Advertise on podcast: Riding Shotgun With Charlie

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #261 Dan Hagan, Esq. Mass Gun Lawyer I've been running into Dan Hagan at several of the pro-gun events in Massachusetts. At one event, we talked a bit more. Then I found out how many cases he was doing in the Western Mass and the impact he's had on them. So it was time to reach out and have him on the show. We met at a local gun store and took it from there.  Like many people, Dan was into firearms when he was a kid and teenager. His father was a police officer. I found out one of his neighbors was involved with one of the most tragic firearm accidents in Massachusetts. A young boy was at a machine gun shoot and using an Uzi. The boy lost control and ended up taking a fatal round under the chin.  At law school, the Second Amendment doesn't get covered well or much. He says "guns were the third rail of law". I've heard this from other attorneys I've had on the show. For this thesis, he talked about the Second Amendment.  Around the time of Heller (2008), Dan was working a corporate lawyer job. But decided it was time to fill the niche for gun owners in the Bay State. His practice deals with both criminal law and Second Amendment issues.  Dan does open up about some of the bigger cases he's had. There was the Kyle Culotta case. Where Culotta and his fiance, Sarande (RSWC #238), were working their way from Arizona to New Hampshire. While Door Dashing for money, they were pulled over. The car was impounded due to expired registration. When he removed his lawfully owned Arizona firearms, he was now in possession of them in Massachusetts. He ended up going to jail for 4 months on a trumped up "dangerousness" charge as well as a few others. Dan helped get some charges dismissed. Some are still pending now. Although there are projections in the Mass gun laws, they don't help you on the front end of the process. Only once you get to court can the attorneys bring up the laws.  The conversation also leads us into discussing Chapter 135, which was passed in 2024. It's been a disaster for citizens and instructors. There's been a whole movement here to repeal the entire law, which is on the ballot in Nov 2026. The law makes it more difficult for people to get a license to carry. It changes definitions and makes it confusing to the people, but also for law enforcement and lawyers. Even the law makers who signed it can't explain it, because the 130+ page bill was passed in less than 24 hours.  Some other cases that have been happening are one that includes a woman driving from Connecticut to Vermont, passing through Mass, gets into a car accident. At the hospital, she's charged with illegal possession as she is now "visiting" the state… in the hospital. Another where a woman was driving from one of the Carolinas to New Hampshire, gets lost in central Mass, gets pulled over, tells the police she has a firearm. Chapter 135 says its lawful to pass through the state, but they want her to plead guilty to a misdemeanor even though the new law says what she's doing is legal.  A big case he had earlier this year involved a self defense shooting where the intended victim shot an innocent bystander. This was the first time in Mass where someone shot a person who wasn't the intended target and didn't get a murder charge. This was really groundbreaking.  It's great to talk with people like Dan. Hearing him talk about inner city young people who live in dangerous areas and want to protect themselves from local gang violence made me realize that some people get put into unsafe situations and want to get out of them. But when the system tries them for illegal possession with zero history of crime or violence, it leaves them with no other choice than to keep pursuing that lifestyle.  This was a really good conversation! There's lots of great points he makes. He's working on cases that are shaping the future of the Second Amendment where nearly everything here is an uphill battle. I'm glad he's on our side.    Favorite quotes: "Guns are like the third rail of law…There's an Amendment there for those who don't like guns." "They didn't get the $100 gun license, but they would otherwise qualify if they did." "Even if you have a pre-94 magazine…carrying that now, for anybody, is illegal." "You manufacture people to be criminals in the context." Mass Gun Lawyer https://www.massgunlawyer.com/ Dan On Facebook https://www.facebook.com/dan.hagan.758   Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun   Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/ Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie supporters.  US Law Shield Legal Defense for Self Defense. Use "RSWC" as the discount code and get 2 months for free! https://www.uslawshield.com   Patriot Mobile Use this link and get one month for free! https://patriotmobile.com/partners/rswc   Or listen on: iTunes/Apple podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/riding-shotgun-with-charlie/id1275691565

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #261 Chad Barber NRA ARC    At the NRA"s Great American Outdoor Show in February, I met Chad while he was doing a demonstration of the America's Rifle Challenge. When I found out he was only a couple hours north in New Hampshire, I knew we needed to do a show!   Like many others, Chad started shooting as a youth. In Michigan, he was shooting BB guns and .22s. He spent time in the Coast Guard. Then he went to Camp Perry and saw hundreds of people shooting competitions. One of his superiors had a bronze pistol on his uniform and he was very curious about it. He did well with the rifle in the military, but didn't compete. He ended up becoming a firearm instructor early in his career despite being an introvert.    Chad spent a lot of time teaching the fundamentals of marksmanship. Many students want to get to the fun and fast shooting, but they haven't learned to hit the bull's eye. It's easier to shoot an 8 inch circle running around than it is to hit a 10-ring. The traditional shooting sports are much more difficult.    Once he was bitten by the competition bug, he got more into instructing, becoming a range safety officer and a chief range safety officer, as well. He spent a lot of time teaching at police academies as the instructor and coach. His career brought him up and down the east coast and all around the country. Once he got to New England, he thought it was going to be bad. But the area was much better than he thought. He found there's many great ranges, facilities, and competitions that were easier to get to in the small New England states.    Being responsible for six competitive shooting teams at two ranges with the Coast Guard, kept him very busy. One range was nearly condemned. They applied the NRA's range development operations and made it safer for everyone.    Working with the varsity pistol team made him hone in on his coaching skills. When trigger weight is measured in grams, the team of shooters really have to be on top of things. This helped Chad learn more about the mechanics of shootings and the mental game of shooting.    Over time, he developed a sense of mentoring and coaching that could take someone who was new to shooting or had little experience and get them to have a near perfect or perfect score within a day or two.     When the NRA reached out to Chad about starting the ARC program, he needed to get the program immediately. He was tasked with having some national competitions within a few months. This meant it was time to dive into all the rule books for all the various disciplines, learning the terminology for each, seeing which crossover, and developing rules for ARC.    The ARC program is up and running right now. You can find where to take a course at their website below. If you're new to ARs, if you've been shooting ARs, you'll find something that you'll benefit from. The program takes shooters from shooting at close range to stretching out to 25, 50 and 100 yards. You'll be shooting in different positions. A great thing about the program is if you're at an age where you don't really have the mobility you used to, you can take the Level 1 program and adopt it to shoot from a different position. It also accommodates ranges that only have 25 yard ranges.    Chad has some great stories about shooting 600 yards at Camp Perry with an unsighted rifle. Getting some shooters who nearly all failed the qualification, then taking them to all but one getting a perfect score. One with him teaching his higher up with just some .22 and 40 cal ammunition. If you're looking for something new to do with your AR, America's Rifle Challenge is for you.   Favorite quotes: "There are people who don't want to shoot the traditional sports because they're too hard." "We're not running around walls, engaging a gang of nine, doing double taps." "It doesn't discount the fundamentals of marksmanship."  "The competitive shooting world is fun, but it's fickle. But its also a sport that will invite anybody to anything." "Exercise your Rights through competition." NRA ARC website https://arc.nra.org/   NRA ILA https://www.nraila.org/   NRA https://home.nra.org/   NRA on FB https://www.facebook.com/NRA   NRA on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/NRAVideos   NRA on IG https://instagram.com/NRA   NRA on X https://x.com/nra Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun   Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/   Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie supporters.    US Law Shield Legal Defense for Self Defense. Use "RSWC" as the discount code and get 2 months for free! https://www.uslawshield.com   Patriot Mobile Use this link and get one month for free! https://patriotmobile.com/partners/rswc   Or listen on: iTunes/Apple podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/riding-shotgun-with-charlie/id1275691565

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #260 Toby Leary The Civil Rights Coalition Cape Gun Works RapidFire Radio   Massachusetts has been seeing the opposite of Bruen since 2023. The Beacon Hill politicians have been doubling down on attacking the Rights of the Bay State gun owners and the non-gun owning subjects, too.    It started with the "Gun Law Listening Tour", where one state representative was tasked with "modernizing" the Mass gun laws. Instead, they did the opposite. Then they stepped it up a notch. The 11 tour stops all around the Commonwealth were mostly packed with anti-gun folks or people who were not gun people. They didn't know the laws. They don't understand how getting a license to carry works or what is required. Let alone what happens when someone buys a firearm from a retailer.    We all know the fallout from the 'listening tour". The politicians decided they know best and overhauled the Mass gun laws. They changed training requirements, making it more difficult, more time consuming, and more expensive. Toby and his crew got into action. They only needed 35,000 signatures to get on the ballot. Then over 46,000 to have the law suspended until the election. Without any paid signature gatherers, they got over 100,000 signatures. But it was too late. The governor signed an 'emergency preamble" and made the law go into effect 71 days after she signed the bill    When the politicians realized that they didn't have the requirements, they pushed the new training back 18 months. And even then, they didn't have things figured out. They asked instructors for input in the month before the change was to happen. Even so, they've suspended the live fire requirement. But they're still trying to figure out how they can get the public into private ranges.   Toby has been on a roll for nearly two years. He's got a radio show on Sundays and he's always talking about Chapter 135 and the CRC. Besides that, he's running Cape Gun Works and a woodworking company. He spoke at the Mass GOP rally in Worcester, Mass, at the DCU Center.  There  has been a few years of instability with the Mass gun laws and Chapter 135. First, Mass State Representative Michael Day, who was tasked with "modernizing" the laws, didn't even know what was in the bill. Therefore, he couldn't have written it. It was probably written by Everytown and Giffords, as Day met with Gabby Giffords in the State House in Boston. So the politicians don't know what was in the bill. Recently, a local police officer came in to ask Toby some questions. He tried explaining it as best he could, but the officer said his plan was to arrest the person and let the courts figure it out. Therefore, it's going to cost someone his savings and fortune, possibly his house, and his reputation if he gets arrested for some charges for something that was legal just two years ago.    The Coalition did a poll recently and found out that there weren't nearly as many Republicans as Democrats, but 73% of the people;polled believed in the Second Amendment. This injustice of the process affects everyone in Massachusetts, not just gun owners. If the politicians do what they want, there will be no stopping them. And it's harder to stop them, if they have disarmed the citizens.    If you're a Massachusetts resident, you need to vote "No On 9" to repeal all of Chapter 135. It's the law that has gone too far. To help raise money, there's a fundraiser on September 19, 2026. Anyone can bid on the auctions. It's called Lawyers, Guns, and Money. Both Toby and Mark Smith from Four Boxes Diner are the speakers at the live event.    Favorite quotes: "We aren't your problem! Go after the bad guys!" "We were able to get 100,000 signatures in five weeks without a single paid signature gatherer." "She abused her power to do this, and she did it in an unprecedented way." "Arrest, prosecute, and let the courts figure it out." The Civil RIghts Coalition website https://www.thecivilrightscoalition.com/   The Civil Rights Coalition on FB https://www.facebook.com/thecivilrightscoalition/   The Civil Rights Coalition on YT https://www.youtube.com/@TheCivilRightsCoalition   The Civil Rights Coalition on X https://x.com/FightBackMA   Cape Gun Works https://www.capegunworks.com/   Cape Gun Works on FB https://www.facebook.com/cgwproshop Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun   Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/   Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie supporters.    US Law Shield Legal Defense for Self Defense. Use "RSWC" as the discount code and get 2 months for free! https://www.uslawshield.com   Patriot Mobile Use this link and get one month for free! https://patriotmobile.com/partners/rswc   Or listen on: iTunes/Apple podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/riding-shotgun-with-charlie/id1275691565

RSWC PitStop Jeff Gonzales Trident Concepts I got to catch up with Jeff at the NRA Annual Meetings in Houston, 2026. Thanks to NRA Voices of the Second Amendment. Trident Concepts website https://tridentconcepts.com/ Trident Concepts on FB https://www.facebook.com/TridentConcepts Trident Concepts on IG https://www.instagram.com/tridentconcepts/ Trident Concepts on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/TridentConcepts Let's get the #StagecoachAcrossAmerica

RSWC PitStop Tom Gresham Gun Talk I got to catch up with Tom at NRA Annual Meetings in Houston, 2026. Thanks to NRA Voices of the Second Amendment. He's a giant in the 2A community and 2A media. It was very cool to have him come up to me and say that he'd like to do a segment. Gun Talk website https://www.guntalk.com/ Gun Talk on FB https://www.facebook.com/guntalkmedia Gun Talk on IG https://www.instagram.com/guntalkmedia/ Gun Talk on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/guntalktv Let's get the #StagecoachAcrossAmerica!

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #259 Joe LoPorto NRA State Director, New Jersey Firearm Owners Syndicate    I met Joe LoPorto with some of the other friends from New Jersey while we were at the Great American Outdoor Show in Harrisburg. Since then, Joe has jumped from a career to working for the NRA as the State Director of the northern New England states.   When he was a young boy, he really was into the NRA. At 10 years old, he wanted a membership from his parents as a gift. He would put NRA stickers everywhere. It really seems that working for the NRA was his destiny. He grew up hunting and shooting at a young age, but his real passion was archery. The college years were busy for him. He went to college, got married, went to law school and had kids before he passed the bar exam. All at the same time.    The Bruen decision changed a lot of things in New Jersey and for Joe. For the Garden State, they had to admit the peasants to have their pitchforks and the politicians went kicking and screaming. For Joe, he decided it was time to double down on the Rights fight. He left his career, got more involved with New Jersey Firearm Owners Syndicate and eventually got a job with NRA. The NJFOS was just a Facebook group sharing things like where they're going to meet for rallies, spreading the word about upcoming bills. After Bruen, they expanded and became a full non-profit organization. They've been involved with lobbying and litigation.    The job is overseeing lobbying in those states, keeping up on what's going on in each of them, and going to all the NRA ILA events in each state.And accessing and endorsing candidates, managing the PACs, and being a liaison for the state organizations.   Only taking the job in November  2025, Joe has jumped in with both feet. New England is tough. Massachusetts is a disaster, New Hampshire is the Live Free or Die state, and Maine is a big state that has some pro-gun Democrats. He's been driving up and down New England from New Jersey, and getting his hands dirty with all the activity going on in each of the states. The NRA has a lot going on with various programs, functions, and features. There's really something for everyone at NRA. With NRA 2.0, he's really enjoying where he's at and what he's doing.   With career experience and a law degree, Joe knows how things run within the system and with politicians. Going to each state's capitol, working the state houses, and figuring out how to get around the political landscape in each state is a challenge. He'll be in Boston, then Concord, NH, then back in Massachusetts, and up to Maine. All in the same week.    WIth the elections coming up, there's lots of work to do. Each of the states have different schedules for being in session, election seasons, and, naturally, personalities. WIth his passion and experience, Joe is doing a great job and loving every minute of it.  His grandparents came over from Italy and enjoyed shooting. His cousin was an Olympic clay shooter for the Italian nationals. He's got pictures of his grandfather with small game he's harvested. With some of the firearms he has, he's got a direct connection to his previous generations. So what he's doing with the NRA is really just a family tradition. Favorite quotes: "I'm not new to either firearms or gun rights. That's been a priority for me since I was a little kid." "We can't win every battle. When those battles aren't won, it tends to be the NRA that takes the blame. Which is not necessarily a fair reality." "We didn't truly have a Second Amendment in Jersey until Bruen." "Because the Democrats in the state (Massachusetts) have super majorities in both chambers, they're constantly suspending all those rules." New Jersey Firearm Owners Syndicate https://www.njfos.org/   NRA ILA https://www.nraila.org/   NRA https://home.nra.org/   NRA on FB https://www.facebook.com/NRA   NRA on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/NRAVideos   NRA on IG https://instagram.com/NRA   NRA on X https://x.com/nra Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun   Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/   Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie supporters.    US Law Shield Legal Defense for Self Defense. Use "RSWC" as the discount code and get 2 months for free! https://www.uslawshield.com   Patriot Mobile Use this link and get one month for free! https://patriotmobile.com/partners/rswc   Or listen on: iTunes/Apple podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/riding-shotgun-with-charlie/id1275691565

RSWC PitStop Jon Green Director of Training & Education, Gun Owners Action League Jon has been my longest friend in the 2A world. I took an NRA Basic Pistol Course from him in August 2002! It's an honor to call him a friend and mentor. Gun Owners Action League https://www.goal.org/ GOAL on FB https://www.facebook.com/GunOwnersActionLeague/ GOAL on IG https://www.instagram.com/goal_massachusetts GOAL on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/GOALvid Let's get the #StagecoachAcrossAmerica

RSWC PitStop Gabby Franco AMP Mindset I caught up with Gabby at NRA AM in Houston 2026. She got into something new that she's been working on! Website https://www.gabbyfranco.com/ AMP Mindset website https://ampmindset.com/ Gabby on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@gabbyfranco Gabby on IG https://www.instagram.com/gabbyfrancots4 Gabby on FB https://www.facebook.com/gabbyfrancotopshot/ Let's get the #StagecoachAcrossAmerica

RSWC PitStop Chris Freshman Front Site App I got to learn about the FrontSite app at NRA Annual Meetings in Houston 2026. Check out this interview! Chris has a very cool app here! Let's get the #StagecoachAcrossAmerica Front Site App https://www.frontsiteapp.com/ Front Site on FB https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61561233886148 Front Site on IG  https://www.instagram.com/thefrontsiteapp/ Front Site on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@Frontsite-app Front Site on TicTok https://www.tiktok.com/@frontsiteapp NRA website https://home.nra.org/

RSWC PitStop  David Cole Delta Bravo Charlie I got to interview David Cole. I used to listen to him on a friend's podcast and was glad to get some time with him. Delta Bravo Charlie website https://www.deltabravocharlie.com/ NRA Website https://home.nra.org/

RSWC PitStop Michael Sodini Walk The Talk America WTTA website https://walkthetalkamerica.org/ Free and anonymous mental health screening https://walkthetalkamerica.org/love/ WTTA podcast https://walkthetalkamerica.org/podcast Donate to WTTA  https://walkthetalkamerica.org/support-us/#donate NRA Website https://home.nra.org/

RSWC PitStop Brandon Fisher Precision Defense Solutions I got to catch up with Brandon Fisher from Precision Defense Solutions from Ohio. We talked at the NRA Annual Meetings in Houston 2026. Precision Defense Solutions website https://ncpda.us/index.html Precision Defense Solutions on FB https://www.facebook.com/pdsoh2/ NRA Website https://home.nra.org/

RSWC PitStop Tonya Taylor NRA FAL I didn't know what an FAL is. It's a Frontline Activist Leader.  I had a spot in my schedule and I put it out there. Tonya answered the call and came down and did a show at the NRA Annual Meetings in Houston, 2026. NRA FAL https://www.nraila.org/grassroots/volunteer/ NRA FAL Find Your FAL https://www.nraila.org/grassroots/find-your-frontlines-activist-leader/ NRA Website https://home.nra.org/

RSWC PitStop Tes Salb HIVIZ Shooting Systems I got to catch up with Tes at NRA Annual Meeting in Houston 2026. Thanks to NRA for hosting Voices of the Second Amendment. Thanks to Beretta Holdings for sponsoring Voices. HIVIZ on FB https://www.facebook.com/HIVIZSights HIVIZ website https://www.hivizsights.com/ Tes Salb Shooting https://www.facebook.com/TesSalbShooting