SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Security evaluation, electronic security, physical security, camera surveillance, alarm systems, firearm

safety, mental state, personal protection, dog security, property defense, legal implications, pet rights,

self-defense, gun laws, New Jersey gun law.

SPEAKERS

Evan Nappen, Teddy Nappen, Speaker 2

Evan Nappen 00:14

I’m Evan Nappen.

Teddy Nappen 00:16

and I’m Teddy Nappen.

Evan Nappen 00:18

and welcome to Gun Lawyer. So, 2026 is just about upon us, and what’s really great to do at the

beginning of the year is to take a look at your own security for yourself and your family as we start this

new year. And as you know, it’s dangerous out there and you know, we’re gun owners, and we believe

in defense and self-defense. There are things we need to do that include guns, but also don’t include

guns when it comes to evaluating your own personal security, which is something that we all should be

very concerned about. So, when you want to think about your security, particularly in your home and

through your life, there are two ways to divide security. You have what is electronic security and then

what we might call physical security.

Evan Nappen 01:25

So, electronic security would include lighting, alarm systems, and cameras. That kind of security falls

into, you know, surveillance and warnings and illumination and really is reliant upon electronic security.

In terms of physical security, we have gun safes and other safes, dogs. Dogs are a form of physical

security. Locks, good locks, good bars on windows where it may be needed. And of course, our

firearms are the last resort of our physical security. And the idea is to have an excellent combination of

both physical and electronic security. You want to cover all the bases to give you a full security

umbrella. And, of course, combined into all this is your mental state, and for that, I would highly

recommend Jeff Cooper’s “The Principles of Personal Protection”. You’ll gain insight into your daily life

and what you need to do to have awareness and those principles.

Evan Nappen 02:58

But these areas of electronic and physical security are very critical, especially today. Also, you know,

electronic security, a lot of it, combines computers and our cell phones, too, as well. And so, with what’s

available today, it’s kind of amazing, because it is very reasonable to have camera surveillance. I

Page – 1 – of 10mean, you know, a number of decades ago, if you wanted to have cameras on your property, protecting

your home, etc, it was tens of thousands of dollars. It was basically not within reach of average people

to have that kind of surveillance. But now, with the advent of the internet and with these smaller,

amazingly effective cameras, you know, particularly Ring and other companies, you can absolutely

have great, actually, camera surveillance better than decades ago with the equipment that existed then,

and for just a fraction, a fraction of the price. I mean, every person should have at least a Ring doorbell

or some equivalent to that, so that you know who’s coming to your door. It films motion and those

individuals that may approach, and not just individuals, but also animals, cars, and other things. This is

a really great advance in modern-day technology, not just in what it does, but in the amazing,

reasonable cost that you can get it done and accomplished for.

Evan Nappen 04:58

Of course, there are other cameras that can work into your floodlights. Floodlights that also record and

are motion driven and part of the system, the alarm system itself, which is great. Very easy to self

install and put in a Ring alarm system. And they work very well. And you know, not to have an alarm

system in your house with the availability of just a Ring alarm system or something else for electronic,

you know, other brands too, that are out there, Simply Safe and others, is really a serious mistake,

because you can get yourself and your family electronic protection at a very reasonable cost today. I

mean, look, decades ago, you had to hire a professional alarm company. They had to hard wire, and

they had to do all the switches, all that. What they have available today is amazing and very effective. It

can give you that added peace of mind, and you can combine it with the cameras, both inside cameras

outside cameras and other motion detectors.

Evan Nappen 06:07

All kinds of things are out there that you can do yourself pretty darn easily and give yourself the

protection. You want to combine that protection with good lighting. Lighting is also very important.

Lighting helps discourage theft and other bad people. It illuminates them, and also the camera records

them. It can also give you advance warning of individuals that come into your perimeter by both the

camera surveillance and by the alarm itself. I mean, you know, you go to sleep at night. You have your

cameras, and you turn on the perimeter of your alarm. You’re protecting yourself and your family. And

you know that the physical security becomes important. You have the good locks. You have your

valuables stored in safes. You hopefully have your dog or dogs, and you have your firearms. When you

have that gamut of protection, both electronic and physical, you know that you’re maximizing your

ability to defend yourself and your loved ones. These things today can be accomplished at a very

reasonable cost, and there’s really no reason that an average person cannot have security that

decades ago would have been tens of thousands of dollars. This is the new world.

Evan Nappen 07:45

And not only that, it combines into apps on your phone. You’re able to control your alarm away from

your home, turning it on and off. You can see what activity is going on. You’re able to look at the

cameras. You don’t have to even be at your house, and you can surveil and see and get notice. It is

really an amazing time when you consider what’s available in electronic security and in physical

security, with the better locks, enforcers that can be added to doors. Things that can be not even as

obvious, but adding tremendous security. And this is a mindset, folks. It’s a mindset for the new year.

Page – 2 – of 10You should do your own security evaluation of your home and your property. Look to see if you have

bushes or trees that block the view from the road, where persons can break in through a window and

not be seen. Look at your lighting. Take a look. Is it lit up? Well, look at your cameras and the angles

and areas that are covered by your outdoor cameras, by your floodlight cameras. Look at where you

have cameras inside your home. Now, you want to be aware of your own privacy, and that’s very

important. But there are places in your home that you don’t frequent all the time, basements, garages,

etc., where you can have cameras to even provide interior protection should an intruder come in. These

are things to consider in the full picture of your security.

Evan Nappen 09:26

And if you’re able to have a dog, let me tell you, dogs can make a huge difference. You know, in

surveys they’ve done on felons and criminals and such, they ask what they’re most afraid of? Well, the

number one thing that criminals are afraid of is an armed homeowner. That’s right. Number one thing

they’re afraid of is a homeowner with a gun. So, right there is an important deterrent factor. The second

thing that felons, criminals, etc. are most afraid of is two dogs. Believe it or not, two dogs really freaks

them out. That gets their attention. But even having one dog is very important, because dogs bark.

Dogs are keenly aware. Their senses are better than yours and mine, superior. And dogs are an alert

system. I know of cases, actual cases, where individuals were looking to do a hot robbery and, even

worse, commit murder, just to randomly kill, and they went to canvas homes. And homes that had dogs

they avoided, and they hit the home that didn’t have a dog. It wouldn’t matter if the home they came to

had a little yapper that was barking, they avoided that home just because of the dog being there as an

alert system. So, dogs are very important, very critical. I would highly recommend having a dog. The

other thing is dogs, you know, they are loyal, and depending on your type of dog, most of the dogs

designed for security, will happily give their life to save yours. And dogs can buy the time in between

the bad guys wanting to harm you and your family, for you to get to your gun to have the ultimate

protection.

Evan Nappen 11:42

So, these are things you need to consider when you look at your own security and your own physical

security of yourself and your family. At the beginning of the year, it’s a good time to think about it and

figure how secure are you? Ask yourself, how secure are you when you go to sleep at night? Do you

feel secure? Do you have camera surveillance? Do you have alarm surveillance? Do you have a dog

on the lookout? Do you have your firearms? Do you know how to use them? Are you trained? And do

other members of your family understand how to use these things as well? Think about these things. I

want all my listeners to be safe and protected, and these are things that can help you and may make

the difference. So, stay safe in ’26, folks. It’s going to be an interesting year, that’s for sure.

Evan Nappen 12:36

And with the Big Beautiful Bill kicking in, with no more NFA tax, and with very interesting court cases

proceeding, we may be able to enhance our security even more with guns and accessories that the

Second Amendment oppressors have tried to stop us from having. So, stay tuned. Teddy, what do you

have for us today?

Page – 3 – of 10Teddy Nappen 13:07

Well, as you know, Press Checks are always free, and this is something that kind of came up as I was

flipping through. This is actually an issue. We kind of talked about the whole idea of defensive property.

So, this is out of Pennsylvania, from Kinship News by Petrana Radulovic.

(https://www.kinship.com/news/pennsylvania-pets-are-family-divorce) Pennsylvania House passed a

bill saying pets are family members, not objects. I’m not joking.

Evan Nappen 13:45

Well, pets are normally viewed as property.

Teddy Nappen 13:47

Yeah.

Evan Nappen 13:48

Now they’re declaring pets to be family members.

Teddy Nappen 13:53

Yep, the article talks.

Evan Nappen 13:54

Can I take them as a deduction on my income tax?

Teddy Nappen 13:57

I don’t know. This is the thing, though, it opens up that gate. Well, it may just might because in

Pennsylvania, the House passed a new bill classifying pets as living beings that are generally guarded

as cherished family members. In the bill.

Evan Nappen 14:17

Cherished family members.

Teddy Nappen 14:19

During divorce proceedings. There’s the caveat.

Evan Nappen 14:23

Oh, okay.

Teddy Nappen 14:24

It’s House Bill 92, and it passed with 121 over 82. Now going for the Senate. The argument was that

the statute for special category for companion animals, where judges would then be legally required to

consider the welfare of the pets when it comes to which individual gets custody.

(https://pawprintoxygen.com/blogs/healthy-paws/pennsylvania-pet-custody-law-update) It’s literally

taking.

Page – 4 – of 10Evan Nappen 14:49

Well, some people are very attached to our dogs. We get very emotionally attached.

Teddy Nappen 14:55

But it takes the whole stage of who gets the dog to a whole new level.

Evan Nappen 15:00

Yeah, I guess it does. Well, maybe you can request visitation for your dog. But the problem is, well, it

could be beneficial, because if it’s viewed that way, and gun owners defend their dog from harm. It’s

actually may, down the road, maybe raise it to the same as protecting a human. So, that given how

emotionally attached we are to our dogs, that defending our dog, you know, but it also, you know,

basically it’s John Wick. It’s the entire premise of John Wick, huh, when it comes to that, as to your dog

being harmed.

Teddy Nappen 15:49

Well, I look at it as the slippery slope where they say it’s a fallacy, but in actuality, just because the

amount of things that have opened the floodgates, cut to transgender, men can become women. You

can cut to any subject where it’s like, well, they didn’t look at the unintended consequences of these

actions. Where, right now, it opens that door, where could dogs not be considered property. Could you

defend your dog in a self-defense? And funny enough, right out of here, out of USA Carry, it was a

whole article by Brian Armstrong. “Can you use deadly force to protect your pet?” And it was one of

those where he brings up a variety of scenarios where, generally speaking, if someone’s attacking your

dog, you can’t just shoot them.

Evan Nappen 16:41

Right. Because the dog is property, and yet, maybe we’ll see that turn around if dogs start being treated

as family members under the law. But it does open it up to, well, if we start treating them as people,

then how can you know, what if you have to put your dog down? Like you can’t take your kid to have

them put down, right? Because that’s a person. But what about a dog or a cat, etc.? And by the way,

why are we excluding cats? Do cats get covered under this, too? Cats aren’t going to be considered

family members?

Teddy Nappen 17:19

It says pets, so I guess dogs and cats.

Evan Nappen 17:20

Oh, so wait a minute. So, any pet?

Teddy Nappen 17:26

Any pet. Like my pet rock, my pet Scorpion.

Evan Nappen 17:29

See now it starts to open up. Gerbils, horses, right?

Page – 5 – of 10Teddy Nappen 17:37

It’s one of those. But.

Evan Nappen 17:38

My pet alligator. My comfort Gator.

Teddy Nappen 17:42

However, I do look at some of the positives. I know we had this whole back and forth on the right of

defending property, and I think this could open things up for that. Where people could have the right in

using lethal force to defend property. It’s one of those that I would like to see them iron that out more.

Even in the article, he was bringing up scenarios where you could have that situation. He brought up,

like a man’s walking down and you see a dog attacking your dog, and where you have that idea where

you’re technically trying to defend property, from the, you know, you can shoot like wild animals

attacking your dog.

Evan Nappen 18:20

Well, in some states, they have laws allowing you to shoot dogs that are wild, that are feral, that attack

deer, etc. Some of that’s out there, but you know, normally, though they’re viewed as property. And if

we’re going to start giving them status as humans that can cut both ways. It can be problematic too.

Because if an individual then shoots a dog, they may face penalties as if they shot a person.

Teddy Nappen 19:01

I know. Your very first case. This is the exact issue, actually.

Evan Nappen 19:04

Exactly, exactly, exactly my very first case. And, yeah, well, I don’t know. Because, you know, I haven’t

discussed that in a while. Maybe I should actually tell that story here, because it is a classic of one of

the earliest cases.

Teddy Nappen 19:26

A tale as old as time, one might say.

Evan Nappen 19:29

Yeah, this is in another state, other than New Jersey. My client was shooting coyotes out his bedroom

window at three o’clock in the morning over a bait and a light, which was perfectly legal in the place

where he was doing it, believe it or not. But, unfortunately, there was a dog that belonged to a neighbor

that lived, not really that close, but the dog, apparently, that night, decided to run with the homeboys.

You know, with the coyotes. And my client, inadvertently, shot the dog thinking it was a coyote. And

what he would do is he’d shoot the coyotes and leave them there so that other coyotes came and he’d

shoot them, too. He didn’t go out there to retrieve dead coyotes. Well, anyway, that night, after shooting

the dog, unbeknownst to him, there’s this banging on his door. A woman is there holding her dog that’s

been shot. And she’s like, you shot my dog, you shot my dog. And he’s like, oh my god, I had no clue. I

had no idea. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.

Page – 6 – of 10Evan Nappen 20:37

And she’s all bent about it. I mean, I can understand, you know, who wants to have their dog shot? On

the other hand, she should not be letting her dog run around loose. So, she calls the police, and the

police come. The police say, hey, lady, we’ve told you a half a dozen times not to let your dog run

loose. So, too bad. Your dog was shot, but it’s not criminal. Goodbye. Well, she’s not to be deterred,

and she calls Fish and Game. Well, it so happens that there was a Fish and Game law that had

relatively recently come out about shooting a dog. If you shot a dog while hunting or any other way, you

were required to call it in that a dog was shot. Anyway, this Fish and Game Officer decides to be the

white knight for this woman who’s hysterical and charges my client with shooting the dog and not

reporting it, etc. Now, of course, it was reported because the police had come. So, it was reported, but

it didn’t stop them.

Evan Nappen 21:47

So, anyway, the charge moves into the Municipal Court. We bring a motion not only based on the facts,

that he arguably did have it get reported because the police came, but also that this law was, in effect,

a violation of his Fifth Amendment, because it was requiring self-incrimination in mandating this

reporting. And when I put this through the Fish and Game Officer who in this state, they would

prosecute their own cases, a couple things. He had actually gotten sick and tired of this woman who

was just incessantly hysterical and just couldn’t get over this. And he had, I think, had enough of that,

and realized that we were in a constitutional area on this new law, and that there actually was arguably

a reporting. So, he dismissed the case without us having to actually have the hearing.

Evan Nappen 22:56

And so with the case dismissed, I walked out of the court with my client, and I’m explaining to him how

he can get his gun back from the Fish and Game Officer. And this woman comes running out of the

courtroom. She’s at the top of the courthouse steps. She has a dozen pictures of the dog in her fists,

and she’s waving them around. She’s screaming and yelling. She comes running down the steps, and

she starts pounding my client on his chest with these photos of the dog, and screaming, you killed my

dog. You killed my dog. And he kind of falls backwards. I’m there, and I just try to give her a command

to stop. I said stop, you know, stop. Stop that. Back off, right? Trying to just command her to stop. At

which time, she turns and she points her finger at me with a fistful of dog pictures, and she says, and

you his mother fucking fat attorney. At which time I said, how dare you call me an attorney. And right

then and there, the bailiffs grabbed her and arrested her. They took her away. My client, I’m saying him,

are you okay? Are you okay? Because he’s still on the ground, and he goes, yeah, I’m okay. Man, I’m

just laughing so hard I can’t get up. So, that is the famous dog shooting case. True story.

Evan Nappen 24:39

And anyway, well, Teddy, we’ll see what happens about dogs taking on human status. But I want to

mention our good friends at WeShoot.

Teddy Nappen 24:52

It could be a voting block.

Page – 7 – of 10Evan Nappen 24:54

Yeah, it could be. I wouldn’t be surprised since the Democrats are losing their illegal alien voting base.

Maybe this is part of their plan. Maybe we got to get dogs to vote. But they might, who knows? Dogs

are pretty smart. They probably wouldn’t vote Democrat, except for maybe some poodles. I don’t know.

Sometimes they’re pretty smart, too. Maybe they’d go the right way.

Teddy Nappen 25:17

A lot of golden retrievers.

Evan Nappen 25:19

Yeah. Well, yeah. Well, what do you think about that? Well, goldens are pretty good. I don’t know. I

don’t want to be insulting to goldens.

Teddy Nappen 25:25

They’re very loving, but they’re very stupid.

Evan Nappen 25:27

They are. Oh, my god. Do you know how much hate mail you’re gonna get for saying that? We love all

dogs.

Teddy Nappen 25:34

I’m not saying I don’t love them. I’m just saying, like golden retrievers are so.

Evan Nappen 25:35

Well, they better not be only, only Democrat Golden Retrievers. We will not.

Teddy Nappen 25:42

German, the German Shepherds, though, those are crazy smart, where they were open, you know, the

door.

Evan Nappen 25:47

The Dems will claim that the German Shepherds are fascist, racist, of course. You know, extreme right.

I could just hear it. Oh, God, this is gonna get off the charts. Well, let me mention our good friends at

WeShoot, who is, of course, our favorite range. Where we, you and me, Teddy. We shoot there. We

train there. We got our CCARE certificates there, and lots of other good training. Great pro shop, great

range. They’re located right there in Lakewood, New Jersey, right off the Parkway. Easy access. Great

folks. Great environment. State of the art range, great pro shop, and a fantastic website. Go to

weshootusa.com, and you can check out their website. They have all kinds of great specials and sales,

and they send out news alerts and bulletins letting you know about all kinds of special deals. And

actually, their emails are excellent. Even their communication is excellent with WeShoot. WeShoot

members, they love we shoot, and I know you’ll love it, too. So, check out WeShoot. Pay them a visit.

You’ll see why we shoot there, and you’ll see why it’s one of the finest ranges and best resources for

gun owners right there in Central Jersey. weshootusa.com

Page – 8 – of 10Evan Nappen 27:22

And I also want to mention our friends at the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs. They are

the premier gun rights defenders for New Jersey. They’re there in the courts, fighting as we speak.

Fighting right now, in that Third Circuit Court of Appeals on the Carry Killer Law, assault firearms, and

magazines. It’s great. We’re going to see some awesome results. I’m very optimistic here. We’re going

to finally see New Jersey put in its place by the judiciary. This is great stuff. We can thank President

Trump for that. Many of the judges that he has been, both his first term and second term, they’re

making all the difference when it comes to enforcing and protecting our Second Amendment rights. And

the Association is there litigating in federal court. They also have a full-time paid lobbyist in Trenton.

Please make sure you join the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs. anjrpc.org ANJRPC is

the premier organization, folks, and when you belong to them, you’re going to get email alerts as to the

shenanigans going on in Trenton, as to the progress in the litigation. You’re going to be on top of things

and be able to take action as needed. So, please join. Make sure you’re a member.

Evan Nappen 28:58

And let me also shamelessly promote my book, New Jersey Gun Law. It’s the Bible of New Jersey gun

law, and if you don’t have a copy, you’re at a severe disadvantage, because it is the best anti-GOFU

medicine there is. My book is written to protect law-abiding gun owners, to teach them what they need

to know to try to remain law- abiding in the extremely challenging state of the Democratic People’s

Republic of New Jersey. So, get your copy of New Jersey Gun Law by going to EvanNappen.com.

Evan nappen.com. It’s the big orange book. It’s over 500 pages with 120 topics, all question and

answer. Scan the front cover QR code there and join my private subscriber base. It’s private, and you

will get email updates. You’ll also be able to get access to the archives. You’ll get email alerts from me

as the law changes. Go to EvanNappen.com and get your copy today.

Evan Nappen 30:08

So, speaking of GOFUs, what do we have this week for GOFU? Well, I’m going to tell you. We were

just talking about security at the beginning of the show, but, you know, you’ve got to be careful with

your own security. Because you don’t want to have GOFU if you’re using cameras. You want to be

careful about your own privacy. You want to be careful about what you film. And yet, sometimes by not

having cameras, you can be put at a disadvantage, and that can be a GOFU. So, the importance of

your cameras can help you in a situation of self- defense, because it can demonstrate that you were

justified. But at the same time, if you acted wrongly, it could be a problem. But since you are only going

to act properly, it will end up documenting in video what occurred, and this has made the difference in

cases that I’ve had where there have been Ring and other video that exculpate. That’s a fancy legal

word for essentially proving or demonstrating innocence. Exculpating the client from certain charges.

Evan Nappen 31:43

So, the GOFU can be a GOFU if it’s not used properly, but in this instance, the GOFU might become

the opposite, an advantage, when used properly. So, consider that when dealing with your security

situation, and think about the scenarios that you may have to deal with in how you place and distribute

your cameras and your alarm. And how you take care of your guns and your dog and how you maintain

physical security, by securing your firearms when they’re not being used, etc. These are all important

considerations as you begin this new year, so that we can all stay safe.

Page – 9 – of 10Evan Nappen 32:34

This is Evan Nappen and Teddy Nappen reminding you that gun laws don’t protect honest citizens from

criminals. They protect criminals from honest citizens.

Speaker 2 32:46

Gun Lawyer is a CounterThink Media production. The music used in this broadcast was managed by

Cosmo Music, New York, New York. Reach us by emailing [email protected]. The information and

opinions in this broadcast do not constitute legal advice. Consult a licensed attorney in your state.

Page – 10 – of 10

Known as “America’s Gun Lawyer,” Evan Nappen is above all a tireless defender of justice. Author of eight bestselling books and countless articles on firearms, knives, and weapons history and the law, a certified Firearms Instructor, and avid weapons collector and historian with a vast collection that spans almost five decades — it’s no wonder he’s become the trusted, go-to expert for local, industry and national media outlets.

Regularly called on by radio, television and online news media for his commentary and expertise on breaking news Evan has appeared countless shows including Fox News – Judge Jeanine, CNN – Lou Dobbs, Court TV, Real Talk on WOR, It’s Your Call with Lyn Doyle, Tom Gresham’s Gun Talk, and Cam & Company/NRA News.

As a creative arts consultant, he also lends his weapons law and historical expertise to an elite, discerning cadre of movie and television producers and directors, and novelists.

He also provides expert testimony and consultations for defense attorneys across America.

[email protected]

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