RSWC #063 Rob Pincus

Riding Shotgun With Charlie
#063 
Rob Pincus
Instructor, Author, Activist

 

When I started Riding Shotgun, I had no idea what it could turn in to or the journey it would be. I do remember thinking of the names in the firearm industry that I knew of, and Rob Pincus was one of the people I imagined having on the stagecoach. It’s a great honor to have him in the passenger seat. 

 

During the past year or so, I posted some interviews with others and he commented that he wanted to be on the show. When I posted that I was going to be doing shows in Phoenix at GPRC, he messaged me and asked if I had a seat for him.  Of course I do!

 

We were fresh off GRPC, finishing just an hour before the interview. Rob says we share something similar.  I was Blogger of the Year at GRPC and I don’t have a ‘blog”. And he was NSSF Range of the Year and he didn’t have a range anymore.    

 

Rob shares how he started shooting as a kid, buying his own guns at the age of 10. He gives us some history about Norwich University, the Military University of Vermont, where he attended. After that he did some time in the military and honorably discharged as a Second Lieutenant.  Not wanting to deal with bureaucracies, he found himself being an entrepreneur and getting into training. He’s also been on Personal Defense TV with Tom Gresham, done a number of training DVDs thru the Second Amendment Foundation and the National Rifle Association since 1995, and Best Defense among others. These all morphed into Personal Defense Network and I.C.E.Training.

 

When he focused on Training development and writing a curriculum, he turned it into Combat Focus Shooting book, then CFS: Evolution, then Defend Yourself, and Counter Ambush. I share with him that there’s a photo of me in his Defend Yourself from when I took the class in 2014. His most recent book is Defensive Shooting Handbook put out thru the USCCA.

 

I’ve considered Rob the “rock n roll” gun instructor.  He’s always on the road, crisscrossing the country, teaching courses, speaking at events, doing TV, radio, & podcasts.  He’s embraced the ‘nomadic lifestyle’ and said he even had a blog called “Homeless By Choice”, but hasn’t been able to keep that going with everything else he’s doing. Which lead to some dating advice from Rob.  You can’t miss that!

 

He does admit that his travel schedule is real!  We see his pictures all over the place. In September, he was scheduled to be in Arizona, Florida, New Hampshire, Massachusetts. He was going to the NRA meeting in Alaska, but those were changed to Virginia. But the schedule and traveling really started out by saying “yes” to doing a course anywhere where people want them. Its taken a few years to make it linear and less zigzagging around the country. 

 

Finally I asked about how he would bring someone new into firearms and shooting. When asked about getting someone into shooting that is apprehensive, he says simply “don’t do it”. If someone isn’t ready for owning a gun or carrying a gun, then its ok to wait and get more education. Do some reading and get some education and training and “make sure you’re ready”.

Favorite quotes:

“The government makes it hard to be homeless”
“In between marria