Adelina May joins State of the Second to talk about how women actually carry a firearm day to day, and why most of the conventional advice misses the people it claims to serve. She runs Girls Just Want to Have Guns, a company with women instructors and women attendees that teaches women across the country to go from anxious around a gun to confident enough to carry every day. Her path started young. She grew up with guns in the home, started training around age 12 when her dad pulled her into his church security team's range sessions, moved into competitive shooting, and has been a grandmaster for the last six years. Working at a manufacturer during Covid showed her how many people buy a gun and assume they can use it, and a conversation with her own mom, who couldn't unload the gun kept by the bed without being shown, convinced her most women in America had never actually been taught.

Adelina's core argument is about meeting women where they already are. She builds her classes as events, not lectures, with branded pink gear, gift bags, raffles, and a group photo, so first-timers show up excited instead of intimidated. On gear, her first recommendation is always a good holster in hard plastic or Kydex with a clip that won't pull out when you draw, like an Ulti clip or DCC clip. On training, she focuses on conceptual understanding, real-life scenarios through her monthly gun club, and dry-firing from the actual position and outfit you carry in. She is direct about the parts of the industry that hold women back: gun-store staff who steer women to a gun because it's pink or small instead of what performs, product launches that only picture tactical models, and instructors who tear new shooters down or ban long nails from class.

The hosts and Adelina dig into mindset and instruction, including why spouses often make poor teachers, how a single negative comment can take many positive ones to undo, and when an instructor should stop correcting and just let a student shoot. The conversation closes on the soapbox segment, where Adelina names what the industry still misses: relatability. She argues that if every model in the marketing is jacked, tactical, or a dark femme fatale, the average woman concludes the gun world isn't for her. Her fix is to show real people in real clothing doing real things, then train women to perform in what they actually wear, cute dress and heels included.

Adelina Mae's first recommendation is always a good holster in hard plastic or Kydex, paired with a clip that won't pull out when you draw, like an Ulti clip or DCC clip. A holster that stays put on the draw is the foundation everything else builds on.

She builds her classes as events rather than lectures, with branded pink gear, gift bags, raffles, and a group photo. The goal is for first-timers to show up excited instead of intimidated.

Working at a manufacturer during Covid showed her how many people buy a gun and simply assume they can use it. A conversation with her own mom, who couldn't unload the bedside gun without being shown, convinced her most women in America had never actually been taught.

Many women arrive anxious and easily shaken, and Adelina Mae notes that a single negative comment can take many positive ones to undo. She works through it by knowing when to stop correcting and simply let a student shoot.

Adelina Mae and the hosts discuss why spouses often make poor instructors, tying it to how easily a single negative comment can set a new shooter back. A neutral instructor avoids the personal dynamic that makes correction land harder between partners.

She is direct that gun-store staff often steer women toward a gun because it's pink or small instead of what actually performs. Her counter is to focus on performance over appearance and to get real instruction rather than trusting a store's snap recommendation.

Adelina Mae's answer is relatability. When every model in the marketing is jacked, tactical, or a dark femme fatale, the average woman concludes the gun world isn't for her, so she argues for showing real people in real clothing doing real things.

She focuses on conceptual understanding, real-life scenarios through her monthly gun club, and dry-firing from the actual position and outfit you carry in. The principle is to train the way you'll actually perform, cute dress and heels included.

Adelina May is a female-only firearms instructor and the owner of Girls Just Want to Have Guns, a company with women instructors and women attendees that teaches women across the country how to go from scared and anxious with a firearm to confident, effective, and carrying every day. She grew up with guns in the home and started shooting around age five. She began training near age 12 alongside her dad's church security team, moved into competitive shooting, and has been a grandmaster for the last six years. She worked at a firearms manufacturer during Covid and has worked at gun stores. She also runs a monthly gun club and shares concealed-carry and educational content on social media.

State of the Second welcomes back Dan and Danielle Morton, the husband-and-wife owners of Ammo Squared, for a wide-ranging conversation about ammunition as a stored asset and what real preparedness looks like. The Mortons started Ammo Squared in 2015 out of their garage and describe the company as building an ammunition safety net for America. Their model flips the usual transaction: you buy a generic need, like 9 millimeter practice, store it with the company, and have it shipped whenever you want. Since their last appearance the business has grown fast, from about 40,000 members to 147,000, and they just opened a second facility in Texas after celebrating a 10-year anniversary in Boise.

Most of the episode digs into how a storage-first ammo company actually operates. Dan walks through the caliber-of-the-month approach, the lesson learned from once offering more than 500 calibers and getting stuck on ones they could not restock, and why widespread adoption has to exist before a caliber makes business sense. They talk through how shortages work on their side, where an auto buy keeps running and customers wait in line for allocation, and why major NATO calibers get prioritized by manufacturers during a crunch. Kaylee adds the consumer view, including how the platform simplifies choices for first-time gun owners by labeling rounds by purpose instead of brand, and the dopamine hit of watching an account grow in the background. The hosts and guests also riff on April Fools' products that accidentally revealed real demand, and Dan previews a next-generation platform that would let members speak or type what they want and use AI to build an ammo plan.

The back half turns serious. Dan frames ammo as a store of value, comparing it to gold and silver and noting some customers have sold stored inventory back when they needed cash. In the From the Soapbox segment, the conversation moves to personal sovereignty, public education, and Second Amendment education, including GOA's reminder that rights are constitutionally protected rather than government granted. Ammo Squared's stated long-term vision is to store one billion rounds over the next ten years across 10 to 20 warehouses, positioning itself as America's ammunition reserve so future shortages lose their sting.

Ammo Squared is a storage-first ammunition service: members buy a generic need like 9 millimeter practice, store it with the company, and have it shipped whenever they want. That flips the usual transaction, letting people build a stockpile in the background instead of buying and taking delivery all at once.

The company grew from about 40,000 members to 147,000 members. It also opened a second facility in Texas and marked its 10-year anniversary in Boise, with a team of roughly 28 to 30 people.

Ammo Squared once offered more than 500 calibers and got stuck holding ones it could not restock, so it pared back. Now it adds calibers through a caliber-of-the-month approach and does not stock a caliber until someone signs up for it, then stays just ahead of that demand.

During a shortage the auto buy keeps running while customers wait in line for allocation. Major NATO calibers tend to get prioritized by manufacturers during a crunch, so they flow more reliably than niche rounds.

The platform labels rounds by purpose instead of by brand, which simplifies the choice for first-time gun owners. Members can set it and forget it, then log back in later and watch the stored count grow in the background.

Dan Morton frames ammunition as a tangible store of value comparable to gold and silver, something that will not go to zero. Some members have sold stored inventory back to the company when they needed cash.

The stated long-term vision is to store one billion rounds over the next ten years across roughly 10 to 20 warehouses. The aim is to position Ammo Squared as America's ammunition reserve so future shortages lose their sting.

Dan Morton previewed a next-generation platform that would let members speak or type what they want and use AI to build an ammo plan for them. The episode also touched on April Fools' products that accidentally revealed real customer demand.

Dan and Danielle Morton are the owners and founders of Ammo Squared, which they started in 2015 out of their garage and run from Boise. The company stores ammunition for members and ships it on demand, and the Mortons describe it as building an ammunition safety net for America. By this episode the business had grown to 147,000 members, recently opened a second facility in Texas, and marked its 10-year anniversary with a company of about 28 to 30 people. Danielle has said they homeschooled their three daughters and graduated their last one this year. Their stated long-term goal is to store one billion rounds of ammunition over the next ten years.

State of the Second hosts Kaylee and John sit down with John "Chappie" Chapman, founder of the Task Force 70 Foundation. Chapman has been a law enforcement officer since 1992 and has spent most of that career as a SWAT operator and a trainer. He started his first civilian training company around 1998 after noticing there was not much actual force application training going on beyond the square range. Task Force 70 began about three years ago and went public roughly four months before this recording. Its mission is to train the small-town cops who get little or no training, the officers who make up the 70% of American law enforcement working for agencies that serve fewer than 10,000 people, often 12 officers or less. The foundation takes no government money, partners with GOA and Hillsdale College, and runs on private donations.

The conversation gets into why the gap exists. Chapman walks through the three levels of police training and explains that the large departments have gotten better at training over the last 20 years while the bottom 70% rely on second- or third-hand material with no full-time training guy. He draws a hard line between qualification and training: qualification is a standardized test that a person can safely manipulate a firearm and accurately hit a target, while real police shootings turn on decision making, prudence, legal understanding, and contextual processing. Shooting, he says, is only maybe 10% of gunfighting. The foundation teaches five topics, and the first is constitutional judgment, because officers are taught case law and amendments rather than the Constitution itself, the Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers, and the original meaning behind the Second Amendment's "well regulated."

The episode also speaks directly to armed citizens. Chapman's advice for a traffic stop is plain: be polite, keep your hands where the officer can see them, and comply. The roadside is not the place to argue an unreasonable order; that fight belongs at the Article 3 level, in front of a judge. He tells CCW holders that having a permit is not training and urges them to seek contextual instruction, a force-on-force class, or a ride-along. He closes on trust between communities and their police, the idea that authority is responsibility rather than power, and a call for support at tf70.org/donate, where $20 a month funds training and enters donors in a monthly Bravo Company rifle giveaway.

It is a privately funded nonprofit founded by John "Chappie" Chapman to train small-town police officers who get little or no training. It targets the 70% of American law enforcement working for agencies that serve fewer than 10,000 people, often with 12 officers or less.

Large departments have improved their training over the last 20 years, but the bottom 70% rely on second- or third-hand material and have no full-time training staff. Most small agencies lack the resources for the kind of contextual instruction officers actually need.

Qualification is a standardized test that proves a person can safely manipulate a firearm and accurately hit a target. Real police shootings turn on decision making, prudence, legal understanding, and reading context, and Chapman says shooting is only about 10% of gunfighting.

Chapman's advice is to be polite, keep your hands where the officer can see them, and comply. The roadside is not the place to argue an unreasonable order; that fight belongs in front of a judge at the Article 3 level.

Officers are usually taught case law and amendments rather than the Constitution itself, the Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers, and the original meaning behind the Second Amendment's "well regulated." The foundation's first of five topics is constitutional judgment, which builds that missing foundation.

No. Chapman tells concealed carry holders that having a permit is not training and urges them to seek contextual instruction, a force-on-force class, or a ride-along.

The foundation takes no government money and runs entirely on private donations, partnering with Gun Owners of America and Hillsdale College. This keeps its training independent of government influence.

Supporters can give at tf70.org/donate, where $20 a month funds officer training. Each monthly donation also enters the donor in a monthly Bravo Company rifle giveaway.

John "Chappie" Chapman is the founder of the Task Force 70 Foundation. He has been a law enforcement officer since 1992, going back and forth between full time and part time, and has spent most of his career as a SWAT operator and a trainer. He has been in the firearms industry since he was a teenager, working mostly on technical expertise for product development, and started civilian training in about 1998. He has worked for a long time with Bravo Company as a gunfighter. He started Task Force 70 about three years ago and went public roughly four months before this recording; the foundation partners with GOA and Hillsdale College, where Dr. Regan is his mentor. He is now a detective after years in patrol.

Gabby Franco joins State of the Second hosts Kaylee and John for a conversation that starts with a simple message for anyone who's been shooting for years: the basics still win. Before drilling speed, she says, work precision and transitions, because most shooters rush past the fundamentals. Franco brings 30-plus years behind a gun to the table. She started as an Olympic shooter at age 11 in Venezuela, worked six years as a gun shop sales rep after moving to the United States, and competed on Top Shot in seasons four and five. That range of experience shapes how she talks about the sport, the industry, and the people in it.

Much of the episode draws on her firsthand view of Venezuela before and after socialism. She describes a country that once had stocked grocery stores and a thriving shooting culture, with the state even providing pistols and ammunition to junior athletes, and how that unraveled after Hugo Chavez came to power. Her warning to gun owners in restrictive states like California and New York is not to leave but to stay and fight, and to understand that culture shifts slowly when a generation grows up without ever learning what the Second Amendment is. She also pushes gun owners to change how they talk to people who disagree. Listen first, invite them to the range later, and let the experience do the convincing.

The back half digs into identity and the industry. Franco breaks down why she rejects the idea of a monolithic gun culture, sharing stories about a range encounter in Texas and her own family, including a mother who supported her shooting career despite firing a gun maybe once in her life. She explains why the Hispanic firearms market is growing, crediting social media and good content for chipping away at an old stigma. The episode closes from the soapbox, where Franco and the hosts make the case that supporting the Second Amendment means doing something, taking a friend shooting, backing organizations doing the work, and asking big companies in the industry to stand up openly rather than stay quiet.

Gabby Franco says most shooters rush past precision and transitions in a hurry to shoot fast. After 30-plus years behind a gun, her message is that the basics still win, so work the fundamentals before drilling speed.

Franco describes a Venezuela that once had stocked grocery stores and a thriving shooting culture, where the state even provided pistols and ammunition to junior athletes. That unraveled after Hugo Chavez came to power, which shapes her warning about how quickly a free culture can be lost.

Her advice is not to leave but to stay and fight. She argues that culture shifts slowly, and that the danger grows when a generation grows up without ever learning what the Second Amendment is.

Franco urges gun owners to change how they engage: listen first, then invite the person to the range and let the experience do the convincing. She frames a firearm as a tool whose intention, not the object itself, makes it good or bad.

Franco credits social media and good content for chipping away at an old stigma around firearms. That shift is opening the door for more Hispanic gun owners and helping grow the market.

Franco and the hosts argue that supporting the Second Amendment means doing something concrete, like taking a friend shooting or backing organizations doing the work. It is about personal responsibility, not just holding an opinion.

Franco makes the case that big companies in the industry should stand up openly for the Second Amendment rather than stay quiet. She also says egos in the industry need to come down so people support those who can do the work.

Franco started as an Olympic shooter at age 11 in Venezuela and joined the national team in 1996. After moving to the United States she worked six years as a gun shop sales rep and competed on Top Shot in seasons four and five.

Gabby Franco is a competitive shooter and firearms instructor who has been shooting for more than 30 years. Born and raised in Venezuela, she started as an Olympic shooter at age 11, joined Venezuela's national team in 1996, and competed for her country overseas. After moving to the United States, she worked at a gun shop as a sales rep for six years and went on to compete on Top Shot in seasons four and five. She holds a bachelor's degree in psychology and is finishing a master's in sport and performance psychology. She is sponsored by Primary Arms and Walther Arms. Franco can be found at gabbyfranco.com, on Twitter as @GabbyFrancoTS4, and on YouTube as Gabby Franco.

Kristen from Laser Ammo joins hosts Kaylee and John on Gun Owners of America's State of the Second to make the case for dry fire training that people will actually do. She runs marketing and social media for Laser Ammo, shoots USPSA and IDPA competition, and trains women through her own firearms business. Her core message is simple: too many people don't practice, and too many get complacent about safety. Laser Ammo is a dry fire training company that has been around since 2009, started in Israel for defensive shooters, and holds about 13 patents.

The conversation walks through how the products work. There's a drop-in laser where you rack the slide and pull the trigger, plus a partnership with Dry Fire Mag for what Laser Ammo calls the Surestrike mag, which auto-resets so you can pull the trigger without racking. The lineup also includes reactive targets with a built-in timer, recoil-enabled Airsoft guns fitted with a laser barrel, a flash bolt that replaces an AR's bolt carrier group, and the Smokeless Range home simulator. The simulator runs on a standard Windows computer with no apps needed, takes a quality projector pointed at a flat wall or screen, and ships with 10 core drills you can run solo or head-to-head, plus 13 different add-ons. Add-ons include a competition match builder you can share and the Video Scenario Trainer with branching scenarios and a hundred built-in situations. Kristen frames the value as cutting the barriers that stop busy people from practicing, like a range an hour away, bad weather, or kids at home, and points out that five or ten minutes a day fixing one flaw beats no practice at all.

The back half gets into who Kristen trains and why. She works in the women's advocacy space because women learn differently and often get talked over at the range, and she pushes them to load their own magazines, clean their own guns, and use the right terminology. John backs her up with a warning for husbands not to train their own spouses. The episode also covers practicing the full draw, including racking the slide and dropping the safety, since those are the first things to fail under pressure. On the Soapbox segment, Kristen argues that gun owners need to get involved locally and politically, vote, do their research, and have hard conversations, while Kaylee ties it to going on offense for the Second Amendment, constitutional carry, and GOA's lawsuit against the NFA. You can find Laser Ammo at laserammo.com and Kristen personally at wtfkristen.com (Women Training Firearms).

Laser Ammo is a dry fire training company founded in 2009, started in Israel for defensive shooters. It holds roughly 13 patents and builds laser-based tools that let people practice trigger work at home.

A drop-in laser fires when you rack the slide and pull the trigger, and the Surestrike mag (a partnership with Dry Fire Mag) auto-resets so you can keep pulling without racking. The Smokeless Range home simulator runs on a standard Windows computer with no apps needed.

It runs on a standard Windows computer with a quality projector aimed at a flat wall or screen, no apps required. It ships with 10 core drills you can run solo or head-to-head, plus 13 add-ons including a shareable match builder and the Video Scenario Trainer with about a hundred branching situations.

Kristen says five or ten minutes a day spent fixing one flaw beats no practice at all, and there's no rule that you have to drill for an hour. Dry fire removes the barriers that stop busy people from training, like a distant range, bad weather, or kids at home.

Kristen works in women's advocacy because women learn differently and often get talked over at the range, so she pushes them to load their own magazines, clean their own guns, and use the right terminology. Co-host John warns men flatly not to train their own spouses.

Kristen stresses practicing the full draw, including racking the slide and dropping the safety, because those mechanics are the first things to fail under stress. Building them into muscle memory through live and dry fire is what makes them hold up when it counts.

On the Soapbox segment, Kristen argues gun owners should vote, do their research, get involved locally, and have hard conversations because these issues affect everyone. Co-host Kaylee ties it to going on offense for the Second Amendment, constitutional carry, and Gun Owners of America's lawsuit against the NFA.

Laser Ammo is at laserammo.com, and Kristen's personal training business is at wtfkristen.com, which stands for Women Training Firearms.

Kristen is from Laser Ammo, where she runs the company's marketing and social media. She took her first firearms class at 18 from the San Diego Police Department because she wanted to be a cop. As a military kid she moved through Virginia and then Texas, where she joined a ladies group that led her into competition shooting. She shoots USPSA and IDPA, and became a sponsored shooter for Laser Ammo after meeting Pat and Mary Grace McMahon in competition. Her day business is marketing, and she also runs her own firearms training business focused on training women. She sits on the board of her local Republican women's group. Her personal website is wtfkristen.com, which stands for Women Training Firearms.

PTR vice president Bill Gentry joins hosts John and Kaylee in Myrtle Beach to break down the suppressor technology PTR is built around: PIP, or purposefully induced porosity. It is a 3D-printed approach Gentry describes as titanium foam or inconel foam, built as a single monolithic piece from nose to tail. He says it cannot be machined and could only be 3D printed, and that on a nine millimeter the result is a gun where the action is now louder than the shot. He frames the earliest suppressors as steel wool wrapped and banded on a barrel that worked for about five or six shots, then explains current manufacturing pushes that to a 50,000 to 60,000 round capability. Gentry believes the technology has roughly capped for now, with the better part of nine patents inside the can.

The conversation covers PTR's roots and range. The company went to Portugal about 22 years ago and bought the data packages, licensing rights, and tooling for the G3 H&K rifle, then brought manufacturing to South Carolina with a lifetime warranty. Gentry walks through PTR's law enforcement push after the Ukraine war limited H&K component shipments out of Germany, including the LE-only Breacher shotgun and its civilian counterpart the Jack, both 12 gauge AOWs. He also shows a new MP5-pattern SBR built with Magpul and Timney, shipping with a Magpul stock, Magpul handguard, ambidextrous Magpul trigger housing, a Timney two and a half pound two-stage trigger, a 50-round drum, and PTR's first cold hammer forged barrel.

Policy and culture run through the back half. Gentry expects a giant rush once the zero dollar tax stamp takes effect on January 1st, and recounts an NSSF meeting with the ATF director and deputy director where he heard the agency knew the rush was coming and was preparing for it. He shares his own story, from winning a trap shootout at 13 against the number three ranked shooter in the country, to leading Cobra and K-USA, to a smart gun chapter where he says he told off Eric Holder and shelved the technology rather than see it mandated. His through line: the firearms industry is a pack of wolves that defends its own but tears apart anyone who folds on the Second Amendment.

PIP is the suppressor technology PTR is built around, which vice president Bill Gentry describes as a titanium or inconel foam printed as a single monolithic piece from nose to tail. He says it cannot be machined and could only be 3D printed.

Gentry says PIP is so effective that on a nine millimeter the gun's own action becomes louder than the shot itself. The suppressor reduces the muzzle report below the mechanical noise of the cycling action.

Gentry says the earliest suppressors were steel wool wrapped and banded on a barrel that lasted about five or six shots, while current PTR manufacturing reaches a 50,000 to 60,000 round capability.

Gentry says PTR went to Portugal about 22 years ago and bought the data packages, licensing rights, and tooling for the G3 H&K rifle, then brought manufacturing to South Carolina with a lifetime warranty.

The Breacher and the Jack are both 12 gauge AOWs that came out of PTR's law enforcement push. The Breacher is law-enforcement-only, while the Jack is its civilian counterpart.

Gentry shows an MP5-pattern SBR shipping with a Magpul stock, Magpul handguard, an ambidextrous Magpul trigger housing, a Timney two-and-a-half-pound two-stage trigger, a 50-round drum, and PTR's first cold hammer forged barrel.

Gentry expects a giant rush once the zero dollar tax stamp takes effect on January 1st, and recounts an NSSF meeting where the ATF director and deputy director said the agency knew the rush was coming and was preparing for it.

Gentry frames the industry as a pack of wolves that defends and fights for its own with all its might, but tears apart anyone who folds on the Second Amendment. He ties this to a career that ran through Cobra, K-USA, and a smart gun chapter he shelved rather than see the technology mandated.

Bill Gentry is the vice president of PTR. He says he has been in the firearms industry for more than 25 years, and was president of Cobra Firearms for 16 years, where he says he took the company from number 27 to number 7 in the industry in four years. He went on to K-USA, helped NORMA ammunition prepare for sale before Beretta bought it, and helped bring Bushmaster back in the Reno, Nevada and Carson City area before joining PTR.

Dustin from Derya joins John and Kaylee on State of the Second to explain how a firearms brand can stand up its own name and start making guns in the United States in record time. He came to the gun industry through an accounting background. He is a CPA who worked big four public accounting at PwC after college at the University of Nevada, then joined Arms Corp / Rock Island through his longtime friend Martin Twassen during the company's hyper growth in the 2013 Obama era. He spent close to 12 years there before helping start Derya, which incorporated on March 28, 2024 and was manufacturing guns in the United States within a year.

Most of the conversation is a practical look at how Derya runs. Dustin walks through why they chose Jacksonville, Florida for the US factory: it is close to the Savannah port where shipments from Turkey land, Florida is gun friendly and manufacturer friendly, and the labor pool already had manufacturing experience. He explains the company's pricing strategy of starting low to entice buyers, backed by efficient production across over 140 CNC machines in Turkey plus US machines. The DY9 is the flagship and most popular gun, and the team moved 95% of its production from Turkey to the United States. He previews a heavy 2026 lineup: the DY9Z at a $299 MSRP with a 15 round magazine and ten colors, releasing on Black Friday, the TM22 rimfire at $249 on January 1, and a new shotgun at the end of Q1, plus several more projects.

Kaylee pushes the discussion toward women buyers, sharing her own struggle to find a concealable carry gun that fits a small hand and her advice that companies wanting to know what colors women want should look at Pinterest wedding palettes. Dustin says women are a big market for Derya and that the brand is leaning into tutorial content and a woman's perspective to make the buying experience less intimidating for first time owners. In the Soapbox segment he gives measured takes on the Glock conversation in the industry and on US manufacturing, arguing tariffs make US investment more attractive but manufacturing here is not easy, and that the United States is the deciding factor for nearly every gun design. He closes by plugging the nonprofit Walk the Talk America, which works to bridge the gap between the firearms and mental health worlds.

Dustin is a CPA who worked big four public accounting at PwC after attending the University of Nevada. His longtime friend Martin Twassen brought him into the gun industry at Arms Corp / Rock Island, where he stayed close to 12 years before helping start Derya.

Derya incorporated on March 28, 2024, and was manufacturing guns in the United States within a year of starting.

Jacksonville is close to the Savannah port where shipments from Turkey land, Florida is gun friendly and manufacturer friendly, and the local labor pool already had manufacturing experience.

Derya starts prices low to entice buyers, backed by efficient production across more than 140 CNC machines in Turkey plus US machines. Dustin says they use premium material and accept making less money than competitors rather than cutting the product.

The DY9 is Derya's flagship and most popular gun, and the team moved 95% of its production from Turkey to the United States.

Derya is launching the DY9Z at a $299 MSRP with a 15 round magazine and ten colors on Black Friday, the TM22 rimfire at $249 on January 1, and a new shotgun at the end of Q1, with several more projects to follow.

Dustin says women are a big market for Derya, so the brand leans into tutorial content and a woman's perspective to make buying a gun less intimidating for first time owners. Co-host Kaylee adds that brands wanting to know which colors women want should study Pinterest wedding palettes.

In the Soapbox segment Dustin gives measured takes on the industry's Glock conversation, and argues tariffs make US investment more attractive while warning that manufacturing here is not easy. He says the United States is the deciding factor for nearly every gun design.

Dustin works on the operations side of Derya, the firearms brand featured in this episode. He is a CPA who worked big four public accounting at PwC after attending the University of Nevada, and he was born and raised in Las Vegas. He entered the gun industry through his longtime friend Martin Twassen, joining Arms Corp / Rock Island during its growth period and staying close to 12 years before helping start Derya, which incorporated on March 28, 2024. He pitched Jacksonville, Florida as the site for the company's US factory. He is also involved with the nonprofit Walk the Talk America, where he handles the money. His last name is not stated in the episode.

Yehuda, known online as the Pew Pew Jew, joins hosts Kaylee and John on State of the Second to trace how he went from a spoiled LA kid who thought only police, military, and bad guys could own guns to one of the most recognizable voices for Jewish gun owners. He explains that he got into the industry by accident. After his parents had what he calls a Chernobyl meltdown over learning he owned a Glock 19, he set out to teach his own kids gun safety, went looking on Amazon for a children's book on the subject, and found none existed. So he wrote one. It took five years to get published because no one would touch it, and once it was out he was suddenly being called a gun safety expert on podcasts and radio.

Much of the conversation centers on what it means to be a Jewish gun owner. Yehuda pushes back hard on rabbis who say Jews should not own guns, pointing to a 2,500-year warrior heritage and arguing the community has only been anti-gun since 1945. He says post October 7th there was a massive uptick in Jewish firearms owners, but that many stay quiet about it, and his mission is to get them to be loud instead. He also breaks down how draconian Israel's gun laws actually are compared to the US, and reflects on his own move from California to Texas, where a gunsmith removed his bullet button for free and welcomed him to the state.

The back half turns lighter. In the From the Soapbox segment, Yehuda gives his spicy take that his favorite gun company is High Point, because they know exactly who they are and are willing to joke about themselves while the rest of the industry takes itself too seriously. He and John trade ideas for joke products, and both land on the same theme that runs through the episode: take someone to the range, pass the experience on to the next person, and have fun with it. Kaylee ties it back to building momentum for the Second Amendment, from fighting the NFA to changing hearts and minds one first-time shooter at a time.

He got into it by accident as a first-time Glock 19 owner. After his parents melted down over learning he owned a gun, he set out to teach his own kids gun safety, couldn't find a children's book on the subject, and wrote one himself, which led to podcasts and radio calling him a gun safety expert.

He wrote it because he went looking on Amazon for a children's book to teach his own kids gun safety and found that none existed. It took five years to get published because no one would touch it.

He pushes back hard, pointing to a 2,500-year Jewish warrior heritage and arguing the community has only been anti-gun since 1945. His mission is to get Jewish gun owners who stay quiet to be loud about it instead.

Yes. He says there was a massive uptick in Jewish firearms owners after October 7th, though many stay quiet about it, which is why he works to get them to speak up.

He breaks down how draconian Israel's gun laws are compared to those in the United States, where firearm ownership is far more accessible.

He bought his first gun in California, then moved from California to Texas, where a gunsmith removed his bullet button for free and welcomed him to the state.

He names High Point because they know exactly who they are and are willing to joke about themselves, while the rest of the industry takes itself too seriously.

He and the hosts agree that taking someone to the range and passing the experience to the next person is the best on-ramp, building momentum for the Second Amendment one first-time shooter at a time.

Yehuda, known online as the Pew Pew Jew, is a firearms author and Second Amendment advocate who has worked to amplify the voice of Jewish gun owners for almost nine years. He got into the industry by accident as a first-time Glock 19 owner, then wrote a children's book on gun safety that took five years to get published, going on to write several more children's books and a book titled Bullet Points. He grew up in North Hollywood, California, and now lives in Plano, Texas, where his home range is Mr. Guns. His books and merchandise are available at thepewpewjew.com.

John and Kaylee sit down with Zach, the owner of Tactical Advisor, to dig into a question every gun buyer has asked: can you trust a paid gun review? Zach explains why he built his channel around a 30-second breakdown that hands you the verdict up front, so you can leave or stay and hear the reasoning. He works by himself, films out of his closet, and treats research like a discipline. The conversation moves quickly into the realities of being a creator in this space: YouTube's shifting rules, demonetization over words like "thermal," a strike that locked him out for a week, and why he runs on every platform he can instead of betting on one.

The heart of the episode is money and honesty. Zach and John agree creators should be paid, because a review can cost thousands in ammo, camera gear, and editing time, and YouTube revenue is pennies. The harder part is the gray area. Zach is blunt that when a check comes in every month, it gets harder to say negative things, so he refuses non-competes and has zero contracts that dictate what he can say. His rule is that brands pay for the work and the viewership, not the opinion. When a product is bad, he tells the company first and asks whether it's a one-off or a real issue, and he has declined to post a positive review on something that simply didn't work even when the company pushed for it.

The group also makes a case for fun. Not every gun needs to be the deadliest, fastest option, and platforms like the GOAT 15 and cool novelty guns can pull new people in. Kaylee frames the through-line around the first-time owner who goes to YouTube to learn, and why censoring creators' language hurts that person most. Zach praises Rumble as a free-speech outlet while arguing against building a 2A-only echo chamber, and he recalls GOA's GOALS show as a relaxed, family-friendly event with real time to talk to companies. He closes on transparency and on inviting his own audience to keep him in check with constructive criticism.

Zach and John argue creators should be paid because a single review can cost thousands in ammo, camera gear, and editing time while YouTube revenue is pennies. Payment does not have to compromise honesty, but it creates a gray area that takes discipline to manage.

Zach is blunt that a recurring monthly check makes it harder to say negative things, so he sets a firm rule: brands pay for the work and the viewership, not the opinion. When a product is bad he tells the company first and asks whether it is a one-off or a real issue.

Zach refuses non-competes and keeps zero contracts that require him to say specific things, so no brand can dictate his verdict. He has even declined to post a positive review on a product that simply did not work, despite the company pushing for it.

Demonetization over words like "thermal," strikes, and shifting rules push creators to self-censor, which Kaylee argues hurts the first-time owner most. That new owner goes to YouTube to learn, and watering down a creator's language makes honest firearms education harder to find.

Zach praises Rumble as a free-speech outlet but warns against building a Second Amendment-only echo chamber, which he sees as bad for growing the community. His own approach is to publish across every platform he can rather than betting on one.

Zach tells the company privately first and asks whether the failure is a one-off or a real issue before saying anything publicly. He gives a brand grace to fix it, and rewards a company that takes the constructive criticism and actually evolves.

The group makes the case that not every gun needs to be the deadliest or fastest option. Fun and novelty platforms like the GOAT 15 pull new people into the hobby, which matters for the health of the community.

Zach recalls the Gun Owners Action Leadership Summit (GOALS) as a relaxed, family-friendly event with real time to talk to companies. It was the kind of show a creator could bring his family to rather than a packed industry grind.

Zach is the owner of Tactical Advisor, a firearms content channel he started seven or eight years ago. His full-time job is in law enforcement, fire, and EMS; the host's intro adds that he has over 11 years in law enforcement, is a SWAT team sniper, and a lieutenant with more than 12 years in firearm and EMS [VERIFY]. He works by himself and films out of his closet. He is a husband and father of three with a fourth on the way, and a born again Christian who shares the gospel at the end of his videos. He is known for a 30-second breakdown format that delivers the verdict early, and he publishes across Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Rumble, X, and Telegram.

Rich Angstadt, president and founder of Angstadt Arms, joins State of the Second hosts John and Kaylee to trace how a personal want became a company built on innovation. Angstadt's grandfather got him into firearms young, and his family history runs back to the 1700s and 1800s, when the Angstadts were master gunsmiths crafting Kentucky long rifles and smooth bore muskets. Around 2011, after exiting a previous company, Rich had free time, was shooting IDPA and IPSC competitions, and wanted a 9mm AR built around a Glock pistol magazine while keeping all the AR15 controls. He took the design to SHOT Show in 2015, picked up big distributors and dealers, and helped shape what became the pistol caliber carbine market. The first gun was the UDP-9, a straight blowback AR9 on Glock magazines.

The conversation moves through the company's product arc and what drives Angstadt to keep building. Selection by the US Army for its subcompact weapon trials forced a sub-15-inch length requirement that pushed development of a modified cycle system with Deadfoot Arms. Angstadt didn't win that contract (B&T did), but the work gave birth to the MDP, a roller delayed AR9 that runs on Glock magazines, weighs three and a half pounds, and shoots flat and low-recoil like an MP5. Rich explains why the company chases innovation over the industry's me-too habit, and how metal 3D printing (laser sintering titanium, not polymer) gives speed to market. A new design can be printed, heat treated, and test fired in under a week, which lets the team try ideas that a full manufacturing line would never justify. Testing remains the part that can't be rushed, and contracts often dictate the accuracy and reliability standards.

The second half turns to suppressors and the NFA. Suppressor sales have surged on faster approval times, dropping from up to 12 months to as little as a day, and the $200 tax stamp goes to zero on January 1, 2026. Rich predicts deeper integration between firearm and suppressor, more integrally suppressed designs, and suppressors becoming a normalized product gun owners buy in multiples. He's bullish the NFA's days are numbered but less certain short barrel rifles will take off the way suppressors have, given how well pistol braces already serve that role. Kaylee details GOA's lawsuit to gut the NFA, explaining that the zero-dollar tax stamp creates the legal grounds to sue because the Supreme Court previously held the NFA could stand only because it was regulated under a tax. The group discusses normalizing gun culture, getting first-time owners into the fold, range rental programs, and starting new shooters on suppressed .22 so they never develop a flinch. Rich closes by pointing listeners to Angstadt Arms and asking them to support their local gun stores.

Rich Angstadt founded Angstadt Arms around 2011 after exiting a previous company, wanting a 9mm AR built on a Glock pistol magazine while keeping the AR15 controls. He brought it to SHOT Show in 2015, and the first gun was the UDP-9, a straight blowback AR9 that runs on Glock magazines.

The original UDP-9 is a straight blowback AR9 on Glock magazines. The MDP is a roller delayed AR9 that also runs on Glock magazines, weighs three and a half pounds, and shoots flat and low-recoil like an MP5.

Angstadt Arms uses metal 3D printing by laser sintering titanium, not polymer, so a new design can be printed, heat treated, and test fired in under a week. That speed lets the team try ideas a full manufacturing line would never justify, though physical testing still can't be rushed.

The Army's subcompact weapon trials imposed a sub-15-inch length requirement that pushed Angstadt to develop a modified cycle system with Deadfoot Arms. Angstadt did not win the contract, but the work gave birth to the MDP roller delayed AR9.

Suppressor sales have surged as approval times dropped from up to 12 months to as little as a day. On January 1, 2026, the $200 tax stamp goes to zero, which Rich expects to normalize suppressors as a product gun owners buy in multiples.

Rich predicts deeper integration between firearm and suppressor, with more integrally suppressed designs and suppressors becoming a normalized purchase. He is bullish the NFA's days are numbered, though less sure short barrel rifles will catch on the way suppressors have, since pistol braces already fill that role.

Gun Owners of America (GOA) is suing to gut the National Firearms Act (NFA). The argument is that the Supreme Court previously held the NFA could stand only because it was regulated under a tax, so a zero-dollar tax stamp removes that basis and creates the grounds to sue.

The episode points to range rental programs and starting new shooters on a suppressed .22 so they never develop a flinch. The broader goal is normalizing gun culture and getting first-time owners comfortable in the sport.

Rich Angstadt is the president and founder of Angstadt Arms, a firearms and suppressor manufacturer the hosts introduce as trusted in over 30 countries. In the episode he says his grandfather got him into firearms at a young age, and that his family, the Angstadts, were master gunsmiths in the 1700s and 1800s who crafted firearms such as Kentucky long rifles and smooth bore muskets. He started the company around 2011 after exiting a previous company, wanting a 9mm AR built around a Glock pistol magazine, and brought it to SHOT Show in 2015.