we became friends. She invited me to an Armed Women of America chapter anniversary celebration and I met Renee Gagne there.  The party was fun and I even danced! Then one of them had the idea that they should get in the stagecoach for a dual interview. After Renee became the Rhode Island representative for the DC Project we talked more about making it happen.  Then they started their own local access show. They hoodwinked me into having them on my show, then they took me to be a guest on their show, Sisters In Arms.  Kerrie Ann and Renee are Sisters In Arms. Really!  They both got into shooting and had a yearning for more training. But after several trips to a local club and having several of the guys want to take them out for a date rather than help them, they decided they needed to learn somewhere else.   Kerrie Ann learned about The Well Armed Woman  (now th