October 25, 2025 • 48 mins
A lot of responsible gun owners face the same quiet question: what do you do when life gets messy and access becomes a risk? Moving across states, checking into a hospital, hosting grandkids, navigating a foster placement, or just riding out a hard season can make temporary storage the smartest choice. We brought on Hold My Guns founder Sarah Albrecht to unpack a community-led solution that keeps people safe without forcing them to surrender their rights.
Sarah shares the human story behind the nonprofit and how a liberty-first mindset shapes every detail: partnering with reputable FFLs, building privacy-forward contracts, and offering “no questions asked” voluntary storage. We dig into the real mechanics—why transfers resemble consignment return, where lockers fit in, how non-serialized parts can be stored, and what changes across state lines. You’ll hear how they vet storage partners for customer service, insurance, and training, and why the contract seals minimal customer information if a court order ever appears. It’s practical, respectful, and built to be used when it matters most.
We also highlight aligned resources that honor both safety and freedom: Walk the Talk America for anonymous mental health tools, Project ChildSafe for family education, and Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership to find clinicians who respect constitutional rights. The throughline is simple and strong—self-governance works when we equip people with dignified choices. If you value life, liberty, and responsible carry, this conversation gives you a clear plan for the moments when you—or someone you love—needs a trustworthy place to say, “hold my guns.”
If this resonated, tap follow, share it with a friend who might need these options, and leave a quick review to help more listeners find the show. Your support helps expand storage partners and keep this life-affirming work growing.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:05):
Hi, welcome to the Armed Guardian Podcast, season
one, episode six.
I'm your host, Brian, and todaywe'll be speaking with Sarah
Albrecht from Hold My Guns.
We'll find out what Hold My Gunsis doing for the 2A community.
So sit back, enjoy, and listento today's episode.
Hi, welcome to the ArmedGuardian Podcast.
(00:27):
Today we have Sarah Albrechtwith us from Hold My Guns.
She's going to discuss a fewthings about her organization,
what they do, and how people cansupport and get involved with
them.
How are you doing today, Sarah?
SPEAKER_03 (00:41):
Thanks, Brian.
I'm doing really well.
It's fun to be on your podcasttoday.
SPEAKER_01 (00:46):
I appreciate it.
Yeah, uh, I was I was reallyglad to be able to hook up with
you uh as we spoke in thepre-show.
Uh had Michael Sedini, uh, who'sfrom Walk the Talk America, and
uh mental health firearms uhalways been something that's
been passionate uh to me.
Uh having been in lawenforcement and in the military,
(01:08):
uh I know that PTSD and andpeople go through things and it
can affect everybodydifferently.
So I will wanted to bring tolight uh the subject of mental
health firearms and safe storageand kind of incorporate it in
this uh podcast.
I do it in my training, and uh Ithought that uh you'd be a
(01:30):
perfect guest, and I'm thankfulfor Trampus Swanson for
connecting us.
SPEAKER_03 (01:36):
Yes, Trampus is wonderful, and um, and and for
anyone out there, check out hisArm Lifestyle magazine.
It's really wonderful, and uh II always look forward to each
issue for that.
And and uh anyone in thefirearms community, check it
out.
It's cool.
Trampus is great.
SPEAKER_01 (01:53):
Yeah, yeah, he is.
We're we're gonna have him on asuh a guest uh for probably a
couple topics, and one of thefirst ones I was I'm gonna talk
to him about is that ARMLifestyle magazine because I
really, really like that, eventhough it is I I sometimes have
an issue with uh the onlinereaders and stuff, you know,
trying to zoom it out and zoomit in and stuff.
(02:16):
But uh I I really like hismagazine, the content that he
has, and then I'm talking gonnahave Candace on for Girl and a
Gun.
SPEAKER_03 (02:24):
And um awesome.
Wow, see, you've got we we againlike we were talking about the
pre-show, we're just blessedwith wonderful people in our
community who actually care, andthat's why I I love what we're
doing with Hold My Guns, and I'mexcited to share about that
today.
But really, it is about ourcommunity and ways that we can
(02:47):
help people to connect.
So um yeah, I uh I'm excited foryou.
I'm looking forward to thoseepisodes, so I'll be be watching
out for them.
SPEAKER_01 (02:56):
All right, if it sounds great, I appreciate the
support on on this end also.
SPEAKER_03 (03:01):
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01 (03:02):
So tell us a little bit about Sarah Albrecht.
Who is Sarah?
SPEAKER_03 (03:08):
Well, I um thank you.
I my name is Sarah.
Joy Albrecht Joy is my middlename.
My mother calls me by my wholename, but uh a lot of my friends
do too.
And I I think that's kind ofendearing because at the at the
right in my heart, I am joyful.
I um I love the Lord.
(03:28):
I've been married to my husbandTom for 24 years.
We were both homeschooled and wehomeschooled our five kids
together, and I can't reallycall them kids anymore because
they're 22 down to 17, and thereare no twins in there.
Um, but we have really enjoyedlife and just we've had a lot of
(03:50):
ups and downs in life, but atthe same time, uh we we just
appreciate God's faithfulnessand the people that He's brought
into our lives that have comealongside and encouraged us.
And we have always been a familythat kind of helps to support
people in need, and um, we'rethe house that gets all of the
(04:14):
the neighborhood kids that needa place to come by and have a
snack and a hug and that kind ofa thing.
So um we've really just grown upum kind of together, which
happens when you get marriedyoung and have kids young in a
way that has just been um kindof our, I guess, our heart to to
(04:35):
care about people.
So I think that um naturally itkind of lends itself to hold my
guns and and I'll share aboutthat a little bit more.
Um, but before I do that,another aspect of my life that I
really value is that my dad is aMarine Corps veteran and he
served in Vietnam.
(04:55):
And so I have a heart forveterans.
I have many family members whoserved um in wartime and in
peacetime.
And so we have a rich familyheritage of um just having a
love for our country and and aheart for service.
And so I have a just a deeprespect for our veterans and and
(05:16):
you know, on the topic ofsuicide prevention, I always say
the that treating veterans withrespect is suicide prevention.
And so I'm always mindful of themessaging that we send out that
um, you know, whether it'stalking about veterans, um, I
always want to make sure thatwe're respectful.
(05:37):
And when we're talking about umpeople who might be in crisis, I
always think about just thatthey are people and we love them
and um and that any of us can gothrough a really hard time in
life.
And so, you know, whether it'sit's losing a loved one or going
through a terrible accident orsomething like that, that is
just that can really um throwquite a curveball.
(06:01):
Um, the reality is that any ofus could be in that situation.
And so we just approach thiswith humility and genuine
compassion.
We have compassion on as a wordon our our logo.
It's kind of like a guide word.
And a little bit more about me.
Um, it's kind of funny.
I actually have my my doula mug.
You can't, there we go, in thefilter.
(06:23):
Um, doula is my superpower.
That was a gift from one of myclients.
I was a doula and childbirtheducator for 11 years, and I
specialized in helping clientswho had experienced sexual
trauma in the past, which, youknow, if if anyone is um a
parent or um or knows someonethat is a parent and and knows
(06:44):
someone that especially has beenthrough some hard times, it can
be a very um personal,difficult, challenging thing to
go through to go throughpregnancy and um postpartum and
becoming a parent.
And so it's just always my heartto help women who have been
through a lot and I wanted togive them this a healing
(07:05):
experience where they couldreally thrive.
And so I love that job.
And um I I guess um kind ofleads me to hold my guns.
And I um wasn't setting out toreally start anything, but we
lost an 18-year-old friend tosuicide by firearm.
And um, something I forgot toshare was that I'm also a range
(07:26):
safety officer, and I have umkids that grew up in shooting
sports, and so they really loveum liberty and they love
shooting.
And they came to me and theysaid, Um, you know, we love
these things, but our friend isdead.
And how do we help people in ourcommunity who might be silently
(07:48):
struggling with things and umneed a place to store firearms,
get the guns out of the house,mom?
How do we do that without beinggun grabbers?
And I thought about it reallyhard.
And I was like, you know what?
We we can solve this.
Let's let's work on this.
And we prayed about it andsought out one of the best
firearms attorneys.
Uh, I know I've I've met manymore, so I don't want to say
(08:12):
that there aren't others thatare great, but truly, Joshua
Prince on the East Coast, uh,he's phenomenal.
And it's it's kind of funny,Brian, because when I first met
him, the first question he askedme and he is, are you a gun
grabber?
And to give you an idea, likehis office is like this uh
renovated barn, and he hasincredible firearms all over,
(08:37):
just decorating his office.
And it feels kind of like goinginto this kind of really cool
bunker.
And uh it's it's just a littlebit intimidating.
It was the first time I ever methim.
And I was, but I was verypassionate about this.
I'm like, absolutely not.
This I said, I really think thisis an opportunity that we can
take leadership in our communityto help people who need storage,
(09:00):
who might not have friends orfamily who are able to help with
that.
And I see it as a way to helppreserve rights because if we
can help people with giving themthe tools to practice
self-governance, I think that wehave an opportunity to really
push back on some of thelegislative approaches that take
(09:21):
away rights.
So that's kind of how we gotstarted with Hold My Guns.
And that's a little bit aboutme.
And I am very grateful for allof the life experiences that
have led up to this point, um,the good ones and the heartache.
And again, I I just humbly umserve in this way, and I hope
(09:42):
that it inspires people to wantto get involved and support our
work and also to be that personthat uh people who need a friend
can talk to as well.
SPEAKER_01 (09:54):
Right.
Yeah, because we never know whensomething's gonna pop up in our
life that really devastates usor impacts us.
And uh as I we've talked brieflyin the pre-show, I've been in
the law enforcement and I'veseen the actual effects going
through seeing someone do that,as well as the after effects.
(10:14):
And um a lot of times, you know,we don't we may think we have
things, quote, under control,but you know, we we really don't
know.
And that's where having peoplethat like you guys, you know,
especially if you feel yourselfcoming on to a situation where
hey, I'm going into a deep holeand I don't may not need to have
(10:37):
my gun with me, or you know, itmay need to be stored for a
period of time while I can wecan get myself back together, or
either, you know, um, whateverit is, a move or you know, uh
whatever.
And uh I just uh think thatbeing able to have somebody to
talk to, having optionsavailable, making sure our loved
(10:57):
ones and our friends uh knowabout these things that are
available out there to where youknow that they see us tumbling
that um they can hey you mightwant to you know go do this.
Uh just like I went into worklast night and uh my supervisor
he said, Are you okay?
(11:17):
You you look a little down,which I was tired.
Uh you know, had a long weekend.
Uh had a had see Friday I had aat my local gun club, I did a
bullseye pistol shoot, which Iuh evening shoot, which I uh
ran, and then Saturday I had auh next steps or a beginning
(11:38):
firearms class that I taught inJessup and then Sunday, of
course getting back to work, andall we also had uh the opening
uh firearms hunting season inGeorgia uh Saturday.
And uh we had the big what thethe Lions Club big buck contest
going on and uh it was just abusy weekend.
SPEAKER_03 (11:59):
Busy, right?
All good things, but it can justkind of make you tired, like you
said.
And and so to have a friend justlook out and be like, Are you
doing okay?
Like it, you know, it's like allright, I'll get you an extra cup
of coffee or something, likethat is uh sounds like you have
a really great friend.
SPEAKER_01 (12:15):
And and he's a uh military veteran as well, so
he's he kind of fits, feels no,he he knows that I'm military
and law enforcement, and uh, hejust he's got the same thoughts.
Uh, you know, he's I want tomake sure you're okay, you know,
watch out.
I've got your six, uh, you know,watching out for you and stuff,
which was was very thoughtful, Ithought.
(12:36):
But yeah, we just don't knowwhen something's gonna happen.
Uh and we may not even realizeit, but a lot of times our
facial and body language uhspeaks tons where we don't see
that we're projecting it, butother people pick up on it real
quickly.
SPEAKER_03 (13:21):
Exactly.
And um I I think that people uhhave sometimes because I I also
teach QPR suicide prevention inthe firearms community, and I
think that people have this ideaof you know, oh, like this
person's in crisis or thatperson's in crisis.
And uh I wish that more peoplerealize that it's it's just kind
(13:44):
of like all the little thingsthat can add up sometimes, and
it's not it's it is amultifaceted um risk that can
happen, but at the same time, itdoesn't mean we have to go
around being you knowhyper-vigilant of, you know, are
you okay all the time?
And and the key is just to befamiliar with the people around
us and know their know eachother's baselines.
(14:07):
You know, we all shoot together,so we're already kind of like
out in the range and and lookingaround and like, okay, like how
are you doing today?
And you know, there's just justkind of that friendliness, um,
which I love in our firearmscommunity, but that means that
we have a tremendous opportunityto just be real with people and
um and and in a way that we cantrust the people around us,
(14:28):
which you know, again, if you'reI I always want for people to be
um aware of who they're sharingpersonal information with.
We live in that kind of culture,but something I find about the
beauty of our community is thatpeople who have shared values
have an understanding of, youknow, life's ups and downs and
and each other's wishes for howdo I want to handle difficult
(14:52):
days, right?
And so it's it's in the contextof wanting to preserve rights
and being respectful, but alsoreally valuing life.
We carry firearms to protect thepeople around us, to protect our
family members, to protectourselves because we value life.
So it fits in beautifully tohave a real conversation.
(15:12):
We always talking about um, youknow, what do we do if there's a
bad guy in a parking lot typething?
But, you know, we really alsoneed to examine our own life
situations and and what's goingon in our home as part of our
situational awareness too.
And that's what really helps usto be uh good at self-defense
too, making sure that that ourown minds and our own lives are
(15:34):
in order in a way that umprioritizes things and that we
are able to get rest as much aswe can and and um being part of
that lifestyle is if we have totake seriously carrying a
firearm.
So all of these things come intoplay.
We do have a personal safetyplan that's free that people can
check out, and it basicallyoutlines like this is these are
(15:55):
the things that I care about.
Here are my preferred resources.
Here's what I want to do with myfirearms if I ever need to store
them.
And um, so having that planhelps people to be in the
driver's seat and not just alongfor the ride.
It helps people to practiceself-governance.
So um, yeah, I realized, Brian,we never really talked about
what Hold My Guns does.
We kind of jumped in.
(16:16):
So if you don't mind, I'd loveto share.
So yeah, Hold My Guns is a 501c3nonprofit, and we which is
important because we have a lotof friends that are doing more
uh 501c4 work where it's more umlegislative advocacy and things
like that.
So um, but as a 501c3, we'rewe're focused on community
(16:39):
efforts.
And uh we were we got ourofficial uh status as a
nonprofit in 2020 during SHOTShow.
We got a letter from um ouremail from our attorney, and
it's like, wow, this isofficial, it's really cool.
Um, just kind of a neat, neatway that we found out about
that, that it was official.
And what we do is we partnerwith gun shops across the United
(17:01):
States who and we we providethrough them voluntary firearm
storage, no questions askedduring times of need.
And you know, we talked a littlebit about um more of a mental
health need, which actually onlymakes up a small fraction of our
storage.
A lot of people use our servicebecause they're moving and they
(17:21):
don't want firearms sitting in ahotel room or in their car, um,
but you know, while they'rethey're waiting to settle on
their new house.
People use our service ifthey're being deployed or if
they're gonna be away for anextended business trip.
People use our service ifthey're going into a housing
shelter, whether it's um forhomelessness or if someone is
(17:42):
going into a domestic violenceshelter and you can't take
firearms with you oftentimes inthose situations.
So that empowers people to nothave to choose between their
personal security and gettinginto a safe shelter.
So um there are many uses.
People have used our service ifthey have a foster child in the
(18:03):
home, and um, you know, there'sthere's some guidance around
that, especially if the fosterchild is at risk.
Or if someone in the homebecomes a prohibited person and
it's like you don't want to kickout your son or daughter or your
spouse, and and you temporarilyneed to get firearms out of the
home for those reasons.
And I want to underscore that itmight not be the gun owner who's
(18:26):
having a hard time or goingthrough things.
It might be a household memberor someone that is um frequently
over at the house.
And some people don't store allof their firearms.
Some people just store, youknow, the ones that that might
be more like around the housewhen the grandkids come over,
but they still have their ummore like personal defense
(18:47):
firearm at, you know, close by.
So our goal is to support gunowners and provide the service,
knowing that not everyone hasfriends or family who can help.
And I'm just really uhencouraged to see how it really
has come alongside of people ina way that they can practice
self-governance.
We have to have the tools to beable to do that.
(19:10):
And the fact that it's comingfrom within our own community,
with um coming from trusted FFLsthat care about their customers,
it's a service that they canoffer that that genuinely is
making a difference.
SPEAKER_01 (19:23):
Right.
Very, great.
So how does Hold My Guns makethe difference in with the
community and with the uhindustry?
SPEAKER_03 (19:34):
Well, I I kind of touched on a little bit, but
it's making a difference becauseit is helping people to make
life-affirming choices and topractice self-governance.
And I think that's really key.
I do have a lot of friends whoare more in the um, I should
say, like public health space.
And a lot of people talk aboutfirearm storage from a public
(19:57):
health perspective.
And I think coming from thefirearms community, we have a
liberty-based perspective thatis, you know, we certainly care
about things that are involvingum health.
And so I don't want to minimizethat aspect of it.
But what we care about is um thepreservation of rights and
liberty and what does alifestyle of liberty look like.
(20:20):
And when you have a publichealth approach, sometimes you
have people in charge with verydifferent views on liberty and
on firearms, and they arewriting policies that you know
might on one hand seem like, oh,we really care about people, but
when you start to get into, youknow, um where's where are the
(20:43):
strings attached, and you learnthat they're involved with um
gun control groups who um haveused firearm safety as a
euphemism for, you know, umconfiscating firearms or red
flag laws or um, you know,trying to ban firearms or that
sort of a thing, and callingthat a public health approach.
(21:06):
Um, I'm really leery of that.
I think people in our communityare too.
So one of the ways that um wecan make a difference is to
actually be helping people andputting the ball in their court,
but providing the tools for themto be able to do that.
So I think we have a uniqueopportunity here to take
leadership in our community andand say, like, not that we don't
(21:27):
care about the health of thepublic, but we never want a
public health approach to beweaponized to create laws that
take away our our rights thatare preserved by the Second
Amendment.
SPEAKER_01 (21:39):
Right.
And and something I I've I'vealso noticed uh or have found
out, you know, being in Georgia,that we kind of pretty uh are
conservative as far as uhfirearms and the transfer
storage uh carrying.
Um but you've got some statesthat you have to go through
(22:02):
backgrounds, you have to have auh card or you have to have
remote permission to be able tostore a firearm on a home.
And uh that's where I see yourorganization being uh extremely
helpful for someone that may begoing through a situation that
they just can't give a arelative or friend their firearm
(22:24):
to hold for them without in someof those states being charged
with a crime.
And uh I I'm just grateful forthe things that you're you're
putting in place trying andtrying to expand your partners
to storage partners to whereit's gonna it'll be more
accessible for for people to dothat, getting the word out.
SPEAKER_03 (22:46):
Exactly.
And I I do want to just touch onsomething that you mentioned
because we're working withfederal firearms licensees, they
are required to do a transferbecause the firearms they they
they're transferring temporarypossession.
The gun owner is still theowner, but it goes in like a
consignment or consignmentreturn process.
(23:07):
So because it goes into theacquisition and disposition log
book, it does have to go intothat book, but it's make model
serial number and the person,the owner's contact information
is the only information that'sin there.
Um, and that, but that beingsaid, and because again, you're
working in a regulated space, soit's a similar process as that
consignment, consignment return,but we can also store
(23:29):
non-serialized critical partslike a barrel or a firing pin,
or even an accessory like a keyto a gun lock.
So there are a lot of optionsthere.
And um, if the FFL that we'reworking with has a locker
service, that's another option.
Because in that case, the gunowner would simply be renting
the locker and storing theiritems in there.
(23:52):
The FFL is not touching them orlogging them.
And yet it is at a location thatif something were to happen,
that they still had the abilityto transfer firearms, which is
important because again, lifecan be weird.
And you don't know, like if youend up in the hospital and you
know, you need to transfer themto a non-prohibited third party
(24:14):
because you know, for whateverreason, like things happen.
So that's why we work with um ifif there if there is a locker
service involved, they have tobe attached to an FFL for that
reason.
But it is um, you know, anopportunity that people have to
store a firearm or just a part,depending on what their needs
(24:34):
are.
And I agree with you, like, youknow, every state, like you
said, has different um laws forwhat a transfer looks like.
Sometimes there is a waitingperiod.
Our Washington state partner,and I believe our Massachusetts
one as well, has to work aroundwaiting periods.
But that being said, we've hadan opportunity to kind of push
back on some of those things andand challenge that.
(24:56):
Like, you know, what just tosay, like, how are these pieces
of legislation and this guncontrol, how is it creating an
obstacle perhaps for people whoneed the service?
And it's kind of changing theway people think about firearms
storage, which is reallyexciting, I think, because if
you can help people understandaccessibility and to realize
(25:20):
that some of the very pieces oflegislation that were intended
to help people are actuallyhindering people with the
majority of firearms-relateddeaths being suicides.
Um, I think it's it's it's givena unique opportunity to help
people to think through is thisreally the path that we want to
go?
Because we're making it hard forpeople to get the help that they
(25:41):
need.
So and again, we don't juststore for um mental health
situations, but that seems to bethe one that a lot of folks um
refer um people who care aboutthese things to hold my guns.
So it's a it's a good talkingpoint.
SPEAKER_01 (25:56):
Okay.
Well, no, we've talked a littlebit about the the reasoning and
uh you know the partners andeverything.
How do you uh vet your storagepartners?
What's their process if uhsomeone says, hey, I would like
to be involved in this, but uhyou know, how do you guys go
through making sure that they'relegitimately doing what they're
(26:19):
wanting to do and not somethingin disguise?
SPEAKER_03 (26:23):
Well, a good thing is that they are coming from our
community and they are they careabout providing firearms for
people and selling firearms andtraining people.
And so it's not like um we'rejust you know going to someone
that set up a building somewhereand said, like, I'll take your
(26:44):
guns.
Um they're they're people fromwithin our own community.
So I like already theself-selecting audience that we
have are um people who careabout making sure people are are
armed.
And so I love that.
But we do go the extra mile.
We do our homework on the umFFLs that reach out to us.
(27:07):
We look to see what theircustomer service rating is like,
knowing that people can use theservice for a variety of
different reasons.
We don't want to work with FFLsthat have like a one-star review
where people say, I if I couldgive them zero stars, I would.
This was terrible, you know?
So we look for good customerservice.
It's always a bonus if they havetraining at their at their
(27:30):
location because it shows thatthey care about education and
they care about their customers.
We require that our FFL partnershave general liability insurance
so that if anything were tohappen to that firearm, that it
would be covered by insurance,like if it gets scratched or
broken.
I mean, firearms areinvestments, so we care about
(27:52):
that.
There is part of that process isthat they have to go through um
our board and our board reviews,all the information they
provide.
We have a questionnaire, whichyou can find.
Our social media is hold my gunsorg.
And if you look in the link treein the bio, there is a form for
(28:14):
FFLs who are interested to uhlet us know that they were
interested in exploring tobecome a storage partner.
So we asked some questionsthere.
We prefer to work with a retaillocation just for safety
purposes, although we do have afew partners who uh operate out
of their homes but out of like aseparate business area in their
(28:34):
home.
And so we have to take thingsinto consideration like that as
well.
Um and I think the the biggestobstacle that we have right now
is that because each state hasnuanced laws, we have to ensure
that the transfer processoutlined in our contract is
(28:56):
compliant.
And so the process right now,we're working on streamlining it
as we're growing.
But the process is for an FFLthat is um from a state where we
don't already have a contract,that they work with an attorney
and help to fill in the specifictransfer process so that it's
(29:16):
transparent for the customer tobe aware of.
That's our biggest bottleneck.
And because we're so small, wehaven't been able to really um
offset the cost for that.
And so all of our FFL partnersuh so far have paid all their
own attorney fees to help createthat compliant contract and
(29:36):
write a letter to review it andsay this is compliant with our
um my cat's knocking over thelight.
There we go.
Um, but anyway, that they havegraciously helped to cover those
fees to um to show that theircontract is compliant through an
attorney license in their state.
Um what we would love to see,and I'm I'm so sorry I'm
(29:59):
laughing.
My my cat Marcy, like literallyjust climbed up on my lap and
knocked over the light.
These things happen.
Um she's interested in somethingelse now, is Cat's ARB.
So forgive me for a secondthere.
I was like, what's happening?
Um, but what we'd love to see isto be proactive about that and
address this bottleneck as weget more funding to be able to
(30:20):
proactively go out and havecontracts that are compliant in
all 50 states.
And that way we are reducingliabilities.
To our FFL partners who areinterested in onboarding, and it
helps to relieve some of thatburden of having to find an
attorney and create a contractand all that.
So, if all that to say is ifthere is an FFL who's interested
(30:45):
in becoming a partner who's inone of our existing eight
states, it's a lot easier atthis point, again, without we
don't have we don't have a lotof big funding yet.
Right.
Um, but it's easier at thisstage to onboard in a state
where we already have acompliant contract.
And that is, it's it's so toughbecause we have to be aware of
compliance and we want to reduceliability, but it also creates a
(31:08):
financial burden and more of anarduous process to onboard.
And but again, as we grow, itit's becoming more streamlined.
So we're grateful for everyonethat is has come on board in
this um kind of um, I don'tknow, like a like a prototype
type phase.
And and yeah, even in that,we're still making a difference
and helping people.
(31:29):
So yes.
SPEAKER_01 (31:32):
So how more people that maybe feeling that they
need to utilize this service, umand kind of briefly talk about
this.
Um how they do they feel or howhow can they feel safe about the
(31:54):
storage partner uh that you knowthey are you know, okay, I I
heard of this organization, I'veheard that they do, you know,
have this partner that holds mygun uh or for whatever reason.
Um how you know is this reallysafe?
And I I guess part of thequestion is, you know, you gotta
(32:15):
you have to do a little bit ofyour research on it, but uh you
know, with that dealer, thatpartner, but um how do you guys
help facilitate uh or do youhelp facilitate the you know
somebody looking for a a partneruh to store their guns and and
feel confident that hey I'mgonna get them back as long as
(32:35):
I'm not prohibited, but um howhow does that uh kinda work?
SPEAKER_03 (32:41):
Do you guys do anything like that to help them
calm their fears, I guess, iswhat uh something I I love when
people are skeptical of ourwork.
And the reason why is because Ilove liberty and I want for
people to put their thinkingcaps on, no matter what they do
uh in life, that they shouldconsider can I trust this um
(33:06):
this business or thisorganization or these people?
Um, you know, it might even be anew friend that you meet.
You know, you you are wise aboutthe information that you share.
And I realize that, you know,many people will would answer
this question with like, ohyeah, you can trust us, it's
fine.
But I again, I I have seen somany people misplace their trust
(33:33):
in things that seem good.
So I'm just gonna be honest withyou and say, always do your
homework because even if um evenif they've even if someone's
gone through a vetting process,you know, um, there can always
still be something that happens.
And and so I'm not washing myhands of that, but I'm saying
we've done our work because Ireally care about being able to
(33:56):
trust people and recommendingworking with a particular FFL.
And so for me, um, it'simportant that we we kind of
have that more rigorous vettingprocess where we're talking with
them on the phone.
If I can't go in person, we'relooking at the shop like on
camera, we examine their reviewsand things like that.
(34:16):
And they're also required tosign a contract with us that
outlines um, you know, thatthey're using the service for
lawful purposes, that they'regonna have a good customer
service, and there's like aprocess for what happens if
things go sideways.
And so we really have put a lotof due diligence as much as it
depends on us to find partnersthat we would be comfortable
(34:38):
with taking our own firearms toif we ever needed that.
So, and and my husband uh forwork has traveled overseas and
we've gone with him before andhad to find a place for
firearms.
So I know that it's somethingthat's very personal and you
want to make sure that it's inthe it's in good hands.
So we've really done our best todo that.
Um, but I would say, you know,there's no harm in calling one
(35:01):
of the gun shop partners.
You can find the locations uh onour locations tab,
holdmiguns.org, and look at thelocations.
You'll see a map there.
And click on the one that'sclose to you and ask them
questions.
You know, um, I'm interested instoring X number of firearms.
I, you know, do you have spacefor that?
(35:21):
Tell me a little bit about, youknow, tell me why I can trust
you.
Like I want for people to askquestions.
And the cool thing is thatbecause we work with gun shops
that have such great customerservice, they're not going to be
off put and they'll actually behappy and understanding that
people are asking thosequestions.
And it's important to know thatour partners, it's our policy
(35:43):
never to ask why people arestoring firearms.
We know that, you know, whetherthey're going to go on vacation
with their family and they don'twant their guns out sitting in
the home, um, or if, you know,if someone's going to be in the
hospital for a bit, or ifthere's a meta a mental health
situation going on in the home,that for whatever reason, that
that gun owner is beingresponsible to make sure that
(36:08):
there someone who um is not theit's not the gun owner is having
access to those firearms.
So we want to supportresponsibility and we want to
make sure that we respectprivacy and so there's no
questions asked.
And in fact, it might seem alittle bit cold, Brian, but if
someone does start to share alittle bit about what's going
(36:29):
on, our storage partners, theway that they handle that is
very caring.
And they they may say somethinglike, I really appreciate that
you want to share this with me.
I want to offer you thisservice, and I want to make sure
that we don't cross anyboundaries.
I'm not a counselor, but here isa list of resources that are
local that can be that may be ofhelp to you.
(36:50):
And it might even be things likejob resources or um how to find,
you know, like a local foodpantry or things like that as
well.
Because again, it's a people'srisks in their lives are
multifaceted.
So it is a way that we can havea very kind and respectful
distance and be able to providethe service.
(37:11):
So people should know that too,that our storage partners care,
um, but they are there to dotheir job of storing firearms
and we we try to keep it up likethat.
So um respectful and also um wehave a clause in our contract,
or I guess uh I don't know ifclause is the right word, Brian,
(37:32):
but that we respect privacy somuch that if there were a court
order, which is a very there's alimited scope to um, you know,
what that would entail.
Um we saw this recently withLiberty Safe.
So everybody, I I I don't wantto knock anybody, but um, but
things like that come up.
And so I'm really grateful thatour attorney who cares about
(37:54):
preserving rights put that intothe storage contract with
customers, that if there's acourt order, that the
information about the customerwould be sealed.
And really, what is thatinformation about the customer?
It's what's in the logbook, makemodel serial number and the name
of the person.
There's no information writtendown about why that firearm is
being stored.
So I hope that that um helpsyour listeners to have a better
(38:19):
idea of what to expect from aHold My Guns partner.
And I would just invite anyonewith any questions to reach out.
You can do that at info atholdmyguns.org, and we're happy
to answer your questions.
SPEAKER_01 (38:32):
Okay, that sounds good.
And I know that uh in thepre-show we talked about a a
person that's in your resourcesthat I've had was my first guest
on the uh podcast of Walk toTalk America with Michael
Sedini.
And uh I really love his whathe's done and the actual
(38:53):
resources, you know, that youcan go to and the the wide gamut
of uh self-service uh thingsthat you can check on, no,
oppression, ADHD, uh all thosedifferent things that you know
it's good for us to recognizethat you know occasionally we
need to just check ourselves andthat there's a way that we can
(39:17):
do it that doesn't uh infringeon our Second Amendment rights
because they don't ask questionslike you know how many guns you
have and stuff like that.
Uh and no, I really I'm glad tosee that you kind of partnered
with him or as far as uhresources and um see that you've
got a a couple good ones, youknow, the suicide prevention
(39:39):
hotline and the veterans crisishotline and the Project Child
Safe, which is another thingthat uh children and firearms,
you know, educating them onenumber one, I think is primary
if you're gonna have firearms inthe house with children, but uh
being responsible about it anduh knowing that you know the
(40:01):
child is inquisitive.
Uh they they like to touch, pickup things when they find them.
SPEAKER_03 (40:07):
And they are, yes.
We love Project Child Safe andand National Shooting Sports
Foundation.
I think they've done atremendous job to educate gun
owners about kids and firearms.
And I I'm just really grateful.
Again, we have we're veryblessed with a great community.
Another resource on there isDoctors for Responsible Gun
(40:28):
Ownership.
They're kind of under theumbrella of the Second Amendment
Foundation.
And um, I'm uh Robert Young andand uh John Adim and many others
are part of that group.
And you know, again, like wealways want to make sure that
when we're going to seek helpfrom a medical or mental health
professional, because they arepeople who um potentially uh,
(40:52):
you know, they they have theability to report and
authoritatively, and we want tomake sure that we have shared
values.
In fact, I actually switchedpediatricians when we were uh
when my kids were youngerbecause we had a pediatrician
that asked, they kind of um whenmy when I was not in the room
for a moment, they were talkingto my kids about guns.
(41:16):
And then I walked back in withanother, I had to take another
kid out to use the bathroom.
And when I came back in, thiswas the conversation that I
walked into.
And so um every appointmentafter that became a
conversation, veryconfrontational about firearms,
and we switched practices.
So I encourage people to knowwho you're talking to about
(41:39):
firearms, know what their um thethe authority that they have to
report and to be very wise withwhat you share.
And that's we want people to gethelp, but we want for people to
use resources that genuinelycare.
So, and care about thepreservation of rights as much
as they care about their theirpatients and clients, too.
(42:00):
So we love doctors forresponsible gun ownership.
And you had mentioned Walk theTalk America, um, which empowers
people to again, like youmentioned, like just to check in
on themselves.
How am I doing?
And it and it empowers them toseek help if they need it.
So yeah, thank you.
SPEAKER_01 (42:17):
All right.
Well, if somebody has somequestions that we didn't cover
or you know, interested infinding out more on how they can
help support, uh, you know,donate or whatever, how can they
reach out to Hold My Guns?
SPEAKER_03 (42:32):
Well, info at holdmyguns.org is the best email
for us.
It goes to our whole team ofvolunteers, and our website is
holdmyguns.org.
There is a spot on there todonate.
And as we are getting close to2024, um, where we are looking
for uh donations to make our ourwork possible as it as we move
(42:54):
forward and to onboard our, we'dlove to have gun shop partners
at all 50 states.
So part of that is I we wouldlove to see some uh partnerships
with some maybe manufacturers,whether they're in the firearms
community or adjacent to it,like the outdoors community or
whatnot.
(43:14):
But there is a tremendousopportunity to really show that
you care about this issue in away that preserves rights.
So we are just excited to be inthe space.
We'll be at SHOT Show.
We're at booth um, I think it's41167, and it'll be our second
year there with a booth,although we've been there a
(43:35):
couple of years in a row now.
So if you're um gonna be atShot, come look us up and come
by and say hello.
And I'm trying to think ifthere's um our social media that
we're on is Instagram, Twitter,LinkedIn, and Facebook and
Telegram.
So if you're on any of thoseplatforms, please give us a
(43:56):
follow and um yeah, let us knowif you'd like to get involved,
whether you're an FFL partner.
There's the in the in the biofor our social media, there's a
link tree, and you can sign upto become an FFL partner, you
can sign up to be a volunteerand to get on our newsletter as
well.
So we really appreciate umpeople's interest in this
(44:19):
important life-saving mission.
SPEAKER_01 (44:22):
Okay.
All right.
Well, thank you, Sarah, for yourtime and for coming on.
Uh, I know we we struggledtrying to connect and find the
time with uh your busy schedule.
Uh, I know you had the USCCA anda couple other things that uh
were going on, and you know thiswas the first chance that we had
to to connect, and uh, I'm gladthat we did.
(44:43):
And I'd love to have you back ona future episode to discuss it
more and hopefully see moreexpanded options uh for people
in in states that uh maybeyou've been searching for and uh
to try to get in place andhopefully we can help spread the
word for you.
SPEAKER_02 (45:00):
Thank you.
I appreciate that.
It's good to be here today.
SPEAKER_01 (45:04):
All right.
Well, thank you for uh joiningus and uh thank you for being a
part of the podcast and um wehope you have a wonderful day.
SPEAKER_02 (45:13):
Thanks, you too.
SPEAKER_01 (45:15):
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Hi, welcome to the Armed Guardian Podcast, season
one, episode six.
I'm your host, Brian, and todaywe'll be speaking with Sarah
Albrecht from Hold My Guns.
We'll find out what Hold My Gunsis doing for the 2A community.
So sit back, enjoy, and listento today's episode.
Hi, welcome to the ArmedGuardian Podcast.
(00:27):
Today we have Sarah Albrechtwith us from Hold My Guns.
She's going to discuss a fewthings about her organization,
what they do, and how people cansupport and get involved with
them.
How are you doing today, Sarah?
SPEAKER_03 (00:41):
Thanks, Brian.
I'm doing really well.
It's fun to be on your podcasttoday.
SPEAKER_01 (00:46):
I appreciate it.
Yeah, uh, I was I was reallyglad to be able to hook up with
you uh as we spoke in thepre-show.
Uh had Michael Sedini, uh, who'sfrom Walk the Talk America, and
uh mental health firearms uhalways been something that's
been passionate uh to me.
Uh having been in lawenforcement and in the military,
(01:08):
uh I know that PTSD and andpeople go through things and it
can affect everybodydifferently.
So I will wanted to bring tolight uh the subject of mental
health firearms and safe storageand kind of incorporate it in
this uh podcast.
I do it in my training, and uh Ithought that uh you'd be a
(01:30):
perfect guest, and I'm thankfulfor Trampus Swanson for
connecting us.
SPEAKER_03 (01:36):
Yes, Trampus is wonderful, and um, and and for
anyone out there, check out hisArm Lifestyle magazine.
It's really wonderful, and uh II always look forward to each
issue for that.
And and uh anyone in thefirearms community, check it
out.
It's cool.
Trampus is great.
SPEAKER_01 (01:53):
Yeah, yeah, he is.
We're we're gonna have him on asuh a guest uh for probably a
couple topics, and one of thefirst ones I was I'm gonna talk
to him about is that ARMLifestyle magazine because I
really, really like that, eventhough it is I I sometimes have
an issue with uh the onlinereaders and stuff, you know,
trying to zoom it out and zoomit in and stuff.
(02:16):
But uh I I really like hismagazine, the content that he
has, and then I'm talking gonnahave Candace on for Girl and a
Gun.
SPEAKER_03 (02:24):
And um awesome.
Wow, see, you've got we we againlike we were talking about the
pre-show, we're just blessedwith wonderful people in our
community who actually care, andthat's why I I love what we're
doing with Hold My Guns, and I'mexcited to share about that
today.
But really, it is about ourcommunity and ways that we can
(02:47):
help people to connect.
So um yeah, I uh I'm excited foryou.
I'm looking forward to thoseepisodes, so I'll be be watching
out for them.
SPEAKER_01 (02:56):
All right, if it sounds great, I appreciate the
support on on this end also.
SPEAKER_03 (03:01):
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01 (03:02):
So tell us a little bit about Sarah Albrecht.
Who is Sarah?
SPEAKER_03 (03:08):
Well, I um thank you.
I my name is Sarah.
Joy Albrecht Joy is my middlename.
My mother calls me by my wholename, but uh a lot of my friends
do too.
And I I think that's kind ofendearing because at the at the
right in my heart, I am joyful.
I um I love the Lord.
(03:28):
I've been married to my husbandTom for 24 years.
We were both homeschooled and wehomeschooled our five kids
together, and I can't reallycall them kids anymore because
they're 22 down to 17, and thereare no twins in there.
Um, but we have really enjoyedlife and just we've had a lot of
(03:50):
ups and downs in life, but atthe same time, uh we we just
appreciate God's faithfulnessand the people that He's brought
into our lives that have comealongside and encouraged us.
And we have always been a familythat kind of helps to support
people in need, and um, we'rethe house that gets all of the
(04:14):
the neighborhood kids that needa place to come by and have a
snack and a hug and that kind ofa thing.
So um we've really just grown upum kind of together, which
happens when you get marriedyoung and have kids young in a
way that has just been um kindof our, I guess, our heart to to
(04:35):
care about people.
So I think that um naturally itkind of lends itself to hold my
guns and and I'll share aboutthat a little bit more.
Um, but before I do that,another aspect of my life that I
really value is that my dad is aMarine Corps veteran and he
served in Vietnam.
(04:55):
And so I have a heart forveterans.
I have many family members whoserved um in wartime and in
peacetime.
And so we have a rich familyheritage of um just having a
love for our country and and aheart for service.
And so I have a just a deeprespect for our veterans and and
(05:16):
you know, on the topic ofsuicide prevention, I always say
the that treating veterans withrespect is suicide prevention.
And so I'm always mindful of themessaging that we send out that
um, you know, whether it'stalking about veterans, um, I
always want to make sure thatwe're respectful.
(05:37):
And when we're talking about umpeople who might be in crisis, I
always think about just thatthey are people and we love them
and um and that any of us can gothrough a really hard time in
life.
And so, you know, whether it'sit's losing a loved one or going
through a terrible accident orsomething like that, that is
just that can really um throwquite a curveball.
(06:01):
Um, the reality is that any ofus could be in that situation.
And so we just approach thiswith humility and genuine
compassion.
We have compassion on as a wordon our our logo.
It's kind of like a guide word.
And a little bit more about me.
Um, it's kind of funny.
I actually have my my doula mug.
You can't, there we go, in thefilter.
(06:23):
Um, doula is my superpower.
That was a gift from one of myclients.
I was a doula and childbirtheducator for 11 years, and I
specialized in helping clientswho had experienced sexual
trauma in the past, which, youknow, if if anyone is um a
parent or um or knows someonethat is a parent and and knows
(06:44):
someone that especially has beenthrough some hard times, it can
be a very um personal,difficult, challenging thing to
go through to go throughpregnancy and um postpartum and
becoming a parent.
And so it's just always my heartto help women who have been
through a lot and I wanted togive them this a healing
(07:05):
experience where they couldreally thrive.
And so I love that job.
And um I I guess um kind ofleads me to hold my guns.
And I um wasn't setting out toreally start anything, but we
lost an 18-year-old friend tosuicide by firearm.
And um, something I forgot toshare was that I'm also a range
(07:26):
safety officer, and I have umkids that grew up in shooting
sports, and so they really loveum liberty and they love
shooting.
And they came to me and theysaid, Um, you know, we love
these things, but our friend isdead.
And how do we help people in ourcommunity who might be silently
(07:48):
struggling with things and umneed a place to store firearms,
get the guns out of the house,mom?
How do we do that without beinggun grabbers?
And I thought about it reallyhard.
And I was like, you know what?
We we can solve this.
Let's let's work on this.
And we prayed about it andsought out one of the best
firearms attorneys.
Uh, I know I've I've met manymore, so I don't want to say
(08:12):
that there aren't others thatare great, but truly, Joshua
Prince on the East Coast, uh,he's phenomenal.
And it's it's kind of funny,Brian, because when I first met
him, the first question he askedme and he is, are you a gun
grabber?
And to give you an idea, likehis office is like this uh
renovated barn, and he hasincredible firearms all over,
(08:37):
just decorating his office.
And it feels kind of like goinginto this kind of really cool
bunker.
And uh it's it's just a littlebit intimidating.
It was the first time I ever methim.
And I was, but I was verypassionate about this.
I'm like, absolutely not.
This I said, I really think thisis an opportunity that we can
take leadership in our communityto help people who need storage,
(09:00):
who might not have friends orfamily who are able to help with
that.
And I see it as a way to helppreserve rights because if we
can help people with giving themthe tools to practice
self-governance, I think that wehave an opportunity to really
push back on some of thelegislative approaches that take
(09:21):
away rights.
So that's kind of how we gotstarted with Hold My Guns.
And that's a little bit aboutme.
And I am very grateful for allof the life experiences that
have led up to this point, um,the good ones and the heartache.
And again, I I just humbly umserve in this way, and I hope
(09:42):
that it inspires people to wantto get involved and support our
work and also to be that personthat uh people who need a friend
can talk to as well.
SPEAKER_01 (09:54):
Right.
Yeah, because we never know whensomething's gonna pop up in our
life that really devastates usor impacts us.
And uh as I we've talked brieflyin the pre-show, I've been in
the law enforcement and I'veseen the actual effects going
through seeing someone do that,as well as the after effects.
(10:14):
And um a lot of times, you know,we don't we may think we have
things, quote, under control,but you know, we we really don't
know.
And that's where having peoplethat like you guys, you know,
especially if you feel yourselfcoming on to a situation where
hey, I'm going into a deep holeand I don't may not need to have
(10:37):
my gun with me, or you know, itmay need to be stored for a
period of time while I can wecan get myself back together, or
either, you know, um, whateverit is, a move or you know, uh
whatever.
And uh I just uh think thatbeing able to have somebody to
talk to, having optionsavailable, making sure our loved
(10:57):
ones and our friends uh knowabout these things that are
available out there to where youknow that they see us tumbling
that um they can hey you mightwant to you know go do this.
Uh just like I went into worklast night and uh my supervisor
he said, Are you okay?
(11:17):
You you look a little down,which I was tired.
Uh you know, had a long weekend.
Uh had a had see Friday I had aat my local gun club, I did a
bullseye pistol shoot, which Iuh evening shoot, which I uh
ran, and then Saturday I had auh next steps or a beginning
(11:38):
firearms class that I taught inJessup and then Sunday, of
course getting back to work, andall we also had uh the opening
uh firearms hunting season inGeorgia uh Saturday.
And uh we had the big what thethe Lions Club big buck contest
going on and uh it was just abusy weekend.
SPEAKER_03 (11:59):
Busy, right?
All good things, but it can justkind of make you tired, like you
said.
And and so to have a friend justlook out and be like, Are you
doing okay?
Like it, you know, it's like allright, I'll get you an extra cup
of coffee or something, likethat is uh sounds like you have
a really great friend.
SPEAKER_01 (12:15):
And and he's a uh military veteran as well, so
he's he kind of fits, feels no,he he knows that I'm military
and law enforcement, and uh, hejust he's got the same thoughts.
Uh, you know, he's I want tomake sure you're okay, you know,
watch out.
I've got your six, uh, you know,watching out for you and stuff,
which was was very thoughtful, Ithought.
(12:36):
But yeah, we just don't knowwhen something's gonna happen.
Uh and we may not even realizeit, but a lot of times our
facial and body language uhspeaks tons where we don't see
that we're projecting it, butother people pick up on it real
quickly.
SPEAKER_03 (13:21):
Exactly.
And um I I think that people uhhave sometimes because I I also
teach QPR suicide prevention inthe firearms community, and I
think that people have this ideaof you know, oh, like this
person's in crisis or thatperson's in crisis.
And uh I wish that more peoplerealize that it's it's just kind
(13:44):
of like all the little thingsthat can add up sometimes, and
it's not it's it is amultifaceted um risk that can
happen, but at the same time, itdoesn't mean we have to go
around being you knowhyper-vigilant of, you know, are
you okay all the time?
And and the key is just to befamiliar with the people around
us and know their know eachother's baselines.
(14:07):
You know, we all shoot together,so we're already kind of like
out in the range and and lookingaround and like, okay, like how
are you doing today?
And you know, there's just justkind of that friendliness, um,
which I love in our firearmscommunity, but that means that
we have a tremendous opportunityto just be real with people and
um and and in a way that we cantrust the people around us,
(14:28):
which you know, again, if you'reI I always want for people to be
um aware of who they're sharingpersonal information with.
We live in that kind of culture,but something I find about the
beauty of our community is thatpeople who have shared values
have an understanding of, youknow, life's ups and downs and
and each other's wishes for howdo I want to handle difficult
(14:52):
days, right?
And so it's it's in the contextof wanting to preserve rights
and being respectful, but alsoreally valuing life.
We carry firearms to protect thepeople around us, to protect our
family members, to protectourselves because we value life.
So it fits in beautifully tohave a real conversation.
(15:12):
We always talking about um, youknow, what do we do if there's a
bad guy in a parking lot typething?
But, you know, we really alsoneed to examine our own life
situations and and what's goingon in our home as part of our
situational awareness too.
And that's what really helps usto be uh good at self-defense
too, making sure that that ourown minds and our own lives are
(15:34):
in order in a way that umprioritizes things and that we
are able to get rest as much aswe can and and um being part of
that lifestyle is if we have totake seriously carrying a
firearm.
So all of these things come intoplay.
We do have a personal safetyplan that's free that people can
check out, and it basicallyoutlines like this is these are
(15:55):
the things that I care about.
Here are my preferred resources.
Here's what I want to do with myfirearms if I ever need to store
them.
And um, so having that planhelps people to be in the
driver's seat and not just alongfor the ride.
It helps people to practiceself-governance.
So um, yeah, I realized, Brian,we never really talked about
what Hold My Guns does.
We kind of jumped in.
(16:16):
So if you don't mind, I'd loveto share.
So yeah, Hold My Guns is a 501c3nonprofit, and we which is
important because we have a lotof friends that are doing more
uh 501c4 work where it's more umlegislative advocacy and things
like that.
So um, but as a 501c3, we'rewe're focused on community
(16:39):
efforts.
And uh we were we got ourofficial uh status as a
nonprofit in 2020 during SHOTShow.
We got a letter from um ouremail from our attorney, and
it's like, wow, this isofficial, it's really cool.
Um, just kind of a neat, neatway that we found out about
that, that it was official.
And what we do is we partnerwith gun shops across the United
(17:01):
States who and we we providethrough them voluntary firearm
storage, no questions askedduring times of need.
And you know, we talked a littlebit about um more of a mental
health need, which actually onlymakes up a small fraction of our
storage.
A lot of people use our servicebecause they're moving and they
(17:21):
don't want firearms sitting in ahotel room or in their car, um,
but you know, while they'rethey're waiting to settle on
their new house.
People use our service ifthey're being deployed or if
they're gonna be away for anextended business trip.
People use our service ifthey're going into a housing
shelter, whether it's um forhomelessness or if someone is
(17:42):
going into a domestic violenceshelter and you can't take
firearms with you oftentimes inthose situations.
So that empowers people to nothave to choose between their
personal security and gettinginto a safe shelter.
So um there are many uses.
People have used our service ifthey have a foster child in the
(18:03):
home, and um, you know, there'sthere's some guidance around
that, especially if the fosterchild is at risk.
Or if someone in the homebecomes a prohibited person and
it's like you don't want to kickout your son or daughter or your
spouse, and and you temporarilyneed to get firearms out of the
home for those reasons.
And I want to underscore that itmight not be the gun owner who's
(18:26):
having a hard time or goingthrough things.
It might be a household memberor someone that is um frequently
over at the house.
And some people don't store allof their firearms.
Some people just store, youknow, the ones that that might
be more like around the housewhen the grandkids come over,
but they still have their ummore like personal defense
(18:47):
firearm at, you know, close by.
So our goal is to support gunowners and provide the service,
knowing that not everyone hasfriends or family who can help.
And I'm just really uhencouraged to see how it really
has come alongside of people ina way that they can practice
self-governance.
We have to have the tools to beable to do that.
(19:10):
And the fact that it's comingfrom within our own community,
with um coming from trusted FFLsthat care about their customers,
it's a service that they canoffer that that genuinely is
making a difference.
SPEAKER_01 (19:23):
Right.
Very, great.
So how does Hold My Guns makethe difference in with the
community and with the uhindustry?
SPEAKER_03 (19:34):
Well, I I kind of touched on a little bit, but
it's making a difference becauseit is helping people to make
life-affirming choices and topractice self-governance.
And I think that's really key.
I do have a lot of friends whoare more in the um, I should
say, like public health space.
And a lot of people talk aboutfirearm storage from a public
(19:57):
health perspective.
And I think coming from thefirearms community, we have a
liberty-based perspective thatis, you know, we certainly care
about things that are involvingum health.
And so I don't want to minimizethat aspect of it.
But what we care about is um thepreservation of rights and
liberty and what does alifestyle of liberty look like.
(20:20):
And when you have a publichealth approach, sometimes you
have people in charge with verydifferent views on liberty and
on firearms, and they arewriting policies that you know
might on one hand seem like, oh,we really care about people, but
when you start to get into, youknow, um where's where are the
(20:43):
strings attached, and you learnthat they're involved with um
gun control groups who um haveused firearm safety as a
euphemism for, you know, umconfiscating firearms or red
flag laws or um, you know,trying to ban firearms or that
sort of a thing, and callingthat a public health approach.
(21:06):
Um, I'm really leery of that.
I think people in our communityare too.
So one of the ways that um wecan make a difference is to
actually be helping people andputting the ball in their court,
but providing the tools for themto be able to do that.
So I think we have a uniqueopportunity here to take
leadership in our community andand say, like, not that we don't
(21:27):
care about the health of thepublic, but we never want a
public health approach to beweaponized to create laws that
take away our our rights thatare preserved by the Second
Amendment.
SPEAKER_01 (21:39):
Right.
And and something I I've I'vealso noticed uh or have found
out, you know, being in Georgia,that we kind of pretty uh are
conservative as far as uhfirearms and the transfer
storage uh carrying.
Um but you've got some statesthat you have to go through
(22:02):
backgrounds, you have to have auh card or you have to have
remote permission to be able tostore a firearm on a home.
And uh that's where I see yourorganization being uh extremely
helpful for someone that may begoing through a situation that
they just can't give a arelative or friend their firearm
(22:24):
to hold for them without in someof those states being charged
with a crime.
And uh I I'm just grateful forthe things that you're you're
putting in place trying andtrying to expand your partners
to storage partners to whereit's gonna it'll be more
accessible for for people to dothat, getting the word out.
SPEAKER_03 (22:46):
Exactly.
And I I do want to just touch onsomething that you mentioned
because we're working withfederal firearms licensees, they
are required to do a transferbecause the firearms they they
they're transferring temporarypossession.
The gun owner is still theowner, but it goes in like a
consignment or consignmentreturn process.
(23:07):
So because it goes into theacquisition and disposition log
book, it does have to go intothat book, but it's make model
serial number and the person,the owner's contact information
is the only information that'sin there.
Um, and that, but that beingsaid, and because again, you're
working in a regulated space, soit's a similar process as that
consignment, consignment return,but we can also store
(23:29):
non-serialized critical partslike a barrel or a firing pin,
or even an accessory like a keyto a gun lock.
So there are a lot of optionsthere.
And um, if the FFL that we'reworking with has a locker
service, that's another option.
Because in that case, the gunowner would simply be renting
the locker and storing theiritems in there.
(23:52):
The FFL is not touching them orlogging them.
And yet it is at a location thatif something were to happen,
that they still had the abilityto transfer firearms, which is
important because again, lifecan be weird.
And you don't know, like if youend up in the hospital and you
know, you need to transfer themto a non-prohibited third party
(24:14):
because you know, for whateverreason, like things happen.
So that's why we work with um ifif there if there is a locker
service involved, they have tobe attached to an FFL for that
reason.
But it is um, you know, anopportunity that people have to
store a firearm or just a part,depending on what their needs
(24:34):
are.
And I agree with you, like, youknow, every state, like you
said, has different um laws forwhat a transfer looks like.
Sometimes there is a waitingperiod.
Our Washington state partner,and I believe our Massachusetts
one as well, has to work aroundwaiting periods.
But that being said, we've hadan opportunity to kind of push
back on some of those things andand challenge that.
(24:56):
Like, you know, what just tosay, like, how are these pieces
of legislation and this guncontrol, how is it creating an
obstacle perhaps for people whoneed the service?
And it's kind of changing theway people think about firearms
storage, which is reallyexciting, I think, because if
you can help people understandaccessibility and to realize
(25:20):
that some of the very pieces oflegislation that were intended
to help people are actuallyhindering people with the
majority of firearms-relateddeaths being suicides.
Um, I think it's it's it's givena unique opportunity to help
people to think through is thisreally the path that we want to
go?
Because we're making it hard forpeople to get the help that they
(25:41):
need.
So and again, we don't juststore for um mental health
situations, but that seems to bethe one that a lot of folks um
refer um people who care aboutthese things to hold my guns.
So it's a it's a good talkingpoint.
SPEAKER_01 (25:56):
Okay.
Well, no, we've talked a littlebit about the the reasoning and
uh you know the partners andeverything.
How do you uh vet your storagepartners?
What's their process if uhsomeone says, hey, I would like
to be involved in this, but uhyou know, how do you guys go
through making sure that they'relegitimately doing what they're
(26:19):
wanting to do and not somethingin disguise?
SPEAKER_03 (26:23):
Well, a good thing is that they are coming from our
community and they are they careabout providing firearms for
people and selling firearms andtraining people.
And so it's not like um we'rejust you know going to someone
that set up a building somewhereand said, like, I'll take your
(26:44):
guns.
Um they're they're people fromwithin our own community.
So I like already theself-selecting audience that we
have are um people who careabout making sure people are are
armed.
And so I love that.
But we do go the extra mile.
We do our homework on the umFFLs that reach out to us.
(27:07):
We look to see what theircustomer service rating is like,
knowing that people can use theservice for a variety of
different reasons.
We don't want to work with FFLsthat have like a one-star review
where people say, I if I couldgive them zero stars, I would.
This was terrible, you know?
So we look for good customerservice.
It's always a bonus if they havetraining at their at their
(27:30):
location because it shows thatthey care about education and
they care about their customers.
We require that our FFL partnershave general liability insurance
so that if anything were tohappen to that firearm, that it
would be covered by insurance,like if it gets scratched or
broken.
I mean, firearms areinvestments, so we care about
(27:52):
that.
There is part of that process isthat they have to go through um
our board and our board reviews,all the information they
provide.
We have a questionnaire, whichyou can find.
Our social media is hold my gunsorg.
And if you look in the link treein the bio, there is a form for
(28:14):
FFLs who are interested to uhlet us know that they were
interested in exploring tobecome a storage partner.
So we asked some questionsthere.
We prefer to work with a retaillocation just for safety
purposes, although we do have afew partners who uh operate out
of their homes but out of like aseparate business area in their
(28:34):
home.
And so we have to take thingsinto consideration like that as
well.
Um and I think the the biggestobstacle that we have right now
is that because each state hasnuanced laws, we have to ensure
that the transfer processoutlined in our contract is
(28:56):
compliant.
And so the process right now,we're working on streamlining it
as we're growing.
But the process is for an FFLthat is um from a state where we
don't already have a contract,that they work with an attorney
and help to fill in the specifictransfer process so that it's
(29:16):
transparent for the customer tobe aware of.
That's our biggest bottleneck.
And because we're so small, wehaven't been able to really um
offset the cost for that.
And so all of our FFL partnersuh so far have paid all their
own attorney fees to help createthat compliant contract and
(29:36):
write a letter to review it andsay this is compliant with our
um my cat's knocking over thelight.
There we go.
Um, but anyway, that they havegraciously helped to cover those
fees to um to show that theircontract is compliant through an
attorney license in their state.
Um what we would love to see,and I'm I'm so sorry I'm
(29:59):
laughing.
My my cat Marcy, like literallyjust climbed up on my lap and
knocked over the light.
These things happen.
Um she's interested in somethingelse now, is Cat's ARB.
So forgive me for a secondthere.
I was like, what's happening?
Um, but what we'd love to see isto be proactive about that and
address this bottleneck as weget more funding to be able to
(30:20):
proactively go out and havecontracts that are compliant in
all 50 states.
And that way we are reducingliabilities.
To our FFL partners who areinterested in onboarding, and it
helps to relieve some of thatburden of having to find an
attorney and create a contractand all that.
So, if all that to say is ifthere is an FFL who's interested
(30:45):
in becoming a partner who's inone of our existing eight
states, it's a lot easier atthis point, again, without we
don't have we don't have a lotof big funding yet.
Right.
Um, but it's easier at thisstage to onboard in a state
where we already have acompliant contract.
And that is, it's it's so toughbecause we have to be aware of
compliance and we want to reduceliability, but it also creates a
(31:08):
financial burden and more of anarduous process to onboard.
And but again, as we grow, itit's becoming more streamlined.
So we're grateful for everyonethat is has come on board in
this um kind of um, I don'tknow, like a like a prototype
type phase.
And and yeah, even in that,we're still making a difference
and helping people.
(31:29):
So yes.
SPEAKER_01 (31:32):
So how more people that maybe feeling that they
need to utilize this service, umand kind of briefly talk about
this.
Um how they do they feel or howhow can they feel safe about the
(31:54):
storage partner uh that you knowthey are you know, okay, I I
heard of this organization, I'veheard that they do, you know,
have this partner that holds mygun uh or for whatever reason.
Um how you know is this reallysafe?
And I I guess part of thequestion is, you know, you gotta
(32:15):
you have to do a little bit ofyour research on it, but uh you
know, with that dealer, thatpartner, but um how do you guys
help facilitate uh or do youhelp facilitate the you know
somebody looking for a a partneruh to store their guns and and
feel confident that hey I'mgonna get them back as long as
(32:35):
I'm not prohibited, but um howhow does that uh kinda work?
SPEAKER_03 (32:41):
Do you guys do anything like that to help them
calm their fears, I guess, iswhat uh something I I love when
people are skeptical of ourwork.
And the reason why is because Ilove liberty and I want for
people to put their thinkingcaps on, no matter what they do
uh in life, that they shouldconsider can I trust this um
(33:06):
this business or thisorganization or these people?
Um, you know, it might even be anew friend that you meet.
You know, you you are wise aboutthe information that you share.
And I realize that, you know,many people will would answer
this question with like, ohyeah, you can trust us, it's
fine.
But I again, I I have seen somany people misplace their trust
(33:33):
in things that seem good.
So I'm just gonna be honest withyou and say, always do your
homework because even if um evenif they've even if someone's
gone through a vetting process,you know, um, there can always
still be something that happens.
And and so I'm not washing myhands of that, but I'm saying
we've done our work because Ireally care about being able to
(33:56):
trust people and recommendingworking with a particular FFL.
And so for me, um, it'simportant that we we kind of
have that more rigorous vettingprocess where we're talking with
them on the phone.
If I can't go in person, we'relooking at the shop like on
camera, we examine their reviewsand things like that.
(34:16):
And they're also required tosign a contract with us that
outlines um, you know, thatthey're using the service for
lawful purposes, that they'regonna have a good customer
service, and there's like aprocess for what happens if
things go sideways.
And so we really have put a lotof due diligence as much as it
depends on us to find partnersthat we would be comfortable
(34:38):
with taking our own firearms toif we ever needed that.
So, and and my husband uh forwork has traveled overseas and
we've gone with him before andhad to find a place for
firearms.
So I know that it's somethingthat's very personal and you
want to make sure that it's inthe it's in good hands.
So we've really done our best todo that.
Um, but I would say, you know,there's no harm in calling one
(35:01):
of the gun shop partners.
You can find the locations uh onour locations tab,
holdmiguns.org, and look at thelocations.
You'll see a map there.
And click on the one that'sclose to you and ask them
questions.
You know, um, I'm interested instoring X number of firearms.
I, you know, do you have spacefor that?
(35:21):
Tell me a little bit about, youknow, tell me why I can trust
you.
Like I want for people to askquestions.
And the cool thing is thatbecause we work with gun shops
that have such great customerservice, they're not going to be
off put and they'll actually behappy and understanding that
people are asking thosequestions.
And it's important to know thatour partners, it's our policy
(35:43):
never to ask why people arestoring firearms.
We know that, you know, whetherthey're going to go on vacation
with their family and they don'twant their guns out sitting in
the home, um, or if, you know,if someone's going to be in the
hospital for a bit, or ifthere's a meta a mental health
situation going on in the home,that for whatever reason, that
that gun owner is beingresponsible to make sure that
(36:08):
there someone who um is not theit's not the gun owner is having
access to those firearms.
So we want to supportresponsibility and we want to
make sure that we respectprivacy and so there's no
questions asked.
And in fact, it might seem alittle bit cold, Brian, but if
someone does start to share alittle bit about what's going
(36:29):
on, our storage partners, theway that they handle that is
very caring.
And they they may say somethinglike, I really appreciate that
you want to share this with me.
I want to offer you thisservice, and I want to make sure
that we don't cross anyboundaries.
I'm not a counselor, but here isa list of resources that are
local that can be that may be ofhelp to you.
(36:50):
And it might even be things likejob resources or um how to find,
you know, like a local foodpantry or things like that as
well.
Because again, it's a people'srisks in their lives are
multifaceted.
So it is a way that we can havea very kind and respectful
distance and be able to providethe service.
(37:11):
So people should know that too,that our storage partners care,
um, but they are there to dotheir job of storing firearms
and we we try to keep it up likethat.
So um respectful and also um wehave a clause in our contract,
or I guess uh I don't know ifclause is the right word, Brian,
(37:32):
but that we respect privacy somuch that if there were a court
order, which is a very there's alimited scope to um, you know,
what that would entail.
Um we saw this recently withLiberty Safe.
So everybody, I I I don't wantto knock anybody, but um, but
things like that come up.
And so I'm really grateful thatour attorney who cares about
(37:54):
preserving rights put that intothe storage contract with
customers, that if there's acourt order, that the
information about the customerwould be sealed.
And really, what is thatinformation about the customer?
It's what's in the logbook, makemodel serial number and the name
of the person.
There's no information writtendown about why that firearm is
being stored.
So I hope that that um helpsyour listeners to have a better
(38:19):
idea of what to expect from aHold My Guns partner.
And I would just invite anyonewith any questions to reach out.
You can do that at info atholdmyguns.org, and we're happy
to answer your questions.
SPEAKER_01 (38:32):
Okay, that sounds good.
And I know that uh in thepre-show we talked about a a
person that's in your resourcesthat I've had was my first guest
on the uh podcast of Walk toTalk America with Michael
Sedini.
And uh I really love his whathe's done and the actual
(38:53):
resources, you know, that youcan go to and the the wide gamut
of uh self-service uh thingsthat you can check on, no,
oppression, ADHD, uh all thosedifferent things that you know
it's good for us to recognizethat you know occasionally we
need to just check ourselves andthat there's a way that we can
(39:17):
do it that doesn't uh infringeon our Second Amendment rights
because they don't ask questionslike you know how many guns you
have and stuff like that.
Uh and no, I really I'm glad tosee that you kind of partnered
with him or as far as uhresources and um see that you've
got a a couple good ones, youknow, the suicide prevention
(39:39):
hotline and the veterans crisishotline and the Project Child
Safe, which is another thingthat uh children and firearms,
you know, educating them onenumber one, I think is primary
if you're gonna have firearms inthe house with children, but uh
being responsible about it anduh knowing that you know the
(40:01):
child is inquisitive.
Uh they they like to touch, pickup things when they find them.
SPEAKER_03 (40:07):
And they are, yes.
We love Project Child Safe andand National Shooting Sports
Foundation.
I think they've done atremendous job to educate gun
owners about kids and firearms.
And I I'm just really grateful.
Again, we have we're veryblessed with a great community.
Another resource on there isDoctors for Responsible Gun
(40:28):
Ownership.
They're kind of under theumbrella of the Second Amendment
Foundation.
And um, I'm uh Robert Young andand uh John Adim and many others
are part of that group.
And you know, again, like wealways want to make sure that
when we're going to seek helpfrom a medical or mental health
professional, because they arepeople who um potentially uh,
(40:52):
you know, they they have theability to report and
authoritatively, and we want tomake sure that we have shared
values.
In fact, I actually switchedpediatricians when we were uh
when my kids were youngerbecause we had a pediatrician
that asked, they kind of um whenmy when I was not in the room
for a moment, they were talkingto my kids about guns.
(41:16):
And then I walked back in withanother, I had to take another
kid out to use the bathroom.
And when I came back in, thiswas the conversation that I
walked into.
And so um every appointmentafter that became a
conversation, veryconfrontational about firearms,
and we switched practices.
So I encourage people to knowwho you're talking to about
(41:39):
firearms, know what their um thethe authority that they have to
report and to be very wise withwhat you share.
And that's we want people to gethelp, but we want for people to
use resources that genuinelycare.
So, and care about thepreservation of rights as much
as they care about their theirpatients and clients, too.
(42:00):
So we love doctors forresponsible gun ownership.
And you had mentioned Walk theTalk America, um, which empowers
people to again, like youmentioned, like just to check in
on themselves.
How am I doing?
And it and it empowers them toseek help if they need it.
So yeah, thank you.
SPEAKER_01 (42:17):
All right.
Well, if somebody has somequestions that we didn't cover
or you know, interested infinding out more on how they can
help support, uh, you know,donate or whatever, how can they
reach out to Hold My Guns?
SPEAKER_03 (42:32):
Well, info at holdmyguns.org is the best email
for us.
It goes to our whole team ofvolunteers, and our website is
holdmyguns.org.
There is a spot on there todonate.
And as we are getting close to2024, um, where we are looking
for uh donations to make our ourwork possible as it as we move
(42:54):
forward and to onboard our, we'dlove to have gun shop partners
at all 50 states.
So part of that is I we wouldlove to see some uh partnerships
with some maybe manufacturers,whether they're in the firearms
community or adjacent to it,like the outdoors community or
whatnot.
(43:14):
But there is a tremendousopportunity to really show that
you care about this issue in away that preserves rights.
So we are just excited to be inthe space.
We'll be at SHOT Show.
We're at booth um, I think it's41167, and it'll be our second
year there with a booth,although we've been there a
(43:35):
couple of years in a row now.
So if you're um gonna be atShot, come look us up and come
by and say hello.
And I'm trying to think ifthere's um our social media that
we're on is Instagram, Twitter,LinkedIn, and Facebook and
Telegram.
So if you're on any of thoseplatforms, please give us a
(43:56):
follow and um yeah, let us knowif you'd like to get involved,
whether you're an FFL partner.
There's the in the in the biofor our social media, there's a
link tree, and you can sign upto become an FFL partner, you
can sign up to be a volunteerand to get on our newsletter as
well.
So we really appreciate umpeople's interest in this
(44:19):
important life-saving mission.
SPEAKER_01 (44:22):
Okay.
All right.
Well, thank you, Sarah, for yourtime and for coming on.
Uh, I know we we struggledtrying to connect and find the
time with uh your busy schedule.
Uh, I know you had the USCCA anda couple other things that uh
were going on, and you know thiswas the first chance that we had
to to connect, and uh, I'm gladthat we did.
(44:43):
And I'd love to have you back ona future episode to discuss it
more and hopefully see moreexpanded options uh for people
in in states that uh maybeyou've been searching for and uh
to try to get in place andhopefully we can help spread the
word for you.
SPEAKER_02 (45:00):
Thank you.
I appreciate that.
It's good to be here today.
SPEAKER_01 (45:04):
All right.
Well, thank you for uh joiningus and uh thank you for being a
part of the podcast and um wehope you have a wonderful day.
SPEAKER_02 (45:13):
Thanks, you too.
SPEAKER_01 (45:15):
Hi, this is Brian, host of the Arm Guardian podcast
and owner of Blueberry Tacticalin Training.
While we were looking to find aofficial drink for both the
company and the podcast, wesearched for several different
types of drinks, and we havecome to find Blackout Coffee is
a drink that we can put ourtrust into.
(45:37):
It's a coffee with values.
It's coffee that's more thanjust a coffee company.
They're a purpose-driven companythat acknowledges the people and
the traditions that make ourcountry great.
They're known for supporting thetraditional American values,
military, first responders, andhard-working people all across
America.
Blackout Coffee was founded onthe principles of conservative
(45:59):
values.
Founders believe in theimportance of hard work,
personal responsibility, family,respect, and traditional
American values.
So Farm Guardian Podcast andBlueberry Tactical are proud to
make Blackout Coffee ourofficial drink for the podcast
and our business.
So in the link below in our shownotes, if you don't mind
(46:21):
visiting, check out them.
They also have teas and cocosthat are available if you prefer
those.
But check them out.
There's a link in the shownotes, and there's also a coupon
code for 10% off your firstorder.
So check out Blackout Coffee andenjoy their drink.
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