Eye on the Target - TARGETHING - Talking Guns
Amanda Suffecool and Rob Campbell explore Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s role in health policy and its intersection with Second Amendment rights. Kennedy's report, "Make Our Children Healthy Again," focuses on child wellness without addressing gun violence, drawing criticism from outlets like the Los Angeles Times for allegedly overlooking a leading cause of child deaths. Suffecool and Campbell debunk this claim, highlighting flaws in studies from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health that inflate statistics by including adults up to age 26 and gang-related incidents. The...
info_outlineEye on the Target - TARGETHING - Talking Guns
Amanda Suffecool and Rob Campbell discuss recent shifts in gun rights organizations and firearms education initiatives. Suffecool recounts her decade-long involvement with Women for Gun Rights, transitioning advisory board leadership while maintaining influence on Second Amendment advocacy. The hosts highlight the NRA's return to Virginia for board meetings, signaling stability and a focus on future growth in training, membership, and constitutional defense. Campbell and Suffecool explore expanding firearms education in schools, noting programs in Tennessee and Arkansas that...
info_outlineEye on the Target - TARGETHING - Talking Guns
Amanda Suffecool hosts Bill Bachenberg, President of the NRA Board of Directors, to discuss recent organizational reforms and challenges faced by the board. Bachenberg details a turbulent period marked by internal dysfunction, where board members, including himself, were sidelined despite expertise in business and strategic planning. He recounts his persistence in attending meetings at personal expense, pushing for accountability when leadership ignored critical voices, leading to a pivotal shift in board dynamics. The discussion highlights a significant board election in Dallas,...
info_outlineEye on the Target - TARGETHING - Talking Guns
Amanda Suffecool interviews Bill Bachenberg, President of the NRA Board of Directors, discussing the organization's structure and recent reforms. The NRA boasts 76 board members, with Bachenberg outlining roles like EVP Randy Kozuch and a focus on transparency following a 13.5-hour board meeting. Bachenberg emphasizes Second Amendment advocacy, noting membership growth and youth programs like Youth Shooting Sports Ambassadors. The conversation highlights adaptive hunting initiatives for disabled veterans at facilities like the Whittington Center in New Mexico, featuring accessible...
info_outlineEye on the Target - TARGETHING - Talking Guns
Amanda Suffecool continues interviews with Women for Gun Rights advisory board members in Orlando, Florida. Raelle Cunningham from Utah discusses plans for a 10-year anniversary fly-in to Washington, DC, aiming to normalize gun ownership and celebrate the Second Amendment as personal, cultural, and constitutional, emphasizing women's roles in self-defense and advocacy. Heather from Florida highlights legislative tracking, noting successes like defeating over 20 anti-gun bills in 2025 and challenging bans in states like Colorado and Washington. She stresses the organization's...
info_outlineEye on the Target - TARGETHING - Talking Guns
Amanda Suffecool interviews advisory board members from Women for Gun Rights, formerly the DC Project, highlighting women's advocacy for Second Amendment protections. Founder Diana Muller recounts starting the group in 2015 post-Sandy Hook, initially as a lobbying effort in Washington, DC, gathering 50 women from 48 states to share personal stories with legislators. The organization evolved to emphasize women's voices in responsible gun ownership and self-defense, rebranding for clarity. Amanda K from DC shares her journey from lobbying to full involvement, stressing the need for...
info_outlineEye on the Target - TARGETHING - Talking Guns
Amanda Suffecool and Rob Campbell critique gun control groups like Bloomberg and Brady for opposing the Trump administration's decision to allow military personnel to carry firearms in DC, arguing it subverts local laws. They highlight the hypocrisy, noting criminals face no charges while law-abiding citizens are restricted, and celebrate DC's recent homicide-free streak as evidence of effective policies. The hosts share a bear defense story from Alaska, where a hunter used a 9mm pistol to stop a charging grizzly, emphasizing practical self-protection over caliber debates. They...
info_outlineEye on the Target - TARGETHING - Talking Guns
Amanda Suffecool and Rob Campbell discuss Iowa Senate candidate Jim Carlin's push for national concealed carry reciprocity, highlighting political momentum amid gun rights advancements. They contrast this with anti-gun politicians like Chicago's mayor, who employs armed security while advocating disarmament, and New York's candidate calling for assault weapon bans despite personal protection. The hosts critique Chicago's assault weapons ban, noting a lawsuit from the Second Amendment Foundation challenging its constitutionality under Bruen. Suffecool points out the city's restrictive measures,...
info_outlineEye on the Target - TARGETHING - Talking Guns
Suffecool and Campbell critique Chicago's gun buyback programs, arguing they incentivize theft and crime due to no-questions-asked policies. A Glock turned in during an event reappeared in a shooting that killed a woman, prompting a lawsuit against the city and police department. The gun vanished from evidence, allegedly stolen by an officer later murdered by her partner, raising suspicions of a cover-up involving mishandled tags and discarded evidence. The hosts discuss corruption in Chicago's evidence room, where over 100 firearms went missing, including those from buybacks...
info_outlineEye on the Target - TARGETHING - Talking Guns
Amanda Suffecool and Rob Campbell discuss the Big Beautiful Bill's removal of the $200 tax on suppressors, short-barreled rifles, and short-barreled shotguns starting January 1, 2026, signaling the erosion of the 1934 National Firearms Act under Bruen. They highlight lawsuits challenging NFA's constitutionality, noting its original tax pretext now undermined. The hosts address, "Glock switches," devices converting semi-automatic pistols to full-auto, often imported from China and misnamed, leading to arrests like a Wisconsin man's 10-year sentence. They emphasize these are machine guns under...
info_outlineAmanda Suffecool and Rob Campbell discuss a tragic Midtown Manhattan shooting where a man, legally purchasing an AR-style rifle in Las Vegas, transported it unlawfully across states to New York, killing four people. He blamed the NFL for head injuries from high school football, despite never playing professionally. The hosts note his prior mental health detentions, questioning how he passed background checks, and criticize New York’s strict gun laws for failing to prevent the crime despite heavy security. Statements from groups like the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and Women for Gun Rights emphasize that criminals, not guns, are the issue, and highlight the importance of armed self-defense.
The hosts celebrate North Carolina’s House Bill 193, passed with a veto-proof majority, allowing trained staff to carry concealed firearms in private schools starting December 1, 2025, enhancing school safety. They reference programs like the NRA’s School Shield and Faster Saves Lives as valuable resources. Suffecool and Campbell also discuss upcoming Supreme Court cases, with 13 under consideration, including six on prohibited persons’ rights and Rush vs. United States, challenging short-barreled rifle regulations under the NFA. They note the Seventh Circuit’s reliance on the 1939 Miller case over the 2022 Bruin decision, which an NRA attorney argues misinterprets Second Amendment protections.
The episode touches on Washington State’s crime decline, with a nearly 19% drop in murders and 7.5% in violent crime from 2023 to 2024, alongside rising concealed carry licenses, reinforcing the “you are your own first responder” mantra. They discuss challenges to carrying, like inconvenience or discomfort, and Ohio’s proposed “two strikes” legislation for gun thefts, debating personal responsibility versus criminal accountability.