Episode 15
How New Jersey Tries to Destroy Gun Owners (ft. Tony Simon)
Tony Simon, founder of the 2A Diversity Shoot, joins John and Kaylee to trace how he went from a gun kid on a Virginia farm to one of the most active Second Amendment advocates in New Jersey. He grew up on a farm in Virginia, shot on his high school air rifle team, and joined the Marine Corps. After getting out he moved to New Jersey, where the state's firearms ID card requirements stalled his gun ownership. A 2012 class with an NRA certified instructor friend rekindled it. He became an NRA certified instructor in rifle, pistol, and shotgun, and when Sandy Hook hit and New Jersey's legislature put forward 76 bills to impede gun rights, he got into advocacy. As the only black guy testifying out of 200 people, he realized the movement needed more people who looked like him to speak up.
That realization became the 2A Diversity Shoot. In 2015 he partnered with Anthony Colandro of the Gun for Hire range to bring in people who don't fit the assumed gun owner profile, teach them firearms law, and connect them with Second Amendment advocates. The first event drew four people out of the 27 who said they would come, plus a New Jersey State Police firearms officer who showed up posing as a regular attendee. Colandro pushed him to keep running it until the room filled, then overfilled past fire code. Today Tony runs diversity shoots every two weeks at four different ranges across New Jersey, ran one in Pennsylvania for three years, and did a shoot in Omaha with the Nebraska Firearms Owners Association, and the events now sell out. Each event mixes pizza, raffle prizes, jokes, and a lot of shooting, with the goal of normalizing firearms ownership for people of every background.
The conversation turns to a blunt message about complacency. Tony, originally from Virginia, describes watching his home state go from a place that would march on the Capitol to one that rolled over because people stopped participating and stopped voting in local and primary elections. He argues that local elections matter more than the presidential race, that gun owners say all the right things but perform none of the actions, and that even people worried about being put on a list can still fund others' work, vote, and be responsible gun owners. The From the Soapbox segment gets spicy, including Tony's take questioning how 'don't tread on me' squares with backing the thin blue line, and a running High Point versus Staccato bit. Kaylee closes with her own take that gun owners are getting elections wrong by accepting apathy, noting GOA's website lets you act in about 33 seconds and that five minutes a week could be transformative.
Questions this episode answers
How did Tony Simon get into firearms and Second Amendment advocacy?
Tony Simon grew up on a Virginia farm, shot on his high school air rifle team, and served in the Marine Corps before moving to New Jersey. A 2012 class with an NRA certified instructor friend rekindled his interest, and after Sandy Hook prompted 76 New Jersey bills he saw as anti-gun, he got into advocacy.
What is the 2A Diversity Shoot and how did it start?
The 2A Diversity Shoot is a series of events that bring in people who don't fit the assumed gun owner profile, teach them firearms law, and connect them with Second Amendment advocates. Tony Simon launched it in 2015 after partnering with Anthony Colandro of the Gun for Hire range.
Why does Tony Simon say local and primary elections matter more than the presidential election?
Tony Simon argues that local and primary elections decide the policies and officials closest to gun owners, so they carry more weight than the presidential race. He says gun owners say all the right things but perform none of the actions, and that consistent local participation is what protects rights.
What lesson does Tony Simon draw from Virginia's shift on gun laws?
Tony Simon watched his home state of Virginia go from a place that would march on the Capitol to one that rolled over once people stopped voting in local and primary elections. His takeaway is that complacency, not a single election, is what flips a state's gun politics.
How can gun owners take action even if they're worried about being put on a list?
Tony Simon says even people worried about being on a list can still fund other advocates' work, vote, and be responsible gun owners. Kaylee adds that Gun Owners of America's website lets you act in about 33 seconds, and that five minutes a week could be transformative.
What happened at the first diversity shoot event?
The first event drew four people out of the 27 who said they would attend, plus a New Jersey State Police firearms officer who showed up posing as a regular attendee. Anthony Colandro pushed Tony Simon to keep running it until the room filled, and it later overfilled past fire code.
How big has the 2A Diversity Shoot grown?
Tony Simon now runs diversity shoots every two weeks at four New Jersey ranges, ran events in Pennsylvania for three years, and held one in Omaha with the Nebraska Firearms Owners Association. The sold-out events mix shooting with pizza, raffles, and jokes to normalize firearms ownership for everyone.
Where can people find the 2A Diversity Shoot and follow Tony Simon?
Tony Simon runs the 2A Diversity Shoot at diversityshoot.com and can be followed on Instagram at simonsaystrain.
Chapters
- 00:00 — Meet Tony Simon, the gun bunny
- 01:55 — From a Virginia farm to New Jersey gun laws
- 03:30 — Sandy Hook, 76 bills, and getting into advocacy
- 04:19 — Starting the diversity shoot with Anthony Colandro
- 05:39 — The first event and the undercover cop
- 07:08 — Growing through COVID and across the state
- 09:40 — Have you seen victories in New Jersey
- 10:54 — Fight back: vote local and primaries
- 13:30 — How fast a state turns from red to blue
- 16:12 — Holding the pro-2A side accountable
- 19:33 — Normalizing firearms for every background
- 27:53 — From the Soapbox: spicy takes
- 30:38 — Apathy, ignorance, and 33 seconds to act
- 36:18 — Where to find Tony and goodbyes
About the guest
Tony Simon is the founder of the 2A Diversity Shoot (diversityshoot.com). Born and raised on a farm in Virginia, he shot on his high school air rifle team and joined the Marine Corps. After getting out, he moved to New Jersey, where firearms ID card requirements stalled his gun ownership. In 2012 he took a class from an NRA certified instructor friend and became an NRA certified instructor himself in rifle, pistol, and shotgun. After Sandy Hook, when New Jersey's legislature put forward 76 bills he saw as impeding gun rights, he got into advocacy and spent three years testifying, often as the only black person out of 200 people testifying. In 2015 he partnered with Anthony Colandro of the Gun for Hire range to launch the diversity shoot. He now runs events every two weeks at four ranges across New Jersey, ran events in Pennsylvania for three years, and did a diversity shoot in Omaha with the Nebraska Firearms Owners Association. He says he has been in New Jersey since the early 90s.
Key quotes
"Being a patriot isn't a part time job." — Tony Simon
"Your local election is more important than the presidential election." — Tony Simon
"We have so many gun owners. Again, they say all the right things, but they perform none of the actions." — Tony Simon
"When you say don't tread on me, but you support the thin blue line, who do you think's doing the treading?" — Tony Simon
"We have decided that apathy is acceptable and then we want to complain when things happen to the second amendment rather than understanding that ignorance is a curable disease." — Kaylee
"I owe no loyalty to a political party." — Tony Simon
Transcript
Welcome to Gun Owners of America State of the second podcast.
Speaker A:I'm Kayleigh.
Speaker B:And I'm John.
Speaker B:And today we're joined by our friend Tony Simon from the 2A Diversity Shoot.
Speaker B:Tony is pound for pound the largest gun bunny out there or whatever he says.
Speaker B:He is one of our favorite people.
Speaker B:Tony, how are you today, my brother?
Speaker C:I'm glad to be here.
Speaker C: nd gun bunny in America since: Speaker C:Yes, it started off as a joke because gun bunnies, people don't like them in the firearms community because it gave them a bad taste.
Speaker C:And I was like, you know what?
Speaker C:I want to be the largest pound for pound gun bunny in America.
Speaker C:No one's going to argue with me over this.
Speaker C:And it's great.
Speaker C:Until you're introduced on stage at Arizona event by Cheryl Todd.
Speaker C:Right after sheriff Mike Lamb announces he's going to run for some senate.
Speaker C:And Cheryl walks up and goes, my good friend Tony Simon is coming up next and he's the largest pound for pound gun bunny in America.
Speaker C:I'm like, as he's going and my friend, he's the largest.
Speaker C:I'm like, no, no, no.
Speaker C:This guy just announced he's running for senate.
Speaker C:No.
Speaker C:Yep, she did it.
Speaker C:Okay, embrace it.
Speaker C:That was great.
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Speaker E:So Tony, how did you get into the firearms space?
Speaker E:Tell the people about yourself a little bit more in depth other than being a bunny, gun bunny and all that.
Speaker C:From Virginia, born and raised, Grew up on a farm.
Speaker C:Firearms were nothing special.
Speaker C:I was just a gun kid and it was cool.
Speaker C:I knew the guns everybody had on every TV show.
Speaker C:That was great.
Speaker C:Joined high school rifle team for air rifle, which was cool.
Speaker C:We actually fought a junior rotc, joined the Marine Corps, got out of the Marine Corps, moved to New Jersey and that's when my gun thing kind of sort of ended because you needed a Firearms ID card and all kinds of things.
Speaker C: And I'd purchased a: Speaker C:That was it.
Speaker C:Well, in New Jersey, you need a firearms ID card to go to the range.
Speaker C:I didn't have one, so I didn't go.
Speaker C:They kind of nerfed gun ownership for me.
Speaker C:2012, Friend of mine becomes an NRA certified instructor and he says, hey, why don't you get some firearms?
Speaker C:I got it full of class up.
Speaker C:So I went and got a firearms ID card.
Speaker C:I bought a handgun, I bought a rifle, I shot it.
Speaker C:I was horrible.
Speaker C:I couldn't hit anything because, you know, Marine Corps.
Speaker C:Yeah, but if you don't exercise that muscle, you lose it.
Speaker C: e me, a one inch group with a: Speaker C:And I just felt like I conquered the world.
Speaker C:I wanted other people to have that feeling that I had.
Speaker C:So I became an NRA certified instructor.
Speaker C:Rifle, pistol, shotgun.
Speaker C:And that was about the time Sandy Hook hit.
Speaker C:Just as we were hanging out our shingles.
Speaker C:Start training people at Fort Dix.
Speaker C:New Jersey and New Jersey legislature put forth 76 bills to actually impede our rights.
Speaker C:And that's when I got into advocacy.
Speaker C:And I fought that for three years, being the only black guy to testify out of 200 people that were testifying, I was the only black guy.
Speaker C:And I was like, yo, we need more people who look like me to actually speak up for our rights.
Speaker C:I didn't know what to do.
Speaker C:I'd already joined the second amendment groups in New Jersey.
Speaker C:I joined nra.
Speaker C:I joined this.
Speaker C:And it felt like I was the only one.
Speaker C:It really felt like a Klan rally.
Speaker C:Anytime I went into a meeting.
Speaker C:And it sucked because I know when I'm at the range and I'm teaching people, I'm seeing every race.
Speaker C:But when you go to advocacy, you're not seeing them.
Speaker C:And I'm like, you need to be seen.
Speaker C:2015, I talked to Anthony Colandro of Gun for Hire range, who's also an NRA board member at this time.
Speaker C:But Anthony, I was like, hey, that's where I got my training at.
Speaker C:Initially, he was my TC training counselor.
Speaker C:I was like, anthony, I'd like to set something up to actually bring people in that look like me and explain to them firearms, firearms laws and introduce them to second amendment advocates.
Speaker C:And Anthony goes, what about Thursday?
Speaker C:I'm like, hold on, chief, wait a minute.
Speaker C:Give me at least this show's about ignorance.
Speaker C:Give me at least two weeks to put something together.
Speaker C:Two weeks.
Speaker C:They got put it together.
Speaker C:Four people showed up out of the 27 that said they would come.
Speaker C:Cause, you know, Facebook.
Speaker C:Yeah, we'd love to be there.
Speaker C:So four people showed up.
Speaker C:I was kind of embarrassed because I thought 27 people were.
Speaker C:And of course.
Speaker C:Oh, by the way, I'm politically incorrect.
Speaker C:Brace yourself.
Speaker C:Four people showed up.
Speaker C:One black guy.
Speaker C:Excuse me, one Hispanic guy.
Speaker C:Three black guys.
Speaker C:They showed up two hours late.
Speaker C:I'm just saying.
Speaker C:It's a thing.
Speaker C:So they showed up late.
Speaker C:So it was me and my partner sitting around expecting 27 people to show up for two hours.
Speaker C:No one showed up.
Speaker C:So we're sitting in the classroom, and then finally, the guys showed up, introduced them, safety brief, talked about firearms in New Jersey, how to get a fire, answered any questions they had.
Speaker C:Then a fifth guy showed up who looked like an adult.
Speaker C:Urkel, sweater vest, plaid shirt, whole thing.
Speaker C:Hi.
Speaker C:Hi.
Speaker C:How'd you hear about us?
Speaker C:Oh, John, my friend on Facebook.
Speaker C:Who's John?
Speaker C:I know 20 people on Facebook.
Speaker C:I don't know no Johns.
Speaker C:I'm with the New Jersey Firearms.
Speaker C:New Jersey State Police, Firearms division.
Speaker C:They came to see what I was about because they saw my post on the Internet, and they came to my event trying to pose as just a regular guy.
Speaker C:I'm like, yeah, that didn't work out real well.
Speaker C:And anyway, he told me who he was with, and I said, that's great, because we want people to legally own firearms and you can answer any questions they have.
Speaker C:And he did, and it was a great thing.
Speaker C:And every now and again, police officers show up in my event pretending they're not police officers, because I don't know what they think I'm doing.
Speaker C:But I want people to learn the law and also learn how to fight the law.
Speaker C:I don't want you to get caught or at least you know the law, and you assess your own risk as an adult if you want to comply with the laws or not.
Speaker C:But that's what got me started.
Speaker C:And with Anthony, I was doing one event every two months because I was like, I'm sorry, Anthony.
Speaker C:This first event was horrible.
Speaker C:I totally understand if you don't ever want to do it again.
Speaker C:And Anthony Colandrio, being the man he is, went, oh, you're doing it again, and you're doing it again, and you're doing it again until we fill this room.
Speaker C:And I did it again and again until I filled the room, and then I overfilled the room.
Speaker C:And then I violated fire code.
Speaker C:And he was like, you're going to have to start selling tickets.
Speaker C:And limited number of people.
Speaker C:We had 80 people in a 30 person room.
Speaker C:We had that many people come in.
Speaker C:That was one of my highest events.
Speaker C:And he was like, you gotta sell tickets just to limit the number of people that show up.
Speaker C:And we've done that.
Speaker C:And it's grown since then.
Speaker C:Covid, they shut down every range in New Jersey.
Speaker C:And what happened was, because I do podcasts, because people heard of me, a range in Pennsylvania said, hey, you can have one here every week if you want to, cause we're free.
Speaker C:So I had one every month and.
Speaker C:And I increased the number of events I hosted during COVID when every range in New Jersey was closed.
Speaker C:Then this shows how stupid it is.
Speaker C:During COVID a new range opened up and they weren't under the closed range rule.
Speaker C:And they were like, hey, we've heard of you.
Speaker C:We want you at our range too.
Speaker C: So I ended: Speaker C:And it was great.
Speaker C:And we've grown since then.
Speaker C:Now I do diversity shoots every two weeks at four different ranges across the state of New Jersey.
Speaker C:I've also did the one in Pennsylvania.
Speaker C:We ran there for three years.
Speaker C:And I work with the Nebraska Firearms Owners Associate.
Speaker C:Yeah, Nebraska Firearms Owners association.
Speaker C:And they flew me out and had me do a diversity shoot in Omaha.
Speaker C:So we've grown.
Speaker C:I love it.
Speaker C:And it's because of the people like you that support us and donate to us and also volunteer CNJFO Coalition.
Speaker C:The New Jersey Firearms is at every one of our events.
Speaker C:And those guys are my volunteers.
Speaker C:People donate ammo and I have pizza at every event.
Speaker C:And then we have swag that we have as raffle prizes.
Speaker C:So we try to make it a fun event.
Speaker C:We joke, we talk about it.
Speaker C:I start every event off telling people.
Speaker C:If you listen to, if you grew up on Married with Children or Sanford and Son and the Jeffersons, that kind of humor, yes, I'm goofing on you.
Speaker C:I'm goofing on your ethnicity.
Speaker C:But because I love you, nobody escapes this.
Speaker C:I care about you.
Speaker C:I want you as a human being to be able to protect yourself and your loved ones.
Speaker C:But sometimes in advocacy, we get so caught up in the bills and the this and the that and the seriousness of it that you forget new people aren't as passionate about it as you are.
Speaker C:Sometimes they just want to have a good time.
Speaker C:And then you gave them an outlet for them to have the information.
Speaker C:So Yes, I know I could contact CNJFO now if I want something, but I, I don't want to hear about it for half an hour.
Speaker C:So we have fun, we make jokes, we have pizza, we have raffle prizes, and then we shoot a crapload of guns.
Speaker A:That's awesome.
Speaker A:So walk us through.
Speaker A:You start in New Jersey, you're expanding from there.
Speaker A:Have you seen victories happen in New Jersey?
Speaker A:Because so many people that are listening to this podcast are in a state right now like Virginia, where it feels like the end of the world.
Speaker A:It feels like the fall of the republic, if you will.
Speaker A:And so what do you see?
Speaker A:Having lived in probably one of the most aggressive, if not the most aggressive, anti gun state that's been that way for a significant amount of time.
Speaker C:It's been that way since the 90s.
Speaker C:So I'm originally from Virginia, born and raised.
Speaker C:And when I moved to New Jersey for the first time, I went, hey, in Virginia they never accept these gun laws.
Speaker C:In Virginia we wouldn't, you know, we'd march on the Capitol in Virginia, we'd do this.
Speaker C:Thirty years later in Virginia, they rolled over just like everyone else by not participating in the process, by not voting.
Speaker C:Less Republicans have voted in the last gubernatorial election than the one before.
Speaker C:And this is what you got.
Speaker C:And the irony of ironies is your governor's from New Jersey.
Speaker C:She brought New Jersey to you and you swallowed it because you didn't fight back.
Speaker C:So this is my message.
Speaker C:Fight back.
Speaker C:Fight back.
Speaker C:Join second amendment organizations like GOA to fight back.
Speaker C:Sue them.
Speaker C:Join your local organizations.
Speaker C:Virginia's Citizen Defense League.
Speaker C:Yep, Virginia Citizens Defense League.
Speaker C:Jill over there, she's been putting out a lot of information.
Speaker C:Do what the heck she said, vote in your primaries.
Speaker C:They're coming up.
Speaker C:She's playing games.
Speaker C:Your governor's playing games right now because she's gonna sign these anti gun bills, but she's waiting until after the primary.
Speaker C:No.
Speaker C:Contact your legislature.
Speaker C:You're gonna have to fight.
Speaker C:You're gonna have to fight to get your freedoms back like we fight in New Jersey.
Speaker C:That simple.
Speaker C:No free game.
Speaker C:And sorry, but all you had to do was vote and you didn't.
Speaker A:That's a super powerful message because I think, you know, right now you're gonna, it's, it's the, the feedback loop that we're all used to hearing, right?
Speaker A:This is the most important election of our lifetime and all of the things that are said and there's a lot of politicians right now that are wolves in sheep clothing that are, they've got the nice Shotgun that is in their campaign ads.
Speaker A:I support the second amendment and I'm a hunter and I support the second amendment or whatever is their tagline.
Speaker A:And so many of them fall short because we as individuals are not holding them accountable and we're not showing up to the town halls and we're not, you know, vetting as individuals these candidates.
Speaker A:And so, you know, it's easier for us once they have a voting record.
Speaker A:You know, GOA puts out endorsements every year.
Speaker A:We have the rankings and scorecard and everything and all of those tools are, are important.
Speaker A:But nothing will replace a individual being active and being a part of the process because you can change somebody who is on the fence about the 2A to a strong pro, a pro, 2A candidate and legislature if you show them that you mean business.
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Speaker C:So being from Virginia, I was really proud when that whole wave of second amendment sanctuaries popped up my county, Halifax County, Virginia, Second Amendment sanctuary.
Speaker C:The school that they had the rally in and everybody, that was my mother's high school, that was a segregated black high school.
Speaker C:And to see them fight for civil rights and win it in my mom's school that was segregated based on was freaking awesome.
Speaker C:I watched it online, damn near cry, you know, manly tears though.
Speaker C:And it was, it was just great.
Speaker C:And then what happened to you?
Speaker C:What happened to that city?
Speaker C:It's not.
Speaker C:Being a patriot isn't a part time job.
Speaker C:Being an advocate is a full time job.
Speaker C:If you're gonna fight for it, fight for it every time.
Speaker C:Your local election is more important than the presidential election.
Speaker C:All politics are local.
Speaker C:Start there.
Speaker C:And if there was pushback from the local level, the governor would have no power.
Speaker C:She could sign whatever she want to, but she wouldn't have gotten presented an anti gun bill.
Speaker C:It would have lost.
Speaker C:It wouldn't have come out of committee.
Speaker C:But because you didn't vote, because you set it out, because you didn't want to vote for the Jamaican lady.
Speaker C:Hey, you know we had a lady who was black and Jamaican and that was running.
Speaker C:And President Obama endorsed the white lady.
Speaker C:But six months earlier he yelled at all black Men because he didn't vote for the other lady who they claimed was black and Jamaican.
Speaker C:Weird, huh?
Speaker B:Weird.
Speaker C:Just saying.
Speaker C:Anyway, you were saying.
Speaker C:So I love Virginia cause that's where I was born and raised.
Speaker C:I love being in Virginian.
Speaker C:But at this point, I've been in Jersey since the early 90s.
Speaker C:I'm always from there.
Speaker C:I love there.
Speaker C:And I really wish you didn't have to go through this, but understand how quickly a state can go from red, red to blue or red to purple, and you about to get deep purple because you have the influx.
Speaker C:So this is a warning to all those southern states that are welcoming people from other hey, we want your business here.
Speaker C:Bring your business to Tennessee.
Speaker C:Bring your.
Speaker C:Well, understand you're getting the business, but you're getting the people too.
Speaker C:And you're.
Speaker C:They're bringing in politics.
Speaker C:And if you're not actively pushing back against your state going blue, you could become the next Virginia.
Speaker C:Nevada became one.
Speaker C:I mean, it just happens if you do nothing.
Speaker C:People are flooding out of New York City, they're flooding out of California, Washington State, Oregon, and they come into the middle of the country and infesting it with ideas that aren't conducive to the Constitution.
Speaker E:Well, I mean, you hit it right there.
Speaker E:We see mass migrations, we're seeing it.
Speaker B:Everywhere,.
Speaker E:Especially in states that have been traditionally Republican or red states.
Speaker E:You're leaving a state because you don't like what's going on.
Speaker E:You don't like the high taxes, you don't like all this stuff.
Speaker E:So instead of changing your mind, you go to a new state where it's got more freedoms, more better tax laws, whatever, and then you're going, I'm just going to vote the way I did in the last one.
Speaker C:Hey, we need more sidewalks.
Speaker C:We need more.
Speaker C:No, you came here because it's the middle of the country.
Speaker C:You don't need a sidewalk.
Speaker C:You don't need this.
Speaker C:So that's what's happening.
Speaker C:So the people that live there have to push back.
Speaker C:You have to actually vote, vote.
Speaker C:You can't go dump California, my Texas or whatever, but put no work in to stop them from California.
Speaker C:In your Texas vote, run.
Speaker C:Rebecca Schmoy, she ran.
Speaker C:She's a second Amendment advocate.
Speaker C:She ran and won in Iowa.
Speaker C:I think it's Iowa.
Speaker C:59Th district.
Speaker C:I get the district right.
Speaker C:State wrong.
Speaker C:I live in Jersey.
Speaker C:Everything's square.
Speaker C:Everything disappears after you pass Jersey.
Speaker C:It's just a square state till we get to California.
Speaker C:America.
Speaker B:No, but you hit it right, so.
Speaker B:And I said this after the presidential election.
Speaker E:Historically we the Republicans vote for the presidential election.
Speaker E:They get their who they want in and then they kind of sit back and relax and think oh it's just going to go because we've got this guy in office, it's going to be great.
Speaker E:And then they forget about the local and then they forget about the congressman and the senator race and the governor race and all that.
Speaker D:They all forget about that.
Speaker C:And by midterm they not even thinking about it because they think they got it.
Speaker C:And of course everything switches in the midterm.
Speaker C:So now the President doesn't have the power he has before.
Speaker C:You have a Republican House, Republican Senate and a Republican President.
Speaker C:Somehow we got no second amendment bills pushed through successfully by the most pro2a administration America has ever seen or some garbage like that.
Speaker C:And I'm like, understand to me I'm a radical advocate for the second amendment.
Speaker C:If I were president, I would move the Overton window so far to our side that it would take them a generation to get it back.
Speaker C:I'm frickin Amazon and you are belt fed.
Speaker C:That's how free I'd have it.
Speaker C:And you just gonna have to struggle to get it back to some kind of metal.
Speaker C:None of that has happened and that's a problem because again we have to hold them accountable.
Speaker C:I don't want to hear excuses, I want to see results.
Speaker C:Fine.
Speaker C:Oh well, we can't have constitutional carry because there's not enough votes in the Senate.
Speaker C:Yeah, but you can derail all the DOJ cases.
Speaker C:You can get rid of the anti second amendment DOJ stuff, right?
Speaker C:We can change that administratively.
Speaker C:Where are the executive orders that again move the Overton window towards freedom.
Speaker C:We can hold people accountable.
Speaker C:Oh, you just hate.
Speaker C:No bro, I love America.
Speaker C:I owe no loyalty to a political party.
Speaker C:I should be the world's worst girlfriend saying to every political party, every fricking election, what have you done for me lately?
Speaker C:Every year.
Speaker C:And we need to do that and not doing the elections, but doing the primary elections because the people that aren't producing for you need to go.
Speaker C:That's what I say.
Speaker C:So that's what I talk about sometimes at the diversity shoes.
Speaker C:But I don't get that deep into it because it still has to be fun.
Speaker B:Fun.
Speaker C:We had, I mean we had a 12 year old at the last event.
Speaker C:It was great because his grandfather came to the first event solo, had a lot of fun, brought his wife to the second one, third one.
Speaker C:He comes in with his son, his grandson, sister in law, the wife and that's how it goes usually if people test the waters to see, because there's still an assumption that gun ownership is just this middle aged white thing and gun rangers are just, you know, a haven for freaking the Klan or something.
Speaker C:And it's not.
Speaker C:It's all people having fun.
Speaker C:Gun people are some of the nicest people that are willing to share and let you shoot their $7,000 pistol.
Speaker C:Hey, ever shoot one of these?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:No, I haven't.
Speaker C:Can I?
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker C:Here, here's my ammo.
Speaker C:Here's my gun.
Speaker C:Have a good time.
Speaker C:You don't get that with any other community.
Speaker C:Nobody's at a car show letting you drive their McLaren.
Speaker C:They're not even letting you sit in it.
Speaker C:But we will let you shoot it.
Speaker D:We.
Speaker C:We don't care who you are.
Speaker C:Regardless of what the media says.
Speaker C:We really don't.
Speaker C:Regardless of what the A holes in the comments section say, they're a rarity and they're only brave because they're behind a keyboard.
Speaker C:Those people are never at the range, or at least they don't.
Speaker C:I don't hear them.
Speaker C:And we've got people from every background.
Speaker C:Lgbtq, Muslim, Jewish, whatever.
Speaker C:I hate categories.
Speaker C:It annoys the out of me.
Speaker C:Excuse me, Sorry, didn't mean to say a bad word.
Speaker C:But it really annoys me to my base because I have friends and I don't put you in a category of whether you're black, white, this, that, and the other.
Speaker C:The funniest thing was when I was trying to come up with pictures for the diversity shoot.
Speaker C:When you put it online, it's still optics, right?
Speaker C:It's still.
Speaker C:And I'm going through my stuff going, all right, what minority?
Speaker C:I forgot Nick was Asian.
Speaker C:I can put him in there.
Speaker C:I don't think of that.
Speaker C:It's just my friend Nick, and I was like, all right, he's here and he's with somebody else.
Speaker C:And this looks diverse enough to pass.
Speaker C:But if you come to the event, people are just people.
Speaker C:And that's the way we run it.
Speaker C:And it's a great time.
Speaker C:So come to our events.
Speaker C:Diversityshoot.com we're all over the place.
Speaker C:We sell out quick, though.
Speaker C:I mean, we sold out next week's event, which is on the 23rd.
Speaker C:Sold out over a month ago.
Speaker C:We have another one.
Speaker C:I had to put another one up for the end of next month, and that's halfway sold out now.
Speaker C:It's great.
Speaker C:We have fun.
Speaker C:We're at different ranges in the state.
Speaker C:We shoot is in Lakewood, New Jersey, and we Always sell out there.
Speaker C:They have a large Hasidic Jewish population.
Speaker C:So we have kosher pizza down there, and we also have good pizza, and we have people come over and shoot, and they have great prizes.
Speaker C:The range actually donates really cool prizes, everything from safes to hats and shirts.
Speaker C:And we raffle that off, and it helps pay for the pizza and the ammo.
Speaker C: I go through about: Speaker C:And we just have a great time.
Speaker C:We bring people together.
Speaker C:You break bread together, and we have conversations.
Speaker C:And that's every event at every range.
Speaker C:And I look forward to continue doing this for a long time.
Speaker C:Where will it end?
Speaker C:I don't know.
Speaker C:I was talking to the guys at mobile range down there, and, you know, if you make a $300,000 donation, we could get a mobile range and another 100 grand and we could get a trailer to pull it with, and we can come to a city near you.
Speaker C:Only $400,000.
Speaker B:So, Tony, seeing that you see such a diverse group of people, do you.
Speaker E:Think the stigma of minorities owning firearms is lifting?
Speaker E:Do you think the community is changing its mind on things?
Speaker E:Is this a shift in the right direction?
Speaker C:Across the board, there's a shift happening in the right direction, but the media is not covering it.
Speaker C:Like, they're holding back.
Speaker C:And I'm seeing what's at the range.
Speaker C:I'm seeing who's coming to our diversity shoots, and it's people from all over.
Speaker C:Sometimes when you at it, oh, it looks like all white.
Speaker C:No, that's.
Speaker C:That's three Hispanics.
Speaker C:I know they look white, those people from the Middle East.
Speaker C:That's a Persian.
Speaker C:But I'm sorry, everybody doesn't show up looking like, you know, they don't.
Speaker C:They don't wear the costume of their people to my event.
Speaker C:But yes, it is changing in real life, but the perception is still staying the same because media itself is pushing back.
Speaker C:You know, you get nerfed anytime you post some stuff up.
Speaker C:And a lot of people also, you get pushback.
Speaker C:I mean, I had one of my guys verbally attacked by a friend of his because he posted pictures of us at the diversity shoot.
Speaker C:And he's like, oh, that guy is all sellouts, and they don't mean it.
Speaker C:And it's just the really stupidest racist stuff you could hear about us there.
Speaker C:And I said, understand?
Speaker C:Malcolm X said, by any means necessary, and post with an M2 in a window.
Speaker C:He was Pro2AMartin Luther King.
Speaker C:Junior was Pro2A.
Speaker C:I'm Pro2A.
Speaker C:Who are you arguing with to tell you to disarm yourself?
Speaker C:Is he really pro you, or is he pushing a narrative that's been forced upon you, not for you?
Speaker C:So my whole thing is to empower people, teach them how to fight for themselves.
Speaker C:Also normalize firearms ownership.
Speaker C:I want it to be almost like bowling.
Speaker C:It's just an activity.
Speaker C:Matter of fact, it's safer than bowling.
Speaker C:Yeah, we go out and shoot twice a month, me, mom, and grandma, ladies night.
Speaker C:Make that normal.
Speaker C:And I think we can do it.
Speaker C:We just have to keep doing what I'm doing and others are doing by normalizing it and bringing in people that are, again, aren't just straight white males.
Speaker C:Because your voice has been canceled kind of by society.
Speaker C:Because anytime you say you're Pro2A, well, you.
Speaker C:You're.
Speaker E:You're.
Speaker C:You're not inclusive, and you hate people.
Speaker C:That.
Speaker C:Not a middle aged white guy.
Speaker C:All right, cool.
Speaker C:I'm bringing in some black women, some Hispanic women, some Hispanic men.
Speaker C:Now call them all racist.
Speaker C:I'm bringing in someone from lgbtq.
Speaker C:Call them anti.
Speaker C:Whatever.
Speaker C:It just annoys me because I don't try to keep up with demographics.
Speaker C:I love people.
Speaker C:I don't care what you are.
Speaker B:This is why Tony's one of my.
Speaker E:Favorite human beings on the earth.
Speaker B:All right, I got to lighten this up a little bit because we got.
Speaker C:Is that a fat joke?
Speaker C:No.
Speaker C:Well, you say you got to lighten it up.
Speaker E:Maybe.
Speaker C:Is that a black joke?
Speaker C:Why you say you got to lighten it up?
Speaker B:All right, we'll get to the next.
Speaker B:But, Tony, I got to ask you this because I asked the same question.
Speaker E:To Yehuda, who we've had on the show.
Speaker E:Why is High Point your favorite firearms brand?
Speaker C:High Point is my favorite fire.
Speaker C:It's not my favorite firearms brand.
Speaker C:I just like the people at High Point, and I don't think it's hot garbage.
Speaker C:No.
Speaker C:Last question is, why won't I have Yehuda on my podcast?
Speaker E:Why?
Speaker C:I don't know.
Speaker C:It's just funny.
Speaker C:I promised to have him on this show, and he was like, three years later.
Speaker C:And he goes, you promised to have me on the show?
Speaker C:I was like, yeah, no, dude, I keep forgetting.
Speaker C:And he's like, you know, at this point, it's funnier not to have me on.
Speaker C:So we just came up with a whole fake like, yeah, yeah, I'll never be on my show.
Speaker C:And he's like, I'll never be on Tony's.
Speaker C:We got this going 12 years now.
Speaker E:Is that like the Matt Damon one?
Speaker E:Who does.
Speaker E:Somebody does like, thank you, Matt Damon after all their shows because he missed one of their episodes.
Speaker C:Oh, wow.
Speaker B:So thank you, Yehuda.
Speaker F:If you're like me, you are probably slightly addicted to your phone and that means it is incredibly important who you choose as your cell phone provider.
Speaker D:And now it's time to switch your cell phone service over to Patriot Mobile, a freedom loving brand that supports the second amendment and Goa's mission.
Speaker F:I am Patriot Mobile as well as a big fan because Patriot Mobile not only gives great nationwide coverage from the top three carriers, but they also support the second amendment.
Speaker D:Patriot Mobile is super easy to switch to.
Speaker D:It only takes a couple minutes.
Speaker D:You can keep your phone, keep your number, and they have a full US based customer service.
Speaker F:This is why we are proud to be offering one month free service plus 15% off of every line with Patriot Mobile.
Speaker F:When you use code GOA again, that's.
Speaker D:Patreonmobile.com goa and use code GOA at checkout to get one month free and save 15% off on each additional line.
Speaker B:All right, well, now is on to our next segment which is from the Soapbox.
Speaker B:This is where we get a spicy.
Speaker E:This is Kaylee's favorite segment.
Speaker A:It is, it is.
Speaker A:It's my favorite so much.
Speaker E:What is your spicy take?
Speaker E:Be as spicy as you want.
Speaker E:We talk about industry, guns, anything be spicy.
Speaker C:You know you have me on.
Speaker E:I know, that's why I'm asking you.
Speaker C:My wife is significantly younger than me.
Speaker C:Only by 12 years, but I still feel less significant because I'm significantly overweight.
Speaker C:I'm probably gonna die early, but I wanna live long enough that she's unattractive enough that nobody else hooks up with her and sleeps in my house and spends that insurance money.
Speaker C:That's my take.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker E:What's your spice?
Speaker C:I mean, I told him anything.
Speaker B:That's fair.
Speaker B:All right, now what's your spicy take.
Speaker C:About the second amendment in politics and.
Speaker B:Gun industry there, Tony?
Speaker C:That's a great take though.
Speaker C:Oh, you're welcome.
Speaker C:I'm a pet.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:So my take on the second amendment is spicy take on the second spicy on.
Speaker E:On the second amendment politics, anything.
Speaker C:My spicy take is this.
Speaker C:When you say don't tread on me, but you support the thin blue line, who do you think's doing the treading?
Speaker B:Ooh, that is spicy.
Speaker C:You're welcome.
Speaker A:That's very spicy.
Speaker A:All right, John, what do you have for a spicy take?
Speaker E:What do I have for a spicy take?
Speaker B:If you don't like high points because they're cheap.
Speaker E:You're wrong.
Speaker E:Buy a high point multiple.
Speaker B:Ask Tony.
Speaker C:Just for the meme alone, it's worth it.
Speaker B:Have you seen my holster?
Speaker C:Oh God.
Speaker E:All right, so Yehuda, because Yehuda's awesome.
Speaker E:I made a joke to him.
Speaker E:I said, hey, I want a holster for my yeet cannon, but I want it to be purple.
Speaker E:And he goes, why do you want a purple yeet cannon holster?
Speaker E:Because I wanted the purple yeeter eater.
Speaker E:And so at Chacho, he brought me the purple yeeter eater.
Speaker E:Nice.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker C:But I have an outside the waistband, no snap on snick.
Speaker C:High point holster from my JCP40 cal high point.
Speaker B:Here.
Speaker B:Here's my other spicy take.
Speaker B:Having a high point is better than having multiple staccatos.
Speaker B:A staccato doesn't make your personality.
Speaker C:Exactly.
Speaker C:Everybody's got a staccato.
Speaker C:But high point, well, you gotta be born with class.
Speaker C:You can't just be giving it.
Speaker B:What's your spicy take there?
Speaker A:This is just so devolved that like my spicy take is, is.
Speaker A:Is serious.
Speaker A:And now I feel like I'm wrong.
Speaker A:But my spicy take is that fundamentally gun owners are getting it wrong when it comes to elections.
Speaker A:We have decided that apathy is acceptable and then we want to complain when things happen to the second amendment rather than understanding that ignorance is a curable disease.
Speaker A:And we have the power just by sheer volume and numbers to change the outcomes of most of the elections that we think are unwinnable.
Speaker C:Don't you hate when they smart and good looking?
Speaker C:Just ruins the vibe.
Speaker C:You're 100% right.
Speaker C:I pointed out often I was on someone's YouTube channel, he had the audacity to call me a visitor or something.
Speaker C:I don't know, some weird thing about somebody who's not a subscriber.
Speaker C: e fact that he tried to buy a: Speaker C:And da da da.
Speaker C:And as he's going on his rant, he talks about how he doesn't vote and how he's going to move out of his non free state to a free state.
Speaker C:And of course that just fired me up and I just went on the old man friggin fud.
Speaker C:I was like, look bro, other people are fighting for your rights in your state.
Speaker C:You didn't join it.
Speaker C:For over a decade these rules have been in place.
Speaker C:So you haven't fought for or knew the gun laws in your own state.
Speaker C:And instead of fighting for it, you're gonna move to another State.
Speaker C:And you're not gonna fight for it there either.
Speaker C:I was like, how about standing up for your rights and pushing back a little bit instead of moving?
Speaker D:Fight back.
Speaker C:And of course, he said some horrible things to me.
Speaker C:And he said, well, what have you done?
Speaker C:And I was like, well, you can go to diversityshoot.com and see what I've been doing for the last decade in a state like New Jersey.
Speaker C:Fighting back and growing the Second Amendment and educating people on how they can fight back instead of running away like a little girl.
Speaker E:Well, I think that's the biggest thing.
Speaker E:A lot of people do not want to pick the fight.
Speaker E:They don't want to be in the fight.
Speaker E:They don't want to join the fight.
Speaker E:They want to.
Speaker E:They want others to do it for them.
Speaker C:Yeah, they post the memes about fighting from the rooftops or, you know, sniping from the rooftops and losing their stuff in a boating accident.
Speaker C:How about standing up and be the patriot you always claim to be every 4th of July with your freaking red, white and blue underwear on and streamers.
Speaker C:Why don't you take a little of that patriotism into the voting booth and actually exercise your civic.
Speaker C:Do civics exercise your civil rights and your duty as a citizen so the next generation can enjoy the Second Amendment?
Speaker C:Because the way we're going right now, they're killing it from every angle.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And one of the things that I think is so key is people in general look at where the state of the country is or the state of their state is, and there is a significant feeling of, is it possible to win?
Speaker A:And the reality is it is not only possible, it actually takes less effort than you think.
Speaker A:And I'm not saying this just because I work for goa, but you can go on our website right now and look at every single thing that we're working on at the federal level and at the state level.
Speaker A:Put your information in.
Speaker A:I've timed it takes you about 33 seconds.
Speaker A:If you have a longer name like mine to fill it out, and it will auto send the information saying that you stand for your rights.
Speaker A:Bonus points if you actually add your why onto the comment.
Speaker A:It's not necessary.
Speaker A:It's helpful.
Speaker A:But if you really get down to it, if you wanted to really start committing yourself to the fight, five minutes a week could be transformative to the country, but we have to recognize that we have to dedicate the time to make it possible.
Speaker C:Understand, I'm not big history buff, but a very small percentage of people fought for the Patriots and they fricking won.
Speaker C:We have so many gun owners.
Speaker C:Again, they say all the right things, but they perform none of the actions.
Speaker C:Even if you are worried about being put on a list, I've been on a list for a really long time.
Speaker C:You can help fund the work of others.
Speaker C:That's important.
Speaker C:Being a good responsible firearms owner helps a lot.
Speaker C:It really does.
Speaker C:You can do little things.
Speaker C:You don't have to be overtly but voting, you should vote.
Speaker C:You should be educated on your vote and you should hold them accountable.
Speaker C:If you don't write letters, if you don't do that, you're failing.
Speaker C:But if that's a step too far, do the other things.
Speaker C:Financially support them.
Speaker C:If you can't share it.
Speaker C:I live in Jersey where you can be blacklisted as a teacher.
Speaker C:Many professions, if you openly support something on your social media, doesn't mean you can't financially support it.
Speaker C:Doesn't mean you can't be a responsible gun owner.
Speaker C:When you're there, you can be the gun guy, you can educate people, you can turn people on to me or whatever second amendment organizations in your state or tell them about goa.
Speaker C:You don't have to put any of that on paper.
Speaker C:You don't have to be on the list for that.
Speaker C:Do something.
Speaker C:Fight back.
Speaker C:Stop laying down and stop listening to people to tell you your vote doesn't count.
Speaker C:Because if your vote doesn't count, then Martin Luther King, Jr. Malcolm X, just everybody who who fought for the rights of human beings to vote in America wasted their time.
Speaker C:And that's not true at all.
Speaker A:Mic drop.
Speaker A:I mean the mic has been dropped.
Speaker B:That's the perfect place to end this.
Speaker B:Cause they're gonna start screaming here in a minute.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker B:Well, Tony, again, we love you.
Speaker B:You're the best.
Speaker C:Glad you are.
Speaker B:This is probably the funniest podcast we've ever done.
Speaker B:Second funniest to Dave.
Speaker B:So Dave, you've got one up on Dave, but go ahead and tell people where to find you.
Speaker B:Even though you've said it like seven times.
Speaker B:If you haven't caught on, where can they find you?
Speaker C:Diversityshoot.com you can find me there.
Speaker C:Because I haven't been smart enough to make all of my social media.
Speaker C:One, name someone Simon says train on Instagram, second for everyone on Twitter.
Speaker C:And the second is for everyone on Facebook.
Speaker B:Awesome.
Speaker B:Well, Tony, again, we appreciate you being on.
Speaker B:Guys.
Speaker B:Make sure to like share and subscribe.
Speaker B:Hit the little bell for notification, leave a five star review on all podcasting hosts and make sure to get registered for goals happening August 1st and 2nd in Des Moines, Iowa.
Speaker B:Again, that's Goals.
Speaker B:And we will see you on the next one.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:Man, Tell them to tell them I should be a speaker at Goals.
Speaker B:Tony's a speaker.
Speaker C:Tony Simon S. I am.
