November 2, 2025 • 43 mins
In This Hour:
-- Doug Hamlin, Executive Vice President of the NRA, announces changes to the iconic magazines American Rifleman and American Hunter.
-- These sisters continue to win shooting competitions around the world. A visit with Jalise and Justine Williams, members of the Colt shooting team.
-- Another shooter thinks his sights are off, but it's really just his bad shooting.
Gun Talk 11.02.25 Hour 2
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/gun-talk--6185159/support.
-- Doug Hamlin, Executive Vice President of the NRA, announces changes to the iconic magazines American Rifleman and American Hunter.
-- These sisters continue to win shooting competitions around the world. A visit with Jalise and Justine Williams, members of the Colt shooting team.
-- Another shooter thinks his sights are off, but it's really just his bad shooting.
Gun Talk 11.02.25 Hour 2
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/gun-talk--6185159/support.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
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Speaker 2 (00:17):
All right, welcome back. I'm Tom Gresham. It's a gun
talk now. You know, I spent a fair amount of
time online looking at guns, looking for guns, and buying guns,
and there have been the kind of the old stalwart
places that you go, but that doesn't mean there's not
some new things going on. And we're joining right now
by Jeff Tesh from guns dot Com. Jeff, what is
(00:38):
guns dot com? Where are you guys? Where'd you come from?
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Yeah? Tom, thanks, thanks for having us.
Speaker 4 (00:44):
Love your show, and we're really really excited to be
here and talk a little bit about guns dot com
and what we do.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
You know, we're an online marketplace.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
We sell all sorts of products in the shooting sports industry, firearms, ammunition, accessories,
op and suppressors. And you know what makes us unique
from a consumer standpoint is we believe we've built kind
of the best in class consumer experience when buying a
fire or shopping for firearms or all the other items
(01:15):
that go along with it. Very great tech and easy
to use, easy to search and find products that you're
looking for.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
The checkout process is great.
Speaker 4 (01:26):
We present consumers with an FFL map when they purchased
a firearm and sort of we don't leave all these
steps to purchase a firearm legally up to the consumer.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
We shepherd a lot of that process for them.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
So, yeah, we've been around for We're going to have
our fifteenth year anniversary.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Really, wow, I did not know. Yeah, I didn't know
you've been around that long.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
We started.
Speaker 4 (01:57):
This is not really well known, but we started as
a you know, a two A news media outlet really
and had about seven years of content development under our wings.
Before you know, the development work went into our marketplace,
which launched in that launched in twenty eighteen, and you know,
(02:18):
like all things technology, you launch and you learn and
we spent several months kind of refining everything. And I
would say we really hit the ground running in twenty nineteen,
and so you know, we we've been rapidly growing of
course ever since then.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
Of course, you got one of the best URLs the
website name, I mean guns dot com. It's kind of easy.
Speaker 4 (02:46):
Yes, it's uh, you know what we do when you
come to our site.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Exactly all right, So obviously you still you got new guns,
you have used guns, you got used certified guns, and
I guess the new biggest thing is you now are
an auction site, right.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
That's correct, Yes, so we waunched that.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
What's different about I mean obviously there's there have been
other gun auction sites out there. What are you guys
doing differently for people?
Speaker 4 (03:14):
So clearly you know, we've got other people in the
firearm space that do auctions and have done it for
a while, and like kind of guns dot com ask
we when we did research on best in class auction service,
we we looked at our industry, what a what a
consumers want?
Speaker 3 (03:31):
What a sellers want?
Speaker 4 (03:33):
But we also spend a lot of time outside of
the firearms industry on other sites in the heavy equipment space, uh,
collectible space. Music, the reselling industry and auctions and like
guitars is huge, and so we sort of just plucked
all these best in class things from from uh, you know,
(03:54):
other auction verticals and you know, again what a consumers want,
what a what a sellers want? And that went into
our development plan and I can tell you it's been
our biggest project for twenty twenty five. And you know, specifically,
what's different about us is we are the home of
(04:15):
no reserve auctions. Is one of the things that we
did research and talk to sellers and consumers. Consumers hate
reserves because they think it, you know, they want to
know what the gun will sell for at least we'll
qualify for a bid, and sellers think that the reserves
kind of suppress bid activities, so we early on decided
to not go down that path. However, our sellers can
(04:37):
set you know, starting bid prices and they can have
a buy now features and all those things. And so
also from a consumer standpoint, we have, you know, the
ability to create wash watch lists and wish lists for
items and options and you closed product that has sold,
(04:57):
and just just the overall usability of it is really cool.
We have a fifteen minute rule again and that's not
totally unique, but its updates live, so you can watch
an item as it's closing and you know, watch the
bid activity start to happen, and that kind of gamification
of buying the firearm, but again, ours happens in real time.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
You can see it on the screen. You don't have
to sit there and hit refresh. Okay, and some of
that cutting edge tech that we have you know us.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Yeah, well, I mean obviously what you did. You went
to other venues or other categories they're doing auctions and say, okay,
what's the latest. I mean it's like, okay, some of
this technology has been used in the gun world is
kind of old, and say, all right, what's the latest?
What do people want? What are they like? What makes
the site easy to use? So now you've applied all
that obviously to getting your guns and you can bid
(05:48):
on them. I like the no reserve because for those
who don't know, sometimes there's a reserve put on and
you don't know what that is, and you're bidding and
sometimes it won't even make the reserve. It's like a secret.
If you don't get above this, take your dollar amount,
we're not gonna sell it. And you're thinking, well, what
did I just waste all my time bidding on this for.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
It's exactly right. And I'll be honest, we wrestled with that.
Are Uh.
Speaker 4 (06:10):
There's three of three at the director level folks that
were really kind of heads of this project, and we
wrestled with this fact should we have it or not?
And one one day we just kind of have an
epiphany in terms of why we shouldn't. And yeah, exactly
how you just laid it out. It's that you know,
it's an unpublished starting bid, is what it is, and
it's kind of annoying to both consumers and sellers.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
So okay, So I also know that you were either
about too or maybe already have started doing something pretty
special with suppressors. What's going on here?
Speaker 4 (06:41):
Yeah, so we sell suppressors today, uh and uh, the
category we do pretty good with it. One of the
things that makes guns dot com unique to kind of
allow me to answer this question and kind of a long,
a long way around which.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
Usually accused of.
Speaker 4 (06:59):
One of the things that makes us unique as a
marketplace is that we partner with.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
Brick and mortar, verified brick.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
And mortar storefronts to be able to sell on our platform.
We are the only online sales channel that can say
that and lives that. So all of our sellers are
storefronts around around the country that are in.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
The in the firearms business of course, and.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
That's pretty unique and from our from our dealer acquisition
or seller acquisition standpoint, were really focus on kind of
the some of the larger dealers out there too, So
from from a product allocation standpoint or said differently to
a consumer, if it's out there, we're probably going to
be the if it's available, we're going to have it
on our site for sale, kind of the hard to
(07:44):
find stuff because our sellers are getting you know, disproportionate
more inventory.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Than Okay, yeah, so you're you're working with real gun
stores out there, some of them pretty big, that have
the inventory and stock that's.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
Correct with us.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
Currently, we we source that through a single supplier today,
but we're soon bringing on retailers. Are our dealers to
be able to list that product on guns dot com,
which will you know, drastically widen our available inventory probably
help us be more competitive.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
But really, as we all.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
Know what's gonna happen in January with you know, with
with the tax damp removal, Uh, it's going to be
about selection, and we will have a great selection because
we'll be utilizing this very mature dealer network that we
have today for firearms.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
What's the opportunity for a gun store who's listening to
this or seeing this, who says, hey, I'd like to
be a part of that thing. Can they get together
with you guys go online and become you know, a vendor.
Speaker 4 (08:46):
Yeah, it's very easy, uh, you know, assuming they have
a storefront qualification. But that process they start with going
to guns dot com and upper right in Corner become
a dealer. Entering their FFL, We do an easy check
verification of their FFL. They answer a couple of quick questions,
they fill out their profile. That creates a ticket internally,
and then my business development team reaches out to that
(09:09):
to that dealer and you know, they go through a
quick thirty minute training and the dash. The process for
a dealer to list in the sell firearms with us
is absolutely a differentiation that we have. We make it
very very easy for them, and we take on as
much of the consumer transaction.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
Really is legally possible.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
They as a dealer, of course, they're dealing with chaos
every day as a as a small business owner and
the guns on.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
Top of that. Right, so we take on all that.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
Back end transaction, fraud, compliance, shipping labels, we even get
we get a copy of the FFL where the gun
needs to be sent to and they get all of
that in a packet. So they learn all that through
the thirty minute training and we've made it. It's very
complex from a tech stamp went but I like to
say it's very Fisher price.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
It's just so easy for a dealer.
Speaker 4 (10:04):
In one of our early years, one of our largest sellers,
big retailer, but they had never sold anything online, much
less than guns dot Com, and they were able to
scale and and to grow.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
Really really quickly. That's how that's how easy the process is,
you know.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
And the what's in it for me for the individual
consumer is more availability, more options, more inventory to choose from,
and you know, just a lot more things to look
at and to buy at guns dot.
Speaker 4 (10:31):
Com exactly that. Yeah, we have great selection. We really
focus on that.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
You know.
Speaker 4 (10:38):
We love selling the firearms that are in every gun
store every single day.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
I call them belly button guns.
Speaker 4 (10:43):
Everybody has them, right, But what makes you know if
you think about it, if you can't, you're gonna walk
into a local gun store and maybe they don't have
that firearms.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
That's that's the problem is that we may have it,
your local store may not have a Guns dot Com
has to there'd be a store there that could take care. Jeff,
I appreciate you spend some time with us. Man at
guns dot Com. Sounds like you guys are tearing it up.
You're like the not exactly the new kids on the block,
but you got some new things going on and some
pretty you know, breaking technology you're using.
Speaker 4 (11:14):
Well, yeah, it's uh, it's been a it's been a
fun ride so far. Our culture is one of we
still think ourselves as startups or as a startup, and
we're scrappy in that sense, and uh we we.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
We're having a lot of fun, all right.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
So what was that quote you gave me before we started.
Speaker 4 (11:31):
There is no David without a Goliath. It was the
quote I heard this morning next behind me, So.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
I like the Hi Jeff, thank you so much. Guns
dot Com. We appreciate. Hey, heybody, don't go far. Gun
talk will be right back.
Speaker 5 (11:44):
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Speaker 6 (12:15):
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(12:36):
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(13:33):
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Speaker 8 (13:40):
That's gun talk dot com.
Speaker 9 (13:51):
Hi, this is David Kodria from the War on Guns
Notes from the Resistance. In a world of changing trends
and instant gratification, I want to congratulate Tom Gresham for
thirty consistent and information pack years of gun talking.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
We're back with It's Tom Gresham here. Give me a
call eight six y six Talk Gun or Tom Talk Gun.
That'll get you in here. Think about personal protection with guns.
It is the number one reason that people own guns
in every survey that I've ever been aware of. When
you say why do you own a gun, people will
say personal protection or self defense, And then of course
(14:30):
there's competition and hunting and collecting and you know all
the rest of it. But we basically own guns so
that we can use them to keep ourselves and our
family safe. Having said that, and then there's nothing wrong
with that. Are you doing it right? Are you doing
it well? Are you doing it the way it should
(14:51):
be done? Or unfortunately a you're doing it like I
think a lot of people do, which is I buy
a gun, I go to the range once or twice
a year, and somehow that's going to protect me. You're
if you're in that category. I'm trying to find the
(15:12):
right way to say this and not be a jerk
about it. Sometimes it's okay being a jerk. If you're
doing it that way, you're not prepared, You're not as
good as you think you are. Can I even say
you may be incompetent? Maybe probably? Actually, how good do
(15:37):
you have to be? That's a good question. How do
you know let's rephrase it. How do you know if
you're competent? How do you know if you're good enough?
What are some of the things you should be able
to do with your self defense gun? Okay, let's getting
(16:01):
more interesting and we're kind of cover this a little
bit more. A little later in the show, we're going
to talk with Larry Vickers, who twenty years in Delta Force,
lots of special operations missions, talk thousands of people to
use guns, not just to self defense but the military applications,
which are different, but basically how to use guns and
gun fighting. What should you be able to do with
(16:26):
your self defense gun? Okay, we should be able to
hit the target. Oh gee, it sounds simple. Well it's not. Well,
it seems to be out of reach for some people.
I would say, go get yourself. If you remember index
cards or however you want to do it. A four
(16:49):
by six index card, I would say three of five
people would go crazy. That's too small. So a four
by six index card or a target that's four by
six inches five yards? Really, I would say seven yards.
You should be able to put all your shots inside
that index card. It should be a three by five,
but would be on fudge a little bit. Seems simple,
(17:13):
seems easy. I went offer that most people cannot do that.
Most people who are carrying a gun for self defense
probably can't do that. And I'm not talking about doing
it fast. You can take all day long, take as
much time as you want, because if you can't hit
the target taking your time, how do you expect to
be able to hit the target when you're shooting fast
(17:35):
with the stress of trying to save your life and
keep somebody from sticking a knife in you, or kidnapping you,
or card stacking you are shooting you, are you know
whatever is going on, or kidnapping one of your kids.
You have to be accurate. Speed is good, but you
need to have that. But I would say start off
(17:58):
with are you up with it hitting a small target?
I mean, honestly, if you're asking me, what should you
be able to do? I would say at five yards
you ought to be able to put all your shots
to where they're pretty much touching. With a handgun. Yes, yes,
(18:19):
with a handgun. I'm talking about with a self defense gun.
And people say, but I carry a small gun. I
don't care. Do you think it's okay to be less
confident because you carry a small gun? It just means
you have to work harder to be more confident to
hit the target with a small gun because they're harder
to shoot. But I don't get to the range very often. Really,
(18:44):
whose fault is that? I don't know? Just think about
this stuff thinking, Okay, you know what it comes down to.
I'm just all right, I just arrived at this. It
comes down to commitment. Are you casual about it or
(19:07):
are you committed to it? Are you committed to the
lifestyle of being a gun carrier, of having a good holster,
spending money, real money on a good holster, spending real
money on a good gun belt, not just something stupid
you got at the department store. Oh but it's wide. No,
(19:30):
that's not it. It needs to be a gun belt
and once you get it, you'll go Oh, that's what
Tom was talking about. I can't carry a gun all
day long with a gun belt where it was uncomfortable before. Yes. Yes,
(19:52):
because a wide belt that's floppy is uncomfortable. The gun
moves around. A thick belt, A stiff belt keeps your
gun where it's supposed to be, and it gives you support.
Once you go to that, you understand. Are you committed
to go into the range? I mean how often should
(20:13):
you go to the range? I don't know, there's no
right number. Can I say probably once a month? I
mean it'd be nice if you say, oh, I'd go weekly. Okay, great,
most people can't do that, but you could go once
a month. How much did you shoot? I don't know.
(20:34):
How are you practicing? What are you working on? If
you're just gonna sit there and spray targets down range.
It really doesn't matter because you're not doing any good anyway.
If you are purposeful about your practice, fifty rounds is
probably enough. Honestly. I mean if you said, Okay, I'm
(20:55):
gonna take a three bout five index card and put
it on the target at seven yards and you put
all five shots or first ten shots in the index
card at whatever speed, Okay, you do it right. If
you can't do that, we need to work on some things.
And what do we work on? What are the three
things we always talk about. We actually have an Eon
sign made and it's at rains Ready Studios. It's up
(21:16):
on the wall. What does the sign say? Grip, sites, trigger,
That's all there is. Did you hear stance in there? Anywhere?
No where do you put your feet? I don't care
how wide apart should your fee be? I don't care.
Should my left foot being forward to the back? I
(21:37):
don't care. Grip you gotta have a good grip because
that's how you control recoil. You can hold it any
way you want to for the first shot, but but
a good grip will help you controller for subsequent shots.
Sites pretty simple put sites on the target. Trigger trigger,
trigger trigger when you're on in your sight from the
(22:01):
target in your head. I want you to hear this
trigger trigger trigger, trigger, trigger, because if you can control
the trigger, you can control the shot. If the shot
goes wide, almost certainly it's because you jerked the trigger.
There it is scripts site trigger. That's it all right
(22:24):
back with you. If you want to start an interesting
conversation among gun people, bring up the NRA, because a
lot of people who have been long time supporters of
the NRAA got poed and felt betrayed by the NRA
by Wayne Lapierre. I mean, I was one of the
first people to call for his firing and told people, look,
(22:45):
sit it out until he's gone, because it's it's a mess. Well,
it turns out we had no idea how big a
mess it was until we got the reformers and the
good guys are in at the NRA and they're making changes,
and Frank, some of the changes are painful. We're joined
right now by the executive vice president. Yeah, that's the
(23:07):
old Wayne Lapierre spot the executive vice president of the INTERRA.
Doug Hamlin joins us. Doug, welcome, and I know that
you're busy. I appreciate your time.
Speaker 10 (23:17):
Thanks for having me Tom.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
All right, so I said, when you know, we all
thought it was a mess. We knew it was a mess,
but I suspect none of us really understood how big
a mess it was until you got in there and
started digging.
Speaker 10 (23:31):
Yeah, we're we're making great progress. And I've been in
this assignment now coming up on seventeen months, and we've
pretty much changed leadership within all the divisions, and I've
been out there communicating with our industry partners, with our staff,
(23:52):
with media folks like yourself, and just been real open
and direct about all the things we're trying to achieve,
which is get back to the enteray of old, get
back to basics, and reinforce the programs and services that
we offer, and just try to financially be as judicious
(24:14):
as we can so that whatever dollars that we're entrusted with,
we spend very carefully and we invest them in the
fight to protect Second Amendment rights at the state and
federal level, local, state and federal level. And we got
a big midterm election coming up, so a lot of
(24:35):
the moves that you're probably going to talk to me
about today. Are geared toward reinforcing our position so that
we can have an impact. In twenty twenty six, we.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Had a zoom call a couple of days ago, you
and some media folks. I was on the call there
and the real takeaway from that and the big announcement,
and I'd like to have you dive into that because
it's connected to all the rush over to the fiscal responsibility.
Never else is that the iconic magazines at the NRA
are changing, Some are going away and some are almost
(25:07):
going away. I'll let you pick it up.
Speaker 10 (25:09):
What are you doing, yes, sir. We're consolidating four monthly
print magazines into two quarterly print magazines. So American Riflemen,
an American Hunter. These are well established brands, leaders in
their categories, largest magazines of their kinds in the world.
(25:30):
They're now going to be quarterly, but every month in
a digital edition, so you can download the digital addition
to your phone, to your iPad, scroll through it that way.
There'll be interactivity with the digital editions. So we're going
to be enhancing the delivery of the digital editions, and
we're going to be reducing the number of outdates from
(25:52):
twelve per year for those two magazines to four times
per year, and then America's First Free Them, which is
our political journal, and Shooting Illustrated, which is more of
our tactical personal defense personal security journal. Those magazines will
continue in a website. They won't be in a digital format,
(26:15):
but they will continue with their websites.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
Okay, so, but nobody's gonna be getting those magazines in
the mail and American Rifle in America Hunter, the classic
magazines are going to go for monthly to quarterly. You're
you're an old publications guy like I am, and this
has got to hurt for you.
Speaker 10 (26:36):
It's personal, Yeah, you know, it's We've seen the deterioration
in the print medium, whether it's local newspapers and magazines
at newsstands. It's been going on for well over twenty
five years now. But it does hurt. Tom. I won't,
I won't. I won't misrepresent that were you know, had
(27:01):
to reduce some staff and some really good people have
been furloughed and these are friends and they've done nothing wrong.
They're good folks and so but the marketplace is shifting,
and I don't think it's a big surprise to many
out there quite Frankly, I think many thought that I'm
surprised in a race hung in there this long, with
(27:23):
this many print properties. Right, but it is painful.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
And I used to used to tell people, and I've
been in magazines all my life, I said, look, the
cost of running a magazine. If you just ran blank
paper through a press and mailed at that's seventy percent
of your cost. It's and it just gets worse every year.
But the cost of printing and the cost of mail
and are certain, and people are simply going online for everything.
I mean, honestly, we've seen a lot of other classic
(27:48):
magazines go away or go digital, which some would argue
is the same thing.
Speaker 10 (27:54):
Yeah, that's right, Tom. I mean I know that the
volume of man that I'm receiving, just anecdotally is diminishing.
And you're right. I mean the postage rates they go
up every year, and they don't go up by just
a few cents. And when you're mailing millions of magazines
like we are, that impacts the bottom line, and the
(28:16):
dollars have to come from somewhere, and so we've made
a strategic decision to reinvest some of those dollars by
reducing the amount of print that we're doing in other
areas of enterra's business, important areas.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
Okay, so obviously what we're really talking about is we're
spending a fortune, several fortunes on printing and mailing magazines.
Let's cut that out. Let's use that money for some
of the core things that NRA does, whether it's general operations, competition,
and certainly you are looking toward the elections next year,
and let me just say this. I want to throw
(28:50):
this out here and get your take on it, and
we're going to keep you on for a little while here.
But I hear people all the time saying, yeah, well
I got out of the n and now I don't
basically saying I don't trust them. I want to see
they have to prove to me that they're worthy of
me supporting them. And my reaction to that is, you
(29:13):
clearly don't know what's going on. You don't understand that
the reformers have taken over and that they're really working
on this. And I honestly had to have a little
talk with myself about that, because I was one of
those guys that were kind of sitting on the side
and pouting about what had happened, and feeling a little
butt hurt about the whole thing, and just saying, you know,
Tom got to get over yourself because the NRA, we
(29:36):
need a good NRA, We need a strong NRA. And
sitting back here and saying, well, you need to prove
yourself to me. That is so self centered and destructive.
And I'll just tell you I decided, Okay, get off
your rear, end Gresham, get back in the fight. And
so I'm back in. I'm just all that's just my
personal take to explain to you what I'm seeing out there,
(29:58):
and I'm wondering what you're hearing.
Speaker 10 (30:01):
It's been refreshing. I will tell you, I've been working
seven days a week. You and I spoke literally within
days of my election back in May twenty twenty four,
and you were very direct, You were not happy, and
I couldn't blame you, right, And it was basically up
to me and the new staff and the new board
(30:22):
to prove it to you and to prove it to
your listeners. And so, I mean, we had a heck
of a twenty twenty four election cycle. Nay was extremely
involved in the three big flip seats on the Senate
side talking to Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Montana. So Nray has
a lot of capabilities, and much of our problems emanated
(30:46):
from the fact that we were so successful helping President
Trump become elected in twenty sixteen. He gets inaugurated in
January twenty seventeen. And so because we're chartered in eight
teen seventy one in New York State, they have subpoena power,
and so they pursued some action against Center and they
(31:06):
found some things, and those folks are no longer with
the organization who are involved in some of those misdeeds.
And so I'm here to tell you that the folks
that are here today you can trust us. We're hard working,
we're honest. We're here to produce for the National Rifle Association.
We want Second Amendment rights to be available to all
(31:28):
those that choose to activate them. And I think when
you look at where we are as a country today
as far as twenty nine constitutional carey states, we just
had one big, beautiful bill go through and so you've
got that tax stamp two hundred dollars tax reduction that
will take effect in January, where we've actually filed suit
(31:51):
both in Missouri and in Texas because we want to
repeal the entire National Firearms Act. So we're active there,
and so I mean, I know I'm running on here
a little bit, but we've had some great accomplishments, and
just take a button.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
Let's do this, Doug. If we're good, let's hold that thought.
I need to take a quick break here. I want
to come back because there's some other things we need
to be talking about. I mean, one of the questions
that people are asking is, well, gee, is the NA
even relevant these days? Because I got all these other
groups that are doing things, gun rights groups out there,
and they are. There's some good ones, and so we'll
basically address that question. What is the role for the
(32:31):
NA today. I'm Tom Gresham. This is gun Talk. Put
all your gear on the ch carry and then roll
around on the ground. Now get up all your gear
that's on the ground. That's what you're not going to
have in a fight.
Speaker 11 (32:49):
Gun Talk should be in your podcast feed. Check out
gun Talk Nation.
Speaker 6 (32:53):
What's it like to be blown up?
Speaker 4 (32:55):
You know, if it's like C four, it's almost like
a smack hunting.
Speaker 11 (32:59):
Yeah, we talk about that too.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
On your crosshairs.
Speaker 3 (33:02):
I like a thin crosshair.
Speaker 6 (33:04):
Angel, you're really dating yourself by calling things cross hairs.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
You're redical whatever.
Speaker 11 (33:08):
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Speaker 2 (34:13):
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(34:36):
I trust Durry's Guns. Give him a call Dury'sguns dot Com.
All right back with you On Tom Gresha, we're talking
with Doug Hamlin. He's the executive vice president of the NRA,
(34:57):
and Doug, let me just put it this way. People
are still mad about Green LaPier and all the folks
around him and what they did. And let me just
say this. We threw out those rat bastards. They're not
there anymore, and we got the good guys in. But
it's taken a long time for people to wake up
to the fact that it's a new crew. And frankly,
you need support these days. Let me ask you this. Obviously,
(35:18):
there are other groups out there, and NRA works with
the other gun rights groups, but when it comes to
work on in Congress, it seems to me the na
is still the top dog there when it comes to
gun rights.
Speaker 10 (35:30):
There's no question. I was on the hill this past
week met with several US senators and they were very
open about the grading system that NA nacts I mean,
we do like seven thousand grades. And so if you're
(35:51):
a senator running for re election and you don't have
an A plus grade and your opponent does, or you're
in a primary and you don't have the A plus
grade but your opponent does, these are issues that cause
problems for those candidates and they understand that. And so
that came up in some conversation and in other conversation
(36:14):
with senators. The communication to me was when we have questions,
this is when they're caucusing amongst each other, they say, well,
what's the NRA's position on this issue? What does the
NRA say? And they've said that to me. They've said
that to me, So are we relevant? Do we have influence?
(36:35):
There's no question about it. And you know, I just
go back to what would this country look like without
an NRA. Think about the millions of people that have
been trained using one of our twenty five basic courses,
and we also have twelve programs for instructors to be
the teachers. So we teach the teachers, who then teach
(36:57):
the millions of Americans that are out there who have
in the past five six years literally purchased I'm hearing
twenty six point three million first time gun buyers since COVID.
I mean, these are big numbers. So we're working really
hard and we have great programs. We're on the hill.
(37:17):
Think about like from McDonald to Heller to Bruin and
now Vulo. This Bruin case was entirely n ra's case.
That was a two thousand and two decision and that
basically mandated our right to be able to carry firearms
outside the home.
Speaker 2 (37:34):
I think a lot of people do not realize that
Bruin was the NRA case. I mean, people go away,
what's the right to I said, look, have you heard
of Bruin? How important that is? That was an NRA case.
Speaker 10 (37:43):
That's right, That's exactly right, Tom. That's a massive precedent,
massive precedent that has had rolling out across all various
state and local jurisdictions.
Speaker 2 (37:56):
And Doug, forgive me, because we're going to run out
of time. I need ask you this. If you're talking
to the NRA members who dropped out or they said
I'm a life member but I'm not gonna give them
any money or whatever, you got a chance, you got
thirty seconds. There's what we got left here.
Speaker 10 (38:12):
What are you going to say to them, well, we
need you to come back. Go to NRA dot org.
Join at a one year level. We've got a multitude
of different levels that you can graduate too. But our
strength on Capitol Hill is based on our membership numbers
and then those dollars that are part of your dues.
Those dollars then get deployed in various races to make
(38:35):
a difference so that Second Amendment rights only become stronger
in the future.
Speaker 2 (38:40):
There it is Doug Hamlin, Executi, Vice President of the NRA. Doug,
I appreciate your time. We always run out of time.
We'll do it again. Okay, thank you, Tom, all right,
you take care. Yeah, I mean there it is all right.
Your take convinced, not convinced. Where are you when it
comes to the NA these days? Our numbers eight sixty
six talk or Tom talk Gun. I'm Tom Gresham. We're
(39:03):
gonna step aside and then we'll be back with more
gun talk. All right, let's go straight to the phone.
Steve's got a question online one Steve, how can we
help you?
Speaker 3 (39:17):
Sir?
Speaker 13 (39:18):
I have a Bruger Ar ten three or eight and
I am looking for an optic fart if anybody has
any helpful hants on it, would like to shoot three
or four hundred yards five hundred yards with it?
Speaker 2 (39:32):
Well? What just? I mean? Any given scope will do that?
Speaker 13 (39:36):
Okay?
Speaker 2 (39:37):
No, I mean I would probably put like a three
to five, three to ten, three to twelve on there
and at least get started that way. If you want
to end up going to shoot farther and do some
other things, then you may want to more advanced, some
more expensive scope. But I would start with something like
a simple three to nine, three to ten and then
see what that works for you. Okay, okay, Now what's
(39:58):
going on with your RX pistol?
Speaker 13 (40:01):
So I not a good shot. I shot it probably
four or five hundred yards I'm sorry, four or five
hundred rounds with it. And I always shoot left, not
necessarily low left, but left. And the guy at the
range last time I was there, I asked if they
had to drift tools, I could drift the rear sight.
(40:22):
And he asked me if anybody else had shot it.
I told him no, ask him if he wanted to
shoot it, and so he shot it in his first
two shots. He was dead on bullseye. So not not
the gun, It's me.
Speaker 3 (40:39):
It hurts that happens.
Speaker 13 (40:41):
The gun is great. I've had no male functions with it.
It shoots great.
Speaker 2 (40:45):
Okay. I got two tips for you to try to
make it not shoot left. Okay, okay, actually three. One,
get a few dummy rounds and mix them in with
your live rounds so that sometimes the gun will go click.
And it goes click and you and the sight's move.
Then you're jerking the trigger, so stop doing that. Number two,
try inserting your finger into the trigger guard a little
(41:07):
bit more. If it's not inserted all the way, you
may be pushing the gun to the left as you
pull the trigger. So put a little bit more finger
into the trigger guard over the trigger. And number three,
this is going to sound weird, but it worked for me.
With your you're shooting two handed right?
Speaker 10 (41:25):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (41:26):
With your are you right handed?
Speaker 13 (41:29):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (41:30):
With your left thumb, press hard against the left side
of the frame. Okay, I mean it sounds goofy and crazy.
And a guy at the reins an instructor, told me
that I was shooting left. I said, well, y know,
what do I what do I got to lose?
Speaker 5 (41:47):
Right?
Speaker 2 (41:47):
I mean, just okay, just put some extra pressure on
it and I mean, it was miracuous. This all of
a sudden, I'm drilling right where it needs to go
and going, oh, I don't know what I was doing,
but putting pressure on the left side of the slide
made all the different. So those three things, get some
dummy rounds, mix them in with your live round. See
if you're jerking the trigger. Number two is try inserting
(42:07):
your finger further into the trigger guard so you're not
pressing on the side of the trigger, so that when
you pull the trigger it's actually pushing the gun to
the left a little bit. You what you want is
a straight pull back motion forward and back on the
trigger without any side pressure. And number three offset that
with some strong pressure on your left thumb on the
side of the gun. Do me a favor, Try that
(42:31):
at the range and then call us back and let
us know how it works.
Speaker 13 (42:34):
Okay, I will do that perfect.
Speaker 2 (42:37):
I appreciate that, sir. I appreciate the call. Yeah, that
RXm is a really nice pistol. Ruger has made a
winner with that and mine shoots, I mean, spot on,
dead on with the iron sight. I really like the
iron sights to have on there. And of course it's
set up you can put an optic on it as well.
But I was doing exactly that. I was shoot a
little bit left and they said, well, just put some
pressure on the left side of the frame. And really,
(42:58):
I'm thinking, I really going to do that, and I
did and it worked, and it's like, oh me, I
should have known that. What do I say? Grip? Sights trigger?
They fixed my grip and it worked. The sites are
pretty simple. You used to be able to put the
sights on the target and figure that out whether it's
iron sights are the dot. And then I got to
(43:19):
tell you, I think probably ninety percent of our problems
the trigger. Always if you're screwing up, if you're not
shooting well, it's almost certainly the trigger. You need to
work on your trigger press. Think about this because in
your mind hear the word press and make it go
slow until you can put all your shots where they're
supposed to go. Then you can speed up accuracy first,
(43:43):
speed next,
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Speaker 2 (00:17):
All right, welcome back. I'm Tom Gresham. It's a gun
talk now. You know, I spent a fair amount of
time online looking at guns, looking for guns, and buying guns,
and there have been the kind of the old stalwart
places that you go, but that doesn't mean there's not
some new things going on. And we're joining right now
by Jeff Tesh from guns dot Com. Jeff, what is
(00:38):
guns dot com? Where are you guys? Where'd you come from?
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Yeah? Tom, thanks, thanks for having us.
Speaker 4 (00:44):
Love your show, and we're really really excited to be
here and talk a little bit about guns dot com
and what we do.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
You know, we're an online marketplace.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
We sell all sorts of products in the shooting sports industry, firearms, ammunition, accessories,
op and suppressors. And you know what makes us unique
from a consumer standpoint is we believe we've built kind
of the best in class consumer experience when buying a
fire or shopping for firearms or all the other items
(01:15):
that go along with it. Very great tech and easy
to use, easy to search and find products that you're
looking for.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
The checkout process is great.
Speaker 4 (01:26):
We present consumers with an FFL map when they purchased
a firearm and sort of we don't leave all these
steps to purchase a firearm legally up to the consumer.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
We shepherd a lot of that process for them.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
So, yeah, we've been around for We're going to have
our fifteenth year anniversary.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Really, wow, I did not know. Yeah, I didn't know
you've been around that long.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
We started.
Speaker 4 (01:57):
This is not really well known, but we started as
a you know, a two A news media outlet really
and had about seven years of content development under our wings.
Before you know, the development work went into our marketplace,
which launched in that launched in twenty eighteen, and you know,
(02:18):
like all things technology, you launch and you learn and
we spent several months kind of refining everything. And I
would say we really hit the ground running in twenty nineteen,
and so you know, we we've been rapidly growing of
course ever since then.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
Of course, you got one of the best URLs the
website name, I mean guns dot com. It's kind of easy.
Speaker 4 (02:46):
Yes, it's uh, you know what we do when you
come to our site.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Exactly all right, So obviously you still you got new guns,
you have used guns, you got used certified guns, and
I guess the new biggest thing is you now are
an auction site, right.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
That's correct, Yes, so we waunched that.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
What's different about I mean obviously there's there have been
other gun auction sites out there. What are you guys
doing differently for people?
Speaker 4 (03:14):
So clearly you know, we've got other people in the
firearm space that do auctions and have done it for
a while, and like kind of guns dot com ask
we when we did research on best in class auction service,
we we looked at our industry, what a what a
consumers want?
Speaker 3 (03:31):
What a sellers want?
Speaker 4 (03:33):
But we also spend a lot of time outside of
the firearms industry on other sites in the heavy equipment space, uh,
collectible space. Music, the reselling industry and auctions and like
guitars is huge, and so we sort of just plucked
all these best in class things from from uh, you know,
(03:54):
other auction verticals and you know, again what a consumers want,
what a what a sellers want? And that went into
our development plan and I can tell you it's been
our biggest project for twenty twenty five. And you know, specifically,
what's different about us is we are the home of
(04:15):
no reserve auctions. Is one of the things that we
did research and talk to sellers and consumers. Consumers hate
reserves because they think it, you know, they want to
know what the gun will sell for at least we'll
qualify for a bid, and sellers think that the reserves
kind of suppress bid activities, so we early on decided
to not go down that path. However, our sellers can
(04:37):
set you know, starting bid prices and they can have
a buy now features and all those things. And so
also from a consumer standpoint, we have, you know, the
ability to create wash watch lists and wish lists for
items and options and you closed product that has sold,
(04:57):
and just just the overall usability of it is really cool.
We have a fifteen minute rule again and that's not
totally unique, but its updates live, so you can watch
an item as it's closing and you know, watch the
bid activity start to happen, and that kind of gamification
of buying the firearm, but again, ours happens in real time.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
You can see it on the screen. You don't have
to sit there and hit refresh. Okay, and some of
that cutting edge tech that we have you know us.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Yeah, well, I mean obviously what you did. You went
to other venues or other categories they're doing auctions and say, okay,
what's the latest. I mean it's like, okay, some of
this technology has been used in the gun world is
kind of old, and say, all right, what's the latest?
What do people want? What are they like? What makes
the site easy to use? So now you've applied all
that obviously to getting your guns and you can bid
(05:48):
on them. I like the no reserve because for those
who don't know, sometimes there's a reserve put on and
you don't know what that is, and you're bidding and
sometimes it won't even make the reserve. It's like a secret.
If you don't get above this, take your dollar amount,
we're not gonna sell it. And you're thinking, well, what
did I just waste all my time bidding on this for.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
It's exactly right. And I'll be honest, we wrestled with that.
Are Uh.
Speaker 4 (06:10):
There's three of three at the director level folks that
were really kind of heads of this project, and we
wrestled with this fact should we have it or not?
And one one day we just kind of have an
epiphany in terms of why we shouldn't. And yeah, exactly
how you just laid it out. It's that you know,
it's an unpublished starting bid, is what it is, and
it's kind of annoying to both consumers and sellers.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
So okay, So I also know that you were either
about too or maybe already have started doing something pretty
special with suppressors. What's going on here?
Speaker 4 (06:41):
Yeah, so we sell suppressors today, uh and uh, the
category we do pretty good with it. One of the
things that makes guns dot com unique to kind of
allow me to answer this question and kind of a long,
a long way around which.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
Usually accused of.
Speaker 4 (06:59):
One of the things that makes us unique as a
marketplace is that we partner with.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
Brick and mortar, verified brick.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
And mortar storefronts to be able to sell on our platform.
We are the only online sales channel that can say
that and lives that. So all of our sellers are
storefronts around around the country that are in.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
The in the firearms business of course, and.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
That's pretty unique and from our from our dealer acquisition
or seller acquisition standpoint, were really focus on kind of
the some of the larger dealers out there too, So
from from a product allocation standpoint or said differently to
a consumer, if it's out there, we're probably going to
be the if it's available, we're going to have it
on our site for sale, kind of the hard to
(07:44):
find stuff because our sellers are getting you know, disproportionate
more inventory.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Than Okay, yeah, so you're you're working with real gun
stores out there, some of them pretty big, that have
the inventory and stock that's.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
Correct with us.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
Currently, we we source that through a single supplier today,
but we're soon bringing on retailers. Are our dealers to
be able to list that product on guns dot com,
which will you know, drastically widen our available inventory probably
help us be more competitive.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
But really, as we all.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
Know what's gonna happen in January with you know, with
with the tax damp removal, Uh, it's going to be
about selection, and we will have a great selection because
we'll be utilizing this very mature dealer network that we
have today for firearms.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
What's the opportunity for a gun store who's listening to
this or seeing this, who says, hey, I'd like to
be a part of that thing. Can they get together
with you guys go online and become you know, a vendor.
Speaker 4 (08:46):
Yeah, it's very easy, uh, you know, assuming they have
a storefront qualification. But that process they start with going
to guns dot com and upper right in Corner become
a dealer. Entering their FFL, We do an easy check
verification of their FFL. They answer a couple of quick questions,
they fill out their profile. That creates a ticket internally,
and then my business development team reaches out to that
(09:09):
to that dealer and you know, they go through a
quick thirty minute training and the dash. The process for
a dealer to list in the sell firearms with us
is absolutely a differentiation that we have. We make it
very very easy for them, and we take on as
much of the consumer transaction.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
Really is legally possible.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
They as a dealer, of course, they're dealing with chaos
every day as a as a small business owner and
the guns on.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
Top of that. Right, so we take on all that.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
Back end transaction, fraud, compliance, shipping labels, we even get
we get a copy of the FFL where the gun
needs to be sent to and they get all of
that in a packet. So they learn all that through
the thirty minute training and we've made it. It's very
complex from a tech stamp went but I like to
say it's very Fisher price.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
It's just so easy for a dealer.
Speaker 4 (10:04):
In one of our early years, one of our largest sellers,
big retailer, but they had never sold anything online, much
less than guns dot Com, and they were able to
scale and and to grow.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
Really really quickly. That's how that's how easy the process is,
you know.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
And the what's in it for me for the individual
consumer is more availability, more options, more inventory to choose from,
and you know, just a lot more things to look
at and to buy at guns dot.
Speaker 4 (10:31):
Com exactly that. Yeah, we have great selection. We really
focus on that.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
You know.
Speaker 4 (10:38):
We love selling the firearms that are in every gun
store every single day.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
I call them belly button guns.
Speaker 4 (10:43):
Everybody has them, right, But what makes you know if
you think about it, if you can't, you're gonna walk
into a local gun store and maybe they don't have
that firearms.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
That's that's the problem is that we may have it,
your local store may not have a Guns dot Com
has to there'd be a store there that could take care. Jeff,
I appreciate you spend some time with us. Man at
guns dot Com. Sounds like you guys are tearing it up.
You're like the not exactly the new kids on the block,
but you got some new things going on and some
pretty you know, breaking technology you're using.
Speaker 4 (11:14):
Well, yeah, it's uh, it's been a it's been a
fun ride so far. Our culture is one of we
still think ourselves as startups or as a startup, and
we're scrappy in that sense, and uh we we.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
We're having a lot of fun, all right.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
So what was that quote you gave me before we started.
Speaker 4 (11:31):
There is no David without a Goliath. It was the
quote I heard this morning next behind me, So.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
I like the Hi Jeff, thank you so much. Guns
dot Com. We appreciate. Hey, heybody, don't go far. Gun
talk will be right back.
Speaker 5 (11:44):
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Speaker 6 (12:15):
Looking for real talk about guns, gear and the shooting lifestyle.
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Speaker 9 (13:51):
Hi, this is David Kodria from the War on Guns
Notes from the Resistance. In a world of changing trends
and instant gratification, I want to congratulate Tom Gresham for
thirty consistent and information pack years of gun talking.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
We're back with It's Tom Gresham here. Give me a
call eight six y six Talk Gun or Tom Talk Gun.
That'll get you in here. Think about personal protection with guns.
It is the number one reason that people own guns
in every survey that I've ever been aware of. When
you say why do you own a gun, people will
say personal protection or self defense, And then of course
(14:30):
there's competition and hunting and collecting and you know all
the rest of it. But we basically own guns so
that we can use them to keep ourselves and our
family safe. Having said that, and then there's nothing wrong
with that. Are you doing it right? Are you doing
it well? Are you doing it the way it should
(14:51):
be done? Or unfortunately a you're doing it like I
think a lot of people do, which is I buy
a gun, I go to the range once or twice
a year, and somehow that's going to protect me. You're
if you're in that category. I'm trying to find the
(15:12):
right way to say this and not be a jerk
about it. Sometimes it's okay being a jerk. If you're
doing it that way, you're not prepared, You're not as
good as you think you are. Can I even say
you may be incompetent? Maybe probably? Actually, how good do
(15:37):
you have to be? That's a good question. How do
you know let's rephrase it. How do you know if
you're competent? How do you know if you're good enough?
What are some of the things you should be able
to do with your self defense gun? Okay, let's getting
(16:01):
more interesting and we're kind of cover this a little
bit more. A little later in the show, we're going
to talk with Larry Vickers, who twenty years in Delta Force,
lots of special operations missions, talk thousands of people to
use guns, not just to self defense but the military applications,
which are different, but basically how to use guns and
gun fighting. What should you be able to do with
(16:26):
your self defense gun? Okay, we should be able to
hit the target. Oh gee, it sounds simple. Well it's not. Well,
it seems to be out of reach for some people.
I would say, go get yourself. If you remember index
cards or however you want to do it. A four
(16:49):
by six index card, I would say three of five
people would go crazy. That's too small. So a four
by six index card or a target that's four by
six inches five yards? Really, I would say seven yards.
You should be able to put all your shots inside
that index card. It should be a three by five,
but would be on fudge a little bit. Seems simple,
(17:13):
seems easy. I went offer that most people cannot do that.
Most people who are carrying a gun for self defense
probably can't do that. And I'm not talking about doing
it fast. You can take all day long, take as
much time as you want, because if you can't hit
the target taking your time, how do you expect to
be able to hit the target when you're shooting fast
(17:35):
with the stress of trying to save your life and
keep somebody from sticking a knife in you, or kidnapping you,
or card stacking you are shooting you, are you know
whatever is going on, or kidnapping one of your kids.
You have to be accurate. Speed is good, but you
need to have that. But I would say start off
(17:58):
with are you up with it hitting a small target?
I mean, honestly, if you're asking me, what should you
be able to do? I would say at five yards
you ought to be able to put all your shots
to where they're pretty much touching. With a handgun. Yes, yes,
(18:19):
with a handgun. I'm talking about with a self defense gun.
And people say, but I carry a small gun. I
don't care. Do you think it's okay to be less
confident because you carry a small gun? It just means
you have to work harder to be more confident to
hit the target with a small gun because they're harder
to shoot. But I don't get to the range very often. Really,
(18:44):
whose fault is that? I don't know? Just think about
this stuff thinking, Okay, you know what it comes down to.
I'm just all right, I just arrived at this. It
comes down to commitment. Are you casual about it or
(19:07):
are you committed to it? Are you committed to the
lifestyle of being a gun carrier, of having a good holster,
spending money, real money on a good holster, spending real
money on a good gun belt, not just something stupid
you got at the department store. Oh but it's wide. No,
(19:30):
that's not it. It needs to be a gun belt
and once you get it, you'll go Oh, that's what
Tom was talking about. I can't carry a gun all
day long with a gun belt where it was uncomfortable before. Yes. Yes,
(19:52):
because a wide belt that's floppy is uncomfortable. The gun
moves around. A thick belt, A stiff belt keeps your
gun where it's supposed to be, and it gives you support.
Once you go to that, you understand. Are you committed
to go into the range? I mean how often should
(20:13):
you go to the range? I don't know, there's no
right number. Can I say probably once a month? I
mean it'd be nice if you say, oh, I'd go weekly. Okay, great,
most people can't do that, but you could go once
a month. How much did you shoot? I don't know.
(20:34):
How are you practicing? What are you working on? If
you're just gonna sit there and spray targets down range.
It really doesn't matter because you're not doing any good anyway.
If you are purposeful about your practice, fifty rounds is
probably enough. Honestly. I mean if you said, Okay, I'm
(20:55):
gonna take a three bout five index card and put
it on the target at seven yards and you put
all five shots or first ten shots in the index
card at whatever speed, Okay, you do it right. If
you can't do that, we need to work on some things.
And what do we work on? What are the three
things we always talk about. We actually have an Eon
sign made and it's at rains Ready Studios. It's up
(21:16):
on the wall. What does the sign say? Grip, sites, trigger,
That's all there is. Did you hear stance in there? Anywhere?
No where do you put your feet? I don't care
how wide apart should your fee be? I don't care.
Should my left foot being forward to the back? I
(21:37):
don't care. Grip you gotta have a good grip because
that's how you control recoil. You can hold it any
way you want to for the first shot, but but
a good grip will help you controller for subsequent shots.
Sites pretty simple put sites on the target. Trigger trigger,
trigger trigger when you're on in your sight from the
(22:01):
target in your head. I want you to hear this
trigger trigger trigger, trigger, trigger, because if you can control
the trigger, you can control the shot. If the shot
goes wide, almost certainly it's because you jerked the trigger.
There it is scripts site trigger. That's it all right
(22:24):
back with you. If you want to start an interesting
conversation among gun people, bring up the NRA, because a
lot of people who have been long time supporters of
the NRAA got poed and felt betrayed by the NRA
by Wayne Lapierre. I mean, I was one of the
first people to call for his firing and told people, look,
(22:45):
sit it out until he's gone, because it's it's a mess. Well,
it turns out we had no idea how big a
mess it was until we got the reformers and the
good guys are in at the NRA and they're making changes,
and Frank, some of the changes are painful. We're joined
right now by the executive vice president. Yeah, that's the
(23:07):
old Wayne Lapierre spot the executive vice president of the INTERRA.
Doug Hamlin joins us. Doug, welcome, and I know that
you're busy. I appreciate your time.
Speaker 10 (23:17):
Thanks for having me Tom.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
All right, so I said, when you know, we all
thought it was a mess. We knew it was a mess,
but I suspect none of us really understood how big
a mess it was until you got in there and
started digging.
Speaker 10 (23:31):
Yeah, we're we're making great progress. And I've been in
this assignment now coming up on seventeen months, and we've
pretty much changed leadership within all the divisions, and I've
been out there communicating with our industry partners, with our staff,
(23:52):
with media folks like yourself, and just been real open
and direct about all the things we're trying to achieve,
which is get back to the enteray of old, get
back to basics, and reinforce the programs and services that
we offer, and just try to financially be as judicious
(24:14):
as we can so that whatever dollars that we're entrusted with,
we spend very carefully and we invest them in the
fight to protect Second Amendment rights at the state and
federal level, local, state and federal level. And we got
a big midterm election coming up, so a lot of
(24:35):
the moves that you're probably going to talk to me
about today. Are geared toward reinforcing our position so that
we can have an impact. In twenty twenty six, we.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Had a zoom call a couple of days ago, you
and some media folks. I was on the call there
and the real takeaway from that and the big announcement,
and I'd like to have you dive into that because
it's connected to all the rush over to the fiscal responsibility.
Never else is that the iconic magazines at the NRA
are changing, Some are going away and some are almost
(25:07):
going away. I'll let you pick it up.
Speaker 10 (25:09):
What are you doing, yes, sir. We're consolidating four monthly
print magazines into two quarterly print magazines. So American Riflemen,
an American Hunter. These are well established brands, leaders in
their categories, largest magazines of their kinds in the world.
(25:30):
They're now going to be quarterly, but every month in
a digital edition, so you can download the digital addition
to your phone, to your iPad, scroll through it that way.
There'll be interactivity with the digital editions. So we're going
to be enhancing the delivery of the digital editions, and
we're going to be reducing the number of outdates from
(25:52):
twelve per year for those two magazines to four times
per year, and then America's First Free Them, which is
our political journal, and Shooting Illustrated, which is more of
our tactical personal defense personal security journal. Those magazines will
continue in a website. They won't be in a digital format,
(26:15):
but they will continue with their websites.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
Okay, so, but nobody's gonna be getting those magazines in
the mail and American Rifle in America Hunter, the classic
magazines are going to go for monthly to quarterly. You're
you're an old publications guy like I am, and this
has got to hurt for you.
Speaker 10 (26:36):
It's personal, Yeah, you know, it's We've seen the deterioration
in the print medium, whether it's local newspapers and magazines
at newsstands. It's been going on for well over twenty
five years now. But it does hurt. Tom. I won't,
I won't. I won't misrepresent that were you know, had
(27:01):
to reduce some staff and some really good people have
been furloughed and these are friends and they've done nothing wrong.
They're good folks and so but the marketplace is shifting,
and I don't think it's a big surprise to many
out there quite Frankly, I think many thought that I'm
surprised in a race hung in there this long, with
(27:23):
this many print properties. Right, but it is painful.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
And I used to used to tell people, and I've
been in magazines all my life, I said, look, the
cost of running a magazine. If you just ran blank
paper through a press and mailed at that's seventy percent
of your cost. It's and it just gets worse every year.
But the cost of printing and the cost of mail
and are certain, and people are simply going online for everything.
I mean, honestly, we've seen a lot of other classic
(27:48):
magazines go away or go digital, which some would argue
is the same thing.
Speaker 10 (27:54):
Yeah, that's right, Tom. I mean I know that the
volume of man that I'm receiving, just anecdotally is diminishing.
And you're right. I mean the postage rates they go
up every year, and they don't go up by just
a few cents. And when you're mailing millions of magazines
like we are, that impacts the bottom line, and the
(28:16):
dollars have to come from somewhere, and so we've made
a strategic decision to reinvest some of those dollars by
reducing the amount of print that we're doing in other
areas of enterra's business, important areas.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
Okay, so obviously what we're really talking about is we're
spending a fortune, several fortunes on printing and mailing magazines.
Let's cut that out. Let's use that money for some
of the core things that NRA does, whether it's general operations, competition,
and certainly you are looking toward the elections next year,
and let me just say this. I want to throw
(28:50):
this out here and get your take on it, and
we're going to keep you on for a little while here.
But I hear people all the time saying, yeah, well
I got out of the n and now I don't
basically saying I don't trust them. I want to see
they have to prove to me that they're worthy of
me supporting them. And my reaction to that is, you
(29:13):
clearly don't know what's going on. You don't understand that
the reformers have taken over and that they're really working
on this. And I honestly had to have a little
talk with myself about that, because I was one of
those guys that were kind of sitting on the side
and pouting about what had happened, and feeling a little
butt hurt about the whole thing, and just saying, you know,
Tom got to get over yourself because the NRA, we
(29:36):
need a good NRA, We need a strong NRA. And
sitting back here and saying, well, you need to prove
yourself to me. That is so self centered and destructive.
And I'll just tell you I decided, Okay, get off
your rear, end Gresham, get back in the fight. And
so I'm back in. I'm just all that's just my
personal take to explain to you what I'm seeing out there,
(29:58):
and I'm wondering what you're hearing.
Speaker 10 (30:01):
It's been refreshing. I will tell you, I've been working
seven days a week. You and I spoke literally within
days of my election back in May twenty twenty four,
and you were very direct, You were not happy, and
I couldn't blame you, right, And it was basically up
to me and the new staff and the new board
(30:22):
to prove it to you and to prove it to
your listeners. And so, I mean, we had a heck
of a twenty twenty four election cycle. Nay was extremely
involved in the three big flip seats on the Senate
side talking to Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Montana. So Nray has
a lot of capabilities, and much of our problems emanated
(30:46):
from the fact that we were so successful helping President
Trump become elected in twenty sixteen. He gets inaugurated in
January twenty seventeen. And so because we're chartered in eight
teen seventy one in New York State, they have subpoena power,
and so they pursued some action against Center and they
(31:06):
found some things, and those folks are no longer with
the organization who are involved in some of those misdeeds.
And so I'm here to tell you that the folks
that are here today you can trust us. We're hard working,
we're honest. We're here to produce for the National Rifle Association.
We want Second Amendment rights to be available to all
(31:28):
those that choose to activate them. And I think when
you look at where we are as a country today
as far as twenty nine constitutional carey states, we just
had one big, beautiful bill go through and so you've
got that tax stamp two hundred dollars tax reduction that
will take effect in January, where we've actually filed suit
(31:51):
both in Missouri and in Texas because we want to
repeal the entire National Firearms Act. So we're active there,
and so I mean, I know I'm running on here
a little bit, but we've had some great accomplishments, and
just take a button.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
Let's do this, Doug. If we're good, let's hold that thought.
I need to take a quick break here. I want
to come back because there's some other things we need
to be talking about. I mean, one of the questions
that people are asking is, well, gee, is the NA
even relevant these days? Because I got all these other
groups that are doing things, gun rights groups out there,
and they are. There's some good ones, and so we'll
basically address that question. What is the role for the
(32:31):
NA today. I'm Tom Gresham. This is gun Talk. Put
all your gear on the ch carry and then roll
around on the ground. Now get up all your gear
that's on the ground. That's what you're not going to
have in a fight.
Speaker 11 (32:49):
Gun Talk should be in your podcast feed. Check out
gun Talk Nation.
Speaker 6 (32:53):
What's it like to be blown up?
Speaker 4 (32:55):
You know, if it's like C four, it's almost like
a smack hunting.
Speaker 11 (32:59):
Yeah, we talk about that too.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
On your crosshairs.
Speaker 3 (33:02):
I like a thin crosshair.
Speaker 6 (33:04):
Angel, you're really dating yourself by calling things cross hairs.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
You're redical whatever.
Speaker 11 (33:08):
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Find us at rangereadystudios dot com to learn more.
Speaker 2 (34:13):
When someone leaves you their gun collection, you may want
a few of What do you do with the rest?
How do you sell them? Who do you call? Well?
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(34:36):
I trust Durry's Guns. Give him a call Dury'sguns dot Com.
All right back with you On Tom Gresha, we're talking
with Doug Hamlin. He's the executive vice president of the NRA,
(34:57):
and Doug, let me just put it this way. People
are still mad about Green LaPier and all the folks
around him and what they did. And let me just
say this. We threw out those rat bastards. They're not
there anymore, and we got the good guys in. But
it's taken a long time for people to wake up
to the fact that it's a new crew. And frankly,
you need support these days. Let me ask you this. Obviously,
(35:18):
there are other groups out there, and NRA works with
the other gun rights groups, but when it comes to
work on in Congress, it seems to me the na
is still the top dog there when it comes to
gun rights.
Speaker 10 (35:30):
There's no question. I was on the hill this past
week met with several US senators and they were very
open about the grading system that NA nacts I mean,
we do like seven thousand grades. And so if you're
(35:51):
a senator running for re election and you don't have
an A plus grade and your opponent does, or you're
in a primary and you don't have the A plus
grade but your opponent does, these are issues that cause
problems for those candidates and they understand that. And so
that came up in some conversation and in other conversation
(36:14):
with senators. The communication to me was when we have questions,
this is when they're caucusing amongst each other, they say, well,
what's the NRA's position on this issue? What does the
NRA say? And they've said that to me. They've said
that to me, So are we relevant? Do we have influence?
(36:35):
There's no question about it. And you know, I just
go back to what would this country look like without
an NRA. Think about the millions of people that have
been trained using one of our twenty five basic courses,
and we also have twelve programs for instructors to be
the teachers. So we teach the teachers, who then teach
(36:57):
the millions of Americans that are out there who have
in the past five six years literally purchased I'm hearing
twenty six point three million first time gun buyers since COVID.
I mean, these are big numbers. So we're working really
hard and we have great programs. We're on the hill.
(37:17):
Think about like from McDonald to Heller to Bruin and
now Vulo. This Bruin case was entirely n ra's case.
That was a two thousand and two decision and that
basically mandated our right to be able to carry firearms
outside the home.
Speaker 2 (37:34):
I think a lot of people do not realize that
Bruin was the NRA case. I mean, people go away,
what's the right to I said, look, have you heard
of Bruin? How important that is? That was an NRA case.
Speaker 10 (37:43):
That's right, That's exactly right, Tom. That's a massive precedent,
massive precedent that has had rolling out across all various
state and local jurisdictions.
Speaker 2 (37:56):
And Doug, forgive me, because we're going to run out
of time. I need ask you this. If you're talking
to the NRA members who dropped out or they said
I'm a life member but I'm not gonna give them
any money or whatever, you got a chance, you got
thirty seconds. There's what we got left here.
Speaker 10 (38:12):
What are you going to say to them, well, we
need you to come back. Go to NRA dot org.
Join at a one year level. We've got a multitude
of different levels that you can graduate too. But our
strength on Capitol Hill is based on our membership numbers
and then those dollars that are part of your dues.
Those dollars then get deployed in various races to make
(38:35):
a difference so that Second Amendment rights only become stronger
in the future.
Speaker 2 (38:40):
There it is Doug Hamlin, Executi, Vice President of the NRA. Doug,
I appreciate your time. We always run out of time.
We'll do it again. Okay, thank you, Tom, all right,
you take care. Yeah, I mean there it is all right.
Your take convinced, not convinced. Where are you when it
comes to the NA these days? Our numbers eight sixty
six talk or Tom talk Gun. I'm Tom Gresham. We're
(39:03):
gonna step aside and then we'll be back with more
gun talk. All right, let's go straight to the phone.
Steve's got a question online one Steve, how can we
help you?
Speaker 3 (39:17):
Sir?
Speaker 13 (39:18):
I have a Bruger Ar ten three or eight and
I am looking for an optic fart if anybody has
any helpful hants on it, would like to shoot three
or four hundred yards five hundred yards with it?
Speaker 2 (39:32):
Well? What just? I mean? Any given scope will do that?
Speaker 13 (39:36):
Okay?
Speaker 2 (39:37):
No, I mean I would probably put like a three
to five, three to ten, three to twelve on there
and at least get started that way. If you want
to end up going to shoot farther and do some
other things, then you may want to more advanced, some
more expensive scope. But I would start with something like
a simple three to nine, three to ten and then
see what that works for you. Okay, okay, Now what's
(39:58):
going on with your RX pistol?
Speaker 13 (40:01):
So I not a good shot. I shot it probably
four or five hundred yards I'm sorry, four or five
hundred rounds with it. And I always shoot left, not
necessarily low left, but left. And the guy at the
range last time I was there, I asked if they
had to drift tools, I could drift the rear sight.
(40:22):
And he asked me if anybody else had shot it.
I told him no, ask him if he wanted to
shoot it, and so he shot it in his first
two shots. He was dead on bullseye. So not not
the gun, It's me.
Speaker 3 (40:39):
It hurts that happens.
Speaker 13 (40:41):
The gun is great. I've had no male functions with it.
It shoots great.
Speaker 2 (40:45):
Okay. I got two tips for you to try to
make it not shoot left. Okay, okay, actually three. One,
get a few dummy rounds and mix them in with
your live rounds so that sometimes the gun will go click.
And it goes click and you and the sight's move.
Then you're jerking the trigger, so stop doing that. Number two,
try inserting your finger into the trigger guard a little
(41:07):
bit more. If it's not inserted all the way, you
may be pushing the gun to the left as you
pull the trigger. So put a little bit more finger
into the trigger guard over the trigger. And number three,
this is going to sound weird, but it worked for me.
With your you're shooting two handed right?
Speaker 10 (41:25):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (41:26):
With your are you right handed?
Speaker 13 (41:29):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (41:30):
With your left thumb, press hard against the left side
of the frame. Okay, I mean it sounds goofy and crazy.
And a guy at the reins an instructor, told me
that I was shooting left. I said, well, y know,
what do I what do I got to lose?
Speaker 5 (41:47):
Right?
Speaker 2 (41:47):
I mean, just okay, just put some extra pressure on
it and I mean, it was miracuous. This all of
a sudden, I'm drilling right where it needs to go
and going, oh, I don't know what I was doing,
but putting pressure on the left side of the slide
made all the different. So those three things, get some
dummy rounds, mix them in with your live round. See
if you're jerking the trigger. Number two is try inserting
(42:07):
your finger further into the trigger guard so you're not
pressing on the side of the trigger, so that when
you pull the trigger it's actually pushing the gun to
the left a little bit. You what you want is
a straight pull back motion forward and back on the
trigger without any side pressure. And number three offset that
with some strong pressure on your left thumb on the
side of the gun. Do me a favor, Try that
(42:31):
at the range and then call us back and let
us know how it works.
Speaker 13 (42:34):
Okay, I will do that perfect.
Speaker 2 (42:37):
I appreciate that, sir. I appreciate the call. Yeah, that
RXm is a really nice pistol. Ruger has made a
winner with that and mine shoots, I mean, spot on,
dead on with the iron sight. I really like the
iron sights to have on there. And of course it's
set up you can put an optic on it as well.
But I was doing exactly that. I was shoot a
little bit left and they said, well, just put some
pressure on the left side of the frame. And really,
(42:58):
I'm thinking, I really going to do that, and I
did and it worked, and it's like, oh me, I
should have known that. What do I say? Grip? Sights trigger?
They fixed my grip and it worked. The sites are
pretty simple. You used to be able to put the
sights on the target and figure that out whether it's
iron sights are the dot. And then I got to
(43:19):
tell you, I think probably ninety percent of our problems
the trigger. Always if you're screwing up, if you're not
shooting well, it's almost certainly the trigger. You need to
work on your trigger press. Think about this because in
your mind hear the word press and make it go
slow until you can put all your shots where they're
supposed to go. Then you can speed up accuracy first,
(43:43):
speed next,
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