CZM Rewind: Safe Gun Ownership

Summary

Podcast Summary: It Could Happen Here – CZM Rewind: Safe Gun Ownership

Date: July 20, 2026
Hosts & Guests: Robert Evans, James Stout, plus guest firearms expert Carl Cassarda (InRangeTV)

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Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the practical, ethical, and psychological considerations surrounding safe gun ownership, especially in fraught political times. Host Robert Evans, co-host James Stout, and guest Carl Cassarda (InRangeTV) tackle the surge in interest in firearms post-election and emphasize responsibility, training, and community. The discussion avoids hype or fear and focuses on practical advice for new and experienced gun owners, highlighting safety, legislation, and best practices for building proficiency.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Scene: Why Gun Sales Surge Around Elections

• Election Cycles & Gun Buying: Gun and ammo sales surge before elections due to fears of potential gun bans (03:25).

  “Gun sales typically soar before elections, as do ammunition purchases...The firearms industry is not afraid of hyping those up to increase sales in election years.” – James (03:27)

• Unusually Low Prices: Despite the anticipated panic, gun and ammo prices are lower than in previous election cycles—likely due to oversaturation and increased manufacturing capacity during 2020-2021 spikes (04:14).

2. The Mental Health & Responsibility Caveat

• Mental State First: If you’re not in a stable emotional place or struggle with suicidal ideation, it’s better not to get a gun right now (06:56).

  “If you have been spiraling lately... don’t go rush to pick one up now. For one thing, I assure you they will be available in the future.” – Robert (06:56)

• Guns Aren’t “Talismans”: Owning a gun does not equate to safety; thoughtful threat modeling and awareness of real risk is critical (07:52).

3. Safe Storage: The Basics and Legal Requirements

• Contextual Storage: Consider your living situation—roommates, children, shared spaces—when planning secure storage (11:05).
• Safe Storage is Non-Negotiable:

  “The first thing you think about is...what am I going to do to make sure that [my gun] doesn't fall into the wrong hands?” – Carl (12:15)

• Know Local Laws: Regulations differ widely by state and locality; example: Oregon vs. Arizona storage laws (13:42).
• Practical Tip: A decent gun safe runs ~$250 (14:26).

4. Training: Budget & Expense Breakdown

• Budget Realities: $1,000 is suggested as a baseline for not just purchasing a gun but ensuring you have enough to cover storage and training (10:18).
• Allocation: Factor in safe, training, ammunition, and necessary accessories—not just the firearm itself.

5. Firearm Selection: Matching Need With Choice

• Handguns vs. Long Guns:
  • Handguns are hard to use effectively, especially under duress, and less effective for home defense.
  • Rifles, especially AR-15s, are easier for most people to learn, use, and practice with – but laws vary (15:58, 22:37).
  • For home defense, consider a pump action shotgun; easier legal compliance and court optics (18:22–23:16).

  “Inside your house, there is no reason to be picking a pistol. None whatsoever.” – Carl (18:03)
  “A manually pump activated shotgun...is likely to not run afoul of law anywhere.” – Carl (23:02)

• Shotgun Caveats: Requires aiming, has significant recoil (25:16). Try before you buy if possible, especially as a novice.

6. Training & Community: Navigating Gun Culture

• Hostile Environments: The mainstream "gun community" can be exclusionary or hostile—seek out or build inclusive leftist, LGBTQ+, or alternative spaces (26:54).
  • Recommendations: Operation Blazing Sword, Armed Equality, The Liberal Gun Club, and YouTube creators like Tactical Girlfriend and InRangeTV (29:00).

  “Owning a thing doesn’t make a community.” – Carl (26:55)

• Skill Building: “Dry fire training” is an inexpensive way to build basics (31:33).

7. Firearm Models & Brands: What to Buy

• Handguns: Stick with 9mm, avoid overly small or complicated guns. Glock 19 is a widely recommended, reliable, accessible option. Police trade-ins can be affordable and reliable (38:32).

  “It’s going to be the most bland, boring possible thing.” – Carl (38:25)

• Rifles: AR-15s are recommended for most American buyers, especially due to parts availability and ease of use (47:57; 55:00). Avoid AKs for practicality, not aesthetics (55:03–55:55).
• Ammo: Stick with reputable brands (Remington, Winchester). Avoid unknown or remanufactured ammo—safety risk (44:11).

8. Accessories, Safety, and Range Gear

• Must-Haves:
  • Storage safe
  • Eye and ear protection: shooting glasses (as cheap as $10) and earplugs or over-ear protection (61:10)
  • Extra magazines
  • Appropriate holster for handgun carry; avoid SERPA and certain leather holsters due to safety issues (58:29).
  • For AR-15s, plan to spend $150–200 on a reliable red dot sight, e.g., Holosun (59:24).
  • Consider a good flashlight for defensive guns (60:28).
• Practice First Aid:

  “Go take a class from Stop the Bleed...and have that around anyway before you ever buy a gun.” – Carl (62:45)

9. Legal and Social Risks

• Organizations: Be cautious about joining openly leftist gun groups—context/country/politics could heighten risk (64:44).
• Community: Building skills together is valuable, but avoid militia activities and potential provocateurs (65:03).

10. Skill Maintenance: Matches and Practice

• Competing: After getting basic safety and proficiency, shooting in matches (competitions) can help hone skills in practical scenarios (66:38).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Mental Health and Firearms:

  “If you are dealing with suicidal ideation...having a gun is not a talisman...and you shouldn't treat it as one.” – Robert (07:56)

• On Safe Storage:

  “The first thing you think about is...what am I going to do to make sure that [my gun] doesn't fall into the wrong hands?” – Carl (12:15)

• On Handgun Realities:

  “Handguns are the most difficult thing to use skillfully under distress and duress than any other firearm.” – Carl (15:44)

• On AR-15s and Legal Complexities:

  “In a state like California ... it is very easy to commit a felony with an AR-15 and not know that you are.” – Robert (22:37)

• On Community:

  “Owning a thing doesn’t make a community. A community is a group of people that bond together over mutual beliefs and hopefully care for one another.” – Carl (26:55)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Why gun sales surge, market trends: 03:25–05:16
• Mental health warning for new buyers: 06:56–09:41
• Safe storage, legal considerations: 11:05–14:26
• Budgeting for purchase, training: 10:18–11:05
• Choosing the right gun for your needs: 14:59–18:50
• Shotgun home defense argument: 22:37–24:06
• Inclusive firearms training resources: 26:48–30:49
• Dry fire and low-cost training tips: 31:33
• Recommended handguns, buying used: 38:00–41:09
• Recommended rifles, AR-15s, vs. AKs: 47:38–56:13
• Accessories, eye/ear pro, safety gear: 59:12–62:40
• Stop the Bleed medical training: 62:45–64:03
• Cautions about leftist gun orgs: 64:44–65:03
• Shooting matches for skills: 66:38

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Resources & Further Reading

• YouTube:
  • InRangeTV
  • Tactical Girlfriend
• Training Orgs:
  • Operation Blazing Sword
  • The Liberal Gun Club
  • Armed Equality
• Medical Training:
  • Stop The Bleed (website)
• Finding Inclusive Shooting Matches:
  • brutalitymatches.org

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Closing Tone & Takeaways

The hosts champion a thoughtful, grounded, and community-oriented approach to gun ownership. Safety, legal compliance, and responsibility are core themes. This episode doubles as both a practical primer on new gun ownership and a cultural commentary on collective preparation and self-defense in uncertain times. The tone is pragmatic, occasionally irreverent, and always focused on harm reduction and empowerment through truth over hype.

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Summary prepared by Podcast Summarizer.

Transcript

[A]

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[A]

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[D]

I've never heard you tell this story.

[A]

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[D]

This must have been tucked deep, deep in the Jeremy Lin file. My name is Mc Gin. Excited to tell you about Laugh but not least. I'll be chatting with guests from all walks of life about the power of humor when it comes to facing difficult times. These will be conversations that remind us all, life is hard. Laugh harder. Listen. And last but not least, with MC Gen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[E]

Hello, my love. I'm Ryan Weiss, and For the past 15 years, I've been an emotional intelligence coach and a spiritual guide, and I'm sharing with you my new podcast, Waking up with Ryan. Waking up with Ryan is a daily audio video podcast here to help you connect with yourself before the noise of the day takes over. So let's start our days together with a moment of calm that's just for you. Listen to Waking up with ryan on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[C]

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[A]

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[C]

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We've got actual people answering these exact questions. Listen to Bill and Julian podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

[F]

Media.

[G]

What's pew pewing My pews. This is Robert Evans, and it could happen here. A podcast about it happening here as it seems to be more every week. And when things get worse, one thing that a lot of folks start talking about is, should I buy a gun? And obviously, this is a fraught question and the only responsible answers to it are very complicated. And so to Talk over some very complicated answers. We've got James Stout and we have in the audience with us the great Carl Cassarda. Carl of inrange tv, thank you for coming on to be our resident firearms expert in this podcast where we try not to be deeply irresponsible.

[A]

Yeah, thank you for having me on. It's always a pleasure to come back to the show and people always ask for more collabs and here we are. But on a very important topic, and yes, the only question I have is now is when do you change the name of the podcast to. Oh, no, it's happening here.

[G]

We're talking with the marketing people. It done happened here.

[H]

Oh, shit, it's happening again.

[G]

It's been happening here. Here it is here now. Right, right in this moment. Be here now, comma, it.

[H]

Yeah, we've got it. We got to work out which one SEO is best. But we're on it, Carl. Don't worry.

[A]

Great.

[G]

We're working on.

[H]

So as I think both of you know, but maybe listeners don't. Gun sales typically soar before elections, as do ammunition purchases people are afraid of. Gun bans has been traditionally one reason why. And the firearms industry is not afraid of hyping those up to increase sales in election years. And normally prices increase in line with demand. Like if you go back to November 2020 and look at the prices of ammunition and guns compared to now, you'll see how much incredibly higher they were. That was for a number of reasons, but considering inflation, gun prices are pretty low right now.

[G]

You know, that is kind of a recurrent thing for the most part is that while everything else gets more expensive, television and firearms remain affordable.

[A]

Guns have gotten to the point where they're more affordable than they've ever been.

[G]

Yeah, they really are.

[A]

AR15s are. I used to talk about this on in range. AR15s are essentially cord wood and you can get a fully fled. Good to go. AR15 now for like four to 500 pistols for 250 bucks.

[G]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

The prices on guns are like through the floor. And it's interesting to note that, like if you are a gun manufacturer or firearms dealer, even if you don't hype elections, it would be unintelligent of you to not prep for elections because they're so consistently the Christmas of gun sales. So this is an instance in which we didn't see that. It's kind of interesting.

[G]

I think there's an element because obviously when we talk, I think to people who are not into guns and talk about how cheap guns have gotten. They're like, well, that's very bad. And there's definitely downsides to that. But an upside of that is it does kind of suggest we are not seeing the degree of panicked hoarding for a civil war that we have seen at previous points when gun prices were not as. As cratered and ammo prices were a lot higher and ammo availability was a lot lower. Like, in some ways, that's kind of an optimistic sign.

[A]

Yeah. Or the dark side of that is the traditional prepper air quote is so saturated in guns and ammunition that they don't even need another one.

[D]

Right.

[H]

Well, that's.

[G]

I think that is where a lot of people are.

[H]

Yes. Also, capacity really increased in 2020, and I think they've been pumping out, like. It's interesting to look at, like, the cost of 9 millimeter and 5.56ammunition, which, if you're not familiar, are like the most commonly used defensive ammunition rounds compared to more niche stuff like that hasn't gone down as much if you're trying to get 300 wisdom or something.

[A]

The funny thing is that, yeah, 556 and 9 millimeter, both defensively as well as just recreationally, are the most common ammunition by far. And some of the weirdo stuff I like to shoot, like percussion caps for percussion revolvers, you can't find that stuff to save your life. That stuff's through the roof and expensive. So, yeah, they've literally just bunkered down intent there and are making 5 by 6 and 9 millimeter because that's where the demand is and will continue to be.

[H]

Yeah, I can't find. You can't see it. I have a little reloading set up here. I can't find shotgun primers or certain powders anywhere now.

[G]

And this is going to be a problem because if we have another Cowboys and Aliens kind of situation, what are we going to use? You know, what is Harrison Ford going to use to save us anyway? Nobody saw that movie. Why am I making that joke?

[A]

Let me know. I've got a good stash of percussion cast.

[G]

We're all going to be leaning heavily on Carl when that happens.

[H]

Carl for all humanity.

[G]

So I think we've gotten a little bit ahead of our skis here. We should. We should start by talking, cuz again, I think we've all seen a lot of people being like, well, I guess I should get a gun now, as in the wake of Trump's victory.

[H]

Yeah.

[G]

And I think the first caveat we should give everyone is like, if you are reacting in a way that is totally reasonable to this news. Being depressed. Right. If you're somebody who deals with suicidal ideation, if you have been spiraling lately, if you have been thinking about self harm, if you are just not in a stable mental place and especially if you have no experience with firearms and are not in a stable mental place, don't go rush to pick one up now. For one thing, I assure you they will be available in the future. They are not gonna get harder to buy.

[A]

No. You know, it reminds me of a line from the movie We Were Soldiers which is actually a pretty, pretty good movie. I was towards the. Speaking of.

[G]

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a lot of fun. Not at all.

[A]

In spite of Mel Gibson, it was pretty good. And there's a scene where like the old hardened soldier from World War II in Korea gets to Vietnam and he's like, he's just got a pistol and everyone's around him saying, don't you want an M16? He goes, don't worry, there'll be plenty of those laying around if I need one.

[G]

So. Right.

[A]

Kind of that's where we're at in this country. Don't worry, there'll be plenty laying around if you need one.

[G]

Yeah, yeah. We are not entering a period where that's. You know, I think there are some specific worries where there may be attempts to restrict specific groups from arming themselves. But even so, I wouldn't say that elevates it above a threat. If you are dealing with suicidal ideation. Having a gun is not a talisman, as our friend tacticool girlfriend often brings up. And you shouldn't treat it as one. And part of what that means is that you have to model the threat that you're facing. Right. And if you are not in immediate danger, if nobody is threatening to kill you specifically, then that may not be the safest thing for you. Right. And particularly I think the other side of it that Carl, you are much more qualified to talk about with than me is that if you are going to buy a firearm, if you want that to be a thing that can actually protect you in a situation where you are in danger, where someone is threatening your life, you have to train with it.

[A]

Yeah, no, absolutely. I think that. Not to make. To make light of that at all with that little joke about that movie, but the reality is we as people, humans in general, all of us are bad at threat modeling. And that's not to say that the perceived threat that we're seeing with the results isn't real.

[G]

Yeah.

[A]

I think it is. But that said, at the moment, if you're dealing with some of those issues like you mentioned, or the living situation you're in, or even the community around you isn't one in which a fire firearm laying around is particularly safe, could mean that you're actually inducing more threat and risk to yourself than what might come in two years. So that is something we have to think about very carefully. Can I possess this responsibly? Do I know how to use it responsibly? Am I in a place not only in my living situation, but my mental state that possessing this very quick and easy to use lethal device is safe to have around? Those are questions you should ask first before worrying about tomorrow, right?

[H]

Yeah. I mean, maybe we should address a couple of things that Karl said right off the bat. Like you said, having a firearm lying around.

[G]

Right.

[H]

One thing that we should address is I know I recently purchased a new gun safe, but if you have X budget to buy a gun. Robert also mentioned that without training, you're a liability with the gun. Right. Maybe we can break down. If you have $1,000, you don't need to go out and spend $1,000 on your gun. Right. Perhaps it would be better if you to save some of that money and put it towards other things. I think it might make sense to just break those down for people in case they're not familiar.

[G]

Yeah, I think that that might be a good place to start is if you decide, number one, I'm in an emotionally stable place, I either have some specific threats or I want to be prepared for a future where those threats are more likely. And let's start with a budget of $1,000. Right. And you know, this is one of the. There's going to be people who can't afford a budget of $1,000. And that's very unfortunate. But this is one of those things that, like, isn't fair. Right. Like, guns cost money. Not everyone has disposable income. But $1,000, I think is a reasonable floor for not just acquiring a firearm, but like, the things you need to be able to start building proficiency with it. So, like, let's talk about that, Carl. Like, what would you do? What would you advise someone with a grand who is looking into getting into shooting and also being set up to potentially defend themselves if they need to.

[A]

Right. So this was. It's such a nuanced question and answer because there's so many variabilities there. One of which is you have understand the living situation you're in Are you living in a place that is solely your own? Do you live with roommates? Do you have, do you have children and your parents? I mean, like these things all come into the equation about how well can you secure this thing should you acquire it? And so that comes up to do you need a full bolt into the wall safe? Do you need something that is locked with cable underneath the bed that still is reasonably difficult to get into but is accessible otherwise? Do you have a situation in which you're the only one that could access this and therefore you're not worried about that? So the first thing you think about is I'm taking possession of responsibility of this. It is a lethal weapon. What am I going to do to make sure that that doesn't fall into the wrong hands, whether they're people that live within your own structure or outside of it should something go awry? So you have to consider that. So right off the bat is what are the situation I'm in and what are the things I need to consider to make sure this doesn't leak out of my control? Because we've seen in so many instances, especially some of the horrible spree shooting and such in which it's not the person that possessed the gun, but someone around them that took it from them and used it for that.

[G]

Absolutely.

[A]

And that's because it wasn't stored well. And so that's number one. So you're going to think about one, are you getting a small, a pistol or a long arm? And that's a discussion to be had too. But those two equate. And then depending on which one of those two you're acquiring determines the kind of safe storage requirements that also align with your current living situation. Of course, the best thing is a safe bolted to the floor that only you can get into. But that's not viable for everyone.

[H]

Yeah, right.

[A]

But it's something, right?

[G]

Yeah, yeah. What comes along with that is you also this is going to be true at every stage of this process. You need to know the laws of your state and maybe even your local area. Right. Like in Oregon, we have very strict safe storage laws. Right. Like you. You can be held accountable to a higher degree in this state if you don't secure a weapon and someone gets access to it. Right. Now, obviously if you have a safe and someone drills into your safe, you're not liable. Right. Like you took the actions you could to stop them from being able to get to your firear arms. There's not an expectation that you have a fortress of solitude or Whatever. But you have to have taken reasonable steps to lock them away. Right. And you know that's going to be different. A lot of states have absolutely no requirements whatsoever. But you need to be aware of what your local legal situation is.

[A]

Yeah, I appreciate you bringing that to the table because myself living in Arizona, we have no such rules. And so I could essentially.

[G]

You can just keep them on the floor.

[A]

I could stack them in my front yard. Right. I'm like, ah, just put them out in the yard, we'll see.

[G]

I had extra ars. I use them to make a fence. Cheaper than wood right now.

[H]

Yeah. Literally. Cordwood now.

[A]

So the thing about that is this is, again, these, these things get more and more complicated over time. And we don't want to make this conversation impenetrable, but, like, the kind of safe you acquire is important too. And this, that's a deeper topic than we could ever do in one video. I'm going to go ahead and, and just dovetail out to a friend of mine, Deviant Olaf. He has a channel, he does a lot of video work about gun safes and which ones are good or bad. But let's just say the cheap $90 thing with the cylindrical key lock, isn't it? So you gotta be a little better than that. So I would estimate. Let's go with cost. You're buying, let's say an AR15. You're probably gonna need to spend, and I'm guessing here around $250 for a safe that's actually worth a damn.

[H]

Yeah. Yep. That's about what I spent recently for the little handgun safe.

[G]

Yeah.

[H]

So let's build on that. Right. Let's say you've decided that you want a gun and that it is safe for you to have a gun. I think, yeah. The first thing you ought to prioritize is making sure that no one for whom it is not safe gets that gun, which we've addressed. Right. The second thing that you need to prioritize is that you could use that gun safely and like, you are not a liability every time that you pick up and load that gun. Right. Yes.

[G]

And part of that is in. And maybe I will have different opinions on this, but I think we're probably simpatico picking the right type of firearm. I see a lot of people saying, I am worried I'm going to get attacked. You know, I've gotten a death threat. You know, I'm scared, particularly of this group of, you know, Nazis or whatever. So I'm gonna buy a handgun. And I will tell you Right. Now my opinion is that if you are looking for a self defense weapon, a handgun probably shouldn't be what you pick unless you are looking to carry a gun.

[A]

Yeah, no, that's a good quote. Right. I carry a handgun because it's unwieldy to walk around with a Biff. 50 BMG.

[G]

Yeah. I cannot take my AR with me in the street. Right. So I keep a nine on me.

[A]

You know, handguns are the most difficult thing to use skillfully under distress and duress than any other firearm. And above and beyond that, they are actually the least effective at doing the job you think they're going to do than anything else.

[G]

Yeah, yeah. There are a shocking number of people are shot way more times than you would expect they could survive with a handgun. Right. Like that is just a reality of the way that they work because they're much, much less powerful than a rifle. And it's also like, I had a friend a couple of years ago who bought a snub nose. 38 thinking, well this is simple, I can't fuck it up. It's a good. And I took her out and was like, I need, I'm gonna, I'm going to set up a 10 foot target and we'll see how many times you can hit it with this gun. And she could not do it one out of five times. And then I brought out my Glock and she was able to hit it every time. Right. And it's because one of those is a much easier weapon for somebody who is complete, a complete novice to learn how to use functionally. Right. And it's not the snub nose.

[H]

38. Yeah.

[A]

In the, in the roughest of most senses, typically the smaller the gun is, the more professional you need to be to use it.

[G]

Right.

[H]

Yeah. And like with that in mind, you're responsible for every shot you fire. Right. Training in self defense, whatever, by fucking accident because you don't know how to clean your gun or what have you. Every bullet that leaves that barrel, it's your fault. And every one of those is potentially someone's life. So when you're thinking about buying a gun, you, you want to have something where you can A, handle it safely and B, discharge it and know where that bullet's going to go.

[A]

Yeah. So on that note, this has been asked for me many times and we're talking about, we're all, we are on the same page. It's like when someone asks me this question and it comes up more than you think. First of all, we're getting past the issue of like, are you safe to own this and safe storage. So now we're at the point you are buying a gun, right. So you have to think about what's the threat. Are we worried about three years from now and the potential realities of a very caustic and dangerous political future. Are you worried about only home defense? Are you worried about your own self protection walking down the street? Because obviously you're not going to be, well, not obviously, but for the most part you're not going to be carrying an AR15 down the street. But if you are only worried about your castle, make a joke about castle doctrine. If you're only worried about your house, inside your house, there is no reason to be picking a pistol. None whatsoever.

[G]

Now I will say that there's a number of folks in the lefty gun space who will say, so just get an AR15. That's not always going to be practical, depending on your loss. Right. Like that is not something that we can say everyone will be able to do. Right?

[H]

Yeah.

[G]

But we can say there will be a non handgun option that will probably be a better fit for you.

[A]

Yeah, absolutely. And this is where we see a lot of people in the gun space. It's kind of weird. There's like cultural shifts in the zeitgeist. What's the cool defensive thing of the time? But there's a lot to be said depending on what you think you're going to have to shoot at. Hopefully never, of course, but like. And an AR15 does things like armor piercing in terms of Kevlar and da da, da da. But for home defense, it really still is kind of hard to go wrong with a shotgun in many instances. And that should not be ignored.

[H]

You know what else shouldn't be ignored? It's our obligation to pivot to advertisements about every 15 minutes on this show.

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That was me. The day we found out that you and the whole crew was at Hit Factory. The mission was to get me to go to the gate, start freestyling and see if I could get in the studio. I'm rapping and then suddenly I hear a voice. Hey, open the gate.

[A]

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[D]

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[H]

All right, we're back. Karl, you'd mentioned that you think a shotgun sometimes can be more effective than AR15 especially. Another thing I will add is you're in a state like California, the laws regarding semi automatic center fire rifles are incredibly confusing. It's extremely easy to buy something on Amazon, slap it on your gun and render it a felony.

[G]

Yeah. I would generally say like in most situations an ar, if you're new to shooting, it's going to be easier to figure out. They're very simple, easy to upgrade and modify. But like yeah, in California, in a state, New York is similar. It's very easy to commit a felony with an AR15 and not know that you are. And you don't want to find out that your gun is a felony when you have to use it in self defense. Right.

[A]

This is an instance in which the good old man. I'm again, I'm not trying to, I'm not on, I'm not on team shotgun here. But when it comes to cross all state lines, I mean sure, there's an exception somewhere but for the most part a manually pump activated shotgun.

[G]

Yeah.

[A]

Is likely to not run a fallible law anywhere. Additionally, there's a good chance that if you were to, and we have to consider all realities, there's a good chance that should you need to use it, that when you're in court trying to defend yourself for using this lethal weapon, a shotgun doesn't seem to evoke the same concerns, let's say from courts and from judges that an AR might. An ar, you know, regardless of how common they are and how much they proliferate society, there's still those scary rifles. A shotgun does not tend to evoke that same kind of response. It is most likely legal almost anywhere. And the diversity of ammunition you can use in it really bridges the gap from 1 yard to 100 yards or more. But a lot of people that are new to guns will think, well shotgun, I don't need to aim. That is incorrect. Shotguns need to be aimed as much as any other longarm. They're just very effective when they actually connect.

[G]

Yeah, it's one of those, I think because I do change what I am taking with me based on where I go and when I'm in California I generally, if I'm going camping or something, I'll make sure I have a 12 gauge in the car. Right. Because I'm not going to try to get whatever this month's gun laws are. Right. That's just not practical to me. That said, I think because there are a number of people who will be very frustrated us talking about shotguns. One thing that they are right about is there's a different type of training that's necessary with the shotgun. And they are in some ways more complicated to use than an ar in part because for every shot, well, unless it's a semi automatic, like for every shot you're pumping it. Right. And like that is a. That is there's muscle memory that has to be built there. Right. It's harder, you know, maybe a little bit slower to get up to a level. Or at least you have to train differently with it. Right. The other thing about it is that like it loads very differently. You know, a shotgun is a completely different kind of ammunition than an AR has. Which all goes back to the whole, like you have to be willing to train with whatever it is you're going to use. Fair enough, yeah.

[H]

See ideally, like if you're in this position of thinking, if you can find a friend or failing that, a range that will allow you to try different guns, I think as a novice you're going to pick up. If you've never shot a gun before, I probably wouldn't pick up a 12 gauge shotgun and start pewing away because the recoil will be quite profound and notable to you. So don't start there, start with something else.

[G]

There's smaller shotguns at 20 gauge, you

[H]

know, and those are fine, especially if you're a smaller statute person. Even a 28 or 16, so hard to probably buy defensive ammunition for. But I think if, if you can. When you begin that journey, often I see people say with hang ons, find one that fits your hand. You probably have no idea what fits you and feels good. If you're just starting out, finding someone who is local to you, ideally who has some experience, who can help you along that process and someone who you trust. Right. I have to train. I have a concealed carry weapons permit in California. The last time I went to take a course, like from the outset I got like xenophobia, homophobia, like jokes that I guess the guy who was instructing the course thought that everyone was in on. Just like they made me feel unwelcome and I'm a cishet white guy.

[G]

Yeah.

[H]

But I think maybe we should address that. Like if you're thinking of getting started, what kind of instruction should you look for? Where should you look for it? And like what would you recommend? Maybe other sources too. Karl, like your YouTube channel has been a great resource for me.

[A]

This is where we're in the firearms. Owning a thing doesn't make a community. So there's always this phrase, the gun community.

[G]

It's not a thing.

[A]

Owning a thing doesn't make a community. A community is a group of people that bond together over mutual beliefs and hopefully care for one another. So there is no firearms community. But that said, the broad scope of people that have been interested in the topic for the longest duration of time has been mostly seceded to a group that we would not find ourselves aligned with or comfortable with being around. And so this is where the community building thing is real because the more we build communities and we're behind in this regards in terms to alternative voices in the firearms space. But the more we build that community, not only online but amongst one another, the more we're going to have safer, better spaces for us to work together to learn how to use these things safely and efficiently. And that is a challenge. If you walk in sight unseen to a place that is probably foreign to you in firearms land. Sadly, at this point in time, there's a pretty good chance it's not going to be something you're going to be comfortable with, quite honestly, just like you mentioned, James, like it's going to be that kind of stuff. There's probably going to be Trump stuff on the wall. There's probably going, you're probably going to hear some jokes that are just jokes but you know, they're really not. Yeah, that's the kind of space that that's filled with. And so when people come and say, well, who can I go to to get this training with? I'm like, that's challenging. There's some options online. There's like Operation Blazing Sword. There's a, there's, there's. The liberal gun club has some training options as well. But what's better is finding people and interconnecting with people of like mind around you if you can and working together and then actually building a real community that isn't a gun community. And that's where we're going to find solace and the ability to get better at this stuff together. Not a great, not exactly a strong answer, but it's the truth. But if you're going in, yeah, if you're going in just unhindered, you're going to expect it to be a place that you're probably not going to be happy with.

[G]

Yeah, yeah. And I think that's a really good point. I'd like it. Can we talk a little bit more about training options like not just because you mentioned Operation Blazing Sword, I'd like to hear a little more about them, but also where people could go for like reading and videos in order to kind of find more information on how to develop proficiency.

[A]

Yeah, so okay, so YouTube University doesn't teach you how to actually like effectively hit targets with something you can, you can't. There's no way to learn that besides doing it. But in terms of just general firearms understanding, learning some of the history, learning about how guns work, There are some YouTube resources out there. Tactical Girlfriend you already mentioned has four years of a legacy of content on her site that a lot of it is focused on beginner style content. In fact, she just posted a playlist. She has kind of stopped making videos in general. She mentioned that a while back, but she still has her content online and she posted a playlist recently of all of her how to get going videos, 101 stuff. And that would kind of be where

[G]

I'd start with yes, absolutely.

[A]

My channel, inrangetv has some of that. I tend to focus a little bit on the more esoteric and like next level things. But that's not to say it's not there as well. So I'm not trying to self promote, but I would actually say her playlist is going to be better than some of my own. Although we have stuff like that on inrangetv as well. If you want to open up that dark boy called Reddit, the Liberal Gun club has resources on it. If you go there, they have a list of people and local resources. You can also Google the Liberal Gun club. I'm not even trying to say anyone doing that is necessarily identifying as a liberal, but they are. They have gathered lists of statewide resources, as many as they can, that are providing training in regional places. That would be a good place to start. Operation Blazing Sword is a subset of that Blake Al. I can't pronounce them that they. Blake has been on my channel and you'll find him there in the Liberal Gun Club listing. When I think of that, I would say go to YouTube, hit up tactical girlfriend, go to inreamstv if you want to see maybe not 101 but next level stuff, but a friendly space to you. And then check out the Liberal Gun Club. Best I can say, because they do have a list of resources that they're gathering across the country.

[H]

Yeah.

[G]

And I think one thing that Tactical Girlfriend talks about that is a cause. You're right. And I think this is an important point that like you have to spend time Shooting. And you know that costs money in order to get better. But there is one thing that you can do that does not cost ongoing money to get better with a handgun. If you're again looking to carry a gun, which is dry fire training. Right. Which is a very useful process of building proficiency, you can do it. I mean, you could do it every day if you want. It will help. It does not replace needing to go shoot. Right. But you can find guides. Tactical Girlfriend talks about it a lot. But you can find other guides online. And that is a way that you can kind of stretch your ammo budget and gain additional proficiency.

[A]

There are even products designed specifically for that. One of them pops in mine and their others, like Mantis X. And you make sure your gun is safely unloaded and you're proficient with that part of it. You put these devices in and you can actually fire it. Dry fire is firing with no ammunition in the gun. Click, add a target on the wall, and it'll teach you things about like, did you pull to the right, did you push to the left? Did you dip the gun? And those are very good products that you can use once you buy them. Gets more money. But you can train proficiently in a safe place without firing live ammunition and improve your skills quite a bit. That's a good point.

[G]

Yep.

[H]

Yeah, I would say another organization I would plug is Armed Equality, especially for LGBTQIA people. They're friends of mine, Very nice people. Perhaps we should go back then to that. Like Robert's mentioned, dry firing. We've mentioned.

[G]

Well, first I think we need to go to ads.

[H]

James. You're right, Robert. We should go back to Chumba Casino.

[G]

Yeah. So dry fire at the wall and think of Trumba Casino.

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[D]

And last but not least, with MC Gen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

[H]

All right, we're back. So we've had discussion about training, safe storage and a little bit about like, what to look at, firearms wise. But I want to go back to that third one because you are marketed at so heavily when you're trying to buy a firearm. Right. And the likelihood of you getting misinformation. Right. We all know smaller statute people who have been given. Yeah. A snub nose.38. A gun that's entirely inappropriate for them. Carl.

[G]

What?

[H]

Like if you could maybe go through like each major category. Right. If we do handgun, shotgun, semi automatic rifle, maybe one that is compatible with AR band states and one that's, you know.

[G]

Yeah.

[H]

You're in real America.

[G]

There are some options like the Aries SCR that are basically AR15s that are a lot easier to keep in compliance in a state like California, but they are also more than twice as expensive as like a budget AR15. Right. Like, which is not to say it's impossible to have a budget AR15 that is in complex in compliance with California law. It's just I am not going to take on the responsibility of telling you how to do that legally, because when I lived in California, I was only about 80% sure that I was in compliance with the law.

[H]

If you're in California, my advice would be to go to a shop and buy the gun complete.

[G]

Yes.

[H]

Don't piece it together off the Internet.

[G]

That's good, good advice.

[A]

Oh, well, if you're a new gun owner, don't piece together anything together because the knowledge to make something reliable that you've put together from bits and pieces is not a good idea. You want something that's got a. I mean, literally you want something from a quote unquote reputable manufacturer, but it has a warranty. Like, let's just be that. Don't even start with trying to put something together.

[G]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

So let's just go ahead and start with pistols. So the, the challenge there is like, of course, it would be very nice to be able to buy like four of them because you can train with a.22 and practice with this and but let's go with the constraint that we had earlier of this thousand dollars and you're going to buy a pistol and with it you plan to train, get better be proficient but also maybe have to use it for self defense. You really want to stick with a 9 millimeter. I mean there are smaller guns like 380s and such like that, but we're getting into specialist guns.

[H]

Yeah.

[A]

What is what I'm going to say here across the board when I recommend something, it's going to be the opposite of specialist. It's going to be the most bland, boring possible thing.

[H]

Yeah.

[A]

And when it comes to that, and I know that everyone likes. But it's a 9 millimeter, probably a Glock.

[G]

Yep.

[A]

The Glock 19 is a relatively reasonably sized gun. The 17 is a little bigger. The 19 is in this nice middle ground. It is carryable. It's small enough to be concealed should you have the right to do so. But it's big enough to be viable for being reasonably accurate with. With not extensive amounts of training but enough training to be to get good. And it's a bunch of rounds of 9 millimeter magazine that just plain works.

[G]

Yep, yep, yep.

[H]

If you're on a tight budget, I will say that cops are always. You can find trade in police clocks pretty cheap. Cops don't shoot very much. You can sometimes get some pretty good deals on those.

[G]

Yep.

[A]

That said, I'm revealing a little bit of future history of what's going on in range. We're doing a video in a couple weeks. There is a strange trade imbalance between us and nevermind the politics. Turkey and they are making some really high end, really well made guns. There is a Glock clone from Turkey that I can't vouch for yet. But this is the kind of where we're at in the gun space. This thing is interchangeable with all Glock parts and the gun's like 250 bucks.

[H]

Oh well, you can't be.

[A]

We don't know yet. I'm not saying go buy that but I'm saying we're going to do a review of it. The point is there are Glocks and Glock like things that can get the price down.

[H]

Yeah, right.

[G]

And so you're looking at, you know, if you get a budget AR for 500 bucks, you know, a budget not 9 millimeter handgun. Because even if with not counting that one, there are other budget options that are in the 300 ish dollar range. You just have to look around a bit. And I should also note buying Used with a firearm is not like buying used with electronics. If a gun is well maintained, it will outlast you. Right. There are some parts that will need replacing from time to time. Right. Your springs and stuff are going to age faster than other things. And like barrels you can shoot out, but it takes quite a bit of shooting to shoot a barrel. You know, smooth. Right. So it's never bad to consider like finding, like you said, like a police trade in or something like that. Like that could be a great way save money.

[A]

Absolutely. So when it comes to the pistol, we're talking about buying just one pretty much boil it down to a 9 millimeter.

[G]

Yep.

[A]

That is probably a polymer frame gun, not some big heavy steel thing. A Glock is the, is like the de facto. But there are others. I mean there's, there's hks, there's Ruger.

[G]

Yeah, I like Sigs, but they're pricier. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[A]

The thing about Glock is Glock's been around forever. It's the standard. Finding, accessorizing, buying magazines, or even getting repairs done to a Glock is ubiquitous across the country. If you get a Glock, you'll be able to deal with it, fix it, do whatever you want to it straight up.

[G]

And what has helped me a lot in general is I have my carry gun, I have my home defense firearm, and then I have built a couple of firearms from the ground up. And certainly as you said, I would never have started there, but because I had the extra money, doing that means that has given me so much deeper of an understanding of what goes wrong when things do go wrong with a gun and how to, to fix it. Like I have, I've replaced every part on my carry gun at this point. Right. Like over time. And it's like given me a much deeper level of understanding of just like mechanically how these things function. You know, building an AR15 was the same process and I'm really, I do find that valuable. Obviously it, it's, it's throwing more money at the problem too.

[A]

Yeah, totally. So the other advantage of 9 millimeter, which is, is reasonably cheap to feed and chew. Reasonably cheap to practice with. For those of you that don't know anything about guns, you will typically practice with what's called FMJ bulk pack ammunition.

[H]

Yeah.

[A]

Nine millimeter, 115 grain. It's just a bullet that's got a copper jacket on it and that's your practice ammo. And then for carry, should you be carrying it, you'll probably want to carry something that's specifically Designed to be defensive ammunition, it'll be far more expensive per box. But once you get to the point of yes, I am ready, safe and capable to carry this, you're going to want to pick something gold dots spear. Gold dots are a hollow point designed to specifically be for self defense. But make sure the gun you've chosen works reliably with that defensive ammo. Because even though it works 100% with that FMJ, it may not work with the defensive ammo and you might have to play with a little bit.

[H]

Yeah.

[G]

We should also note when you are buying ammo online, which is not going to be legal in every state, but most people will be able to do this, it pays to be careful. There is a lot of stuff that is sketchier out there and there can be consequences. I have had a firearm, I have had like a handgun blow up in my hand as a result of getting ammunition that I had not shot before. This was in fact Turkish, I think it was because I think it was a hot load. But it's possible that it was the result of a bullet be a squib that then jammed in the barrel and then another round came in after it. I generally have been pretty good at checking to make sure there's a hole in the paper with each shot, which is something you should be making sure of like when you're shooting. Because if you get, if you shoot a round that like does not have enough powder behind it, right. If you get a bad round, it can jam in the barrel and then the second round can cause the barrel to burst. This is also why we always wear eye protection. But when looking at ammo, if you think this looks like good ammo and it's cheap, look online, add like Reddit to the name. See what other people say about it, right? Like, see if you can find anything written about that. If other, usually other people, if it's like a less reliable manufacturer will have said, I've had a bad experience with this ammunition.

[A]

Yep.

[G]

Do your diligence right the first time you're shooting a new kind of cheap target ammo.

[A]

That, that being said, like there's a lot of names that almost anyone that's never owned a gun before will recognize. Names like Remington, right? Winchester.

[H]

Yes, these are.

[A]

That's not to say that they don't make mistakes too, but like if you're going to go buy a Winchester bulk pack of ammunition, you are buying at least what is generally considered consumer level reliable ammo. If you're buying absolutely Crazy Bob's reloading Shack Right.

[G]

You don't know what you're going to get.

[D]

That was what.

[G]

Because it's a lot of the sketchy stuff. Isn't even a manufacturer. It's like ammo that you may not notice immediately. It's like, oh wow, this seems really cheap. And then it'll say in small letters remanufacturer. Right. Which means somebody has reloaded it reloaded ammo and like you know, you can reload ammo and have it be perfectly good ammunition. But do you know who reloaded this ammo? Right.

[A]

I will tell you as a person that shoots a lot and has been doing it for decades. I personally, even with all that, I will never fire remanufactured ammunition. I don't want to deal with Crazy Bob's weird Bad Wednesday.

[G]

Yes, yes, exactly. Crazy Bob's bad Wednesday bullets.

[H]

It's a great day for. Yeah, yeah. So we've addressed the pistol, right. Like I want to address long guns. And then you mentioned a couple of things, Carl, which you should also address, which are like accessories or Robert mentioned eye protection. So ear and eye protection.

[A]

Let me add one more piece to the pistol and we'll move on the thing. Now the whiz bang thing now is every pistol has a red dot sight on it. A red dot sight is essentially an electro optical box that sits on the top of the slide and you look through it to aim and it projects a red dot like almost like a laser dot. If you're not familiar with it to aim with for the most part. I'm not saying you shouldn't have one because they're cool. But for the most part a person getting into this specifically for self defense does not need one of those. You don't need to spend 300 on a red dot. The iron sights that come on any of these guns should be sufficient for most purposes. So don't get suckered into. I need that. If that's something you want later, think about it. But it's not a requirement.

[G]

Now that said, if a gun has one on it, I don't agree with people who say like you can't learn to shoot on a red dot. I think that that's now, now you should, you will need to look up because it may not be cited. How to cite it. Right. Like, because it like red dots are a thing. Like you need to dial them in. Right. And there is a way to do that. Again, you can find guides to this online. Just like you can find guides to like mounting a scope on a rifle. These are complex mechanical Tasks a red dot less so than a scope. But you can't just buy a gun with a red dot on it and trust that that red dot points out where the bullet's going to go. That's not how they work.

[A]

Absolutely. My point being is if you gave me, you said this person here needs to be able to hit a target 15 yards away. You've got one hour. I would not be messing by giving them a red dot. I would give them something with iron sights and just get them through the task. That's what I'm. Where I'm going with that.

[G]

Yeah, I think that's perfectly reasonable. Yeah, I prefer like now that I know what I'm doing to use my red dots and stuff. But I also pretty regularly shoot with iron sights in part because I like it. Like it's, it's enjoyable mechanically and it's kind of how I learned.

[H]

Yeah.

[A]

Well don't get me wrong, it is better.

[G]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

It also adds another level of complexity

[H]

and it's more to go wrong. Like if you're installing that yourself, it's annoying and it's easy to, to mess up and then you're upset and.

[G]

Yeah, yeah.

[H]

Let's move on to long guns. Like one thing that we should mention is you might buy an army specifically an AR actually and find that it comes with no sighting systems at all.

[G]

Yes.

[H]

And so that's the thing to build into your budget. So let's talk about like what to get for your budget in, in the long gun category. Carl.

[A]

Yeah, so, so when we go to long guns we talk about rifles and shotguns. Let's stick with rifles for now, I'm assuming. So in that regard this is, this is the thing where like actually I have a video on my channel about the nfa which is the National Firearms act, which is what regulates a lot of like, like machine guns and stuff. But this also occurs across many gun control laws. They're frequently ableist.

[H]

Very much so.

[A]

And the things that they post the most restrictions on are the things that are actually most capable. And that means, that means AR15s in their general guys with a pistol grip and a red dot sight, which we just mentioned for pistols and a 30 round magazine is the thing that is going to be the most I could get anyone, I tell you, anyone capable of hitting at a target at 50 yards within a four hour training session with a red dot sided AR15 and a good magazine. It's a good ammunition. AR15s are light, low recoil, they're loud because of the 556. But they're light, low recoil guns that almost any one of most body structure can handle. Now, there's exceptions, of course, if you have specific physical challenges, that's another discussion. But if almost anyone tiny to large can handle a basic AR15 and it is the gun that is most focused on for gun control. Ironically, places like California where they take away things that make it more functional, like the pistol grip or reduce your magazine capacity because they're trying to diminish the functionality of the gun. But the reality is the reason they're doing that is because that is the gun that is most functional for most people. And it is therefore the one that almost anyone can handle pretty well with the smallest amount of training.

[H]

Yeah.

[G]

Yes. And I think there's a good point there in if I were coaching someone who was buying an AR that has no, you know, does not have iron sights on it at all, you are. It is much easier to learn how to sight in and use a red dot on an AR than learning how to adjust the sight the iron sights on an AR15. Right. Like, not that you can't learn that. You should again, you have to. You can watch a video on it, but it's much more intuitive to set up a red dot in that way.

[A]

This is actually where I would flip flop. If you're with the pistol, don't concern yourself too much with the red dot. If you're going with an AR15, concern yourself with the red dot.

[G]

Please get a red dot.

[A]

Do the opposite.

[G]

Yeah, yeah. Unless you were like in the marines or something and you know how to dial in your irons. Right. And even then you're gonna have a better time with a red dot.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, totally. And a red dot is very intuitive. So one of the things that people aren't familiar with firearms, but when you bring up a long arm, there's multiple points of contact to the person shooting the gun. When you bring up a pistol, you probably have two hands on it and you're pushing your arms out almost like you're like making a triangle. When you're using a longarm like an AR15, there's a buttstock on your shoulder. Your cheek is on the actual comb, which is the base of the stock. Your other hand, your support hand, is holding the gun up on the front of it. You have a minimum of three points of contact with a red dot. That makes it very similar, stable, and easy to get reliable hits. And the red dot means you can keep both eyes open, don't need to worry about the Idiosyncrasies of focusing on a front sight. Essentially, if it's zero, meaning the dot is regulated to where the gun hits and you put the dot on the thing and press the trigger without doing something like jerking the gun, you'll hit the target. And so that's why that matters.

[G]

Yeah.

[H]

So what sort of budget should people be looking at and like would you be comfortable recommending like even brands that they should look at?

[A]

I it all comes down to cost. When it comes to AR15s, you can spend as much money as you want. The reality is I have a video on the channel. Never mind if you like or dislike the company. They're one of the ones that really push the lower cost products out there. PSA stands for Palm Auto. Palmetto State Armory. You can go there and get your branded Trump lower, but at the same time you can get an AR15 for like 400 bucks. Yeah.

[G]

And like in the gun space you're not, you're not going to find someone to buy who is spotless and selling guns in large numbers cheaply.

[A]

Yeah, like that's generally not so like so. So for 400 bucks or around there from PSA you can get a traditional, what's called an M4. It's essentially a 16 inch carbine. It won't have any sighting system on it, so expect to throw another 200 bucks ish onto a reasonable red dot sight on that. So for around the 600 range, you're going to get a gun that's going to weigh seven pounds but it's going to have low recoil and you're going to have something that's for the most part reasonably reliable. Is it the best of the comp is the best of the best? No, but it's reasonably lightweight. It is well manufactured. I've done videos about them on my channel. They've worked just fine. And so 4 to 400 ish for the gun, the 200 for the sighting system, a couple mags you could get out the door for under 700. With everything probably under that, maybe under 600 even if you're careful. Oh, but let me plug one thing. If you've got lots of lots more money, double that, you get a what would Stoner do carving which I designed. It'll be half the weight and super reliable from KE Arms, but I love mine. Doesn't bring any money to me. I'm just saying the point I'm making here is you can get something good enough and if you got more money, there is better out there that are Lighter, more reliable guns. But you don't need to is my point. I'm not trying to sell anything here.

[H]

Yeah. They are one of the few manufacturers who offer like a California compliant solution at checkout, which is nice for California people.

[G]

Yes, yes. So that can be a really beneficial thing to you in terms of not having it be something that you're scared about.

[A]

California compliant will probably mean no flash hider, no pistol grip and a fixed magazine. At least at this point in time

[H]

you can have the removable magazine if you don't have the flash hide of the pistol grip and the collapsing stock stuff. So.

[F]

Okay.

[E]

All right.

[A]

Well if you can buy it from them ready to go. There's. I know there's also magazine capacity requirements or in, in. So maybe you have to buy like a couple 10 round mags or something like that.

[H]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

Obviously 30 round mags are better than 10 round mags and for most, if you live in a place like California, do not worry too much about that. If you get a little proficiency on that, a couple 10 round mags will do a lot.

[G]

And to be honest, in self defense shootings, the odds are low that you will be firing that many rounds. Right now if you're in a self defense shooting where you do need more bullets than that, there's really nothing that can replace having those bullets available.

[H]

But yeah, don't get wrapped around the axle on it like it's not something you can change.

[G]

The fact that you only have a ten round magazine does not mean that you can't become proficient.

[A]

Yeah. And I don't want anyone here to think that I'm saying you shouldn't. You should be able to get a 60 round mag one. As far as I'm concerned, places like California that have these restrictions have them, statistically speaking. And I don't know if these. This data's changed. Most self defense shootings happen within three yards, three seconds, three shots fired.

[G]

Yep.

[H]

Yeah.

[G]

Yep.

[H]

I think it's really good to remember that when you're seeing some YouTuber tell you you need to be able to have 30 rounds and 500 yards.

[G]

I don't go downtown without my backpack and my SBR300 blackout with 630 round magazines accessible.

[H]

Conservative man, scared of cities.

[G]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

I carry an RPG and I take the little safety cap off because I like to live that way.

[H]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[G]

Dangerously. My clothing is made out of debt cord. I just wear nothing but debt cord wherever I go. We're all going down.

[H]

At least you'll take some people with

[A]

you, it's all city blocks done.

[H]

Self defense, martyrdom.

[A]

But let me say one more thing about longarms. Another thing you'll see from people that are new in the space, depending on like what they've seen or what they've consumed, this is going to get some hate. Don't bother with AKs. Just don't. This is the United States of America. And this country believes in the AR15. And what that boiled down to is they're everywhere, they're prolific. The parts are here, the repair is here, they're well manufactured. When you stray from that course to something like an ak, you're. First of all, you're losing ergonomics. But that's a different problem. You're dealing with an unknown quantity of problems. You get an AR15. That's what's in this country, it's what's prolific. If you were in, if you were in somewhere, war torn Africa, get your AK here.

[G]

I'll say this about the war torn AK countries because I've been in three countries where the primary arm is an akm, right? Like a kind of ak, right? Syria, Ukraine and Iraq. In all three of those countries, every soldier who knew their stuff, who was proficient and had the option, chose an AR platform if they could. 100% of the time they're just better firearms.

[H]

Yeah, that's been my experience as well.

[A]

They look cool, but, but, but don't go there. Yeah, just get an AR15. Yeah.

[G]

Like, I love my AKs, but they're, they're range toys, right? Like, yeah.

[H]

So let's talk about accessorizing, which again is much easier with AIs and AKs. Like, what other stuff do you need to build into your budget? If you've not shot before, you might not know that. You need Air Pro, I Pro sling, maybe holster.

[A]

Well, we'll start with the firearms accessories. Right. So with the pistol, you're. First of all, we talked about safe storage, so that's already off the table. With the pistol, if you plan to carry it, you need a good, reliable holster and a good, reliable gun belt.

[G]

Good lord, yes.

[A]

It. Depending on how you want to carry it, that'll determine the kind of holster. If you want it outside the waistband, which means it sits outside your belt, that's one thing. If you're carrying it concealed, you're probably going to want an inside the waistband which goes between your belt and your body. Again, another level of training there. Because when you're drawing from that, things can go wrong. And that's where people tend to shoot Themselves. So that's something you need to be very cautious of. But with a pistol, typically you're going to want probably an extra magazine or two. It may come with one, depending on what you bought. A quality gun belt and a quality holster.

[G]

Now what about a.44 Derringer and an ankle holster on each ankle? Right, like that seems like the ideal solution. Anytime you're in danger, you just got to squat right down there, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, get real.

[A]

Yep.

[H]

Yeah.

[A]

When you've been pushed, pushed onto your back by the mob and you're there in that scene and you're pulling it out of your ankle holster. Yeah, right.

[G]

No, no, no.

[A]

Just.

[G]

Just get a wire around the trigger and attach it to your toes so that you can squeeze your toes and fire.

[A]

What you need is the belt buckle revolver from North American Arms.

[H]

Yeah, that's great.

[A]

Yeah. No, from that freaking movie, the vampire movie. Quentin Tarantino.

[G]

Oh, geez.

[A]

Dusk till dawn, Dust till dawn.

[G]

Dust till dawn. God, yeah.

[A]

No, but for the pistol belt, a magazine or two extra, it might come with them. And a quality holster. Now the obvious question is, what's a quality holster? And the obvious answer is there's too many out there to be able to offer you that answer right now. Probably something polymer if it's going to be outside the waistband. And this will be another one that'll get people fired up. Generally avoid the SERPA holsters unless you really want to have a lot of training. SERPA holsters are one that have a little button on the side that allows the gun to come out if you're not trained well or have the wrong gun in it. It also allows you to accidentally shoot yourself quite easily as well.

[H]

Yeah, best avoided.

[G]

That's a very good point. And also one thing I will note is there's a danger that a lot of people aren't aware of with leather, which is that leather holsters. Now there are some leather holsters that have like a trigger area reinforced with Kydex, which is, you know, a rigid, plasticky substance. But if it's not in time, those can start to, like, get weaker and worn in such a way that it can also cause it to press the trigger when you holster it. Like, that's a thing that has happened to people. So I generally think you want the trigger guard to be rigid and not something that's going to warp and be malleable around the trigger. Right. The whole point is that it stops the trigger from firing.

[H]

Yes. You want to avoid that. How about with the long guns like like what are you going to need to budget for those? And then other things like for shooting generally, that you'll need if you don't already have them.

[A]

So when it comes to the longarm, we already said if you're going to get an AR15, you're going to want to stick some sort of red dot sight on it. The lowest cost ones that are the unbelievably bomb proof are a Chinese company called Holosun.

[G]

Hell yeah.

[A]

I have a holosun from 2017 that still works just fine.

[G]

I love my holosuns. Yes.

[A]

My holosun's been bounced down an asphalt road and it still works fine.

[G]

So it's the opposite of a fail sun. A hollow sun.

[A]

Exactly. So you can pick up a red dot hollow sun. Those can go in. You can get those sometimes. Sometimes as low as like 150 bucks.

[G]

Yeah.

[A]

So you'll need a red dot site. A sling is nice, not required, especially if you're going to be using it within the premises of your property. You probably don't need to worry about that. Also, slings can cause issues like get caught on things or on things in your house or even tangle you up. So that's a training issue. So sling is iffy, an extra magazine or two. And if you're planning on needing to use this for a defensive purpose inside of your home or structure or at night, it's not the worst thing in the world to throw on a flashlight.

[H]

Yeah.

[G]

Yes. Especially if it's like a defensive firearm, like it's your home defense gun or a carry gun, like a flashlight. And also if you're. I think it's generally a good idea if you're going to carry a carry firearm with a flashlight, have another flashlight that's not on a gun. Because one thing you should never do is use your gun flashlight to look at just random shit that you need a flashlight for.

[A]

You come home at night, it's dark, you forgot, you forgot. You can't find which key is the right key. You're using your gun to illuminate your door. Don't do that, don't do that, don't

[G]

do that, don't do that.

[H]

That's a pretty good list of accessories there. Make sure you have a lot of ear and eye protection as well.

[A]

So that's where we're going to go on the safety side of things. You need proper shooting glasses. That means not the glasses that you picked up. For readers at Walgreens, their shooting glasses can be as cheap as nine bucks. All the Way up to hundreds of bucks. You can get them at the sporting goods store. But they're designed with the kind of plastic to be able to take shrapnel or hits from pieces of fragments that are high velocity. They're meant for that. So $10 shooting glasses.

[G]

Yes, yes.

[A]

Hearing protection. Those can be squishy earplugs you put in your ear or they can be over the head moths. Do not ever shoot guns except in the most critical conditions or situations without eye protection and hearing protection. Because that's the kind of stuff where you lose an eye and every time you fire that gun, you're losing hearing every time.

[G]

Yes, yes, yes. And like, for the. Really? Because obviously most like, it hurts to shoot a firearm without hearing protection. Like you can get away with shooting a gun without eye pro every time, but the one time. Right. Which is why I really emphasize eye protection. It's easy to convince yourself I don't need to have it on right now.

[A]

You do, because that's the day that it does the thing.

[G]

Yes, yes. Guns do fuck up, for lack of a better term. And you really don't want your eye unprotected if they do.

[H]

Yeah, it's a bad day.

[A]

Absolutely. On the safety side of eye protection and hearing protection, it can be as cheap as $10 shooting glasses and a bottle of. Of squishy earplugs. You're going to be in there for 20 bucks.

[H]

Yeah, yeah. It doesn't have to be expensive. Make sure you have it and make sure you use it.

[A]

But you know what? Before you do any of this, you know what's the smart thing to do? Go take a class from Stop the bleed and learn how to use tourniquets and medical gear and have that around anyway before you ever buy a gun. Go do that.

[G]

Yes.

[A]

That's the most important thing you could do for anyone.

[H]

Yeah.

[G]

Yes. And that, as you said, should be a priority before getting the firearm. And if you have the money to get and train a gun, you have no excuse for not having an individual first aid kit, an IFAC and the the knowledge of how to use it. Right.

[A]

And I think stop the bleed classes are usually free. You can look it up on stoptheblade.com or.org Google it. Take a class that Teasy, how to use a tourniquet. Use how to use a bandage. Have an ifac, as was just mentioned, which can be a pretty simple kit.

[G]

Yeah.

[A]

And as you said, Robert, if you can afford a gun, you can afford that and have that with you on the range anytime you're shooting. Because as you said, guns can up. They usually don't, but if they do, you're going to want that ifac and that IFAC and that training might just help your neighbor one day when they get in a car accident or whatever.

[G]

I regularly make the decision not to carry my gun with me places. Right. You know, I'm going to go out and get drunk tonight. I don't need. If I have a firearm on me when I'm drunk. But you know what I always have is the ifac. Right. Every single time, you know, because, number one, drunk with an ifac, I'm. No, I'm probably less effective, but I'm not going to endanger anyone.

[A]

You're just like, hey, buddy, I think you need a perma kit. He's like, no, give me your.

[G]

Google said this goes around the neck.

[A]

But once again, a stop the bleed class and an IFAC is more likely to serve you or your community more than any gun ever will.

[H]

Yeah. Yeah, I think that's a great place. I would say that if you are going down this pathway and you're looking to join openly leftist gun organizations, there are several. Right. John Brown Gun Club, Socialist Rifle Association. But we've had those people on our show before. Be cautious when you're doing that and keep an eye on things because that could be something that might get you into trouble in the long run. So it's something to be aware of.

[G]

Yeah. It might be good to just put a holder on joining a new organization until we're a few months into this thing coming up next year. Maybe have an idea about what kind of things might be safe and what kind of things might be less safe.

[H]

Definitely.

[A]

No. But none of that stops you from using signal, building community and learning how to use a arm properly.

[G]

Right. At meeting people. Yes. And like training with them, you know, or. And taking. Getting training, getting, building proficiency. Absolutely. All of that is legal and will remain legal. Just don't start. If anyone ever talks to you about let's make a militia, don't do that. It's time to leave that conversation. Right. Because among other things, at this point, there's a good chance they're the FBI.

[H]

If you live in Michigan, do not.

[G]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

This podcast brought to you by cointelpro.

[G]

Yeah, yeah, that's great.

[A]

But I mean, it's a tough challenge. And so the other thing you can do is also, once you've got your basic proficiency up and you know that you are safe in terms of handling things, let me throw this out there too. It doesn't have to be any specific one. Although remember you're going into a space that may not be politically your comfortable place. A good place to build up skill is to go shoot matches, competitions. Yeah, for the most part it's business oriented. You'll see. You'll hear some stupid comments here or there depending on what match you're at. But the reality is you're not there for that. You're there to get better with your gun on a course of fire that they put up for you. Pay your 10 bucks or 20 bucks. Learn how to shoot better in those conditions. And that's another space to once the basic training's out of the way, don't go to a match. The beat training, use the match to help increase your skill after you've gotten training. But those matches can be a place to really help you out. A lot of. And there's a lot of them around and those are easier to find than almost anything.

[H]

Yep. Practice score is where you can look them up if you're into that kind of thing.

[G]

Excellent.

[H]

Thanks very much for joining us.

[G]

Carl, do you want to very Briefly

[H]

plug your YouTube channel? Where can people find you?

[A]

Well, sure. And thank you for having me on the show. It's always a treat. I really appreciate it. It's always great to be able to just to hang out with you both should do it more often. You can find my work, it's InrangeTV. You can find my website at Inrange TV. I'm distributed decentralized across multiple platforms. A predominant one being YouTube. Cover everything from civil rights history, human rights to firearms to from old west flintlocks up to the most modern machine guns across the channel. Some of it is instructional, some of its history. And I've got a cool video dropping tomorrow in fact. Well tomorrow based on when we're recording this on the Opium wars and how Britain and China's firearms technology discrepancy caused Hong Kong to be owned by Britain. That's the kind of stuff I do on my channel. So check that out. And if you want to find matches that are going to be a place that is truly an inclusive space, we do run matches called brutality matches. You can find [e-mail] they're not monthly. We have run a couple of them across the country. But I can guarantee you that's the space you will feel comfortable because we make it that way.

[H]

Awesome. Yeah, thanks, Kel.

[G]

It could happen. Here is a production of Cool Zone

[A]

Media for more podcasts from Cool Tool Zone Media. Visit our website, toolzonemedia.com or check us out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

[G]

or wherever you listen to podcasts.

[A]

You can now find sources for it could happen here, listed directly in episode descriptions. Thanks for listening.

[H]

It just came out.

[A]

Jeremy, what did you just do? You just set yourself up for failure.

[D]

I've never heard you tell this story.

[A]

I've never told this story.

[D]

This must have been tucked deep, deep in the Jeremy Lin file. My name is McGin. Excited to tell you about Blab, but not least. I'll be chatting with guests from all walks of life about the power of humor when it comes to facing difficult times. These will be conversations that remind us all, life is hard. Laugh harder. Listen. And last but not least, with McGen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

[E]

Hello, my love. I'm Ryan Weiss, and For the past 15 years, I've been an emotional intelligence coach and a spiritual guy. And I'm sharing with you my new podcast, Waking up with Ryan. Waking Up With Ryan is a daily audio video podcast here to help you connect with yourself before the noise of the day takes over. So let's start our days together with a moment of calm that's just for you. Listen to Waking up with ryan on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[B]

I'm Emily Oster. I'm an economist and data expert.

[F]

And I'm Perry Wilson. I'm a medical doctor.

[B]

And this is our new podcast, Wellness.

[F]

Actually, you're getting a staggering amount of health and wellness information, and some of

[B]

it is awesome and some of it is, well, actually, bull. Fortunately, we're both people who know how to read studies and can tell you what's worth trying out and what you can safely ignore.

[F]

Listen to wellness, actually, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[C]

Bill, why is my eye twitching? Does this mean I'm in perimenopause? Where's my phone?

[A]

Juliana, maybe we can ask an actual human.

[C]

Yes, because I have questions, and I bet you do too. Like, is it normal to sleep in separate bedrooms? We do that. And I still need to know why my poop's been green.

[A]

We've got actual people answering these exact questions. Listen to Bill and Juliana, the podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your podcasts. This is an I heart podcast, guaranteed human.