Riding Shotgun With Charlie #214 News2A Shawn Abramson & Grant Kielczewski

 

Last year, I filmed a show with Shawn and Grant from News2A. Due to camera issues, we decided to scrap it and do it another time. That time was in Knoxville, Tenn, at the Gun Owners of America’s G.O.A.L.s event. Since we first tried this, Grant up and moved from New Jersey to middle Tennessee, so this was the ideal time to make it happen again. 

 

Shawn grew up in a mostly non-gun house, but he and his brother took any chance they could to go out and shoot with their father’s friends. At 18, getting an FID and joining the NRA was on the top of the things he wanted to do as an adult. For Grant growing up in the Midwest, guns were just tools. Also buying his first gun at 18, he spent years just being a casual shooter. In the last five years, things changed for him. He’s been more active in taking courses and in helping others get started on their gun owning path. He’s been working more towards becoming a better instructor. 

 

Shawn and Grant were both New Jersey guys with an idea to start a website with a focus on the Garden State.  News2A (N2A) was launched after the Bruen decision in June 2022. New Jersey finally caved, kicking and screaming, to allow their peasants to have pitchforks. And allow them to carry their pitchforks. For a while, it was a hotbed of overreaching government having a post-Bruen hissy fit. There were lots of things going on. The gents thought there needed to be a place where people could get the up to date and correct info on the goings on.

 

We spend some time talking about the differences between states like, New Jersey & Massachusetts, versus other states, like Florida & Tennessee. It is bad in Jersey. You cannot carry in sensitive places so you have to disarm in your car and do a lot of administrative loading and unloading. Post Bruen, New York and New Jersey really tried tamping down the rights and abilities of gun owners. 

 

When the guys started getting more involved, they went to Trenton to watch the testimonies and see how the sausage is made. And it ain’t pretty. None of the things we may have been taught in school, or from Schoolhouse Rock, really happens like that. It was an education and eye opening for them. 

 

At one point, John Petrolino, RSWC #093, reached out to me and asked if I wanted to do some writing. He said that N2A was looking for writers and contributors for their website. He said I could send things to him to edit, then I could pass it along to N2A. In the meantime, he wrote to Shawn and Grant, saying that maybe they could publish some of my writings there. It’s been a great outlet for me as a writer. I was able to cover the nonsense of the Gun Law Listening Tour in early 2023. 

 

The website is chock full of writers. Covering topics of politics, gun rights, training, editorials. They’ve got about eight writers plus Shawn and Grant contributing to the site. Some I’ve had on the show and some still need to get in the stagecoach. They also have sections on the site that are great resources for Jersey residents, where you can carry, how to carry, how to apply for everyone. And, of course, safety tips, too. 

 

Let me tell you, the gun folks from Jersey have aggravation in their blood about their process, licensing scheme, and the nonsense they have to deal with. There’s only a handful of states that the Bruen decision really affected. These states are the most egregious about doing their best to make sure that lawful and responsible citizens have a hard time with owning, possessing, and carrying firearms. Fortunately, they’ve got Shawn and Grant putting in time, love, and money in keeping everyone informed and on top of the situation. 

Favorite quotes:

Shawn: “You meet the right people, too. They have the right values. They’re just friendly people willing to help others in general.”

Shawn: “They only care about making sure their party’s agenda happens.”

Grant:”We’ve tried to take this very complex information and make it as applicable to people as possible.”

Grant: “I know people underestimate the value of training.”

News2A Website

https://www.news2a.com/

 

News2A Twitter/X

https://twitter.com/News2ATeam

 

News2A Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/news2a/

 

News2A Gab

https://gab.com/News2A

 

US Law Shield (Code:NEWS2A)

https://www.uslawshield.com/?affid=ad008c31-331d-11ef-bda8-0615552639c3

Second Amendment Foundation

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Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms

https://www.ccrkba.org/

 

 

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Dennis McCurdy

Author, Speaker, Firewalker

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