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…

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 …

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.…

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. Naili…

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 ju…

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 hus…

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 #11…

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 f…

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 adverti…

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 Th…

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 bo…

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 Spec…

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 ba…

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 C…

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 mes…

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 t…

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 lookin…

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 to…

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, talkin…

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 avai…

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 sh…

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 hell…

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. W…

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 A…

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 …

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, An…

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 fo…

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 Indianapol…

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…

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 s…

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 thi…

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 Right…

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 channe…

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, …

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…

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 speaker…

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 controversia…

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 sh…

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 …

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 …

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 w…

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 …

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 …

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 shoot…

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 cla…

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 (…

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 mo…