Riding Shotgun With Charlie

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 lon...

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 a...

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...

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...

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 expertis...

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 m...

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...

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 w...

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 h...

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 di...

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...

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...

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...

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 t...

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 i...

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 R...

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 foun...

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....

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 personal...

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...

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 Indianapoli...

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...

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...

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 scho...