RSWC #059 Dianna Muller

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