RSWC #177 The GOAL Podcast

Riding Shotgun With Charlie

Riding Shotgun With Charlie #177 The GOAL Podcast Garet Holcomb & Jeff Strider

Finally, I was able to get together with Jeff Strider and Garet Holcomb from The GOAL Podcast. Jeff & Garet are both board members of Gun Owners Action League. I’ve known them for some time and we’ve run into each other at all the GOAL events, of course, and at the SIG Academy in New Hampshire, too. I do need to say that we filmed this before HD.4420 was released as a bill. We talked about how the Gun Law Listening Tour was going and speculated how it was going to turn out. Now we know.

The GOAL Podcast is also ranked in the top 5% of all podcasts according to John Petrolino’s (RSWC #093) recent Bearing Arms article. Besides that great news, Jeff & Garet enjoy doing the podcast and fortunately the roles on the podcast does not have anything to do as GOAL board members and they’ll keep doing the show when their terms expire.

Garet grew up in California but got the gun bug in South Carolina when he was a young man. After some safety rules lessons, he found himself taking the shotgun out to the woods and really enjoying some hunting. Back in California as an older teenager, Garet and his friends would shoot washing machines and what not, as it was legal back in the 1980’s to do so. After some time in the military, Garet ended up in Massachusetts. In 2016, the then AGAG (Anti Gun Attorney General) of MA, the now Governor, Maura Healey, made an edict saying that anything that looks like an AR is an AR and she banned the sale of any new ARs. That’s when Garet got more involved in the gun/civil rights movement. He’s since become an instructor as well. Last year, the three of us ended up doing some instruction at a ladies event.

Jeff would do some paintballing with friends when he was a teenager. He had a neighbor that was a police dispatcher and suggested he get his license. During the course, Jeff was hoping for more. The firearms used in the course here Ruger Mark I & IIs. He was hoping for some handguns that were a little more exciting. He also has taken the instructor route, with several certifications. He’s also taken several courses and trains regularly. On The GOAL Podcast, Jeff does a training segment with a drill of the month.

Garet and Jeff met back in 2016-ish. That year, GOAL had a rolling rally after Healey’s egregious move. A couple years later, Garet was elected the vice president of a local gun club and learned about the opening on the GOAL board from Jeff. Of course, it’s been great connecting with all these pro gun people in the community. Garet and Jeff both do some instructing with Bill Dalpe (RSWC #154) at Patriot Firearms School. Jeff recently helped a ladies class with Kerrie Ann Auclair (RSWC #139), who runs a local chapter of Armed Women of America and is the MA leader of The DC Project.

There was a GOAL Podcast years before they started doing the show. I told them there was even a radio show from Worcester, MA, called The GOAL Line. I used to record those onto a cassette with my stereo back in the early 2000’s. The old version of the show slipped in the timing and got behind and then left behind. The gents took the equipment and heated up the mics to resurrect the podcast.

It was really fun to have time with the guys and get them in the stagecoach. We drove to a local Mexican restaurant with Garet in the front seat and drove back after with Jeff in the front seat. You’ll get to know them better here. You can listen to episode 100 with me as their guest, too.

Favorite quotes:

Garet: “When she (Maura Healy) did that thing, that to me was like one of the most brazenly cynical and just disgusting things that I’ve ever seen a politician play out in real time.”

Garet: “What bothers me the most about the situation (in Mass) is the lack of any meaningful opposition.”

Jeff: “You gotta have fun shooting. That’s what keeps people coming back.”

Jeff: “Can I shoot? Should I shoot? Do I have to shoot?”

The Gun Owners Action League Website https://goal.org/

The GOAL Podcast https://goal.org/goal.org/podcast

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/

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