Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Manny Connell, joined by on track Zach Seekers, who was
in for a ron he will do back tomorrow. Were
actually gonna talk to him in a few minutes from
New Orleans. But joining me now in studio my friend
in yours and gun enthusiast and gun controlled nemesis Willeland Conway.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
What's up?
Speaker 1 (00:17):
I love you so I love I know, isn't a
cool that made that for me?
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Sing it along?
Speaker 1 (00:22):
And she's so good. I love your sweatshirt.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
It says defund gun control.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
I'm ordering on.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
That's my favorite sweater. I love this sweater.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
I like to wear it in Whole Foods. Do you
get the side?
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Let me tell you what happened.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
I actually wore this into Whole Foods the other day
and I forgot I had it on.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
I wasn't like kind of provoker anything in this.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
I'm going through like the fruit dial or whatever, the
protuce section, and this little old lady comes up to
me and she she grabs like kind of touches my shoulders.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
She goes, whack your sweat.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Foods anyway, So you are actually the last time you
were on you were on your way to the Capital's
testified at committee against this monstrosity of a gun control
bill that is working its way coming to the floor. Yes,
so passed it out a committee.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Yeah, they passed out a committee.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
There's it's kind of been in flux in terms of
the schedule. I think it's supposed to go for a
vote tomorrow before the full Senate and then after that
it goes over to the House and then to be
more around the testimonies and all that, and then from there,
you know, they'll try to pass it. So we are
we're hoping that we can stop this with pushback with people,
(01:32):
you know, what, what does the bill do? So it's
they are saying that it's not an assault weapons bill,
but it is totally okay. So what it is is
it's a bill that bans any sort of gas operated
rifle that is semi automatic and takes a detachable magazine,
and some pistols.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Gas operated.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Basically means any kind of AR fifteen type of of
rifle or pistol would be banned unless it had a
non detachable fixed magazine. This is essentially out out laws
all of them, right, and it's written very vaguely so
that yeah, yeah, so that Attorney General Phil Weiser would
(02:08):
be able to determine which other weapons might also be included.
So it's very convoluted, right, and it can be sort
of defined after the fact, which makes it dangerous. And
one of the worst parts of this bill is they're
claiming that it's not an assault weapons bill because you
can still get an AR fifteen if you get it
modified for a fixed magazine. The problem with that is
(02:30):
it makes that weapon far less safe. Yeah, okay, So
I actually just spent the day. It was like two
weeks ago. You remember, it was like nine degrees, like
a super cold. I was in Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico.
It's nice where I was five. Yeah, you're in Puerto
Rico chilling on the beach. I'm in Kiowa in nine
degrees and.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
A foot of snow. One does playing with AR fifteens.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
And I was having malfunction problems because you've been firing
the weapon all day.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
There's water and grit that's getting in there.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
I didn't have the best amo and so I'm having
these double feed malfunks.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Well, this is happening. I don't want to get too
far in the weeds.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
So the bottom line is it's very easy to clean
that malfunction by simply ripping out that magazine.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Shamber, rapet chamber. Everything's good.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
If the magazine is fixed, you now have to break
down a loaded weapon with rounds in it.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
That seems safe.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Yeah, it's going to lead to a lot of negligent
discharges hurting people. It's a very terrible bill, and it's
definitely designed to keep people's hands off those weapons.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
So I asked you this off the year. I'm an
asking on the air out of the percentage of people
that showed up because they took testimony in committee until
like eleven o'clock at night, what percentage would you say
we're testifying against the bill versus we're testifying in favor
of the bills. So you got moms right for everyone
or whatever you know in every town, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
Whatever, Mom's demand action, every town against violence, right, Brady campaign,
We're all there.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
But what would you say percentage wise against it versus
for it?
Speaker 3 (03:53):
Just at a glance, I'd say seventy five to twenty
five against it. They probably didn't anticipate the level of
response that they got on that day. The line was
almost outside the capital to get into to view the
testimony and to testify, and they had the testimony obviously
in the old The committee hearing was actually in the
(04:14):
old Supreme Court, and then they had an overflow room
down the hall in the library, which was much bigger
that one was full and overflowing as well, so.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Both rooms were full.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
There were a lot of supporters of the bill there,
but they were all organized. You know, they're all wearing
the same shirt and they're all that kind of stuff.
And I'm sure there's a lot of good hearted people there, right,
but that was clearly sort of organized versus I think
there was a lot more grassroots of people that came
out and said, you know, we don't support what you're
doing here.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
I just think it was it was a fate to
complete before any of the testimony was taken. Tom Sullivan,
who suffered a horrific loss in the loss of acilities,
I do, I think you have to have a lot
of compassion for that. But that being said, there was
a zero percent chance he wasn't going to pass that
out of committee. What do you think the chances are
now on the floor of the Senate?
Speaker 2 (04:58):
What are you getting? Yeah, right now, my vibe is
deeply concerned.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Although I'm buoyed by the pushback, which is actually part
of the reason I'm here because we're part of that pushback,
and you can we talk about that in a minute.
But I'm buoyed by the pushback. But I'm also still concerned. Right,
there's a number of things that can happen here. I
think the fact that this started in the Senate and
not the house, right, the house is usually where the
crazy stuff comes from, right or left?
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Yep, it's usually the house.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
Well, just because there's more room for crazy in the
house exactly.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
And so when it starts there, usually the Senate is
like the big boy in.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
The room and says, hey, you know, we're going.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
To hold off on that when it starts to live
your body exactly. Yes, it starts in the Senate. It
concerns me. So the way this started number one. Number two,
that's the other thing that concerns is how quickly and
pre prescribed, as you just pointed out, all of this is.
So I'm hesitant to voice a whole lot of optimism,
even though there's like a little ray of hope in
my heart.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Right.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
So, and I just I think it's all about pushback
because if you ask any legislator, if you get a
thousand letters, will you pay.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Attention to that? And they will all pay attention to you.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
And it doesn't take a thousand letters. I learned this
when I in college. I worked for the Senate Sergeant
Arms Office in the Florida Senate when I was in
school in Tallahassee, and I saw the impact when he
walked into an office because part of my job was
basically like delivering bulk mail. Meaning one year they were
hearing a construction some sort of construction bill. I have
(06:18):
no idea what was in the bill, but all of
these builders all over the state of Florida mailed in
pieces of two by four Oh wow, like that was
so my job was to roll these giant cars of
two by four blocks. Right, you pushed them in the door,
and you would immediately see like it was almost like
a panicked look because they knew that it was overwhelming
(06:41):
and they and then I talked to more than one
legislator over the years who said, look if my if
my office gets ten calls on something, I'm gonna pay attention. Yea, yeah,
because they know that a vast majority of us never
pick up the phone, We never send an email. We
never sent a letter, so it does not take that much.
And it please just don't like threaten anybody really good, Yeah,
(07:03):
don't do that. What you need to do is write
a respectful letter that says, here's why I believe this
is wrong, here's why I want you to oppose it,
and here's what I'm going to do in terms of
the next election cycle. If you vote yes, and there's
nothing wrong with saying I'm going to find your primary opponent,
I'm going to vote for your opponent, There's nothing wrong
with that.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
I mean, when you start like throwing f bombs and
you start being nasty, that goes in the garbage. But
respectfully written emails, respectfully in written letters, letters and phone calls.
If you just pick up the phone and you're never
going to talk to the legislator, by the way, don't
ever think they're going to pick up the phone. But
their staff takes the message and then they get a
readout of everything. Everybody that is called in. If you
(07:45):
can shut down a switchboard, that will shut down legislation.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
Yeah, for sure. And I love what you said. A polite,
respectful but firm letters, yes, goes so much farther. I
mean when people lose their lose they're cool. It literally
does detriment to this.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
It gives them the ammunition. Pun intended that the other
side is crazy and we need to limit their right
to get guns because the other side is crazy.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Well, and we have an example of a bipartisan approach
to opposing this bill, right. You know Nick Henrickson, who
is this Senate majority whip. He's in Democrat leadership.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
He is against this.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
Bill, and he's going to be speaking at the rally
we'll talk about here in just a minute this weekend.
It's important to say that this isn't just a Republican
or a Democrat thing. There are Democrats in the state
of Colorado who recognize that their constituents, especially in.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Rural areas, are not going to take this right, so
they're going.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
To represent them. I think that's why it's super important
that we stand up well this.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
Texter, said Mandy, because the bill is so clearly unconstitutional.
Is it really an effort to make gun right supporters
waste their energy? Then gun controllers would be able to
substitute something weaker, claiming they compromise, And that's really what
they've always done. It's like, hey, we're going to take
all your guns. Oh no, we're just going to make
a three day waiting period.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
Sure, you know, yeah, they've always run a assault weapons
bill to get us fired up while they do this
thing on red flags or they do this thing on
the waiting period. There is another bill that's working its
way through that's probably going to pass that I am
also against. But it raises the age to buy the
minimum age to buy amo from eighteen to twenty one.
So that's probably going to pass, right, But again, I'll
(09:18):
go back to how this was framed.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
If it had come out of the House.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
I would have seen it as maybe that I mean,
and there's a possibility there's also in there bump stocks
and you know, certain types of triggers, like.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
Maybe it gets paired back to that.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
I don't know, but I think starting in the Senate
feels like it's more of we really want to do
this because we've wanted to do it for a long time.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
And maybe there's certain elements.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
In the Capital that see that the tide is turning
a little bit politically and they might see this as
their last chance.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
But then again, because that tide, I mean, I had
a poll yesterday on the blog I don't even know,
did I? Yeah, I did talk about it yesterday. Support
for Democrats in Colorado polling wise has decreased dramatically, Wow, dramatically.
Popularity as a party has decreased dramatically for the first time.
And how long Republicans gained some seats in the legislature.
(10:07):
I think that is going to give some that are
in slightly more competitive districts pause before they jump on
with this. This text or asked the next question I
was about to ask you, will the governor veto it
or will he run for president in twenty twenty eight
as the gun band governor.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
Yeah, I think if he runs in twenty twenty eight,
he's more likely to veto it because it's not a.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Nationally popular thing.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
But here's the little sneaky thing about this, the gut
we're a lot like California and the way we're set up.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Okantastic, Yeah, I know this is great.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
The governor could this could pass and then the governor
could just refuse to sign.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
It and let it go along without a signato.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Right, But then he I mean I know that that
is like, that's a distinction without a difference, right, I mean,
it's the same thing. I still think you can turn
feather Polis in any presidential run if he lets it
go into office, because you have the opportunity to stop it. Right.
By not stopping it, your getting your tacit approval.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Yeah, and this is the thing, there's there's elements of
the governor that I think he has like this.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
I think, deep down in his heart he has this
kind of tendency towards a little bit of libertarianism from
time to time.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
So we should just appeal to him, like.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
Dude, this is your chance stand up for the constitution.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Please, You're going to.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
Understand this thing that I'm about to say better than
anybody else because you are also a former Kentuckian, right.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
One of the things always a Kentucky I know.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
One of the things that I always say about Senator
Mitch McConnell is.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
That, just from me an assault turtle.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
Yeah, just from a purely political acumen point, there's nobody
better at politics than Mitch McConnell, nobody, And I would
put Jared Polis in the same league with him.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Yeah, I really do.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
I think that Jared Polis has the ability to extrapolate
out from each decision what that would possibly do for
or against him going forward. And I fully believe that
our governor right now does not give a crap about
the state of Colorado. Every decision he's making is a
decision based on how it will positively affect his ability
(12:07):
to run for president in the near future. Yeah, I mean,
I fully believe that.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
And I think an assault weaponspan is highly unpopular nationally
and impossible to win on supporting it.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
So let's hope right.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
Our age limits this one said the Fifth Circuit set
age limits are unconstitutional? Has that happen? Did I miss
that ruling?
Speaker 3 (12:22):
I haven't. I did not see that ruling, so I
would have missed it too. But even if they did,
it's still is going to have to work its way
to the Supreme Court for that to play out.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
And the Supreme Court.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
Right now is not super anxious to hear these gun cases.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
They're not.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
And secondarily to the texture who said, why bother, it's
going to be every challenge, every court challenge costs a fortune.
So whether you have Rocky Mountain gun owners filing a
lawsuit or whatever, all you're doing is draining money away
from organizations that otherwise would stand up for the Second Amendment.
Every time they have to fight something in court, they
(12:56):
are prevented from being able to go on offense against
something else. Egregious.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
True, you don't want.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
These things to go intoffect. So what happens now? Tell
us about the rally We talked about that.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
No, this is awesome. So, as you know, I work
for Delta Defense.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
We managed US Consul Carry Association, and the U s
CCA has an action fund it's called U s c
C a FSL for Saving Lives and it is all
about standing up for the Second Amendment. And so we
are actually hosting a rally at the Gallery Shooting Range
and Restaurant, which is over in Lakewood. You can google
(13:29):
it to be right there. It's a beautiful facility. We're
hosting it on Saturday from ten thirty to noon, and
we've got a great group of speakers speaking of Rocky
Mountain gun owners. En Escalante is going to be there,
so that would be awesome. Ras Kaminski I invited you,
but you have to have a Ross is going to
come by. Former State Senator Greg Brophy is going to
(13:50):
be there.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
He's awesome, Yeah, super cool.
Speaker 3 (13:52):
Guy, and as I mentioned earlier, Senate Majority whip Nick
for Nick Henrickson is actually going to be there to
speak against this spill is well, I'll speak for a
few minutes, but I'm going to kind of mc it
and We've got a good list of speakers.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
It's going to be a blast, a great time.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
And there's a really nice restaurant, right yeah, blast, But
there's a really nice restaurant as part of the range,
so great food, so they'll be that there.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
It's very family friendly. We're gonna have a.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
Good time or can people come out and shoot too?
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Oh yeah, yeah. The range will be open at the
time obviously.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
And that's how my call al on the mills, right yeah, okay, yeah,
it's right across from there.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
People can sign up for this.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
You don't have to sign up to come, you can
show up, but we'd love you to sign up for
it at USCCA, Action fund dot org, Forward Slash Gallery
Dash Range Dash Event.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
And I'll settle that easier by putting it on my
blog today, so right at the top of my blog.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
Day.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
But as well you should because it is a work
of freaking art. Every single day.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
WHI do you actually do that?
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Like in the morning. It's all in the morning at
five am or what I mean I I get up,
you know, like I'm having one of those periods. I
don't call it insomnia. I call it, Oh my god,
why am I waiting episode early? Unable to back to sleep?
Lately it's been like four thirty five. But I do
it all in the morning. It takes about like three
and a half times.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Awesome it is. I'm like, when does you have time
to put all this together?
Speaker 1 (15:08):
I don't have time to put it all together. But
I love it and it makes me happy, and I
hope people get a lot out of it. So and
it makes it easier than me having to like email
people where I got my stories. So what are you
hoping to have come out of this event at the
Gallery Range and Restaurant.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
Well, I'm hoping that it's an example of and this
is going to be one thing that I'm going to
speak about. The person who led the charge in Colorado
to put a magazine limit on was at the time
in the state legislature and is now a US congresswoman.
We need to be active at every step of the
political process. The dog Catcher gets promoted to mayor. The
(15:44):
mayor gets promoted to state rep. The state Rep gets
promoted the next thing you know, they're a senator or
a president. We have to get active. The first way
to get active is to show up at events like this,
hear from other people who will tell you the next
things we can do, steps we can take right We
are also going to provide at the rally and opportunity
for people to sign a letter to Jared Poulis that says,
please say no to this bill. So you can come
(16:05):
to the rally and here are the speeches. But you
can also take action at the rally that will be
as you and I just talked about at the beginning
of this, that will be action that will be paid
attention to.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
They'll go directly to polus.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
You know, I'm having those conversations with people, you know
when they're always like, you hate children, that's why you're
anti gun, and I cannot in our world right this
moment in time. You can look around the world at
some of the most horrible places to live where children
are starving, and they all have gun control. Because when
(16:38):
you deep disarm a population, then you allow the government
or whoever to do whatever they want. I know in
the United States of America we have this normalcy bias like, oh,
that's not ever going to happen here. Yeah, But I'm
sure that's how the people of Venezuela felt. I'm sure
that's how the people of Cuba felt when they gave
their arms over. I'm sure that's how you know the
Iranian people.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
Which are Australia during COVID.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
Well, we just had a mass shooting in Sweden.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Did you say I saw that yesterday, ten people.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
Yeah, and they have some of the most strict gun
control in the world in Sweden, Like you have to
justify it in Sweden in order to even own a firearm,
let alone use it. So we have to stop. We
have to undermine that argument that somehow being against gun
control means you're pro murder, when in reality, I think
it's the exact opposite, pro life. I'm pro liberty, I'm
(17:23):
pro having all of the things that make this country great,
but I'm also pro being able to defend myself from
a tyrannical government law bying.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
Gun owners never want to use their gun, correct, they
don't want to use it, correct, But.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
If you want to use your gun and come to
a great event. The Gallery Range and Restferrace.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
We do want to use it at that range, cop
the Range.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
It is very, very fun. Leland Conway, first of all,
thanks for all you do.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
You guys can listen to history on.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
Kog O tonight. Yes, yeah, seven to nine. That's right.
I got to get that in my mind. I suck
at time zones.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
But we have all these fees here in Colorado.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
In San Diego, they had a chance to vote a
tax increase and people said no to it.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
So now they're putting all the fees on.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
So you know what, that's so weird.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
That's weird.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
That is so so weird. I don't even know how
that happened. No, I do know, because we all watched
it happen here.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
Leland Conway, come back anytime.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Awesome, Thanks, good to see you all.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
Right when we get back. Our man A Rod is
in New Orleans covering the Super Bowl. He's actually on
his way back this afternoon, but we're going to check
in with him one more time. I know. He was
like all sweet about seeing Kendrick Lamar last night at
their big rollout. Do you know any Kendrick Lamar songs
Leland and Sizza are do you these me? I mean,
(18:34):
there you go. Nineties country is the best country anyway.
We're going to talk to a Rod next find out
if there's any news out of the super Bowl we
need to know. We're doing that right after this on
KOA
Manny Connell, joined by on track Zach Seekers, who was
in for a ron he will do back tomorrow. Were
actually gonna talk to him in a few minutes from
New Orleans. But joining me now in studio my friend
in yours and gun enthusiast and gun controlled nemesis Willeland Conway.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
What's up?
Speaker 1 (00:17):
I love you so I love I know, isn't a
cool that made that for me?
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Sing it along?
Speaker 1 (00:22):
And she's so good. I love your sweatshirt.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
It says defund gun control.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
I'm ordering on.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
That's my favorite sweater. I love this sweater.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
I like to wear it in Whole Foods. Do you
get the side?
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Let me tell you what happened.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
I actually wore this into Whole Foods the other day
and I forgot I had it on.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
I wasn't like kind of provoker anything in this.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
I'm going through like the fruit dial or whatever, the
protuce section, and this little old lady comes up to
me and she she grabs like kind of touches my shoulders.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
She goes, whack your sweat.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Foods anyway, So you are actually the last time you
were on you were on your way to the Capital's
testified at committee against this monstrosity of a gun control
bill that is working its way coming to the floor. Yes,
so passed it out a committee.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Yeah, they passed out a committee.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
There's it's kind of been in flux in terms of
the schedule. I think it's supposed to go for a
vote tomorrow before the full Senate and then after that
it goes over to the House and then to be
more around the testimonies and all that, and then from there,
you know, they'll try to pass it. So we are
we're hoping that we can stop this with pushback with people,
(01:32):
you know, what, what does the bill do? So it's
they are saying that it's not an assault weapons bill,
but it is totally okay. So what it is is
it's a bill that bans any sort of gas operated
rifle that is semi automatic and takes a detachable magazine,
and some pistols.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Gas operated.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Basically means any kind of AR fifteen type of of
rifle or pistol would be banned unless it had a
non detachable fixed magazine. This is essentially out out laws
all of them, right, and it's written very vaguely so
that yeah, yeah, so that Attorney General Phil Weiser would
(02:08):
be able to determine which other weapons might also be included.
So it's very convoluted, right, and it can be sort
of defined after the fact, which makes it dangerous. And
one of the worst parts of this bill is they're
claiming that it's not an assault weapons bill because you
can still get an AR fifteen if you get it
modified for a fixed magazine. The problem with that is
(02:30):
it makes that weapon far less safe. Yeah, okay, So
I actually just spent the day. It was like two
weeks ago. You remember, it was like nine degrees, like
a super cold. I was in Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico.
It's nice where I was five. Yeah, you're in Puerto
Rico chilling on the beach. I'm in Kiowa in nine
degrees and.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
A foot of snow. One does playing with AR fifteens.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
And I was having malfunction problems because you've been firing
the weapon all day.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
There's water and grit that's getting in there.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
I didn't have the best amo and so I'm having
these double feed malfunks.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Well, this is happening. I don't want to get too
far in the weeds.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
So the bottom line is it's very easy to clean
that malfunction by simply ripping out that magazine.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Shamber, rapet chamber. Everything's good.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
If the magazine is fixed, you now have to break
down a loaded weapon with rounds in it.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
That seems safe.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Yeah, it's going to lead to a lot of negligent
discharges hurting people. It's a very terrible bill, and it's
definitely designed to keep people's hands off those weapons.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
So I asked you this off the year. I'm an
asking on the air out of the percentage of people
that showed up because they took testimony in committee until
like eleven o'clock at night, what percentage would you say
we're testifying against the bill versus we're testifying in favor
of the bills. So you got moms right for everyone
or whatever you know in every town, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
Whatever, Mom's demand action, every town against violence, right, Brady campaign,
We're all there.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
But what would you say percentage wise against it versus
for it?
Speaker 3 (03:53):
Just at a glance, I'd say seventy five to twenty
five against it. They probably didn't anticipate the level of
response that they got on that day. The line was
almost outside the capital to get into to view the
testimony and to testify, and they had the testimony obviously
in the old The committee hearing was actually in the
(04:14):
old Supreme Court, and then they had an overflow room
down the hall in the library, which was much bigger
that one was full and overflowing as well, so.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Both rooms were full.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
There were a lot of supporters of the bill there,
but they were all organized. You know, they're all wearing
the same shirt and they're all that kind of stuff.
And I'm sure there's a lot of good hearted people there, right,
but that was clearly sort of organized versus I think
there was a lot more grassroots of people that came
out and said, you know, we don't support what you're
doing here.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
I just think it was it was a fate to
complete before any of the testimony was taken. Tom Sullivan,
who suffered a horrific loss in the loss of acilities,
I do, I think you have to have a lot
of compassion for that. But that being said, there was
a zero percent chance he wasn't going to pass that
out of committee. What do you think the chances are
now on the floor of the Senate?
Speaker 2 (04:58):
What are you getting? Yeah, right now, my vibe is
deeply concerned.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Although I'm buoyed by the pushback, which is actually part
of the reason I'm here because we're part of that pushback,
and you can we talk about that in a minute.
But I'm buoyed by the pushback. But I'm also still concerned. Right,
there's a number of things that can happen here. I
think the fact that this started in the Senate and
not the house, right, the house is usually where the
crazy stuff comes from, right or left?
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Yep, it's usually the house.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
Well, just because there's more room for crazy in the
house exactly.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
And so when it starts there, usually the Senate is
like the big boy in.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
The room and says, hey, you know, we're going.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
To hold off on that when it starts to live
your body exactly. Yes, it starts in the Senate. It
concerns me. So the way this started number one. Number two,
that's the other thing that concerns is how quickly and
pre prescribed, as you just pointed out, all of this is.
So I'm hesitant to voice a whole lot of optimism,
even though there's like a little ray of hope in
my heart.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Right.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
So, and I just I think it's all about pushback
because if you ask any legislator, if you get a
thousand letters, will you pay.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Attention to that? And they will all pay attention to you.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
And it doesn't take a thousand letters. I learned this
when I in college. I worked for the Senate Sergeant
Arms Office in the Florida Senate when I was in
school in Tallahassee, and I saw the impact when he
walked into an office because part of my job was
basically like delivering bulk mail. Meaning one year they were
hearing a construction some sort of construction bill. I have
(06:18):
no idea what was in the bill, but all of
these builders all over the state of Florida mailed in
pieces of two by four Oh wow, like that was
so my job was to roll these giant cars of
two by four blocks. Right, you pushed them in the door,
and you would immediately see like it was almost like
a panicked look because they knew that it was overwhelming
(06:41):
and they and then I talked to more than one
legislator over the years who said, look if my if
my office gets ten calls on something, I'm gonna pay attention. Yea, yeah,
because they know that a vast majority of us never
pick up the phone, We never send an email. We
never sent a letter, so it does not take that much.
And it please just don't like threaten anybody really good, Yeah,
(07:03):
don't do that. What you need to do is write
a respectful letter that says, here's why I believe this
is wrong, here's why I want you to oppose it,
and here's what I'm going to do in terms of
the next election cycle. If you vote yes, and there's
nothing wrong with saying I'm going to find your primary opponent,
I'm going to vote for your opponent, There's nothing wrong
with that.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
I mean, when you start like throwing f bombs and
you start being nasty, that goes in the garbage. But
respectfully written emails, respectfully in written letters, letters and phone calls.
If you just pick up the phone and you're never
going to talk to the legislator, by the way, don't
ever think they're going to pick up the phone. But
their staff takes the message and then they get a
readout of everything. Everybody that is called in. If you
(07:45):
can shut down a switchboard, that will shut down legislation.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
Yeah, for sure. And I love what you said. A polite,
respectful but firm letters, yes, goes so much farther. I
mean when people lose their lose they're cool. It literally
does detriment to this.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
It gives them the ammunition. Pun intended that the other
side is crazy and we need to limit their right
to get guns because the other side is crazy.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Well, and we have an example of a bipartisan approach
to opposing this bill, right. You know Nick Henrickson, who
is this Senate majority whip. He's in Democrat leadership.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
He is against this.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
Bill, and he's going to be speaking at the rally
we'll talk about here in just a minute this weekend.
It's important to say that this isn't just a Republican
or a Democrat thing. There are Democrats in the state
of Colorado who recognize that their constituents, especially in.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Rural areas, are not going to take this right, so
they're going.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
To represent them. I think that's why it's super important
that we stand up well this.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
Texter, said Mandy, because the bill is so clearly unconstitutional.
Is it really an effort to make gun right supporters
waste their energy? Then gun controllers would be able to
substitute something weaker, claiming they compromise, And that's really what
they've always done. It's like, hey, we're going to take
all your guns. Oh no, we're just going to make
a three day waiting period.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
Sure, you know, yeah, they've always run a assault weapons
bill to get us fired up while they do this
thing on red flags or they do this thing on
the waiting period. There is another bill that's working its
way through that's probably going to pass that I am
also against. But it raises the age to buy the
minimum age to buy amo from eighteen to twenty one.
So that's probably going to pass, right, But again, I'll
(09:18):
go back to how this was framed.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
If it had come out of the House.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
I would have seen it as maybe that I mean,
and there's a possibility there's also in there bump stocks
and you know, certain types of triggers, like.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
Maybe it gets paired back to that.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
I don't know, but I think starting in the Senate
feels like it's more of we really want to do
this because we've wanted to do it for a long time.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
And maybe there's certain elements.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
In the Capital that see that the tide is turning
a little bit politically and they might see this as
their last chance.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
But then again, because that tide, I mean, I had
a poll yesterday on the blog I don't even know,
did I? Yeah, I did talk about it yesterday. Support
for Democrats in Colorado polling wise has decreased dramatically, Wow, dramatically.
Popularity as a party has decreased dramatically for the first time.
And how long Republicans gained some seats in the legislature.
(10:07):
I think that is going to give some that are
in slightly more competitive districts pause before they jump on
with this. This text or asked the next question I
was about to ask you, will the governor veto it
or will he run for president in twenty twenty eight
as the gun band governor.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
Yeah, I think if he runs in twenty twenty eight,
he's more likely to veto it because it's not a.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Nationally popular thing.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
But here's the little sneaky thing about this, the gut
we're a lot like California and the way we're set up.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Okantastic, Yeah, I know this is great.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
The governor could this could pass and then the governor
could just refuse to sign.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
It and let it go along without a signato.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Right, But then he I mean I know that that
is like, that's a distinction without a difference, right, I mean,
it's the same thing. I still think you can turn
feather Polis in any presidential run if he lets it
go into office, because you have the opportunity to stop it. Right.
By not stopping it, your getting your tacit approval.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Yeah, and this is the thing, there's there's elements of
the governor that I think he has like this.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
I think, deep down in his heart he has this
kind of tendency towards a little bit of libertarianism from
time to time.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
So we should just appeal to him, like.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
Dude, this is your chance stand up for the constitution.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Please, You're going to.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
Understand this thing that I'm about to say better than
anybody else because you are also a former Kentuckian, right.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
One of the things always a Kentucky I know.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
One of the things that I always say about Senator
Mitch McConnell is.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
That, just from me an assault turtle.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
Yeah, just from a purely political acumen point, there's nobody
better at politics than Mitch McConnell, nobody, And I would
put Jared Polis in the same league with him.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Yeah, I really do.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
I think that Jared Polis has the ability to extrapolate
out from each decision what that would possibly do for
or against him going forward. And I fully believe that
our governor right now does not give a crap about
the state of Colorado. Every decision he's making is a
decision based on how it will positively affect his ability
(12:07):
to run for president in the near future. Yeah, I mean,
I fully believe that.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
And I think an assault weaponspan is highly unpopular nationally
and impossible to win on supporting it.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
So let's hope right.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
Our age limits this one said the Fifth Circuit set
age limits are unconstitutional? Has that happen? Did I miss
that ruling?
Speaker 3 (12:22):
I haven't. I did not see that ruling, so I
would have missed it too. But even if they did,
it's still is going to have to work its way
to the Supreme Court for that to play out.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
And the Supreme Court.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
Right now is not super anxious to hear these gun cases.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
They're not.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
And secondarily to the texture who said, why bother, it's
going to be every challenge, every court challenge costs a fortune.
So whether you have Rocky Mountain gun owners filing a
lawsuit or whatever, all you're doing is draining money away
from organizations that otherwise would stand up for the Second Amendment.
Every time they have to fight something in court, they
(12:56):
are prevented from being able to go on offense against
something else. Egregious.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
True, you don't want.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
These things to go intoffect. So what happens now? Tell
us about the rally We talked about that.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
No, this is awesome. So, as you know, I work
for Delta Defense.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
We managed US Consul Carry Association, and the U s
CCA has an action fund it's called U s c
C a FSL for Saving Lives and it is all
about standing up for the Second Amendment. And so we
are actually hosting a rally at the Gallery Shooting Range
and Restaurant, which is over in Lakewood. You can google
(13:29):
it to be right there. It's a beautiful facility. We're
hosting it on Saturday from ten thirty to noon, and
we've got a great group of speakers speaking of Rocky
Mountain gun owners. En Escalante is going to be there,
so that would be awesome. Ras Kaminski I invited you,
but you have to have a Ross is going to
come by. Former State Senator Greg Brophy is going to
(13:50):
be there.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
He's awesome, Yeah, super cool.
Speaker 3 (13:52):
Guy, and as I mentioned earlier, Senate Majority whip Nick
for Nick Henrickson is actually going to be there to
speak against this spill is well, I'll speak for a
few minutes, but I'm going to kind of mc it
and We've got a good list of speakers.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
It's going to be a blast, a great time.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
And there's a really nice restaurant, right yeah, blast, But
there's a really nice restaurant as part of the range,
so great food, so they'll be that there.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
It's very family friendly. We're gonna have a.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
Good time or can people come out and shoot too?
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Oh yeah, yeah. The range will be open at the
time obviously.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
And that's how my call al on the mills, right yeah, okay, yeah,
it's right across from there.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
People can sign up for this.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
You don't have to sign up to come, you can
show up, but we'd love you to sign up for
it at USCCA, Action fund dot org, Forward Slash Gallery
Dash Range Dash Event.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
And I'll settle that easier by putting it on my
blog today, so right at the top of my blog.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
Day.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
But as well you should because it is a work
of freaking art. Every single day.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
WHI do you actually do that?
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Like in the morning. It's all in the morning at
five am or what I mean I I get up,
you know, like I'm having one of those periods. I
don't call it insomnia. I call it, Oh my god,
why am I waiting episode early? Unable to back to sleep?
Lately it's been like four thirty five. But I do
it all in the morning. It takes about like three
and a half times.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Awesome it is. I'm like, when does you have time
to put all this together?
Speaker 1 (15:08):
I don't have time to put it all together. But
I love it and it makes me happy, and I
hope people get a lot out of it. So and
it makes it easier than me having to like email
people where I got my stories. So what are you
hoping to have come out of this event at the
Gallery Range and Restaurant.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
Well, I'm hoping that it's an example of and this
is going to be one thing that I'm going to
speak about. The person who led the charge in Colorado
to put a magazine limit on was at the time
in the state legislature and is now a US congresswoman.
We need to be active at every step of the
political process. The dog Catcher gets promoted to mayor. The
(15:44):
mayor gets promoted to state rep. The state Rep gets
promoted the next thing you know, they're a senator or
a president. We have to get active. The first way
to get active is to show up at events like this,
hear from other people who will tell you the next
things we can do, steps we can take right We
are also going to provide at the rally and opportunity
for people to sign a letter to Jared Poulis that says,
please say no to this bill. So you can come
(16:05):
to the rally and here are the speeches. But you
can also take action at the rally that will be
as you and I just talked about at the beginning
of this, that will be action that will be paid
attention to.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
They'll go directly to polus.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
You know, I'm having those conversations with people, you know
when they're always like, you hate children, that's why you're
anti gun, and I cannot in our world right this
moment in time. You can look around the world at
some of the most horrible places to live where children
are starving, and they all have gun control. Because when
(16:38):
you deep disarm a population, then you allow the government
or whoever to do whatever they want. I know in
the United States of America we have this normalcy bias like, oh,
that's not ever going to happen here. Yeah, But I'm
sure that's how the people of Venezuela felt. I'm sure
that's how the people of Cuba felt when they gave
their arms over. I'm sure that's how you know the
Iranian people.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
Which are Australia during COVID.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
Well, we just had a mass shooting in Sweden.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Did you say I saw that yesterday, ten people.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
Yeah, and they have some of the most strict gun
control in the world in Sweden, Like you have to
justify it in Sweden in order to even own a firearm,
let alone use it. So we have to stop. We
have to undermine that argument that somehow being against gun
control means you're pro murder, when in reality, I think
it's the exact opposite, pro life. I'm pro liberty, I'm
(17:23):
pro having all of the things that make this country great,
but I'm also pro being able to defend myself from
a tyrannical government law bying.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
Gun owners never want to use their gun, correct, they
don't want to use it, correct, But.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
If you want to use your gun and come to
a great event. The Gallery Range and Restferrace.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
We do want to use it at that range, cop
the Range.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
It is very, very fun. Leland Conway, first of all,
thanks for all you do.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
You guys can listen to history on.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
Kog O tonight. Yes, yeah, seven to nine. That's right.
I got to get that in my mind. I suck
at time zones.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
But we have all these fees here in Colorado.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
In San Diego, they had a chance to vote a
tax increase and people said no to it.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
So now they're putting all the fees on.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
So you know what, that's so weird.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
That's weird.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
That is so so weird. I don't even know how
that happened. No, I do know, because we all watched
it happen here.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
Leland Conway, come back anytime.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Awesome, Thanks, good to see you all.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
Right when we get back. Our man A Rod is
in New Orleans covering the Super Bowl. He's actually on
his way back this afternoon, but we're going to check
in with him one more time. I know. He was
like all sweet about seeing Kendrick Lamar last night at
their big rollout. Do you know any Kendrick Lamar songs
Leland and Sizza are do you these me? I mean,
(18:34):
there you go. Nineties country is the best country anyway.
We're going to talk to a Rod next find out
if there's any news out of the super Bowl we
need to know. We're doing that right after this on
KOA
The Mandy Connell Podcast News
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!