Riding Shotgun With Charlie

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

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #160  Dustin Hayes Red White and Badass Brew Coffee   I heard Dustin Hayes on Gun Owners Radio earlier this year.  When I was going to California for San Diego County Gun Owners GunProm, I knew I was going to film some shows, so I reached out to Dustin to see if he was interested and he was! The California trip was non-stop once I got there. John Petrolino (RSWC #093) and I met in San Diego. At GunProm, he was awarded the Media Figure of the Year. He also let me use his rental ‘stagecoach’ while we were out there.    Dustin grew up in Oklahoma, in the same town as Garth Brooks. After dropping out of high school, his father encouraged him to join the military.  It was tough to decide which he wanted to join, but the Navy said he could see the world and that’s where he went.  After 13 ½ years in the Navy, he was medically retired due to some injuries. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do so he ended up getting a degree in business.    The business degree led him to get a concrete b

Riding Shotgun With Charlie#159Adam KrautExecutive Director, Second Amendment Foundation Adam Kraut was another person who Amanda Suffecool (RSWC #009) told me they were stating that they hadn’t been on the stagecoach. I didn’t have Adam’s contact and I couldn’t find him on social media, so I had to reach out to someone to get his contact info.  We were both going to be at GRPC in Dallas and Adam said we should be able to film a show.   This was filmed just before Adam joined Second Amendment Foundation as the Executive Director. Here’s a link to SAF’s press release https://www.saf.org/saf-names-attorney-and-2a-litigator-adam-kraut-as-executive-director/ . It’s an honor to have someone who has done so much work for out 2A Rights with several of the big groups on the show.  Adam tells us that his love of shooting stems from his Boy Scout years despite growing up in an anti-gun house. After hearing about the ‘power’ of a 12 gauge shotgun and getting over his fears, he decided that he would give it a try. His f

Riding Shotgun With Charlie#158Rebecca SchmoeThe DC Project1 Million Moms Against Gun ControlCandidate-Kansas House of Representatives, District 59 This is how you know you’ve got good friends. On a DC Project events in DC, Amanda Suffecool (RSWC #009) was talking about me to other DCP gals. They were talking about who has gone Riding Shotgun and who hasn’t. Then I get a text message “How come Rebecca hasn’t been on the show?”. Then another with how come someone else hasn’t been on the show. Fortunately, Rebecca and I were both at AMMcon in Dallas recently and we were able to borrow Amanda’s ‘stagecoach’ and film a show.  Rebecca Schmoe is no stranger to the 2A freedom fight. And she’s not afraid to do something about it. She grew up around firearms with her father teaching and emphasizing firearm safety. She often had friends who would take her hunting, too. But once the ‘red shirts’ (the Moms Demand crowd) started getting involved talking about what moms wanted for gun control, she started researching women

Riding Shotgun With Charlie#157Lisa LudwigShe Trains You Lisa Ludwig reached out to me and inquired about being on the show. We’ve been Facebook friends for a while.  She’s got a lot of stuff going on with She Trains You. I told her I was going to Tony Simon’s (RSWC #041) Diversity Shoot with John Petrolino (#093) and maybe could help out and we’ll meet there. She’s one of those people that are #MyPeople!  We hit it off right from the start.  She’s a hot ticket and a great instructor. That evening we helped at The Gun For Hire Range and had a great time.  I knew that the show with her was going to be fun.    I had to drive from central New Jersey up to Long Island (say Lawn Guyland) to meet Lisa. We drove to Wantagh State Park and drove near Jones Beach. I’ve got to say, it was pretty scenic there. We had some talk about her life and what got her into firearms. Much like me, September 11 changed things for her. She wanted to start doing some prepping and went to a friend in the military. He suggested getting

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #156 Nathan Halliwill Nexbelt   I’ve been doing the Concealed Carry Fashion Shows with Amanda Suffecool (RSWC #009) for a few years now. One of the perennial sponsors has been Nexbelt. Last year, I needed a new belt and I went with a Nexbelt with the Gadsden Flag on the buckle. I went to the Nexbelt booth at SHOT Show and talked with Nathan Halliwill about how I love the belt and asked if they wanted to be on the show to talk about their history and belts.  I was excited to see Nathan again at the NRA AM in Houston and we solidified a plan to film at the Nexbelt headquarters this summer.    I meet Nathan at the Nexbelt offices in Rancho Cucamonga, CA, and borrowed John Petrolino’s (RSWC #093) rental car for the trip! Nathan grew up hunting, camping, and shooting with his family. He was working in the foodservice industry and planning on going to culinary school.  When the virus that shall not be named struck, he needed to change careers to make money.  His brother, who is a firearm

Riding Shotgun With Charlie#155Chris ChengTop Shot Winner   When Chris Cheng came up to me at Gun Rights Policy Conference 2019 in Phoenix, I was buzzing from being awarded the Blogger of the Year the day before.  He said when I was in San Francisco he wanted to be on the show. I’d seen him play the tunes on the Musical Targets, which was like a shooter’s xylophone and told him about the GunGrams.  And that we need to film a duet with him on pitched plates and me on trumpet.  We tried to connect this past summer while I was in California, but it didn’t happen.  However, we were at Rick Ector’s (RSWC #032) Ladies Event in Detroit this past summer and were able to film a show there.    As a young man, Chris did some shooting with his dad, but they didn’t go to the range regularly. After working with Google and having some expendable income, Chris started shooting again. He started getting into shooting IDPA and USPSA, and learned that shooting was static and you could run and gun.    While watching The History

Riding Shotgun With Charlie#154Bill DalpePatriot Firearms Training Bill Dalpe and I have been social media friends for a while.  I will admit that I’ve got another friend using “Patriot” for his training business and I may have gotten them mixed up at first. I met Bill at the GOAL Breakfast this past year and I took the Before You Carry & Defend class with my good friend Mark, who I’ve done a few other courses with. I”m glad that we finally made it happen this summer.  Like many instructors, Bill started off teaching from friends and friends of friends. After someone suggested he become an instructor, he learned that he didn’t know what he didn’t know. That’s where his passion for training and training trainers started. Bill is a certified instructor with the NRA, the USCCA, and the MA State Police. And he’s a Training Counselor for the NRA and USCCA, too. He started Patriot Firearms School and has built it to a great training school with it’s own classroom stocked with all the things an instructor needs

Riding Shotgun With Charlie#153Michael SchwartzSan Diego County Gun OwnersGun Owners Radio   This past June I finally got to California to film some shows. One of the folks I absolutely had to have was Michael Schwartz. He’s the founder of San Diego County Gun Owners (SDCGO) and co-host of Gun Owners Radio (GOR).  I booked a trip with John Petrolino (RSWC #093) and we headed to SDCGO’s GunProm 2022. It was not just an amazing event, but John was awarded the Media Figure of the Year.  The day after the event, Michael and I had a chance to get him on the show. After all, I have been on GOR a time or two.  And the night we filmed this show, John and I were able to be in-studio for the show.  You can get the link here. https://youtu.be/sRKiSkbB3hY   While Michael did own some BB guns when he was young, he didn’t get into firearms until he was older. He thought a GLCOK 19 would fill the void.  It didn’t. Then maybe a Mossberg 500 would and it didn’t either. Being a big fan of Red Dawn, he went to purchase an AK-47

Riding Shotgun With Charlie#152Alex SansoneThe Suited Shootist   At the NRAAM in Houston this year, I got to co-emcee the Concealed Carry Fashion show presented by RealizeFAC with Amanda Sufffecool.  She and I have hosted these all around the country. We use models who are influencers, instructors, and activists in the firearm community. One of the models at NRAAM was Alex Sansone, The Suited Shootist. Amanda said I needed to have him on the show, so after a quick intro back and forth, he said he would be able to make it happen while we were in Houston. We filmed the show on a Sunday morning and there were barely any protesters!   Alex grew up in the DC area with a ‘gun agnostic’ family, which only had a shotgun for trap shooting. He did do some .22 rifle shooting during summer camp, but it wasn’t a regular thing his family did. September 11, 2001 changed things for his family and his father became interested in firearms for self defense and personal protection. David Yamane calls these folks, myself included

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #151 Ladies Event in Detroit Legally Armed In Detroit   It’s not every day that you get to help teach 1,200+ women to shoot. I had a chance to attend Rick Ector’s Ladies Event recently. Rick (RSWC #032) runs Legally Armed In Detroit. For the last 11 years, he’s had a Ladies Event where women can come to learn to shoot a handgun. It started after a tragic story in the Detroit news about a woman’s body found in a dumpster and Rick thought that if the woman had a gun and knew how to use it she could have defended herself. He’s had 2 ranges that let him use the facilities for the weekend. He’s got an awesome woman who organizes the event, Tanish Moner (RSWC #113). And he’s got instructors from all over the country volunteering to come to Detroit for the weekend to help. This year, there were instructors from Massachusetts, Connecticut, Ohio, Georgia, Illinois, and California.   I talked with Tanish about getting some of the ladies to be interviewed before and after shooting. She helped

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #149 Santee The Santee TV   I know this sounds weird, but I love having some stalkers. OK, they’re not real stalkers. But there are some folks who watch the show and are happy to meet me. Santee is one of them. She’s been watching the show for a hot minute. She reached out to me after catching shows with Brooke Cheney (RSWC #075) and Jerah Hutchins (RSWC #133). She said the next time I’m in Texas we need to get together. So with the NRA Annual Meetings in Houston, near Santee, we were on.  She did have me on her YouTube channel back in January 2022, which you can watch here! https://youtu.be/6vGhbtIXIEA   Santee, of course, isn’t her real name (you’ll have to watch to find out). She became a gun owner after a scary incident like many folks. There were some guys going through her apartment building looking for someone.  They passed her sons but they didn’t know what was going on. The guys ended up shooting through someone’s door in her building. She ended up grabbing a kitchen knife

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #148 Evan Nappen Gun Lawyer   Evan Nappen!  What can I say?!?! I used to listen to Evan on Gun For Hire Radio with Anthony Colandro (RSWC #003 & #025). He’s always been educating and entertaining to listen to and that’s when I became a fan. He has offices in New Jersey and New Hampshire.  I always wondered why.  I heard that he was doing a US Law Shield seminar in New Jersey and had a cold. But I feared it was worse, so I reached out and asked if he would be on the show.    He got right back to me when I emailed and gave me a call.  We talked like old friends, I love it! We set up a time and I headed up to the Concord, NH, area to meet with him. It wasn’t the first time I saw him. I spoke at NJSAFECON in 2017 on a panel with Anthony Colandro, Tony Simon (RSWC #041) and Maj Toure. Evan was also speaking, but I was too nervous to introduce myself. But RSWC has grown and it was time to have him in the shotgun seat.    New Jersey has been a great state for RSWC. I’ve had several of

Riding Shotgun With Charlie#147Umar ArrastiaClose Quarter Countermeasures I really do have the coolest gig AND friends!  One of my friends and training partners, Mark L, sent me a Facebook event for an ACTIVE Killer Response Course. I swear it said ACTIVE Kicker! He then messaged me and said that the instructor Umar Arrastia would be a great passenger for the show.  I reached out to Umar and we filmed the show, then Mark and I took the course the following month.  Umar has a background in traditional kung fu and martial arts.  He’s been with the National Guard for a number of years, he’s done some personal security work, and some bail bondsman work. He’s got an incredible background. Umar grew up around firearms so there wasn’t a fear or taboo about them like with many who don’t grow up with them. After 10 years with the National Guard, he tried getting an office job, but found that working in an office setting wasn’t really for him. So he signed back up with a Guard and ended up in Afghanistan. He found hims