Solving the American Gun Crisis (Ryan Busse)
\u201cThe NRA and gun owners then signified, you know, the sort of comradery, responsibility, safety, sort of a bygone, I don't know, sort of an Americana, right? The Campbell soup can sort of Americana. I don't remember ever seeing or hearing about the impending demise of the Republic, or how evil every Democrat was, or how we should hate our neighbors, or how we should arm ourselves for an eventual civil war or an insurrection. That was never, that was never a part of my upbringing.\u201d\xa0\nSo says Ryan Busse, author of GUNFIGHT: MY BATTLE AGAINST THE INDUSTRY THAT RADICALIZED AMERICA. Busse, who spent decades running gun sales for Kimber in Whitefish, Montana, which focused, until recently, on crafting hunting rifles and other firearms for sportsmen, quit his job last year after he realized that his dreams of transforming the gun industry from inside\u2014or at least being a consistent voice of reason and morality\u2014were fantasy. He watched as the industry he used to love became increasingly toxic, distorted, and militant.\nIn his book, which is a fascinating look at the forces within the NRA and the way they\u2019ve radicalized America, he deftly explains all the reasons we are where we are today: Where our children are forced to practice active shooter drills at school, and where other kids\u2014like 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse\u2014can buy a semi-automatic AR-15 style rifle and kill two people while wounding another. And then be acquitted for self-defense. As he argues, we are on the brink of a Civil War with gun-owning, far Right militants. I know we\u2019re scared, and he believes we have every reason to be.\nLike Busse, I\u2019m also from Montana, and know many people who hunt\u2014growing up, guns were present but never abundant. Now, responsible gun owners are being pushed aside by militant couch commandos, who are desperate, to quote Busse, \u201cto shoot a democrat.\u201d\xa0\nWhile Busse is no longer in the industry, he is firmly in the movement for common sense gun laws, arguing that our best chance for reform is to bring hunters and sportsmen on-side. As he explains, it can be done\u2014and we can bring the NRA to its knees.\xa0\n\nEPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:\n\nExploring the cultural connection to guns\u2026(12:12)\n\nHate, conspiracy, national tragedies and gun sales\u2026(16:56)\n\nProfiting off of fear\u2026(32:06)\n\nWhat do we do?...(40:04)\n\n\nMORE FROM RYAN BUSSE\nGunfight: My Battle Against the Industry that Radicalized America\nRyan Busse's Website\nFollow Ryan on Twitter and on Instagram\n\nDIG DEEPER:\nThe Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals - Michael Pollan\nFBI background checks, a proxy for gun sales, surged in 2020 - The Economist, January 2021\n\nGET INVOLVED:\nMom\u2019s Demand Action\nEverytown for Gun Safety\n\n \nTo learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy\n \n Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices