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Speaker 1: KRFX HD two Denver, j W Denver six thirty KOW Denver's talk stationn iHeartRadio station, guaranteed human.
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Speaker 2: And indeed we are loaded for bear for this edition of A two A Tuesday. In fact, Alicia Garcia, who was scheduled to be out today, is joining us from the airport. We'll get a status report from her in just a moment. Also Laura carn Or, good friend from Faster Colorado executive director there joining us via zoom. And Alec Hankleman I think just now connecting Shannon working on that he the owner of High Country Armory. All a panel discussion on this edition of two A Tuesday. Alicia, let's start with you and what your status is at the airport, why you were originally scheduled to miss today, but why you're logging in right now.
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Speaker 3: Hi, guys, how are your morning?
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Speaker 4: Good morning, I am.
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Speaker 3: Delayed here at my airport in Atlanta. I'm just returning home from the famous Train and Learn with Kevin Dixie. We had him on the show a couple of weeks ago, and of course, due to Colorado weather and other things, my flight is delayed.
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Speaker 2: Well, we'll enjoy her company for as long as she can join us also, Laura Carno. As I mentioned dialing in Laura, I think I don't want to say the word embargoed necessarily, but I know you were reserving common on certain issues that were affecting your organization while there was a bill pending before the General Assembly. I guess we'll start there as to what details you can fill in the aftermath of that, how it turned out, and what it means for faster Colorado.
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Speaker 5: Sure, and thanks for having me on to talk about this, Ryan. Yeah, So there was a bill in this twenty twenty six legislative session. It was House Both thirteen twenty one. I hate that we all have the bill numbers imprinted on.
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Speaker 6: Our minds, right.
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Speaker 7: Yeah.
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Speaker 5: And you know, we hired a lobbyist back in twenty twenty three as an organization to protect the ability of school to be able to have armed staff programs. There was a group of legislators that were trying to get rid of the law that allows that, and so we've had a lobbyist ever since just to keep, you know, keep an eye on our interests. Little did we know, Ryan, that it wouldn't be a legislator this year, but it was another five oh one C. Three in Colorado. And what they did is they hired their own lobbyist and filed a bill that would have significantly narrowed the requirements of organizations like mine to be able to apply for state grants to do law enforcement training. That would have kicked Faster Colorado out of any contention for future grants. And it happens to be an organization that has gotten grants in the past. And you know, we haven't spoken to them directly, but my sense is that they hoped that they would get one hundred percent of the grants of AILA instead of sharing that with Faster Colorado. We're in the middle of training law enforcement right now to respond to school shootings. But yeah, yeah, it was crazy. They've hired this lobbyist, and some legislators when it hit the uh you know, we were all over it before it hit committee, but some legislators when it did hit committee said that this other lobbyist on the other side of the bill literally used the words Ryan, this bill will keep Faster Colorado from getting any more grants. And and when you have somebody using the force of government to eliminate or attempt to eliminate their competition instead of competing for the money and being better than the other organization to the earn the grant. That's just a sad state of affairs, right, And so long story short, we did end up helping get that bill killed. Another organization is trying to take credit for that. And if you hear somebody else besides Faster Colorado taking credit for killing that bill, we did all of the heavy lifting. We had the lobbyist, we had the meetings with the Governor's office and the Office of School Safety. So it died unceremoniously.
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Speaker 4: She's very ceremonious and her appearances on this program.
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Speaker 2: You can follow her at Laura Carnell that' car n O and then the organization as well, Faster Colorado both on X there Laura. One of our guests another he is the owner of High Country Armory, alec Henkleman, introducing him for the first time to our audience, and Alec, I appreciate your time so much, and just kind of a two part question is for audience that's hearing about you and your High Country Armory for the first time, just what it is, what it does, and this conflict that you've had with the Denver Broncos, the beloved NFL team in town, what that issue is and how you would best explain that to our audience. It seems like we do not have Alex connected there, so I'll put a pin in that part of the conversation and redirect this back to Alicia. So, Alicia, I want to get your response, at least initially here to what Laura outlined there. With this recent session coming to an end, I think mercifully for those of us that are two A defenders and what this bill was going to do to faster Colorado. Your opinion and perspective on that, and if you had a question for Laura along those lines.
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Speaker 5: As well.
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Speaker 3: Laura, you know how much I respect what you do and we really appreciate.
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Speaker 4: All your hard work.
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Speaker 3: And thank you to your lobbyist for working so hard to kill that bill because it does not only just affect your organization, but other things that we would plan to do on the future to make these areas safer for our children. That's one of the main concerns that we all have here in this industry. And what I think that is very important that Laura touched upon is that indeed, there are a lot of cloud chasers in this Second Amendment space here in Colorado that we really need to change that need to come together and work together.
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Speaker 5: Rather than it being about.
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Speaker 3: Oh, who's responsible for getting bills killed and things that nature, we need to start helping people, for example, organizations like Faster making sure that they have the money, the funds, and the resource is necessary to fight against these things. This is something that if you are a pro to a person, you should be supporting organizations like this in the first place. And instead of us always having to be reactive to attacks on our Second Amendment rights, we should be out here being proactive and getting ahead.
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Speaker 5: Of these things.
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Speaker 3: But one of the issues is that indeed we have people that are more concerned with getting credit for things that nature than actually taking up the fight. So I really do want to thank you, Laura for understanding that how important it is to defend and protect these rights. I know it affects to your organization personally, and I just want people to understand out there we do need to donate to organizations like Faster and support them because, I mean, let's face it, the biggest threat to our freedoms is the safety of our children. Our children right now, don't understand what it means to feel safe, and they're indoctrinate and our children to be afraid of civil rights and constitutional rights, and this is something that we can do to help change that and rehumanize gun culture again.
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Speaker 5: Yeah, and thanks for saying that, Alicia. The clout chasers is an interesting, interesting term, but you know, we do see we do see that, and you know, we all are competing for folks to support our organizations, and so I understand you know, people wanting to put out there what they've been involved in. We did, uh Wryan use the word embargered.
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Speaker 1: We did not.
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Speaker 5: We purposely did not talk about this during the session because we had so many negotiations going back and forth, as I mentioned, you know, between the bill sponsors, the Governor's office, the Office of School Safety, you know, our team, and we just didn't want anything messing that up because we thought we were on a really good track to get that killed, which did end up happening in the Senate Education Committee. But we just really appreciate everybody over the years who has supported Faster and our mission started with training armed school staff, which is still our core mission, but expanding into being able to train law enforcement to respond to school shootings, many of who might be responding to a rural school that has faster trained, armed staff. So it was such a good fit for us to add the law enforcement training to our repertoire.
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Speaker 2: Laura Carnel joining us along with Alsia Garcia who is live from the airport, and the atl phoning into the program here, both connected via zoom. Thanks to Shannon Scott for providing us with that connection. You can find out more about Faster Colorado at Faster Colorado dot org. I am told now in real time we are connected with High Country Armory owner Alec Hankleman and as we go to break here, Alec, a perfect opportunity for you to introduce yourself High Country Armory to our audience and what the dispute that is going on between you.
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Speaker 4: And our hometown, Denver, broncos. How would you describe that to our audience?
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Speaker 6: How's you going? Thanks for having me on.
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Speaker 4: Sure.
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Speaker 8: Yeah, my name's Alec. I own a local gun store in Denver. Pretty proud of ourselves. We've done a pretty good job, just like everyone else here. Obviously big two A advocates and stuff, but yeah, it's just It's an interesting situation because I'm in.
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Speaker 6: That area where the new stadium is going to be built.
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Speaker 8: I'm not really where the stadium is going to be built, but I think it's where they're going to do construction on the I twenty five exit and possibly eighth Avenue. So I think that's why the building was purchased by the Broncos. And then I had an existing lease with the previous building owners who I had a good relationship with, and then the Broncos about the building.
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Speaker 6: The new management showed up.
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Speaker 8: They did a really quick introduction for about twenty seconds, and then I was paying rent and I started getting emails telling them I owed them thousands of dollars because they decided to increase my rent by twenty percent, so you know, they're they're manipulating the lease. I had a phone conversation with them. I kind of made a joke and said that they're jairmandering my lease because they're just kind of, you know, cherry picking and saying I owe twenty percent of cam and they redid their budget, which is increased my rent by twenty percent. And I'm not the only person in that building. There's two other tenants so there's three tenants that are doing this too, and all of us are in agreement to where no one's paying them the money. My work neighbor got a lawyer, and so did the other tenant. I have just been, you know, contacting reporters. They sent me a letter via FedEx saying that my rents in default. I've been deciding on writing him a letter and crown and sending it back. So yeah, that's pretty much the gist of it. But it's pretty pretty egregious. I've never dealt with anything like this in business before. I don't know how you take an existing lease and just change it. So yeah, that's pretty much where we're at.
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Speaker 2: Alec Hankleman, he is a US veteran deployed in the eighty second Airborne of the US Army. So like, we think, thank you for your service, and I want people to support your business. High Country Armory dot net is where you can find out more. I know there are some dots to connect that Alsia is going to have some things she wants to follow up on with you. Lord Carnal also joining the conversation as we kind of recap and review what went down on the watch of the General Assembly that came to an end that session this month, and how that affects Faster Colorado, how that affects Alicia Garcia and her gun training courses as well. And again the conversation continues with Alec Hankleman, the owner of High Country Armory, as this two A Tuesday rolls on. After these works on Ryan Schuling Live a round table discussion on this edition of A two A Tuesday with Alicia Garcia, the Boomstick Babe, representing from the at L where she was just down for a special training and we'll get more of information about that as she comes back from break with a question for one of our panelists, Alec Henkleman. He's the owner of High Country Armory. Laura Carnal Faster Colorado also joining us. Of course, he's truly here. Ryan Schuling back in the six thirty K House Studios, Lisia turning things over to you for an inquiry of Alec.
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Speaker 5: So Alec, thank you for being here today.
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Speaker 3: I really appreciate it. One of the things that we talk about very often on this show is how FFLs are being attacked from so many different angles, not only from the legislature but you know, putting more restrictions on what you can and cannot do, and kind of, you know, tying your hands from you being able to not only be a successful small business, but providing access to life saving and important tools and constitutionally protected tools to not only Colorado but Denver. We all know that Denver is a very dangerous town that and Denver has some of the highest rates of violence and restrictions when it comes to FFLs.
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Speaker 4: So in my.
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Speaker 3: Perspective, this is a way that they're just making it more difficult for people to be able to access firearms. So in your perspective, how is this not only hurting you, but what is going to happen at this point for you to continue to have an FFL in the city limits of Denver?
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Speaker 5: And are you going to stay in Denner?
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Speaker 8: I am currently looking at a building in Denver. I honestly don't have an issue being in Denver.
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Speaker 4: However, I have a problem with the Department of Revenue.
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Speaker 8: They've made it increasingly difficult for me, just on the admin side, to operate the business.
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Speaker 6: I was working yesterday on our day off.
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Speaker 8: I had to pay an employee over time because we have to catch up with.
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Speaker 6: Their new form.
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Speaker 8: I don't even remember the it's the you have to keep track of all the handguns now for the state. So we had the backtrack like a whole year and a half to get all those forms because we had our DR inspection.
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Speaker 6: My inspection didn't go so well.
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Speaker 8: I also, I don't think I'll also say I know I was treated differently than every other FFL that I've talked to.
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Speaker 6: I am friends with a lot of the other gun store owners around here.
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Speaker 8: My understanding was that the course of the inspection was to get me on track with compliance and to show me how things go. And when I was out of compliance, I was kind of reprimanded for that.
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Speaker 6: So before du R left my store, be since I didn't have.
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Speaker 8: All the locks on the guns, which I think you and I know that that's pretty redundant to have a lock on all the guns in the store, they made me put all of my guns into the States before they left. And then you know again, you know, I'm paying my employees over time to back all these PaperWorks and forms, but I do plan on staying in Denver. Ironically, another thing DR did, they lost my fingerprints, so they're making me pay for more fingerprints to send to CBI and get to the FDD. I literally just got an email at nine twenty two this morning from Colorado Fingerprinting telling me they see that I went in and got it done, but since the time's passed, I have to pay and get fingerprints done again. So it just seems like a Nicholin dime contest.
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Speaker 6: And then come August.
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Speaker 8: It is going to be more difficult to buy firearms in the entire state. So I don't know what that's gonna look like. I don't think anyone does, so I think we're all just kind of waiting on August first to see what sales look like through August and through the rest of the year. Most of my sales are handguns anyway, but the rifles is still a large revenue portion of my business. So I think we're all just kind of waiting to see what happens with that law coming in August.
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Speaker 2: And make sure you support his business between now and then, and it's for your own benefit as well. High Country Armory dot Net the owner Alec Hankleman joining us. You heard Alicia Garcia also part of this conversation. Laura Carno, Faster, Colorado and just building on that point that ALEC is making really this infringement on our two A rights, the attack against them.
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Speaker 4: In our legislature.
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Speaker 2: Laura, you and I have talked about this both on in the air and off and the fights that continue against these various bills that are coming down the pike, the last of which that your organization Faster Colorado just led the effort in killing it. But just how much of your time, effort, resources, dollars have to go to funding these legal battles standing on principles, standing up under the Golden Dome, you know, spending that time to fight against these bills, and what the those conversations are like behind the scenes, if you can shed any light on that, was someone like let's say Governor Jared Poulis, who unfortunately presents as a libertarian, which you would think would be pro two A in a lot of ways, but he has signed a lot of these oppressive gun restriction bills into law.
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Speaker 5: Yeah, and it is a pretty interesting progression. So starting in twenty twenty three, when we had legislators try to repeal the law that allows armed staff, and that was our first year saying we really need to get you know, some government affairs representation at the Capitol so that schools don't get this policy taken away from them. They need this And we were successful there and have had a lobbyist every year since. And yeah, it is expensive and it takes a lot of time. That's you know, sort of lost opportunity costs, but the actual hard costs to make sure that your rights are protected. I never thought as a as a five oh one c three organization that we would be in that position, but certainly we were. And I'll tell you what has been very interesting with the Governor's office, the work that we have done at Faster Colorado over the last ten years. I think we have moved the needle on public perception and how the community sort of accepts that this is this is a thing that happens out there. You know, ten years ago when we started, we were looked at as, oh my gosh, this is a crazy thing. Fast forward ten years later and somebody in the Governor's office, not the governor himself, but during these negotiations, said they know of what Faster Colorado does. They appreciate what we do, and in the rural areas we are a necessity. And so to go from you know, we're the crazy people to we're a necessity at least in the rural areas, ushions in the governor's office. I think that's a pretty big leap to make you in public opinion in just ten short years. So it's they don't think we're necessary in all of the areas, but you know, you get your foot in the door and help folks understand not really much difference in what could happen rural versus suburban or certainly urban, and how much damage could be done. So that's been that was the big surprise of the year this year, Ryan.
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Speaker 2: Laura Carnal Faster Colorado taking us through that process again literally on the front lines of this battle to preserve our two A rights, but also as it pertains to Faster Colorado and the training they provide, and this is basically in a nutshell for school personnel, staff, administration, could be teachers, could be a janitor that would be on site of a school as a first line of defense against a potential school shooter, and anywhere and everywhere where Laura Carnal is set up shop for Faster Colorado. There has never been a single school shooting and that proves that it serves as a deterrent to have arm personnel on staff at the school, so it's not one of these targeted gun free zone. She joins us along with Alec Hankleman, and of course he is the owner of High Country Armory dot Net. Still one last segment to get to, but before we do that, Alicia, just a real quick recap of your time down there in Atlanta. You are all over the place trying to protect our two A rights and to advance people's knowledge and training when it comes to guns. How would you sum up the experience in the atl.
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Speaker 5: I love it here.
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Speaker 3: I come here every year because one of my very good in dear friends, Kevin Dixie, runs nowhere the Choice and Project Greenwood out here, where we spend three days out here on range and also in a classroom working on our businesses, working on training.
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Speaker 5: This year we.
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Speaker 3: Learned how to do some bushcrafts, some close quarter combat, rifle and pistol always and then I also took a additional pistol training yesterday from one of my great friends, Arc Angel Defense, and both Kevin Dixie and Carrie Dugan will be in Colorado in July at the end of the month at shoot indoors. So if all of you listening would like to train with two of the best pistol marksmans in the nation, head over to my website armed Colorado dot com and go to the usseea events tab on my page and you can book that class. I highly recommend doing that, especially if you want to step your game up and become better with your pistol.
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Speaker 2: Alicia Garcia Boomstick Babe on the socials. Still some topics to get to when we come back. Alec Henkleman once again High Country Armory dot net. You can find them online there. He's the owner and our guests on today's program is part of our panel discussion at Lord Carno Faster Colorado dot org their website. Final segment two A Tuesday. When we come back after this posting out this edition of A tow a Tuesday remotely tuned in Alechnkleman, the owner of High Country Armory, Laura Carno Faster Colorado, along with Alicia Garcia, who is checking in from a delayed flight at the Atlanta International Airport Alisia. A couple of agenda items that I know you want to make sure to get out to our audience and then I'll leave it to you to ask one of our panelists a question.
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Speaker 3: Fantastic, So I want everybody to know that we do have an event coming up on Saturday at launch Pad Brewing for the amazing Danielle Lammon.
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Speaker 5: She is running against Tom.
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Speaker 3: Sullivan SD twenty seven, so donate to her campaign, but she is also involved with the Aurora Fire Foundation. One hundred percent of those proceeds go to help the Aurora Fire Foundation. So if you head over to Launchpad Brewing this Saturday, I will be there. If you want to come on down and have some social time with us, come on do that. And all the beer is that they brewed. They brewed a special Japanese rice lagger to raise money for the Aura Fire Foundation.
00:22:54
Speaker 4: You have a couple of.
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Speaker 5: Beers and we're going to have some good time for a good cause.
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Speaker 4: Sounds great and a question for either Laura or Alec you pick for me.
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Speaker 3: It's more about how can we as a community best serve both of your businesses and if there's something that you guys need, feel free to take this time to you know, tell us how the community can come together and what you think that is going to change, you know, the face of the two way and give us some momentum to you know, kind of rehumanize gun culture in Colorado.
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Speaker 2: Great question, Laura, Ladies, first, we'll start with you.
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Speaker 5: Sure, And it's interesting in the work we do at Faster Colorado that you know, even as we all are huge fans of the Second Amendment and use that language, there are people in addition to that who aren't really in the two way fight that look at what we do at Faster Colorado as school safety, and I know it seems like a distinction without a difference, but it is really a big difference that there are lots of people out there who would never go, let's say, testify against Senate Bill three last year or any of that sort of stuff. That they want their child school, their grandchild school to be safe, and in so many cases people are continuing to default to we need to make sure that there are armed defenders as close as possible to the point of attack if God forbid, something happens at their child's school. So it's uh, there's some interesting dynamics that are that are far outside of the folks that we talk to on a daily basis about our two way rights. So so anybody who's interested in school safety, whether you're in that to a fight or not, I would just love to encourage folks to go to Faster Colorado dot org and where I would start when you go there is look at the our team page under about us, and just look at the extensive experience that our team of law enforcement instructors have. They really make the difference in the program. I guess all the credit I get to go on the radio shows and stuff that they are an amazing group of instructors.
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Speaker 2: And Alec for your business, High Country Armory really wanted to make sure to introduce you to our audience which is tuned in for this purpose and direct them to your website High Country Armory dot net. But beyond that, you know, to Alicia's point of what anybody in our audience can do to help you out. You know, you mentioned your location could be in flux. You talk about the jerrymandering of your lease and whether or not you'll have to move. What is the status of that going forward? How can people best stay tuned in to help your business?
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Speaker 9: Yeah, like I said, most likely we'll be moving.
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Speaker 10: I don't want to say too much but yeah, potentially have found a buildings, so working on making that work out. But yeah, the answer the question support small businesses, not just my business, but there's plenty of other gun stores in the Denver area in Colorado that you can support.
00:25:57
Speaker 6: As far as fighting to help fight two A.
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Speaker 8: This might be mildly controversial, but when August.
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Speaker 6: Comes up, I've been telling my customers.
00:26:08
Speaker 7: To pay the fees, to jump through the hoops, get to CPW license, get the permission slip as I call it, from the Sheriff's department, take the four hour class, if you have to take the twelve hour.
00:26:21
Speaker 6: Class, get the hunter safety go through the steps.
00:26:24
Speaker 10: Because if we don't go through the steps and we stop buying guns, then we've let Colorado take our rights.
00:26:31
Speaker 6: And that's the way that I see it.
00:26:33
Speaker 9: And I don't want to make people go through a class just to purchase an AR, especially if it's if you have six or seven already. It's just we all know it's redundant, it's an infringement. But until a legal action or courts can get that fixed and get that to go away. Because I know that the DOJ has lawsuits against the state of Colorado and Denver, but this is all going to take years months on a good end, So support small businesses and jump through the hoops and don't let the state take away your rights.
00:27:07
Speaker 6: And I think that's the best thing we can do. Coming up with August.
00:27:10
Speaker 2: And again that website High Country Armory dot net. Alechankleman the owner, so glad to have him with us in along and Faster Colorado dot org. That's Laura Carno, executive director, a Faster Colorado. Final couple of minutes of play here at last you a live from Atlanta. I just want to give the floor to you and let you use it however you want.
00:27:30
Speaker 3: You know, I that is a controversial topic, Alec, and I'm you know, that's one of the things that I really love about us being able to have a radio show to discuss these things. Because of course, what we're talking about when we're referencing these restrictions is it's only applicable to Colorado businesses or excuse me, Colorado residents. So say you want to visit Colorado and you decide you want to buy a shotgun or you want to buy an ar you absolutely can. You're not going to be beholden to the restrictions of SB three. Kind of ironic that this is seemingly turning into a way to control Colorado, not necessarily violence or access to guns. It's just another scheme to create another revenue stream and also to kind of.
00:28:13
Speaker 5: You portray that we're.
00:28:15
Speaker 3: Being solution oriented for safety but not really right. So I do understand your perspective, and it is kind of a tough thing, and I do want to keep Colorado armed. And one of the things I want people out there to understand is if you are not willing to take part in what it's going to happen for SB three, and you do want to go and buy guns, and because you do not want to participate, that is also your freedom. But all of our choices have consequences. Elections have consequences, and this is a result of that election consequences. So I really encourage everybody out there not only to register to vote, but get somebody else registered to vote, and actually cast your vote and research your candidates this year because we do have to flip some seats. We do need to flip that governor seat, and we do need to flip districts like SB Senate bill or excuse me, District twenty.
00:29:00
Speaker 5: Seven like Daniel Lemmon, and you know Scott.
00:29:03
Speaker 3: Shamblin running in that same area against Eliza Hamrick and other areas. That would be very, very pinnacle in leveling out that representation in the Capitol. And I also want people to know if you do not want to take part in SB three and you're going to buy guns before that, make sure you do it at least and get everything done a week before, because if August first hits a year still in that three day weight you have not picked up those firearms, you are going to be subject to the terms of SB three, So keep that in mind and plan accordingly.
00:29:31
Speaker 4: She is the boomstick Babe on the socials.
00:29:33
Speaker 2: We thank her for logging into the zoom from Atlanta. She'll be back again next Tuesday, and our thanks to our guests as well.
00:29:41
Speaker 4: Laura Carnel Faster, Colorado.
00:29:43
Speaker 2: She is the executive director and again the owner of High Country Armory. Alec Hankleman our guest on this two a Tuesday. That'll do it for me from here for now. We'll join you again tomorrow. The recap of the debate tonight on Ryan Schuling Live
Speaker 1: KRFX HD two Denver, j W Denver six thirty KOW Denver's talk stationn iHeartRadio station, guaranteed human.
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Speaker 2: And indeed we are loaded for bear for this edition of A two A Tuesday. In fact, Alicia Garcia, who was scheduled to be out today, is joining us from the airport. We'll get a status report from her in just a moment. Also Laura carn Or, good friend from Faster Colorado executive director there joining us via zoom. And Alec Hankleman I think just now connecting Shannon working on that he the owner of High Country Armory. All a panel discussion on this edition of two A Tuesday. Alicia, let's start with you and what your status is at the airport, why you were originally scheduled to miss today, but why you're logging in right now.
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Speaker 3: Hi, guys, how are your morning?
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Speaker 4: Good morning, I am.
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Speaker 3: Delayed here at my airport in Atlanta. I'm just returning home from the famous Train and Learn with Kevin Dixie. We had him on the show a couple of weeks ago, and of course, due to Colorado weather and other things, my flight is delayed.
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Speaker 2: Well, we'll enjoy her company for as long as she can join us also, Laura Carno. As I mentioned dialing in Laura, I think I don't want to say the word embargoed necessarily, but I know you were reserving common on certain issues that were affecting your organization while there was a bill pending before the General Assembly. I guess we'll start there as to what details you can fill in the aftermath of that, how it turned out, and what it means for faster Colorado.
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Speaker 5: Sure, and thanks for having me on to talk about this, Ryan. Yeah, So there was a bill in this twenty twenty six legislative session. It was House Both thirteen twenty one. I hate that we all have the bill numbers imprinted on.
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Speaker 6: Our minds, right.
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Speaker 7: Yeah.
00:01:50
Speaker 5: And you know, we hired a lobbyist back in twenty twenty three as an organization to protect the ability of school to be able to have armed staff programs. There was a group of legislators that were trying to get rid of the law that allows that, and so we've had a lobbyist ever since just to keep, you know, keep an eye on our interests. Little did we know, Ryan, that it wouldn't be a legislator this year, but it was another five oh one C. Three in Colorado. And what they did is they hired their own lobbyist and filed a bill that would have significantly narrowed the requirements of organizations like mine to be able to apply for state grants to do law enforcement training. That would have kicked Faster Colorado out of any contention for future grants. And it happens to be an organization that has gotten grants in the past. And you know, we haven't spoken to them directly, but my sense is that they hoped that they would get one hundred percent of the grants of AILA instead of sharing that with Faster Colorado. We're in the middle of training law enforcement right now to respond to school shootings. But yeah, yeah, it was crazy. They've hired this lobbyist, and some legislators when it hit the uh you know, we were all over it before it hit committee, but some legislators when it did hit committee said that this other lobbyist on the other side of the bill literally used the words Ryan, this bill will keep Faster Colorado from getting any more grants. And and when you have somebody using the force of government to eliminate or attempt to eliminate their competition instead of competing for the money and being better than the other organization to the earn the grant. That's just a sad state of affairs, right, And so long story short, we did end up helping get that bill killed. Another organization is trying to take credit for that. And if you hear somebody else besides Faster Colorado taking credit for killing that bill, we did all of the heavy lifting. We had the lobbyist, we had the meetings with the Governor's office and the Office of School Safety. So it died unceremoniously.
00:04:16
Speaker 4: She's very ceremonious and her appearances on this program.
00:04:18
Speaker 2: You can follow her at Laura Carnell that' car n O and then the organization as well, Faster Colorado both on X there Laura. One of our guests another he is the owner of High Country Armory, alec Henkleman, introducing him for the first time to our audience, and Alec, I appreciate your time so much, and just kind of a two part question is for audience that's hearing about you and your High Country Armory for the first time, just what it is, what it does, and this conflict that you've had with the Denver Broncos, the beloved NFL team in town, what that issue is and how you would best explain that to our audience. It seems like we do not have Alex connected there, so I'll put a pin in that part of the conversation and redirect this back to Alicia. So, Alicia, I want to get your response, at least initially here to what Laura outlined there. With this recent session coming to an end, I think mercifully for those of us that are two A defenders and what this bill was going to do to faster Colorado. Your opinion and perspective on that, and if you had a question for Laura along those lines.
00:05:27
Speaker 5: As well.
00:05:27
Speaker 3: Laura, you know how much I respect what you do and we really appreciate.
00:05:30
Speaker 4: All your hard work.
00:05:32
Speaker 3: And thank you to your lobbyist for working so hard to kill that bill because it does not only just affect your organization, but other things that we would plan to do on the future to make these areas safer for our children. That's one of the main concerns that we all have here in this industry. And what I think that is very important that Laura touched upon is that indeed, there are a lot of cloud chasers in this Second Amendment space here in Colorado that we really need to change that need to come together and work together.
00:06:02
Speaker 5: Rather than it being about.
00:06:03
Speaker 3: Oh, who's responsible for getting bills killed and things that nature, we need to start helping people, for example, organizations like Faster making sure that they have the money, the funds, and the resource is necessary to fight against these things. This is something that if you are a pro to a person, you should be supporting organizations like this in the first place. And instead of us always having to be reactive to attacks on our Second Amendment rights, we should be out here being proactive and getting ahead.
00:06:32
Speaker 5: Of these things.
00:06:32
Speaker 3: But one of the issues is that indeed we have people that are more concerned with getting credit for things that nature than actually taking up the fight. So I really do want to thank you, Laura for understanding that how important it is to defend and protect these rights. I know it affects to your organization personally, and I just want people to understand out there we do need to donate to organizations like Faster and support them because, I mean, let's face it, the biggest threat to our freedoms is the safety of our children. Our children right now, don't understand what it means to feel safe, and they're indoctrinate and our children to be afraid of civil rights and constitutional rights, and this is something that we can do to help change that and rehumanize gun culture again.
00:07:14
Speaker 5: Yeah, and thanks for saying that, Alicia. The clout chasers is an interesting, interesting term, but you know, we do see we do see that, and you know, we all are competing for folks to support our organizations, and so I understand you know, people wanting to put out there what they've been involved in. We did, uh Wryan use the word embargered.
00:07:38
Speaker 1: We did not.
00:07:40
Speaker 5: We purposely did not talk about this during the session because we had so many negotiations going back and forth, as I mentioned, you know, between the bill sponsors, the Governor's office, the Office of School Safety, you know, our team, and we just didn't want anything messing that up because we thought we were on a really good track to get that killed, which did end up happening in the Senate Education Committee. But we just really appreciate everybody over the years who has supported Faster and our mission started with training armed school staff, which is still our core mission, but expanding into being able to train law enforcement to respond to school shootings, many of who might be responding to a rural school that has faster trained, armed staff. So it was such a good fit for us to add the law enforcement training to our repertoire.
00:08:34
Speaker 2: Laura Carnel joining us along with Alsia Garcia who is live from the airport, and the atl phoning into the program here, both connected via zoom. Thanks to Shannon Scott for providing us with that connection. You can find out more about Faster Colorado at Faster Colorado dot org. I am told now in real time we are connected with High Country Armory owner Alec Hankleman and as we go to break here, Alec, a perfect opportunity for you to introduce yourself High Country Armory to our audience and what the dispute that is going on between you.
00:09:05
Speaker 4: And our hometown, Denver, broncos. How would you describe that to our audience?
00:09:09
Speaker 6: How's you going? Thanks for having me on.
00:09:10
Speaker 4: Sure.
00:09:11
Speaker 8: Yeah, my name's Alec. I own a local gun store in Denver. Pretty proud of ourselves. We've done a pretty good job, just like everyone else here. Obviously big two A advocates and stuff, but yeah, it's just It's an interesting situation because I'm in.
00:09:28
Speaker 6: That area where the new stadium is going to be built.
00:09:31
Speaker 8: I'm not really where the stadium is going to be built, but I think it's where they're going to do construction on the I twenty five exit and possibly eighth Avenue. So I think that's why the building was purchased by the Broncos. And then I had an existing lease with the previous building owners who I had a good relationship with, and then the Broncos about the building.
00:09:54
Speaker 6: The new management showed up.
00:09:56
Speaker 8: They did a really quick introduction for about twenty seconds, and then I was paying rent and I started getting emails telling them I owed them thousands of dollars because they decided to increase my rent by twenty percent, so you know, they're they're manipulating the lease. I had a phone conversation with them. I kind of made a joke and said that they're jairmandering my lease because they're just kind of, you know, cherry picking and saying I owe twenty percent of cam and they redid their budget, which is increased my rent by twenty percent. And I'm not the only person in that building. There's two other tenants so there's three tenants that are doing this too, and all of us are in agreement to where no one's paying them the money. My work neighbor got a lawyer, and so did the other tenant. I have just been, you know, contacting reporters. They sent me a letter via FedEx saying that my rents in default. I've been deciding on writing him a letter and crown and sending it back. So yeah, that's pretty much the gist of it. But it's pretty pretty egregious. I've never dealt with anything like this in business before. I don't know how you take an existing lease and just change it. So yeah, that's pretty much where we're at.
00:11:17
Speaker 2: Alec Hankleman, he is a US veteran deployed in the eighty second Airborne of the US Army. So like, we think, thank you for your service, and I want people to support your business. High Country Armory dot net is where you can find out more. I know there are some dots to connect that Alsia is going to have some things she wants to follow up on with you. Lord Carnal also joining the conversation as we kind of recap and review what went down on the watch of the General Assembly that came to an end that session this month, and how that affects Faster Colorado, how that affects Alicia Garcia and her gun training courses as well. And again the conversation continues with Alec Hankleman, the owner of High Country Armory, as this two A Tuesday rolls on. After these works on Ryan Schuling Live a round table discussion on this edition of A two A Tuesday with Alicia Garcia, the Boomstick Babe, representing from the at L where she was just down for a special training and we'll get more of information about that as she comes back from break with a question for one of our panelists, Alec Henkleman. He's the owner of High Country Armory. Laura Carnal Faster Colorado also joining us. Of course, he's truly here. Ryan Schuling back in the six thirty K House Studios, Lisia turning things over to you for an inquiry of Alec.
00:12:38
Speaker 5: So Alec, thank you for being here today.
00:12:40
Speaker 3: I really appreciate it. One of the things that we talk about very often on this show is how FFLs are being attacked from so many different angles, not only from the legislature but you know, putting more restrictions on what you can and cannot do, and kind of, you know, tying your hands from you being able to not only be a successful small business, but providing access to life saving and important tools and constitutionally protected tools to not only Colorado but Denver. We all know that Denver is a very dangerous town that and Denver has some of the highest rates of violence and restrictions when it comes to FFLs.
00:13:15
Speaker 4: So in my.
00:13:16
Speaker 3: Perspective, this is a way that they're just making it more difficult for people to be able to access firearms. So in your perspective, how is this not only hurting you, but what is going to happen at this point for you to continue to have an FFL in the city limits of Denver?
00:13:32
Speaker 5: And are you going to stay in Denner?
00:13:35
Speaker 8: I am currently looking at a building in Denver. I honestly don't have an issue being in Denver.
00:13:44
Speaker 4: However, I have a problem with the Department of Revenue.
00:13:46
Speaker 8: They've made it increasingly difficult for me, just on the admin side, to operate the business.
00:13:52
Speaker 6: I was working yesterday on our day off.
00:13:54
Speaker 8: I had to pay an employee over time because we have to catch up with.
00:14:00
Speaker 6: Their new form.
00:14:01
Speaker 8: I don't even remember the it's the you have to keep track of all the handguns now for the state. So we had the backtrack like a whole year and a half to get all those forms because we had our DR inspection.
00:14:14
Speaker 6: My inspection didn't go so well.
00:14:16
Speaker 8: I also, I don't think I'll also say I know I was treated differently than every other FFL that I've talked to.
00:14:23
Speaker 6: I am friends with a lot of the other gun store owners around here.
00:14:27
Speaker 8: My understanding was that the course of the inspection was to get me on track with compliance and to show me how things go. And when I was out of compliance, I was kind of reprimanded for that.
00:14:41
Speaker 6: So before du R left my store, be since I didn't have.
00:14:44
Speaker 8: All the locks on the guns, which I think you and I know that that's pretty redundant to have a lock on all the guns in the store, they made me put all of my guns into the States before they left. And then you know again, you know, I'm paying my employees over time to back all these PaperWorks and forms, but I do plan on staying in Denver. Ironically, another thing DR did, they lost my fingerprints, so they're making me pay for more fingerprints to send to CBI and get to the FDD. I literally just got an email at nine twenty two this morning from Colorado Fingerprinting telling me they see that I went in and got it done, but since the time's passed, I have to pay and get fingerprints done again. So it just seems like a Nicholin dime contest.
00:15:34
Speaker 6: And then come August.
00:15:35
Speaker 8: It is going to be more difficult to buy firearms in the entire state. So I don't know what that's gonna look like. I don't think anyone does, so I think we're all just kind of waiting on August first to see what sales look like through August and through the rest of the year. Most of my sales are handguns anyway, but the rifles is still a large revenue portion of my business. So I think we're all just kind of waiting to see what happens with that law coming in August.
00:16:09
Speaker 2: And make sure you support his business between now and then, and it's for your own benefit as well. High Country Armory dot Net the owner Alec Hankleman joining us. You heard Alicia Garcia also part of this conversation. Laura Carno, Faster, Colorado and just building on that point that ALEC is making really this infringement on our two A rights, the attack against them.
00:16:31
Speaker 4: In our legislature.
00:16:32
Speaker 2: Laura, you and I have talked about this both on in the air and off and the fights that continue against these various bills that are coming down the pike, the last of which that your organization Faster Colorado just led the effort in killing it. But just how much of your time, effort, resources, dollars have to go to funding these legal battles standing on principles, standing up under the Golden Dome, you know, spending that time to fight against these bills, and what the those conversations are like behind the scenes, if you can shed any light on that, was someone like let's say Governor Jared Poulis, who unfortunately presents as a libertarian, which you would think would be pro two A in a lot of ways, but he has signed a lot of these oppressive gun restriction bills into law.
00:17:17
Speaker 5: Yeah, and it is a pretty interesting progression. So starting in twenty twenty three, when we had legislators try to repeal the law that allows armed staff, and that was our first year saying we really need to get you know, some government affairs representation at the Capitol so that schools don't get this policy taken away from them. They need this And we were successful there and have had a lobbyist every year since. And yeah, it is expensive and it takes a lot of time. That's you know, sort of lost opportunity costs, but the actual hard costs to make sure that your rights are protected. I never thought as a as a five oh one c three organization that we would be in that position, but certainly we were. And I'll tell you what has been very interesting with the Governor's office, the work that we have done at Faster Colorado over the last ten years. I think we have moved the needle on public perception and how the community sort of accepts that this is this is a thing that happens out there. You know, ten years ago when we started, we were looked at as, oh my gosh, this is a crazy thing. Fast forward ten years later and somebody in the Governor's office, not the governor himself, but during these negotiations, said they know of what Faster Colorado does. They appreciate what we do, and in the rural areas we are a necessity. And so to go from you know, we're the crazy people to we're a necessity at least in the rural areas, ushions in the governor's office. I think that's a pretty big leap to make you in public opinion in just ten short years. So it's they don't think we're necessary in all of the areas, but you know, you get your foot in the door and help folks understand not really much difference in what could happen rural versus suburban or certainly urban, and how much damage could be done. So that's been that was the big surprise of the year this year, Ryan.
00:19:30
Speaker 2: Laura Carnal Faster Colorado taking us through that process again literally on the front lines of this battle to preserve our two A rights, but also as it pertains to Faster Colorado and the training they provide, and this is basically in a nutshell for school personnel, staff, administration, could be teachers, could be a janitor that would be on site of a school as a first line of defense against a potential school shooter, and anywhere and everywhere where Laura Carnal is set up shop for Faster Colorado. There has never been a single school shooting and that proves that it serves as a deterrent to have arm personnel on staff at the school, so it's not one of these targeted gun free zone. She joins us along with Alec Hankleman, and of course he is the owner of High Country Armory dot Net. Still one last segment to get to, but before we do that, Alicia, just a real quick recap of your time down there in Atlanta. You are all over the place trying to protect our two A rights and to advance people's knowledge and training when it comes to guns. How would you sum up the experience in the atl.
00:20:36
Speaker 5: I love it here.
00:20:37
Speaker 3: I come here every year because one of my very good in dear friends, Kevin Dixie, runs nowhere the Choice and Project Greenwood out here, where we spend three days out here on range and also in a classroom working on our businesses, working on training.
00:20:50
Speaker 5: This year we.
00:20:51
Speaker 3: Learned how to do some bushcrafts, some close quarter combat, rifle and pistol always and then I also took a additional pistol training yesterday from one of my great friends, Arc Angel Defense, and both Kevin Dixie and Carrie Dugan will be in Colorado in July at the end of the month at shoot indoors. So if all of you listening would like to train with two of the best pistol marksmans in the nation, head over to my website armed Colorado dot com and go to the usseea events tab on my page and you can book that class. I highly recommend doing that, especially if you want to step your game up and become better with your pistol.
00:21:26
Speaker 2: Alicia Garcia Boomstick Babe on the socials. Still some topics to get to when we come back. Alec Henkleman once again High Country Armory dot net. You can find them online there. He's the owner and our guests on today's program is part of our panel discussion at Lord Carno Faster Colorado dot org their website. Final segment two A Tuesday. When we come back after this posting out this edition of A tow a Tuesday remotely tuned in Alechnkleman, the owner of High Country Armory, Laura Carno Faster Colorado, along with Alicia Garcia, who is checking in from a delayed flight at the Atlanta International Airport Alisia. A couple of agenda items that I know you want to make sure to get out to our audience and then I'll leave it to you to ask one of our panelists a question.
00:22:19
Speaker 3: Fantastic, So I want everybody to know that we do have an event coming up on Saturday at launch Pad Brewing for the amazing Danielle Lammon.
00:22:28
Speaker 5: She is running against Tom.
00:22:29
Speaker 3: Sullivan SD twenty seven, so donate to her campaign, but she is also involved with the Aurora Fire Foundation. One hundred percent of those proceeds go to help the Aurora Fire Foundation. So if you head over to Launchpad Brewing this Saturday, I will be there. If you want to come on down and have some social time with us, come on do that. And all the beer is that they brewed. They brewed a special Japanese rice lagger to raise money for the Aura Fire Foundation.
00:22:54
Speaker 4: You have a couple of.
00:22:54
Speaker 5: Beers and we're going to have some good time for a good cause.
00:22:58
Speaker 4: Sounds great and a question for either Laura or Alec you pick for me.
00:23:07
Speaker 3: It's more about how can we as a community best serve both of your businesses and if there's something that you guys need, feel free to take this time to you know, tell us how the community can come together and what you think that is going to change, you know, the face of the two way and give us some momentum to you know, kind of rehumanize gun culture in Colorado.
00:23:26
Speaker 2: Great question, Laura, Ladies, first, we'll start with you.
00:23:29
Speaker 5: Sure, And it's interesting in the work we do at Faster Colorado that you know, even as we all are huge fans of the Second Amendment and use that language, there are people in addition to that who aren't really in the two way fight that look at what we do at Faster Colorado as school safety, and I know it seems like a distinction without a difference, but it is really a big difference that there are lots of people out there who would never go, let's say, testify against Senate Bill three last year or any of that sort of stuff. That they want their child school, their grandchild school to be safe, and in so many cases people are continuing to default to we need to make sure that there are armed defenders as close as possible to the point of attack if God forbid, something happens at their child's school. So it's uh, there's some interesting dynamics that are that are far outside of the folks that we talk to on a daily basis about our two way rights. So so anybody who's interested in school safety, whether you're in that to a fight or not, I would just love to encourage folks to go to Faster Colorado dot org and where I would start when you go there is look at the our team page under about us, and just look at the extensive experience that our team of law enforcement instructors have. They really make the difference in the program. I guess all the credit I get to go on the radio shows and stuff that they are an amazing group of instructors.
00:25:05
Speaker 2: And Alec for your business, High Country Armory really wanted to make sure to introduce you to our audience which is tuned in for this purpose and direct them to your website High Country Armory dot net. But beyond that, you know, to Alicia's point of what anybody in our audience can do to help you out. You know, you mentioned your location could be in flux. You talk about the jerrymandering of your lease and whether or not you'll have to move. What is the status of that going forward? How can people best stay tuned in to help your business?
00:25:36
Speaker 9: Yeah, like I said, most likely we'll be moving.
00:25:39
Speaker 10: I don't want to say too much but yeah, potentially have found a buildings, so working on making that work out. But yeah, the answer the question support small businesses, not just my business, but there's plenty of other gun stores in the Denver area in Colorado that you can support.
00:25:57
Speaker 6: As far as fighting to help fight two A.
00:26:01
Speaker 8: This might be mildly controversial, but when August.
00:26:05
Speaker 6: Comes up, I've been telling my customers.
00:26:08
Speaker 7: To pay the fees, to jump through the hoops, get to CPW license, get the permission slip as I call it, from the Sheriff's department, take the four hour class, if you have to take the twelve hour.
00:26:21
Speaker 6: Class, get the hunter safety go through the steps.
00:26:24
Speaker 10: Because if we don't go through the steps and we stop buying guns, then we've let Colorado take our rights.
00:26:31
Speaker 6: And that's the way that I see it.
00:26:33
Speaker 9: And I don't want to make people go through a class just to purchase an AR, especially if it's if you have six or seven already. It's just we all know it's redundant, it's an infringement. But until a legal action or courts can get that fixed and get that to go away. Because I know that the DOJ has lawsuits against the state of Colorado and Denver, but this is all going to take years months on a good end, So support small businesses and jump through the hoops and don't let the state take away your rights.
00:27:07
Speaker 6: And I think that's the best thing we can do. Coming up with August.
00:27:10
Speaker 2: And again that website High Country Armory dot net. Alechankleman the owner, so glad to have him with us in along and Faster Colorado dot org. That's Laura Carno, executive director, a Faster Colorado. Final couple of minutes of play here at last you a live from Atlanta. I just want to give the floor to you and let you use it however you want.
00:27:30
Speaker 3: You know, I that is a controversial topic, Alec, and I'm you know, that's one of the things that I really love about us being able to have a radio show to discuss these things. Because of course, what we're talking about when we're referencing these restrictions is it's only applicable to Colorado businesses or excuse me, Colorado residents. So say you want to visit Colorado and you decide you want to buy a shotgun or you want to buy an ar you absolutely can. You're not going to be beholden to the restrictions of SB three. Kind of ironic that this is seemingly turning into a way to control Colorado, not necessarily violence or access to guns. It's just another scheme to create another revenue stream and also to kind of.
00:28:13
Speaker 5: You portray that we're.
00:28:15
Speaker 3: Being solution oriented for safety but not really right. So I do understand your perspective, and it is kind of a tough thing, and I do want to keep Colorado armed. And one of the things I want people out there to understand is if you are not willing to take part in what it's going to happen for SB three, and you do want to go and buy guns, and because you do not want to participate, that is also your freedom. But all of our choices have consequences. Elections have consequences, and this is a result of that election consequences. So I really encourage everybody out there not only to register to vote, but get somebody else registered to vote, and actually cast your vote and research your candidates this year because we do have to flip some seats. We do need to flip that governor seat, and we do need to flip districts like SB Senate bill or excuse me, District twenty.
00:29:00
Speaker 5: Seven like Daniel Lemmon, and you know Scott.
00:29:03
Speaker 3: Shamblin running in that same area against Eliza Hamrick and other areas. That would be very, very pinnacle in leveling out that representation in the Capitol. And I also want people to know if you do not want to take part in SB three and you're going to buy guns before that, make sure you do it at least and get everything done a week before, because if August first hits a year still in that three day weight you have not picked up those firearms, you are going to be subject to the terms of SB three, So keep that in mind and plan accordingly.
00:29:31
Speaker 4: She is the boomstick Babe on the socials.
00:29:33
Speaker 2: We thank her for logging into the zoom from Atlanta. She'll be back again next Tuesday, and our thanks to our guests as well.
00:29:41
Speaker 4: Laura Carnel Faster, Colorado.
00:29:43
Speaker 2: She is the executive director and again the owner of High Country Armory. Alec Hankleman our guest on this two a Tuesday. That'll do it for me from here for now. We'll join you again tomorrow. The recap of the debate tonight on Ryan Schuling Live
