Ep. 21 – Guns, Brotherhood, and the 2A-N-LA Perspective

Oct 14, 2025 • 56:26 minutes

This week on Three for the Founders, we invite you to play America’s favorite quiz: What’s scarier—fraternity hazing or an AR-15? Spoiler alert: one of them can be survived with juice boxes and patience. The other requires ear protection.

Our guest is Alan Wright—fraternity brother, Sigma stalwart, and the one-man YouTube machine behind 2A-N-LA. He walks us through pledging philosophies (“What you gain too easily you value cheaply”) and then—because irony is delicious—explains why he now owns about 80 firearms he definitely did not gain cheaply.

We cover the basics:

• Gun safety 101: Eyes, ears, and making sure your range buddy still has all ten fingers when you’re done.
• History quiz: Did you know gun control laws in California were originally designed to keep Black Panthers disarmed? Yes, even Ronald Reagan had a role in America’s favorite game show: Who Gets Rights?
• Fun fact: “AR” stands for Armalite, not “Assault Rifle.” We know, it ruins half of Twitter’s jokes.

🎧 Questions for listeners:

• If you owned 80 of anything—guitars, cats, Beanie Babies—would your family stage an intervention, or just sell tickets?
• Is a Star Wars “Stay on Target” T-shirt an acceptable segue into a firearms debate, or should we have gone with “Use the Force, Not the Firearm”?
• And seriously—who do you trust more: your newsfeed algorithm or the guy with a Glock who also happens to be your godfather?

📝 Takeaways:

• Brotherhood sometimes means letting pledges breathe. Gun ownership sometimes means letting society breathe—before pulling the trigger.
• The number one new demographic of gun owners is Black women. Yes, America, meet your stereotype breaker.
• Dialogue beats shouting. Especially when shouting happens in an enclosed range with live ammo.

✅ Action items:

• Like, subscribe, and maybe rethink your next meme about “assault rifles.”
• Ask yourself whether your information diet is coming from data—or from whichever politician last yelled “freedom!” the loudest.
• And if you do head to the range… remember Alan’s golden rule: everybody goes home safe.

Because this is Three for the Founders: where we keep our trigger discipline tight, our mic levels tighter, and our sarcasm fully automatic.

Thanks for joining us. Still got questions? Other things to say? Hit us up at Three for the Founders on Instagram, Facebook, or  YouTube and let us know. Til the next time...left on Founders...we out! 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

We're doing doing thug fizzle.

SPEAKER_05 0:04

John, can you interpret that for white people, please? Thug fizzle. Thug fizzle. Can you interpret it for this white dude first?

SPEAKER_01 0:14

We're brothers. We're happy and we're singing and we're colored.

SPEAKER_00 0:21

Give me a high five. Alright, cut and print. Beautiful guys. Dynamite. Welcome to Three for the Founders, where brotherhood meets the breakdown. We've been having these conversations for years. And now you are invited to join us. We'll say the things you are afraid to say and ask the questions you've always wanted to ask. Three brothers, all truth, no filters. Let's go.

SPEAKER_04 0:59

Yeah. Who is listening, learning, conversing, sharing. We appreciate you all. I just want to shout out uh Louis Rodriguez. We were in the middle of a meeting and he leaned over. He was like, Is that an intero bang? And I was like, Yes, it is. Um Jean Gaskell, who is calling me on her walks uh instead of texting and doing all this good stuff. And then uh I have a couple of colleagues I will see them at work and they will walk past me. Uh, and I was like, Did I did I do something? And they're like, Oh no, my bad. I've been listening to the podcast on the way into work, so you and I have already spoken.

SPEAKER_00 1:37

Wow. I love it. I love it. That's great. I love it. That's great.

SPEAKER_04 1:41

And so uh Gillian and Juliana both at different times have done that. Um so I just wanted to shout those people out.

SPEAKER_05 1:47

When when we first signed on, I'm like, all right, it sounds like you're far away from the microphone, the mic's not very hot, but it's okay. And then LeBron showed up and he's like, Barry White over here.

SPEAKER_04 1:54

This is how you can tell that we're just doing this ourselves, and I am still editing this on iMovie, which, when I told our guest, he was offended. If you either can't hear all three of us or you can hear us breathing, and by us, let me speak from the eye, I want to say thank you to everybody. As a matter of fact, if you're sitting wherever you're listening to this and you have at some point said, speak up, or fix your microphones, please raise your hands. Go ahead, I'll wait. I think you know that I hate both of you. I think you know that of the five people who listen to this on a regular basis, four of them now have their hands up, including my two co-hosts. I want to thank you for putting up with us as we figure this out. Thank you for listening to me mumble. Thank you for listening to LeBron and John blow your levels out because you had it turned up to 50 because you couldn't hear me. I just want to say that because there are a lot of people who come up and they're like, Oh, I love your show, I love what you're doing. Can I give you some constructive criticism?

SPEAKER_00 3:02

No doubt.

SPEAKER_04 3:03

And so all those people, you can put your hands down now, everybody who's still got their hands down.

SPEAKER_05 3:08

My hands getting tired.

SPEAKER_04 3:09

Yeah. I thank you. I apologize, know that we're aware and we're working on it, and I needed to say that.

SPEAKER_05 3:16

Antonio, I think you're being a little hard on yourself. I appreciate the humility, and I it's just like the conversation we were having before LeBron got here, but everybody takes their craft very seriously when it's their craft of a song that I wrote that I hate, but you keep bringing up every time we're in a live music situation. Similarly, uh, you know, I think the problems, the audio problems, were much more pronounced back in June. This feel that's a very June problem. Yes. Yeah, yes.

SPEAKER_04 3:45

Sure. Now we're pro-whites. And uh so when we've gotten better, we've gotten better, but we've also gone the f like there have been episodes where we'll all be talking and you hear and it's not me doing my Darth Vader voice, that's just you know, me breathing loud. Lee.

SPEAKER_05 4:07

Lee. I thought it was you being exasperated with LeBron and me, and you had to it's like you make a point, and then one of us starts talking, and then within about three seconds you hear. Like, damn it, Tony's exasperated. He's biting his tongue. Hey, t-shirt check. What you got?

SPEAKER_04 4:25

T-shirt check. Uh-oh, what you got?

SPEAKER_00 4:28

Oh, yeah. On target. Especially in your stall with a nine millimeter. Stay on target.

SPEAKER_04 4:36

Stay on target. There are like five layers to this, right? So obviously 1977 Star Wars drops, stay on target. Luke Skywalker blows up the Death Star. This is a deep cut that I wear to places where others, yeah, spoiler alert. That I wear to places that people don't know. Um, but then as we've been in our space together, you know, LeBron is a creative individual. And so, and and we like to talk about things, and so then we have to stay on target. And today we're gonna talk about guns and amendments and rights and uh the obvious civil war that's coming, obviously, and all of these things, and so you know, having gone shooting a few days ago with uh our guest, it it felt appropriate on a number of levels to stay on target. So, captain t-shirt in the building, boom, that's what we're doing. So, John, what what what what are we wearing today?

SPEAKER_05 5:34

Well, because of our guest, and because it's still hot in my room, and it's we we haven't decided to turn the AC if we're gonna turn the AC on or not. Uh so I need a t-shirt proper, but I got my UCLA Bruins going on. Yes, baby, a cleanup. It's also a baseball t-shirt, basically, baseball style shirts, baseball season. Dodgers. I just got back from San Francisco and Dodgers whooped some giants. Sorry.

SPEAKER_04 5:57

Excellent, excellent. Gotta give a shout out to my man Deshaun Foster. That's uh that's painful. I'm not sure if he was set up to fail or if it just if he failed to set up. That's fair. You can't go 0-3 and never talk to the players on the field. And then UCLA. So we got fours up for John. Uh LeBron, you are in a plain, is this lighting?

SPEAKER_00 6:23

Right after work, coaching teachers. I came right here. I'm still in my costume, my outfit, you know. I gotta be culturally appropriate. Non-offensive black man. Cardigan sweater. The N-O-B-M.

SPEAKER_05 6:37

Thank you, Penny Loafers. No, please don't tell. Jeez, no. Yes and loafers, bro. Yeah, but Carlton James Carlton. To be loved by anyone.

SPEAKER_04 6:52

Yeah, no, no, no, no. Funny enough, all of a sudden now I'm getting text messages with people and emojis like sock sock shoe shoe. What's wrong with you? And I'm like, what did I I just asked a question? Archie Bunker totally. What is wrong with you? Yeah. That is crazy that that was an Archie Bunker.

SPEAKER_05 7:11

Yeah. That was so that was a result of because my in that episode, I called out my colleague from New York, my colleague Gene. Gene! Yes, thank you, Gene. And and uh so I sent him the text and I told him the timestamp, like timestamp. And he didn't know that we had a podcast that was hilarious. So suddenly he just gets a link from me with a timestamp on it, and then he hears me talking, dropping his name and the whole thing, and then he was dying about the sock, socks, shoes, shoe thing, and he sent me that clip. And I said, Yeah, but evidently this this argument's been going on since well, the beginning of time shoes.

SPEAKER_00 7:47

Beginning of socks and shoes. Yeah, yeah. And did Jesus wear socks? So did this happen after Jesus, or I don't know if he was wearing socks.

SPEAKER_04 7:54

I'm gonna say he had on slides. That's that's my thing.

SPEAKER_00 7:58

Probably had some sliders.

SPEAKER_05 7:59

Well, since he was white, it was probably socks and sandals. Hey, but you know what? It took it took NBA athletes, athletes in general, but I think NBA athletes are the ones who took what was a terrible style choice. And it started, I want to say, from European visitors to our country wearing socks with sandals at the beach. Yes.

SPEAKER_04 8:20

And then, hey, hey, hey, hey, no judgment. Socks for warmth, sandals for ventilation, and I don't want to hear anything about it.

SPEAKER_05 8:27

Well, it's undeniably practical. Doesn't mean it's stylish, but then then some NBA players took it and make it in LA was up a love, baby. Unbelievable. It's him, it's him, it's him. I mean, my delight is big, higher and deeper than yours because you all saw Alan two days ago. This is my first time like properly seeing you. Although we got to see each other proper, proper in person. But Alan, it's a you, it's you.

SPEAKER_03 9:01

Damn. Good seeing you, my man. Long time. Too, too long.

SPEAKER_00 9:05

Too long. Indeed. So now on that note, I'm gonna go ahead and introduce formally our guest on 3 for the founders, our fraternity brother, Alan Wright. Alan Wright is the owner and creator of 2A in LA, and it is a YouTube channel dedicated to all the things that go bang. Oh, yes. The host of the 2A in LA channel, Alan Wright, is an avid collector of high-end firearms and a growing shooting enthusiast. His review system in the 2011 space and beyond is fastly becoming the industry standard. More than just a host, Alan is responsible for content development, videography, photography, editing, and production, otherwise known as a one-man show who does it all. He has a unique voice from many in the two A community. It's a voice that should be heard and needs to be heard. And the channel will provide content that is consistent, informative, and entertaining. Make sure you like, subscribe, comment, and share official 2A in LA merchandise, and you will find all of Al's contact information on our site. Please subscribe, click, and listen to his amazing information. Alan Wright, Ebony Ecstasy, we are pleased to have you on 3 for the Founders. Welcome, my brother.

SPEAKER_03 10:33

I was waiting for it. Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_04 10:39

So, Al, I wore I wore this, I wore this for you.

SPEAKER_00 10:42

That's for you, Al. Captain T-shirt wore for you. There we go.

SPEAKER_04 10:47

Stay stay on target.

SPEAKER_05 10:50

And then I had to go down with just some some UCLA gear just because, you know, we got to represent. There we go. That's what I'm talking about.

SPEAKER_04 10:56

I'm feeling right at home. And because I don't have any two A NLA merch. I'm just I'm I'm saying a brother a link so I can get the shirt.

SPEAKER_05 11:04

Where you can find some.

SPEAKER_04 11:06

Um, like, why did you choose Five Beta Sigma Fraternity Incorporated? And how did you go about bringing people into the fraternity?

SPEAKER_03 11:19

So I I would say this is a very interesting question. It's interesting for a couple of different reasons. One, I think the question is just interesting in general, but it's interesting because I have somebody who pledged me on this podcast, and I have two people that I pledged on the podcast. And so we have both ends of the spectrum here, right? And so I would say, I'll start off with why I pledged Sigma. You know, some of it was blissful ignorance. I think a lot of times when you're young and you, I was the first person in my family to attend college, so I wasn't familiar with all the different organizations. I didn't really find out about them till I got on campus. And a lot of times you make choices based on your particular campus versus maybe a larger, more universal view. And when I looked at the orgs that were on my campus and the people who I most closely identify with and fellowship with and felt that I had things in common with, those were the signals. But we came in the UCLA the exact same year. Oh, I didn't know that. Okay, yeah. I didn't see him and a lot of other guys like Jay Smooth, John Jackson, Flash, Gerald Renault, and a lot of other brothers that came in my same year pledged before me. And so when I saw them pledge and with them and Leslie, I started talking to them about it, my comfort level rose. Now, of course, they lied to me about what the intake brother would. Because if I had known, I might not have done it. Right. Help aid in that decision. And so with that said, once I became frat and I had the opportunity to pledge other individuals, I tried to think, look, I think there's a it's a it's a thin line. Even though I loved you and Dave and John, and I desperately wanted you guys to be my fraternity brothers, if I made it too easy on you, you wouldn't have appreciated it the way that you do, right? So at the same time, I had to take that into consideration. I had to make you work for it. Uh, but I also tried to think about the things about pledging that I thought sucked and tried to me. I tried to give you guys there were moments where I could give you guys some escape time, some downtime, some await time. I tried to give you that uh when I could.

SPEAKER_01 14:28

Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 14:28

So uh, you know, I think you try, hopefully, with every pledge class, you get a little smarter, a little better, a little bit more informed, a little more mature, and hopefully the pledges that come after you benefit from that.

SPEAKER_00 14:45

Well stated, Aster.

SPEAKER_05 14:46

Well stated. Alan, you're bringing back a memory. I think you were part of the pep talk out somewhere in front of an apartment building in Palms. We, you know, we're relatively deep into the process. This this glorious, I don't know what this negative thing you're talking about process is, but no, we're gonna be able to do that. Three of us were out front and John Jackson, who you brought up, who was our dean, whose job was to make sure protocols were followed, that we were safe, that we were getting what we needed, and those kind of things. We were confiding in him our our at the time dissatisfaction with the way things were going. And of course, while we're standing out in front at attention, you know, we we essentially he essentially said, you know, as you were, you know, at ease gentlemen, kind of let us just relax the restrictions for a moment. But during that time, while we were talking to him, just kind of man to man, young man to slightly older young man, we were other brothers are showing up for you know the time we were gonna have together at the apartment in Pomps. Right set session.

SPEAKER_04 15:53

You can you can say it. It was it was a session, it was a brotherhood session.

SPEAKER_05 15:57

Yes, but because they they didn't know they're just rolling up on three pledges who weren't following the protocols, weren't giving the greeting, we're letting you know people see you know, all the rules are being violated in that moment. And I recall, Alan, you being part of that conversation coming in, and John sort of going, Hey, no, Alan, right now we're kind of having this talk, and I don't know if I'm making this up in my head, but you talked about giving us a reprieve. I remember you speaking wisdom into us at that moment, being like, Yo, look, I get it. I because my my perspective on you didn't, I guess I jumped in to answer your question here, Antonio, about what it was like to come in, but I was asking everybody. No, that's beautiful. My perspective at that moment was I don't want to be a part of this fucking fraternity because I don't like any of these motherfuckers. Yep. The process was working, John.

SPEAKER_01 16:42

Exactly.

SPEAKER_05 16:44

If I make it through this, which I don't know if I can, what's waiting for me on the other side are a bunch of brothers I can't stand right now. And in that moment, you and John offered me a glimpse of brotherhood. You're like, look, I just want you to understand what's on the other side. And it's hard right now, but that that was so meaningful in those moments. Because I think someone with less insight, intelligence, wisdom would have maybe just buttoned down hard and been, well, get the f out of here, man, if you're too weak for this. But it was it was a moment of of collection and connection and camaraderie that I think I needed. I think we needed. Antonio, do you remember that moment? Oh, we needed.

SPEAKER_04 17:20

I don't I I remember nothing. Part of the reason I'm a photographer is that that is how I collect my memories. And so I have looked at all of the photos, right? I I have I I didn't know that that's what I was doing until now. And so I don't remember that one moment, but I remember as we went through, and I think that um Dwayne Hayforth said to me, as we were bringing in new members, everybody needs to go through some stress and strife because otherwise you what you he he basically said what you gain too easily, you value cheaply.

SPEAKER_03 18:11

100% right?

SPEAKER_04 18:13

And so I hear you, uh Al saying, I can't make it too easy for you, even though I want you to get this. I can't make this so simple that you simply walk in. And if we're all gonna be honest, it's the challenge that we have with brothers who have gone through what is the modern intake process, right? Because you don't know, right? John, you said you went to a gathering uh uh uh it was about a year ago, I think. But brothers don't give the grip, right? Like just like like somebody you don't know, like you know, we went shooting uh with Al the other day, and I just gave him a big old bear hug. But I know right, he knows me and I know him.

SPEAKER_01 19:02

Yes, that's not a question.

SPEAKER_04 19:04

Yes, even though we ain't seen each other in a minute, and so it wasn't I didn't have to, you know, check him and he didn't have to check me. But if I don't know you and you're wearing it, and I don't know if you've gone through something, I don't know if those letters mean something to you. I don't know if five beta sigma is a part of your life or not. Whether I've been financial or not, I have always had that brotherhood for my brothers that are around, right? And so it needs to mean something to you, and that needs to be important. I don't have a singular memory to answer your question of the process, I have a collective memory of holy shit.

SPEAKER_05 19:49

I got a little bit out when Alan's face came on. I was like, oh, your brother.

SPEAKER_00 19:52

I mean, like I just C D.

SPEAKER_04 19:59

Not S T D, LeBron. That was just in the free S T. Yeah, one of those.

SPEAKER_05 20:06

But Alan making up or conflating difference experiences, that's that's a space you've always occupied in my mind, is that big brother that had you weren't just all hard, hard, hard, hard, hard. You had humanity and wisdom in there that I think reflects on who you are even now. And I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_03 20:22

When you talk about I think that's kind of the dean's job. I think that's kind of the dean's job. You know, Reggie Elston was my dean. He knew that we were gonna get it from all ends. Get it from all ends, but somebody had to be the voice of reason, right? Somebody had to be kind of that calm in the storm, somebody to keep you grounded as you know the tornado was rolling through your life. So I tried to be that person uh for you guys.

SPEAKER_05 20:55

I appreciate that. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 21:01

Uh-huh. You know, the the thing is, this is such an interesting question because I look at it from once I was in, each line that crossed added so much value to my life. Like meeting you all, I learned so much. The more brothers we had, the richer my life became. But I have to admit, I really didn't enjoy being a Sigma and really have those great memories until Al's line came in. So when Too Black, Too Strong came in, me and Al came into UCLA together. Then we were brothers, then we were on the STEP team, then we were roommates. So my whole life, I appreciate Al because you've been through every major event of my entire life as an adult. And so I appreciate you're the godfather of my son. So, you know, the the fraternal fraternal bond is so deep and it carries so many different levels that you know we have a million memories, you know. And then you know what's interesting about the frat is you can be with your line brothers for a while, and then you find other brothers and you kind of gravitate towards them, and then 10 years later, maybe another set of brothers. So it it keeps moving, to me, which is the beauty of it, is that you know we don't pigeonhole ourselves, but we're open to the whole brotherhood. And we're open to the whole D9. You know what I mean? We, you know, like I mean, Al was in um Montel George video. This is how we do it. I mean, Montel's a cappa and he had more sigmas in the video than than anybody else.

SPEAKER_05 22:29

We knew who could, you know.

unknown 22:31

Right.

SPEAKER_05 22:33

I don't even need to finish that sentence. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 22:35

Well, he needed talented people, so that was then playing in a limited pool. Shout out to my boy Montel. Yeah, shout out to Montel, man. We're sending prayers out to you, Montel. Yeah, bro.

SPEAKER_00 22:48

We love you, man.

SPEAKER_03 22:49

Yeah, no doubt. Much love.

SPEAKER_00 22:51

Much love, much love.

SPEAKER_03 22:53

I think what you're trying to say, LeBron, is our car speeds on its way.

SPEAKER_00 22:56

There you go. Well stated, my brother. Well stated.

SPEAKER_04 22:59

LeBron and I have the opportunity to step out with you into your space, into the 2A NLA um forum and discharge some firearms safely. Let me say that. You're already discharged firearms. Oh, I look, this brother was like no, I I could say I was shooting, but we were out there for two hours, and he was uh 35 minutes into here we go. My goal is everybody goes home safe. Amen. I appreciated that, right? That was number one. I was like, oh, we're on, we're on track. And then he spent the time uh breaking it down. What is it we're doing? How is it we're doing it? Why are we doing it? What's gonna go on? And so all of that I appreciated. And and we had the opportunity to chop it up a little bit, and some of that'll be regurgitated here. But what I really wanted to say is like, why do you like guns so much?

SPEAKER_03 23:59

Well, so maybe it'd be good if I give a little hit history relative to my experience with guns. So for sure, my dad is a retired law enforcement officer, former LA County Sheriff, taught me how to shoot at a relatively young age, like elementary school age. Started off shooting like BB guns and pellet guns in the backyard and kind of bald in the 22s, and I took to it. I enjoyed it, I was pretty good at it, had a good eye for it. Um, but then I got a little bit older, I started getting into team sports, specifically basketball. I discovered girls, and that was, you know, a thing. Lovely. So I got shootings. Kind of put shooting behind me in my rearview mirror as I focused on other things. Um, and then in college, and we all will appreciate that when the LA uprisings took place after uh the Rodney King verdict uh in our city was in ashes. At that point in time, I felt like I should probably own a firearm. Didn't know much, didn't even talk to my dad, which was a mistake. Went out and bought a Chrome 380, which I own to this day. Well, you still have it. Really, I would probably do better throwing it at somebody than actually shooting it. But I kept it. Um and it kind of sat in my drawer for a decade, and then fast forward, and and it's funny, my my gun journey kind of correlates with world situation and national and local situations. Fast forward to 2020. We're standing in line for five hours to get toilet paper, and you know, there is civil unrest that's going on during this time as well. I figured I should probably up my game. And I think there were a couple of factors that kind of came into play there. One, I was working a lot remotely, so I had some newfound time on my hands, and I had evolved in the kind of person that really kind of dives into the rabbit hole. Once I decide I'm gonna do something, I do it, do it.

SPEAKER_00 26:20

I don't just do it, I do it, do it.

SPEAKER_03 26:23

Every time I fell down the YouTube, I fell down like the YouTube rabbit hole, and I started researching and kind of fell in love with firearms, infatuated with them. I wanted to explore all the different manufacturers, I wanted to explore all the different calibers, and just went on a series of acquiring firearms and exploring them. And what was interesting too about uh doing this all during COVID was that there really I didn't know, you know, all of my boys were my boys, my fraternity brothers, and all that. I didn't really have anybody in my immediate circle, though, that was into firearms that I was aware of. And so I kind of started YouTube to try to find a community. And I didn't see a lot of people that looked like me in the space. Now later on, I came, I came to find out that there were people out there, but that was through kind of more exploration and kind of building my own community, and so um that's how I got involved with YouTube. So I kind of combined two new passions firearms and starting my own YouTube channel to kind of document my gun journey. And so I acquired a lot of firearms really quickly. I probably within a year, year and a half, had somewhere between 70 to 80 firearms. And then once I kind of realized, okay, well, these are the guns that I like, these not so much, these are these are the kind of weapons that I want to collect, I kind of sold off half of that and since then have built my collection back up to that. So now I have a collection that's probably circling around 80 firearms worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

SPEAKER_05 28:28

Wow. Wow. Yeah. Okay, can I ask a dumb question? Sure. What does 2A stand for? Second Amendment. There you go. Here we go.

SPEAKER_00 28:39

Clarifying question, John. Sure. 2A in LA.

SPEAKER_03 28:43

Yeah, so I kind of wanted when I started my YouTube channel, I wanted to give something that was kind of a nod to the gun space, but was also not kind of in your face gun. Oh, that's kind of how the names uh got started. And the fact that I'm in the state, I live in Los Angeles, California, and California is one of the most gun-controlled and gun-restricted states in the Union, maybe second only to New York. Um, I felt like the fact that I'm a Second Amendment advocate in Los Angeles, California was noteworthy.

SPEAKER_00 29:22

Yeah, it is. Gotcha, gotcha. Yes, I had a question, Al. I from I don't know a lot about guns or gun collectors, but what I what I believe is that people don't buy one gun. They tend to buy multiple guns. And you have 80. Like I have two sets of golf clubs. I couldn't imagine having like 25 sets of golf clubs. So, what is it about gums that make people buy so many?

SPEAKER_03 29:47

I think at their best, at their highest form, they're works of art. I I would think about it. I I have a friend who is a photographer who has like 60 different cameras. And some are like classic, where he doesn't really shoot with them anymore, but they're just classic, they're kind of historical, they have historical significance. And then he has a lot of different cameras for different use cases. And so I think at their highest forms, certainly at the guns that I collect, many of them are kind of art, and I marvel at the machining and what goes into them. I'm not talking about the $400 block, I'm talking about kind of high-end, what we call 2011s, which is kind of on the pistol side of things, very high-end. I know what that is.

SPEAKER_05 30:46

Mr. Discharge a firearm over there knows what a 2019 is.

SPEAKER_04 30:50

I had a good teacher. I know what a 2011 is.

SPEAKER_00 30:53

That's different from a 1911. Which was the Kepler's version. Now it's the Sigma versions. The 2011s.

SPEAKER_05 31:01

We got a 1914 coming up.

SPEAKER_03 31:06

Yeah, so so that's why LeBron. I just think I just think people get enam. There's so much to like about guns. Like I said, there's a hundred different caliber, bully calibers, and for every different caliber, there's a corresponding series of guns. And so uh I get why some people could be like, oh, it's obsess, it's it's it's obsessive to have. There's no need. You only got two hands. Why do you need any guns? I I get it. 100% I get it. But each gun kind of has its own personality, its own characteristics, its own feel and look, if you will. And so that's what I love about it.

SPEAKER_00 31:47

Thank you for that clarification, man. I appreciate that.

unknown 31:50

Sorry.

SPEAKER_04 31:51

And I would say that even our experience um on Sunday, right? You you started us off with the uh the 2011, and I think you said it was an Atlas. Yeah. Yeah. Um, and then you were like, and this is a Glock. And for me, when you said Glock 9mm, I was like, oh, I'm listening to NWA. I'm just Glock. Like that's a real gun. That's a gun that, you know, people do damage with Glocks. Like that's real. But then I also got out there with the silliness about, you know, kill shot, kill shot, let me turn it sideways. Right? And so there's there's a piece of it where like the the iconography of different guns, yeah, you know, and we had the experience, we got to shoot an AR-15. And uh, I know you know this, and I should know this, but AR doesn't stand for automatic rifle, it actually stands for the manufacturer. What does AR stand for?

SPEAKER_03 32:51

It's Armelite. So a lot of people think A, when when you hear AR-15, because of the media, I think there's a tendency to think it means assault rifle. That's what most people think AR-15 stands for. And that's not what it is. No, it stands for Armorite. Armorite is the people is the name of the company who invented the AR-15 uh rifle. And it's not Austin Reeves.

SPEAKER_04 33:14

It's not Austin Reeves.

SPEAKER_00 33:16

Although he can shoot. Although he can shoot. Yeah, but the way Alan was shooting, the AR to stand for Alan Wright.

SPEAKER_05 33:23

I got something that I'm sure you'll find it. Alan, I'm I'm this is one of the reasons why I love our podcast so much, is that one of these brothers, you included now, uh, will say something that to you is so mundane and just like this is just my normal life. And I'm I'll be like, hold up, you just blew my mind. So as someone, I'm from California, from Los Angeles too. I I was not raised around guns at all. First time I shot a gun was in Chicago as a I think 18-year-old. I had a friend who his friend, his friends were, he had a best friend who was a cop, and cop was off duty, and he let us go to the indoor firing range after he was, and it was like, you know, my first time. So, but I've I've had different experiences with gun owners, and it's very polarizing. You know, there's there's some gun owners that it's a cause, it's not just a hobby, it's a cause. And there's certain hobbies that, all right, you collect cameras, talk about your photographer friend. That hobby doesn't necessarily come with a worldview or a political perspective or the baggage connected to it. Let's face it, guns as a hobby carries weight, it carries, you know, political leanings perhaps, or a way you see things. And I think as Californians, as Los Angelinos, our relationship with guns is trippy. You know, we came up in the 70s and 80s when cops had guns and gangsters had guns. That was it. That was far as I knew. Um, and I didn't know your dad was a sheriff. So but but the thing that's blowing my mind is that is the artistic part that you said. I can totally understand that. I can understand looking at a piece of machinery that's heavy in your hand and loving how something slides in and out and clicks, and how only this caliber works for this machine and the purity of that. I feel that way about surfboards, I feel that way about musical instruments, and I don't think I have ever looked at a gun owner as an artistic enthusiast until right now.

SPEAKER_03 35:10

Well, that's that's no problem. And I think too, listen, I've had an opportunity to listen and watch uh a lot of your podcasts so far. And what I love more, well, first of all, I love you guys, obviously my brothers, but as an aside, what I love is the dialogue. I think what people don't do, John, you kind of brought up kind of the political the politics that come into play when we talk about firearms, and hopefully we'll get into that uh a little bit uh in this conversation. But I would say is have no fear.

SPEAKER_01 35:48

We will.

SPEAKER_03 35:51

We are in a society now that is so divisive. The country is split almost right down the middle relative to political lines. And if there is one my biggest complaint is that the two sides just scream at each other, nobody's listening, and there's no dialogue. It's all emotions, it's very little fact, and and there is no interaction. And I think, you know, I've heard this said a million times by people, so much so that I think it gets glazed, people get glazed over eyes. But I think we all, whether you're right or left, Democrat, Republican, we all have much more in common than are our differences. And I think we let the minutia of our differences overwhelm all the commonality in many, many instances. And so I love that you guys are having dialogue. I love that you guys are bringing up topics that many may find uncomfortable to hear, uh, and that you're tackling things that a lot of people out there are not. And I think that's beautiful. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 37:10

I appreciate that. Much appreciated. Much appreciated, man.

SPEAKER_04 37:12

That's that's you know, we've had 17 titles for this podcast. Uh, one of them was this is not the conversation that we were planning to have, but it's the conversation that we're having. Yes, right. Uh Chase That Wild Goose. Huh?

SPEAKER_05 37:25

Chase That Wild Goose.

SPEAKER_04 37:27

The other one was, we said what we said. I'm gonna bring it back to Sunday because that was an opportunity for me to interrogate my own assumptions. I had never fired a gun prior to going out with you. I had never actually held a gun. I had never held one. Even when we were out there, you started us off with the 2011, and then you said, but this is a Glock. And I was like, oh, let me see what this is like. And then you leveled us up, and you said, and this is an AR-15. And for me, to your point, about the popular conversation about an AR-15, I looked at it like it was gonna jump up and bite me. Like I'm not right. That was my reaction to, and I'm not talking about when you started uh shooting on the metal target and LeBron and I ran like bitches.

SPEAKER_05 38:26

Which when Antonia told me that story, I said, Oh, that's the proper response if it's your first time.

SPEAKER_04 38:32

I knew you you were standing there, you were pointed down range, we had our earmuffs on, we had eye protection, and you started shooting, and that thing said ding, ding, ding, and I said, no, no, no, I was gone, right? And so just being in that environment, and like I said, when you when you said this is an AR-15, I had a whole bunch of preconceptions to it, and then I was like, but that's what we're here to do. I'm here to have this experience because I need to understand what this means. It was very easy to fire a weapon, and so in the larger conversation, when people are talking about guns or how could they, it's actually not that hard to fire a gun. And that's what I think if if I walked when I walked away from that experience, it doesn't take moral courage to fire a gun. It doesn't take intellectual vengeance to fire a gun. Firing a gun is to your point, John. You were like, I've never looked at machine as artistry. It's a machine, it's a machine, right? And and that's what I when I walked away from it, I was like, I don't know that it's a machine I need to engage with, and I know that it's a machine that I'm capable of engaging with. I lost that fear of the unknown, yeah, of the technology of it, right? Exactly. It was like, you know, but like I said, I still had the the Glock piece to it.

SPEAKER_01 40:13

Right.

SPEAKER_04 40:13

Like there, there's a whole story about Glocks, there's a whole story about AR-15, but that's not a story that I am reading anymore.

SPEAKER_00 40:23

Yeah, yeah. You know what? I think that is fascinating, and it goes back to some of our prior episodes that I had some of the same feelings you had, Antonio. Like, I went because we trust Al. And Al is someone who is highly proficient and a leader in his industry of guns. So I'm like, okay, we're going with someone who's knowledgeable, who knows what to do. But I had a lot of preconceived notions, and that's what people have when you don't have proximity. See, Al gave us proximity to that environment. There it is. So in the proximity, I'm like, oh, now I get it. Now I can understand. So now I'm like, oh, all black people need to have guns and know how to use guns. All of them need to join the NRA. But I'm gonna let Al speak on that more because you know, I'm citing Al. I'm in grad school, so I gotta cite Al 2025 because I gotta give him credit for that line. Spoke on that. Al spoke on it.

SPEAKER_05 41:23

And uh I've got baited breath on this one. Go, please.

SPEAKER_03 41:26

So look, I think part of the issue with guns is that is is similar to what we have on a societal level, on the on a larger scale level with everything. Look, people are busy, people are busy with their lives, people are busy with their careers, people are busy raising families and taking care of business. And so, unless something directly impacts them, most of us gather our knowledge from our friend group, from political figures that we trust whether we should or not, from media outlets and from our algorithms. And quite frankly, those are probably the worst places to gather information from if you're looking for accurate information, right? And so uh I think because there are there is the politicization of firearms on the left and the right, media left and right, I think what we get are these sound bites, and because of that, guns become very polarizing, and people establish these very kind of hard, harsh feelings about them one way or another, um, even when they don't have very much data to support their feelings. But to your point, LeBron, I I would tell you this that since 2020, the number one demographic of new gun owners in the United States are African Americans. Really? Particular, yes, particularly African American women. And not too far behind us are his are Latinos and Asians. And so what this tells me is that people of color are starting to realize the need for self-protection, the importance of the Second Amendment. I always say um the Second Amendment is what gives teeth to all the other amendments. Without it, you don't you're like a toothless guy trying to each state. It's not gonna work out very well for you at the end of the day. And so um, so I think that's interesting. I like that people are starting to exercise their Second Amendment rights, they're starting to kind of weed through all the propaganda. And just kind of get down to the reality of guns. And I would say people own guns for a lot of different reasons. I, you know, I think a lot of people out there buy firearms for self-defense. They want to be able to protect them and their families. Guns are the great equalizer. We are, we often hear about shootings, and I'm sure we'll get into that more. But what we don't hear about in mainstream media are all the times where attempted violence is thwarted because someone, a good guy had a gun or a good woman had a gun. And if you think about the number of home invasions and things like this that take place, you know, guns are the great equalizer. They can they're the one situation where a frail, you know, 120-pound woman can fend off three grown men because there is an equalizing force that comes into play. And so there's the self-defense component, and that's what I think a lot of people gravitate towards. They're also shooting sports. There are national competitions that take place on a weekly basis, multiple days per week at driving range all over the United States, and whether that's pistol, whether that's shotgun, whether that's rifle. Shooting sports are real. It's a real tangible thing. And I we usually don't see it probably till Olympic time, but there are amateur that say we don't see it.

SPEAKER_04 45:42

It's not probably, we don't see it until the Olympic time. And then it's it's you know, do you have your skis on? Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 45:52

I'm waiting to see the first black man do that to give you snow skiing and shooting.

SPEAKER_00 45:57

As soon as a black man wins the shooting competition in the Olympics, guns will be banned in the United States.

SPEAKER_03 46:05

So there are a lot of so there's shooting competitions that go on. There is collectors that are out there. So there's a lot of different ways that people engage in the gun community. And even though California is a very restrictive environment, it should be stated that more guns are bought in the state of California than any other state, with the exception of Florida and Texas. We're number three. And so there is a large gun culture here in California.

SPEAKER_04 46:37

So hey John, yeah, I can hear the liberal friends having a problem.

SPEAKER_05 46:48

Oh, you too.

SPEAKER_04 46:50

No, because that's usually your line. I can hear my my white phones. My white friends, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 46:54

I need to uh John's white friends have more guns than anybody, so it's not a problem for them. It's our black people who are having some problems right now. Wait a minute.

SPEAKER_03 47:06

In the history of this country, gun control laws were primarily always established to prevent black people from owning firearms. Uh, post-slavery, they didn't want black people to own firearms, so that's where gun control was kind of invented. And that was all the way up until you know the 60s, where uh Reagan was trying to, who was a governor of California at the time, was trying to disarm the Black Panthers who are up in Oakland, who were starting to carry guns to try to protect their neighborhoods. And so I said, to me, if you are black and you are pro-gun control, it's like being black and being pro-slavery. It doesn't the two job. It doesn't make any sense. It's like being black and being pro-Jim Crow. I it's no.

SPEAKER_00 48:00

No.

SPEAKER_03 48:01

I just think if you're black and you're pro-gun control, you don't understand the history of gun control in this country. You know, I'm not pro-slavery. I think some gun control is necessary. I don't think that violent criminals should be able to go out and buy guns. I'm not with that. I think if you want to buy a gun, you should have to pass a background check so we can ensure that you're not a violent criminal and there's no outstanding warrants for your arrest or anything like that. I do think there are some weapons that I'm not good with people only. I don't want my next door neighbor having access to a nuclear bomb. To me, that's probably a step too far. I'm just saying. Just over the line.

SPEAKER_05 48:46

What's the step that's not too far of nuclear bomb? Is there something on this side of that?

SPEAKER_00 48:52

Whatever is right before nuclear bomb, John, Al has it in the closet.

SPEAKER_03 48:57

That's where you get driving. So I think there are certain I think you should be of a certain age uh of maturity and responsibility to be able to handle a firearm. And so I think there should be laws in place that address the oh wait, I'm sorry. There are laws in place that address everything that I just said. You cannot do any of those things. Damn, I gotta read. If you right so so these, when people talk about common sense gun control laws, common sense gun control laws are already in place. There are thousands upon thousands of gun control laws on the books as we speak and as we sit here today. Now, that may not be the picture that is painted in mainstream media, but I think there are political reasons for that. Um but that is the case. Common sense gun control laws exist. Now, here's the problem that I have. So I'll say this I am a registered independent. That said, that one of the reasons why I am disgusted with both political parties at this particular time is because I think for a long time they have lost sight of there's just a new era. They've lost sight of what they are here to do, which is to serve the populace, right? And I feel like politicians are much more concerned about on both sides. This isn't a uh a left or right thing for me, it's just an assessment that I've had of both sides. They are much more worried about getting re-elected and getting funded or re-election than they are about serving the people. And so if there is an opportunity to juxtapose themselves or to position themselves against the other side, then they will look to do that even when it is not since even when they're not sincere about it. And I feel like the media is designed to get views, to get clicks, to get ratings, right? And so what do they say? If it bleeds, it leads. So they are far more incentive to point out things and make things to give you data without context. And so I've done when I first started my channel, I did like a series of videos. I did a video uh called 10 things I would tell my liberal friends about guns, right? I did another video on gun control, uh, I did another video on safeties and myths surrounding guns. And so I tried to demystify that. The problem with me is that people that watch my channel are gun, gun people, so they get it. For the most part, right?

SPEAKER_02 52:01

You need more.

SPEAKER_03 52:02

So 100%. I remember a while back when Colin Kaepernick was doing the the kneeling thing.

SPEAKER_00 52:10

The kneeling, right?

SPEAKER_03 52:11

And and everybody was in uproar about it, right? And at that time, Cam Newton was one of the big names as far as black quarterbacks go and lead and faces of the league. And so people came up to Cam and said and stuck a microphone in his face. So, Cam, what do you think about uh you know Colin Kaplan and kneeling? And and he said something I thought was very eloquent at the time. He said, People don't need to hear what I think about Colin Kaplan kneeling. Because if I agree, they're just gonna think I'm part of the crowd. They need to know what Eli Manning thinks, they need to know what Tom Brady thinks, they need to know what um Brady thought, so and Aaron Rodgers thinks, right? Yeah, they're the voices that need to be supportive of that because it's gonna carry more weight. And so um I'm glad I'm on a platform with you know people I love and I trust, obviously, but also people who may not have the exact same opinion as I do, and whose viewership may not have the same opinion as I do. Because maybe once we get rid of the hype machine on both sides, right, and we just talk real context, real numbers, then I think people have some information and they can formulate their own opinion. It's so funny. I saw this that I should I meant to send it to the group chat today. I saw this this uh this short on Instagram where this comedian is doing this this uh stand-up and she's going, you got you guys, this is crazy. So, you know, I'm older than a lot of you people here, so let me tell you about something. This is this is wild. The thing we used to do like back in the day, we had this crazy thing, like it was called critical thinking. And what you would do is, you know, you would hear one side of the argument or a topic or an issue, and then you would hear the other side, and then this is wild, right? You would formulate your own opinion about what right? I don't think there's not a lot of critical thinking. There is acceptance of what we are being fed in our algorithms, which essentially, if I said tomorrow that I think a ham sandwich is Jesus, my feed would start getting filled with information about ham sandwiches and how it relates to Jesus, right?

SPEAKER_00 54:40

You know Jesus like ham sandwiches without mayonnaise. That's how you know Jesus was black, right?

SPEAKER_05 54:48

Was he really eating some ham sandwiches? Anyone go on back? Thank you, John.

SPEAKER_04 54:53

So tarot saying Jesus in tarot bang is all I'm gonna say.

SPEAKER_00 54:59

So thank you for joining us. Still got questions, other things you want to say? Well, hit us up at threeforthefounders.com on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, or TikTok, or send us a text through Buzz Sprout. Remember to like and subscribe wherever you get your podcast and share the pod with someone you think can benefit from it or add to the conversation. Till the next time, Left on Founders, we out.

SPEAKER_05 55:28

Thank you for listening to the Three for the Founders podcast. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speakers' own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of any professional or academic institution. The material and information presented here is for general information purposes only. Listen at your own risk of becoming woke. Just wanted to say that out. Yes, we do. Yeah, I'm gonna go take off uh my shoe, then my sock, then my shoe, then my sock.

SPEAKER_04 55:56

That sounds like a plan, see? See? It's catching on, LeBron.

SPEAKER_00 56:01

There it is. Equity and reverse order. Man, because if it's a flood outside, you gotta have on least one good shoe, bruh. One good shoe.

SPEAKER_04 56:10

Okay, Archie Bunker, here we go. Like, I can't believe that this conversation goes so far back.

SPEAKER_05 56:16

That was deep, deep, dumb. All in the family. Yep.

SPEAKER_00 56:19

Deep, deep, deep.

SPEAKER_04 56:20

Um as we always do, left on founders.

SPEAKER_00 56:23

Left on founders. We are.