WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.190 --> 00:00:02.569 That is the dolly that i've been in love with 2 00:00:03.370 --> 00:00:06.759 uh because she always struck me as real country and 3 00:00:06.940 --> 00:00:10.279 uh and uh and so that was a wonderful story 4 00:00:10.359 --> 00:00:12.160 i was happy to write it and i was just 5 00:00:12.199 --> 00:00:17.730 happy to learn it to be honest with you i'm 6 00:00:17.769 --> 00:00:26.390 ryan gresham and this this is gun talk nation. 7 00:00:31.629 --> 00:00:35.369 Gun Talk Nation is brought to you by Ruger, Leupold, 8 00:00:35.869 --> 00:00:41.350 Range Ready, Colt, MTM Case Guard, Shooting Sports Life, and 9 00:00:41.450 --> 00:00:45.340 Remington Ammunition. Hey, welcome into Gun Talk Nation. Sometimes it's 10 00:00:45.359 --> 00:00:47.320 fun to talk with our buddies, and sometimes our buddies 11 00:00:47.380 --> 00:00:50.280 are really smart people who cover pretty much everything in 12 00:00:50.320 --> 00:00:52.840 the world of guns, and I mean everything in the 13 00:00:52.880 --> 00:00:56.530 world of guns. We got A.W.R. Hawkins from Breitbart News. 14 00:00:56.570 --> 00:00:57.270 Welcome in, man. 15 00:00:58.270 --> 00:00:59.329 Hey, good to be with you, buddy. 16 00:00:59.659 --> 00:01:02.200 You've been working overtime, I think. I mean, you got 17 00:01:02.219 --> 00:01:04.760 a lot of stories popping out. First off, the fun 18 00:01:04.959 --> 00:01:08.739 one is obviously Dolly Parton passed. 19 00:01:09.019 --> 00:01:09.900 She's in the news. 20 00:01:10.560 --> 00:01:15.599 Kind of just unbelievably how beloved she is across, you know, 21 00:01:16.040 --> 00:01:19.799 all countries and cultures and everything. But there's a tie-in 22 00:01:20.239 --> 00:01:22.040 for guns with Dolly, right? 23 00:01:22.540 --> 00:01:26.780 Right. Yeah, it's that story she tells. Late 60s, early 70s, 24 00:01:26.829 --> 00:01:31.140 going to New York City. it's funny when she tells 25 00:01:31.219 --> 00:01:33.840 it or when she told it, but you know, uh, 26 00:01:34.700 --> 00:01:37.519 we embedded the video there in the Breitbart article. She 27 00:01:37.599 --> 00:01:39.909 told was, I think she was talking to Conan O'Brien 28 00:01:39.950 --> 00:01:43.150 and told him, uh, that some guy approached her and 29 00:01:43.170 --> 00:01:48.349 her friend and thought maybe they were, uh, prostitutes or 30 00:01:48.730 --> 00:01:50.239 uh yeah that's probably the best way to say it 31 00:01:50.459 --> 00:01:54.680 and uh then apparently he got super interested and was 32 00:01:54.739 --> 00:01:56.959 pulling on her a little bit get the image he 33 00:01:57.000 --> 00:01:58.700 might have been pulling on her clothes a little bit 34 00:01:58.739 --> 00:02:01.909 trying to touch her and uh she jerked a pistol 35 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:04.010 on him from her purse and told him that if 36 00:02:04.069 --> 00:02:05.670 he touched her again she was going to shoot him 37 00:02:05.750 --> 00:02:10.819 and uh It's pretty remarkable. Conan's blown away, and I 38 00:02:10.860 --> 00:02:13.699 don't know his political views, but I could tell he 39 00:02:13.719 --> 00:02:16.180 wasn't ready for that story. He was kind of blown 40 00:02:16.240 --> 00:02:18.099 away that she had a pistol in her purse, but 41 00:02:18.960 --> 00:02:22.219 I was going, yeah, that's awesome. That is the Dolly 42 00:02:22.259 --> 00:02:25.969 that I've been in love with because she always struck 43 00:02:26.030 --> 00:02:31.409 me as real country. That was a wonderful story. I 44 00:02:31.449 --> 00:02:33.449 was happy to write it, and I was just happy 45 00:02:33.490 --> 00:02:34.639 to learn it, to be honest with you. 46 00:02:35.129 --> 00:02:37.699 Yeah, it's interesting because, and gosh, I mean, if this 47 00:02:37.759 --> 00:02:40.219 was New York in the 70s, it was pretty rough. 48 00:02:41.340 --> 00:02:43.520 But you can, like, take the girl out of the country, 49 00:02:43.539 --> 00:02:45.199 but you can't take the country out of the girl. 50 00:02:45.520 --> 00:02:47.830 And she says that, yeah, if you touch me again, 51 00:02:47.870 --> 00:02:50.150 I'm going to shoot you, which is pretty clear. And 52 00:02:50.750 --> 00:02:53.590 she said she's never gone anywhere without her 38 cents, 53 00:02:53.870 --> 00:02:54.870 which I love that. 54 00:02:55.930 --> 00:02:56.610 Oh, I love that, too. 55 00:02:56.870 --> 00:03:01.319 And I saw yesterday, and I can't remember where, but some... 56 00:03:02.969 --> 00:03:07.009 Either a distributor or big chain yesterday said they were 57 00:03:07.030 --> 00:03:09.870 going to give away the Smith & Wesson model that 58 00:03:09.909 --> 00:03:13.240 she carried. Not her gun, but the same model as 59 00:03:13.500 --> 00:03:15.379 a used gun, of course. They were going to raffle 60 00:03:15.409 --> 00:03:17.000 it off or do something to give it away. And 61 00:03:17.400 --> 00:03:20.419 that's pretty interesting. But I love it because, and I 62 00:03:20.439 --> 00:03:24.430 know you know it, Ron, but you remember about 10, 63 00:03:24.430 --> 00:03:28.020 12 years ago, we started seeing this slide, maybe 15, 64 00:03:28.020 --> 00:03:31.400 where one of the biggest demographics for concealed carry emerging 65 00:03:31.879 --> 00:03:35.750 was women. And I would say, you probably checked me 66 00:03:35.789 --> 00:03:37.949 on this. I think it was 15, maybe. It was 67 00:03:37.969 --> 00:03:40.849 during the Obama years. And you start seeing this extreme 68 00:03:40.909 --> 00:03:44.099 growth in women getting sealed carry. And it was important. 69 00:03:44.240 --> 00:03:49.020 Women needed to know. Guns are not just a man's thing. 70 00:03:49.280 --> 00:03:52.500 They are our thing. The central point of owning a 71 00:03:52.539 --> 00:03:55.330 gun is protecting life and property, regardless of whether you're 72 00:03:55.349 --> 00:03:56.229 a male or female. 73 00:03:56.250 --> 00:03:57.349 Absolutely. Absolutely. 74 00:03:58.460 --> 00:04:00.699 And that's another reason I love this story of Dolly. 75 00:04:00.719 --> 00:04:02.979 She was just like, hey, I'm a country girl from 76 00:04:03.000 --> 00:04:04.719 the mountains and I'm going to protect my life. 77 00:04:05.360 --> 00:04:07.020 Well, at some point, you're right. 78 00:04:07.719 --> 00:04:10.060 At some point when we had that big boom in 79 00:04:10.120 --> 00:04:14.860 gun purchasing happening, it was 30 to 40 percent of 80 00:04:14.900 --> 00:04:17.990 the new guns being purchased were being purchased by first 81 00:04:18.019 --> 00:04:21.389 time gun buyers. And a large percentage of those were women. 82 00:04:21.430 --> 00:04:23.470 It was the same thing with concealed carry permits. 83 00:04:24.529 --> 00:04:26.870 You know, a large percentage, 30 or 40 percent. 84 00:04:27.889 --> 00:04:31.290 Were women, and I've noticed that, it's been a little 85 00:04:31.310 --> 00:04:33.870 while since I've been in a concealed carry class, but 86 00:04:34.050 --> 00:04:36.629 it was a pretty, I would say it was probably 87 00:04:36.629 --> 00:04:39.029 30 or 40% the last couple times I was in 88 00:04:39.069 --> 00:04:42.439 concealed carry classes, so you're absolutely right, and if you 89 00:04:42.480 --> 00:04:46.879 think about it, I know that the gun world skews 90 00:04:46.980 --> 00:04:49.560 male and all that stuff, but when we're talking about 91 00:04:50.019 --> 00:04:51.819 guns for protecting. 92 00:04:51.339 --> 00:04:54.199 Yourself, there are categories of. 93 00:04:54.459 --> 00:04:59.839 Audience that you are you are, you know, someone who 94 00:04:59.899 --> 00:05:03.040 probably should be carrying a gun because as Dom Gresham says, 95 00:05:03.139 --> 00:05:07.660 women are, there's a particular category of violence and crime 96 00:05:08.199 --> 00:05:12.019 that is fairly women specific and it's particularly horrendous. 97 00:05:12.610 --> 00:05:14.329 So, you know, yeah, absolutely. 98 00:05:14.569 --> 00:05:17.089 You know, you want your daughters and your wives and 99 00:05:17.129 --> 00:05:20.949 your moms to be trained up and caring to protect themselves. 100 00:05:22.110 --> 00:05:22.310 Right. 101 00:05:22.610 --> 00:05:24.490 That's exactly right. You know, I'm like you, you know, 102 00:05:24.509 --> 00:05:28.600 I don't like talking about those particular crimes. But they exist. 103 00:05:29.240 --> 00:05:32.319 And that's the thing with a man I always think about. 104 00:05:32.339 --> 00:05:33.819 And this is just how I think. I always think 105 00:05:33.870 --> 00:05:38.670 about a man's protecting his life and his liberty. And 106 00:05:38.689 --> 00:05:40.569 a woman is doing the same thing. But there's a 107 00:05:40.589 --> 00:05:44.230 third category for me with a woman. She is also 108 00:05:44.290 --> 00:05:49.110 protecting her dignity. And there's nothing that does that like 109 00:05:49.149 --> 00:05:51.939 a firearm. If you have a firearm, you're trained with it. 110 00:05:52.129 --> 00:05:55.490 You practice with it. You take care of that firearm. 111 00:05:55.910 --> 00:05:59.120 Make sure you have good ammo in it. a woman 112 00:05:59.139 --> 00:06:01.889 could travel through this world quite safely if she has that. 113 00:06:01.910 --> 00:06:04.050 And I'm all for it. And I love stories like 114 00:06:04.089 --> 00:06:06.910 Dolly's where you see a woman use a gun to 115 00:06:06.949 --> 00:06:09.149 protect her dignity. Yeah. 116 00:06:09.269 --> 00:06:13.009 And when someone, and not just women, but certainly, you know, 117 00:06:13.029 --> 00:06:15.509 I've heard it from like my wife, who's been through 118 00:06:15.550 --> 00:06:19.449 several classes and is very proficient. There is a level 119 00:06:19.470 --> 00:06:23.089 of comfort there of knowing how to use it, knowing 120 00:06:23.149 --> 00:06:25.810 how to operate it and saying, I know how to 121 00:06:25.850 --> 00:06:26.389 handle this. 122 00:06:26.529 --> 00:06:27.069 And so. 123 00:06:27.519 --> 00:06:30.379 You know, now it's all of a sudden, it's not like, oh, okay, 124 00:06:30.399 --> 00:06:32.620 I'm going to have this gun or I'm nervous. Like, no, actually, 125 00:06:32.660 --> 00:06:33.319 I'm not nervous. 126 00:06:33.620 --> 00:06:36.699 You know? No. It's great. No, I'm not. I'm actually 127 00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:40.279 nervous without it. Right. And I see that with my 128 00:06:40.319 --> 00:06:45.990 own wife. She keeps a particular handgun that's very reliable, 129 00:06:46.050 --> 00:06:51.069 made by Springfield Armory, in the compartment there in her 130 00:06:51.110 --> 00:06:53.610 door where it's no problem for her to reach it 131 00:06:53.649 --> 00:06:56.360 at any time. She knows how to use it, and 132 00:06:56.819 --> 00:06:58.569 she uses it pretty well, to be honest with you. 133 00:06:58.629 --> 00:07:01.310 So I like that, and I especially like it when 134 00:07:01.350 --> 00:07:03.230 my daughters are with her, and I don't have to 135 00:07:03.269 --> 00:07:05.529 worry about them. They're all out and about, and they 136 00:07:05.550 --> 00:07:10.939 can protect themselves. And even my youngest daughter, holy cow, 137 00:07:11.740 --> 00:07:15.240 she can do it. And so I love knowing that 138 00:07:15.259 --> 00:07:17.860 they have a firearm they can use in case they 139 00:07:17.899 --> 00:07:18.860 need it. Yeah, absolutely. 140 00:07:19.019 --> 00:07:19.480 Absolutely. 141 00:07:20.519 --> 00:07:22.899 AWR, you've been covering a bunch of other stuff. There's 142 00:07:22.920 --> 00:07:24.750 been a lot of stuff in the news. I mean, 143 00:07:25.129 --> 00:07:29.750 you've got a new Rasmussen poll of gun control support 144 00:07:30.430 --> 00:07:36.149 falling among likely U.S. voters, which is probably the opposite 145 00:07:36.180 --> 00:07:37.819 of what some people think is going on. 146 00:07:37.899 --> 00:07:40.420 But, I mean, talk about that. Why do you think 147 00:07:40.439 --> 00:07:41.100 that's going on? 148 00:07:42.839 --> 00:07:44.779 Well, I think if you look at the fall, the 149 00:07:44.839 --> 00:07:50.899 fall was between October 2024 and now. So basically, you're 150 00:07:50.920 --> 00:07:56.040 looking at from Trump's election till now, from Trump's election 151 00:07:56.060 --> 00:07:58.899 for a second term till now. And I believe if 152 00:07:58.939 --> 00:08:02.879 you look at how DOJ has handled itself, how law 153 00:08:02.899 --> 00:08:07.920 enforcement has been allowed to work, how the Trump administration 154 00:08:08.019 --> 00:08:12.000 overall has basically, in my opinion, looked at as the 155 00:08:12.060 --> 00:08:16.240 Second Amendment as a solution rather than a problem. Then 156 00:08:16.379 --> 00:08:19.290 I think there are people who are going, wait, wait. wait, 157 00:08:19.500 --> 00:08:22.810 if we'll just let police do their job, wait, if 158 00:08:22.889 --> 00:08:28.389 I just carry a gun for self-defense, wait, if we 159 00:08:28.470 --> 00:08:33.700 don't demonize gun owners, if we enforce the law, if 160 00:08:33.840 --> 00:08:36.379 we give strict penalty for gun crime, so on and 161 00:08:36.419 --> 00:08:39.700 so forth, I believe this all has hit critical mass 162 00:08:39.740 --> 00:08:41.379 in the minds of many people. And they go, wait, 163 00:08:42.159 --> 00:08:45.009 gun control is not the solution. The solution is to 164 00:08:45.049 --> 00:08:50.139 treat criminals like criminals. and to leave law-abiding citizens alone. 165 00:08:50.919 --> 00:08:53.350 If I had to tell you my opinion, that's it. 166 00:08:53.429 --> 00:08:58.049 That's what I think has happened. It's great news. It's 167 00:08:58.090 --> 00:09:00.389 still not moving as fast as I wish. I want 168 00:09:00.409 --> 00:09:02.809 the drop to be bigger. I want even fewer people 169 00:09:02.850 --> 00:09:05.870 to support more gun control, but at least it's moving 170 00:09:05.950 --> 00:09:08.730 in the right direction, and so I'm happy about that. 171 00:09:09.389 --> 00:09:12.029 Yeah, I think that you hit it right on the head. 172 00:09:12.090 --> 00:09:16.210 I mean, is there common sense— a lot of this 173 00:09:16.259 --> 00:09:19.250 stuff doesn't pass the sniff test. You know, they're going, 174 00:09:19.610 --> 00:09:22.269 wait a minute, you're telling me one thing, but that's 175 00:09:22.330 --> 00:09:24.690 not the reality I'm seeing in the world. And that's, 176 00:09:25.049 --> 00:09:27.590 that's not what's going on in, in my town and 177 00:09:27.629 --> 00:09:32.110 my County. Like, you know, just call the police and 178 00:09:32.129 --> 00:09:34.700 then just say, just call the police to most people. 179 00:09:34.720 --> 00:09:35.980 And they're going to go there. What are the, how 180 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:36.759 are they going to react? 181 00:09:36.860 --> 00:09:36.980 Right. 182 00:09:37.000 --> 00:09:39.100 They're going to like, you mean while the guy is 183 00:09:39.159 --> 00:09:41.860 like in my house, just call the police. 184 00:09:42.379 --> 00:09:43.960 Like, dude, it's going to take them. 185 00:09:44.419 --> 00:09:47.889 Eight minutes, 18 minutes, 28 minutes, who knows how long? 186 00:09:49.509 --> 00:09:53.210 Right. No, you're exactly right. I remember once, just for 187 00:09:53.230 --> 00:09:55.730 an example, and this is probably extreme, but I was 188 00:09:57.549 --> 00:10:00.659 camping in Arizona and we had to call a enforcement 189 00:10:00.720 --> 00:10:04.559 over an individual who kept coming in camp and things 190 00:10:04.600 --> 00:10:06.919 he was doing. And he had a firearm with him 191 00:10:06.940 --> 00:10:10.840 and that's all right. But when I talked to the 192 00:10:11.519 --> 00:10:13.830 sheriff's department, they told me it would take them one 193 00:10:13.950 --> 00:10:17.590 hour and a half to get there. And they asked me, 194 00:10:18.539 --> 00:10:20.830 are you okay between now and then? I said, well, 195 00:10:20.870 --> 00:10:25.509 I'm going to be okay. Yeah. But, but I just, 196 00:10:25.730 --> 00:10:28.250 and I didn't say anything in a threatening way to 197 00:10:28.289 --> 00:10:30.230 that individual, but I did tell him, I said, but 198 00:10:30.289 --> 00:10:32.539 you know, I'm prepared to do what I have to 199 00:10:32.580 --> 00:10:35.600 do to keep my family safe. So you all need 200 00:10:35.620 --> 00:10:37.019 to get here as quick as you can. Cause if 201 00:10:37.080 --> 00:10:39.700 he rolls back through here, you know, I might do 202 00:10:39.740 --> 00:10:42.340 what I have to do, but it's just to your point. 203 00:10:42.440 --> 00:10:44.850 And I'm all pro law enforcement. I know you are Ron, 204 00:10:44.889 --> 00:10:49.039 but it's just reality. You call the police, even if 205 00:10:49.080 --> 00:10:52.659 you live in an urban setting, what if it's three 206 00:10:52.710 --> 00:10:56.950 or four minutes? That's an extremely quick response time. But 207 00:10:57.590 --> 00:11:00.029 three or four minutes is an eternity if the guy 208 00:11:00.129 --> 00:11:02.309 in your kitchen with you is either armed with a 209 00:11:02.370 --> 00:11:07.120 knife or a gun and you have nothing. That's an eternity. 210 00:11:07.299 --> 00:11:09.559 And so you've got to be ready in that moment. 211 00:11:10.039 --> 00:11:11.600 Yeah, I mean, the fact of the matter is when 212 00:11:11.620 --> 00:11:14.159 you're the victim, you are the first responder on this thing. 213 00:11:15.240 --> 00:11:16.379 So, yeah, I mean, it makes sense. 214 00:11:17.409 --> 00:11:24.870 The CDC has been concealing some data about guns, and 215 00:11:24.909 --> 00:11:27.710 it just got released because some changes were made, and 216 00:11:28.549 --> 00:11:29.690 we're going to talk about that. 217 00:11:29.610 --> 00:11:30.210 Right after the break. 218 00:11:31.929 --> 00:11:34.190 If you've ever dug through a truck bed, trailer, or 219 00:11:34.250 --> 00:11:37.889 gear room looking for ammo, optics, or hunting essentials, you 220 00:11:37.950 --> 00:11:42.419 know how important organization can be. 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It's a free, live, 24-7 TV channel 249 00:13:35.500 --> 00:13:38.830 available for streaming apps and also on your smart TV. 250 00:13:39.269 --> 00:13:41.009 And you can learn more on how to watch it 251 00:13:41.289 --> 00:13:43.070 at shootingsportslife.com. 252 00:13:44.799 --> 00:13:45.419 All right, we're back. 253 00:13:45.799 --> 00:13:48.720 So after, before the break, I said, all right, the CDC, 254 00:13:49.039 --> 00:13:50.720 there's stuff going on at AWR. 255 00:13:50.740 --> 00:13:51.620 You've been covering it. 256 00:13:52.019 --> 00:13:56.980 There were some, there was some data that was being concealed, suppressed, whatever. 257 00:13:57.779 --> 00:14:01.129 Um, and, and now it's out. Let's, I mean, tell 258 00:14:01.149 --> 00:14:01.929 people what happened. 259 00:14:03.190 --> 00:14:03.450 Right. 260 00:14:03.570 --> 00:14:03.809 Yeah. 261 00:14:03.830 --> 00:14:07.789 This data disappeared. Uh, it's data on self-defense gun uses. 262 00:14:07.870 --> 00:14:11.990 It disappeared, uh, after CDC took a lot of pressure 263 00:14:12.049 --> 00:14:16.519 from gun controllers and, uh, And if I remember correctly, 264 00:14:17.000 --> 00:14:19.460 the gist of it was that gun controllers were saying 265 00:14:19.500 --> 00:14:23.139 this news basically undercuts what we're trying to accomplish. And 266 00:14:23.210 --> 00:14:26.389 so this data was pulled from a CDC website. And 267 00:14:26.629 --> 00:14:29.090 you could find it on the website up till then 268 00:14:29.230 --> 00:14:35.570 under the firearm injury website under CDC. And now it's back. 269 00:14:35.909 --> 00:14:39.450 And what it shows, and when you see what it shows, 270 00:14:39.490 --> 00:14:41.330 you go, oh, well, no wonder they wanted to get 271 00:14:41.389 --> 00:14:44.870 rid of it. What it shows is upwards of 2.5 272 00:14:44.870 --> 00:14:49.399 million defensive gun uses a year. Now, that's pretty impressive. And, 273 00:14:50.500 --> 00:14:53.879 you know, those numbers, I've always looked at Gary Kleck's numbers, 274 00:14:53.940 --> 00:14:56.899 the criminologist from Florida State, and I believe his minimal 275 00:14:57.570 --> 00:14:59.289 for a year, minimal is 770,000. And so now we 276 00:14:59.309 --> 00:15:00.909 have a range. If I use him for the low end, 770,000, 277 00:15:00.889 --> 00:15:11.269 I use CDC for the high end, 2.5 million. We 278 00:15:11.309 --> 00:15:17.039 have a range of justifiable defensive handgun, or I shouldn't 279 00:15:17.059 --> 00:15:19.600 say handgun because it could be long gun, but defensive 280 00:15:19.639 --> 00:15:23.889 gun uses that literally eclipses this is why they hate it, 281 00:15:24.519 --> 00:15:27.679 literally eclipses the criminal use of firearms. I mean, I 282 00:15:28.679 --> 00:15:31.110 think if you do what the gun control groups do 283 00:15:31.159 --> 00:15:37.370 and you add firearm homicides and suicides together, roughly you're 284 00:15:37.429 --> 00:15:42.990 at 38,000 to 40,000 a year in the U.S. That's 285 00:15:43.029 --> 00:15:47.289 an approximation. Sixty-six percent of that figure is suicide. So 286 00:15:47.350 --> 00:15:51.919 the homicide number is probably about 15,000. approximately, let's say 287 00:15:51.919 --> 00:15:55.980 14 to 17,000 to make people happy. So you take 288 00:15:55.980 --> 00:16:01.200 14 to 17,000 firearm homicides. Now contrast that with 2.5 289 00:16:01.200 --> 00:16:06.730 million defensive gun uses a year. If I'm a gun controller, 290 00:16:07.090 --> 00:16:09.269 I sure don't want that news out there, but it's 291 00:16:09.350 --> 00:16:10.809 out there and it's wonderful. Yeah. 292 00:16:10.850 --> 00:16:15.370 The, the gun control groups worked with the Biden administration 293 00:16:15.389 --> 00:16:19.419 to and CDC to say, you know, we'd rather not, 294 00:16:19.870 --> 00:16:22.570 you know, put those numbers out there. If you guys 295 00:16:22.610 --> 00:16:25.450 wouldn't mind just, you know, like sort of turning the 296 00:16:25.490 --> 00:16:28.169 volume down on that and don't tell anybody. And then 297 00:16:28.200 --> 00:16:31.350 of course, now we've got a new administration and they said, whoa, whoa, whoa, 298 00:16:31.409 --> 00:16:33.330 we have these stats. Let's put them out there. 299 00:16:33.389 --> 00:16:35.649 This is, this is the stats are the stats. Don't 300 00:16:35.669 --> 00:16:36.529 be mad at the stats. 301 00:16:37.210 --> 00:16:39.669 And, you know, in the defensive gun use, it doesn't 302 00:16:39.710 --> 00:16:43.029 necessarily mean someone drawing and shooting and all that stuff. 303 00:16:43.269 --> 00:16:45.789 It could simply mean, you know, like you said, your 304 00:16:45.840 --> 00:16:47.840 wife with a gun in the car and a guy 305 00:16:47.879 --> 00:16:50.120 comes up to carjacker and she picks it up and says, 306 00:16:50.139 --> 00:16:50.860 get away from me. 307 00:16:51.220 --> 00:16:52.039 And the guy runs off. 308 00:16:52.340 --> 00:16:57.190 That's a defensive gun use that prevented her from being carjacked, 309 00:16:57.230 --> 00:17:00.529 from kidnapped, from robbed, from, you know, something worse, right? 310 00:17:00.970 --> 00:17:04.230 And this is stuff that's, it is stopping crime every 311 00:17:04.349 --> 00:17:09.490 single day. People, legal carrying people are stopping crime. 312 00:17:10.710 --> 00:17:14.829 Right, right. I mean, this is anecdotal, but to your point, 313 00:17:14.910 --> 00:17:17.490 you know, my wife was in Santa Fe, New Mexico once, 314 00:17:17.569 --> 00:17:20.849 I remember, on a girl's trip, and a guy came 315 00:17:20.950 --> 00:17:23.369 up and grabbed the handle of her door at a stoplight, 316 00:17:23.529 --> 00:17:26.609 wanted to open it, and she just raised the pistol 317 00:17:26.650 --> 00:17:29.589 and tacked it against the glass. And he looked at 318 00:17:29.630 --> 00:17:33.250 it and turned and I tailed it. That is to 319 00:17:33.309 --> 00:17:36.690 your point. That is a self-defense gun use. That is 320 00:17:36.730 --> 00:17:39.440 a defensive gun use. Excuse me. And she didn't have 321 00:17:39.460 --> 00:17:41.619 to pull the trigger. We're all happy. She didn't have 322 00:17:41.640 --> 00:17:45.460 to pull the trigger, but having the gun accomplished the job. 323 00:17:46.019 --> 00:17:46.920 And that's how it goes. 324 00:17:47.460 --> 00:17:48.019 Absolutely. 325 00:17:48.140 --> 00:17:50.420 And I mean, and that's, that would be the goal, right? 326 00:17:50.440 --> 00:17:52.960 Like we're going to, we're going to help, uh, criminals 327 00:17:53.000 --> 00:17:54.259 make better decisions here. 328 00:17:54.279 --> 00:17:59.140 Okay. We're going to be a little, you know, help them. 329 00:17:59.180 --> 00:18:01.220 I'm going to help you help, you know, me. 330 00:18:01.819 --> 00:18:05.269 Yeah, we're going to work together on a better mental 331 00:18:05.329 --> 00:18:09.369 process here where you come to better decision making. That's 332 00:18:09.390 --> 00:18:10.049 what we're going to do. 333 00:18:10.390 --> 00:18:13.029 AWR, what else has been going on? You've been covering 334 00:18:13.049 --> 00:18:13.859 a lot of stuff. 335 00:18:14.619 --> 00:18:16.779 Well, I mean, there's a lot going on in, you know, 336 00:18:16.960 --> 00:18:21.799 normal things. Shootings continue in Chicago. I say continue apace. 337 00:18:22.700 --> 00:18:25.440 They continue to hold the gun control there. They continue 338 00:18:25.460 --> 00:18:29.000 to blame guns. You know, you've got the mayor there. 339 00:18:29.059 --> 00:18:33.640 His biggest, latest response is basically to create a quote-unquote, well, 340 00:18:33.660 --> 00:18:36.670 I won't quote, I'm paraphrasing, a type of gun violence 341 00:18:36.750 --> 00:18:39.869 task force like you saw in the Biden administration. So 342 00:18:39.890 --> 00:18:41.910 they keep going down the same path there, and where 343 00:18:41.930 --> 00:18:45.029 you have people keep dying. And that's how it's just 344 00:18:45.069 --> 00:18:48.690 going to be until they finally do something different there. But, 345 00:18:49.410 --> 00:18:52.799 you know, you look throughout the country, I cover... I 346 00:18:52.839 --> 00:18:57.180 have so many self-defense gun stories I come across almost 347 00:18:57.309 --> 00:18:59.809 daily that I have to pick and choose which ones 348 00:18:59.849 --> 00:19:03.089 to cover, which one will stand out and pull the 349 00:19:03.170 --> 00:19:06.910 reader's interest because there are so many. And I think 350 00:19:06.950 --> 00:19:08.950 that's very telling. I try to write as many of 351 00:19:08.990 --> 00:19:13.250 those as I can because that makes a statement on 352 00:19:13.309 --> 00:19:16.230 its own. The reader reads that and they understand, look, 353 00:19:16.849 --> 00:19:20.109 People armed in their homes, people armed in their cars, 354 00:19:20.150 --> 00:19:23.289 people armed at the workplace, they're saving their own lives. 355 00:19:23.470 --> 00:19:26.809 They're saving their coworkers and their family members' lives. And 356 00:19:27.869 --> 00:19:31.230 that is an ongoing story. That doesn't change regardless of 357 00:19:31.289 --> 00:19:35.329 who's president. That is an ongoing facet of American life. 358 00:19:35.690 --> 00:19:38.819 We just talked about it with the defensive gun uses. And, 359 00:19:39.720 --> 00:19:42.319 you know, I see that all the time. So that's 360 00:19:42.359 --> 00:19:45.240 something that doesn't change in America. Good guys with guns 361 00:19:45.380 --> 00:19:46.079 do good things. 362 00:19:47.009 --> 00:19:49.130 And it's and it's the main reason why people own 363 00:19:49.170 --> 00:19:51.890 guns i mean let's let's be honest here like i 364 00:19:51.950 --> 00:19:55.279 love to go sporting clay shooting i love hunting and 365 00:19:55.299 --> 00:19:57.940 all that but it's always been the number one reason 366 00:19:57.980 --> 00:20:00.319 people own guns and it still is the reason people 367 00:20:00.380 --> 00:20:02.880 buy guns we're talking about first-time gun buyers for the 368 00:20:02.920 --> 00:20:05.339 most part first-time gun buyers are buying it to protect 369 00:20:05.380 --> 00:20:08.039 themselves and their families right. 370 00:20:08.140 --> 00:20:12.259 You're exactly right and uh And again, I love that. 371 00:20:12.599 --> 00:20:14.200 As we said earlier, I love that a lot of 372 00:20:14.240 --> 00:20:16.440 those first time gun buyers are women. But I also 373 00:20:16.500 --> 00:20:18.960 love that a lot of those first time gun buyers 374 00:20:19.720 --> 00:20:23.430 are minorities. And I love that because I think it's 375 00:20:23.470 --> 00:20:28.490 so important, Ron, that not only that we understand the 376 00:20:28.549 --> 00:20:32.109 Second Amendment isn't just for me as a white male. 377 00:20:32.170 --> 00:20:34.190 And I hate to use racial language, but I'm just 378 00:20:34.250 --> 00:20:36.630 making a point. It's important for us to understand the 379 00:20:36.670 --> 00:20:40.660 Second Amendment is also for women. It's also for people 380 00:20:40.700 --> 00:20:44.329 who aren't the same color as me, other Americans of 381 00:20:44.549 --> 00:20:47.609 all walks of life, law abiding Americans. The Second Amendment 382 00:20:47.730 --> 00:20:51.430 is for you. And the broader we can get that 383 00:20:51.509 --> 00:20:55.150 understanding or the more widely we can disseminate that understanding, 384 00:20:55.750 --> 00:20:58.289 the more people come to grips with the fact that, wow, 385 00:20:58.309 --> 00:20:59.650 I can have a gun in my house to keep 386 00:20:59.670 --> 00:21:03.490 my family safe, regardless of your socioeconomic background, your skin color, 387 00:21:03.930 --> 00:21:06.640 your gender. You can have a gun in your home 388 00:21:06.700 --> 00:21:10.369 to protect your family. That's what the founders intended. And 389 00:21:10.569 --> 00:21:14.369 I want to see that broad-based understanding because the more 390 00:21:14.410 --> 00:21:16.670 gun owners we have, the harder it's going to be 391 00:21:17.470 --> 00:21:21.029 for a tyrannical government to ever get the idea they're 392 00:21:21.049 --> 00:21:24.119 going to sweep through here and take guns away, be 393 00:21:24.490 --> 00:21:28.640 it by force or by legislative action or even by 394 00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:31.279 executive fiat. It's going to be harder for them to 395 00:21:31.380 --> 00:21:37.009 ever consider taking that step if our ownership is so 396 00:21:37.049 --> 00:21:39.990 broad and among so many classes and so many types 397 00:21:40.069 --> 00:21:43.009 of people. And that's a pragmatic reason that I love 398 00:21:43.049 --> 00:21:45.359 seeing that growth. That's well said. 399 00:21:45.380 --> 00:21:49.960 And for people listening, AWR is not just a good 400 00:21:49.980 --> 00:21:52.579 looking guy with a smooth Southern accent. He's also a 401 00:21:52.619 --> 00:21:56.059