Including ...Perspectives from 30 Years of Gun Talk: An Interview with Tom Gresham • President’s Message • Attorney Question • Book Review • Editor's Notebook • About this Journal
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Perspectives from 30 Years of Gun Talk
An Interview with Tom Gresham
Interview by Gila Hayes
In the ongoing fight to win back self-defense rights and block new incursions into these basic freedoms, it is easy to think restrictions have never been as extreme as they are today. The eagerness of states, bureaucracies, judges, and others to push through unconstitutional laws is overwhelming. When tempted to give up, it helps to reflect on the history of bad laws reversed, court cases won, and the people who led ordinary citizens in those fights.
Earlier this month, I enjoyed a conversation with Tom Gresham, host and creator of Gun Talk Radio, about 30 years of history of defending the right to own and use firearms. His optimism and commitment are contagious, so let’s switch now to interview format and share his views and experiences in his own words. Enjoy a chatty, longer version of our visit at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMQqkwVkc7s .
eJournal: Before I met you, Tom, yours was a common byline in gun magazines. Then attacks on gun rights in 1994 propelled you into the bully pulpit that is Gun Talk Radio and you’ve dominated talk radio for armed citizens on AM and FM radio ever since. While you keep us updated on what we really love – guns and shooting – I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the way you inspire rank and file, everyday men and women to fight for liberty. What led to your foray into broadcasting?
Gresham: I’d been writing for 20 years and doing TV. I was co-hosting a show on ESPN with my dad, Grits Gresham, called Chevy Trucks Shooting Sports America. It was on ESPN, not ESPN 2, and was the first gun show on general media. I found that I liked doing broadcast. Then the opportunity popped up to do radio. I thought, “Well, you know, talk radio is coming along. This fellow Rush Limbaugh is doing not too badly.” I figured it would last six, 10, 12 weeks. Now we just hit 30 years; it’s amazing.
President’s Message
by Marty Hayes, J.D.
Have you heard the name George Zimmerman? Of course you have, and I have some news from him to share with you. Over the years, George has attempted to get his story out in print, but no publishers have been willing to take on the project. Shortly after his 2013 acquittal, we became friends when he came to the Pacific Northwest to give a talk at a legal conference at which I was also speaking. We have stayed in touch ever since.
George has decided to tell his story himself, although he is not a professional writer. Since the mainstream publishing world will not touch the project, he will be publishing the book himself when it is completed. That suggests to me that he is looking at six months to get the job done. I, for one, am much looking forward to reading his recounting of the story.
Attorney Question of the Month
Recently, a Florida sheriff’s officer wounded a man during a traffic stop while pulling a legally carried .45 caliber Glock from the man’s inside the waistband holster. Florida law imposes no duty to inform law enforcement about weapons one has during police contact, but the motorist had volunteered the detail. See https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2024/12/14/gun-unexpectedly-fires-while-jso-officer-tries-to-remove-it-from-mans-waist-during-traffic-stop-police-say/
The episode raises concern, both for residents of states that impose a duty to inform, as well as armed citizens who live where there is no statutory requirement to inform police you are armed.
Book Review
Surviving Survival:
The Art and Science of Resilience
By Laurence Gonzales
Paperback – October 14, 2013
W. W. Norton & Company
Paperback, 272 pages
ISBN 978-0393346633
$15.25 paperback; eBook $9.95
Reviewed by Gila Hayes
From the time about 15 years ago that I read Laurence Gonzales’ book Deep Survival, I have been a fan of this author. This month, I read his book Surviving Survival about the psychological aftereffects of a nearly life-ending event. One element of his writing that I have always appreciated is the stories of incredible feats of survival based on that author’s interviews with those involved. This book continued that engaging style, but does not fall short in the instructional component, either.
Editor’s Notebook
Back to the NRA?
by Gila Hayes
We love meeting and chatting with our members! As a result, even through the darkest years, the Network has rented exhibit space and attended the National Rifle Association Annual Meetings and Exhibits. With the tremendous amount of energy that’s been put into electing a reform-focused board of directors, we will again this year be part of the Annual Meeting this spring.
Please plan to come by and visit with us at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta on April 25, 26 and 27. Marty, William, Amie and I will be in Booth 3930 in Hall B, right behind the Glock booth. For more details, see https://www.nraam.org/events/ . We are optimistic that the Atlanta meeting will be better attended than last year’s in Dallas, when absences to protest against the leadership of the NRA reduced participation to a mere trickle. What’s different this year? What’s different is the great need for armed citizenry to coalesce back into a powerful force to teach gun safety and protect the right to have guns for self defense.
About this Journal
The eJournal of the Armed Citizens’ Legal Defense Network, Inc. is published monthly on the Network’s website at http://armedcitizensnetwork.org/our-journal. Content is copyrighted by the Armed Citizens’ Legal Defense Network, Inc.
Do not mistake information presented in this online publication for legal advice; it is not. The Network strives to assure that information published in this journal is both accurate and useful. Reader, it is your responsibility to consult your own attorney to receive professional assurance that this information and your interpretation or understanding of it is accurate, complete and appropriate with respect to your particular situation.