Armed Lifestyle - Issue 2 - June 2022

RIDIN’ SHOTGUN
WITH CHARLIE
BY CHARLIE COOK
Anthony Colandro
Gun For Hire Range
Gun For Hire Radio
2A Activist
Capitalist Marksman
I’ve been a listener of the Gun For Hire (GFH) Radio podcast
since almost the beginning. It was during a time in my life where
everything was not working out well for me. Podcasting was
pretty new. I was teaching gun licensing courses at a shooting
school. I wanted to absorb as much firearm related content as
possible. One of the podcasts I found was GFH. Anthony Colandro
was the co-host of the show. He is a Master Trainer, has his own
gun range outside of New York City in New Jersey. He is very
Italian, very New Jersey. I was a huge fan.
GunGrams became a ‘thing’ in 2015. A GunGram is a video of
me playing the trumpet and shooting a gun at the same time. I
was making a lot of them that summer, like around 50. A few TV
shows used a few videos in a segment and a few radio stations
called to have me on as well. I was doing TV show themes, movie
themes, and sending them to friends for birthday gifts. I knew
that Anthony liked cigars. I decided that I should do a Happy
Birthday GunGram for Anthony and find a cigar I could put in
my mouth while I play the trumpet. I had to buy a cigar with a
plastic tip to hold between my teeth. After the video was made
and posted on YouTube, I shared it with Anthony and he liked it.
It was a big deal to me.
Fast forward to 2016 when I started Riding Shotgun With Charlie
(RSWC),I emailed Reverend Kenn Blanchard, who has The Black
Man With A Gun Podcast. Kenn lives in Maryland outside of
DC and he said yes to being on the ‘stagecoach’. I used that
positive energy and emailed Anthony about being on the show
since I was going to be driving from Massachusetts through
New Jersey and down to DC. But he didn’t reply. While on the
Garden State Parkway, there were signs for some of the towns
Anthony mentioned. I pulled over and google mapped Gun For
Hire Range, and it was less than 15 minutes from the highway. I
had to stop in.
I was greeted by the concierge with a “welcome to the family!’ .
I let her know that I was a fan of the podcast and just wanted to
say Hi to Anthony. He peeked his head out the door. He asked if I
was the guy who made videos “playing the bugle and shooting a
gun” and I said yes. Two minutes later, he came out with some
GFH shirts, hats, and stickers for me. He asked where I was from
and what I was doing in New Jersey. I told him I was going to
interview Kenn, and he said “tell the Rev I said ‘Hi’.” I felt like I
got a secret handshake and was now in some kind of club of the
cool gun guys.
While telling him about my idea for RSWC, I had the imaginary
two guys on my shoulders. One said “tell him you emailed and
asked him to be on the show”. The other said “don’t bother him,
he’s a busy business man.” The first guy won. I mentioned that
I emailed him and didn’t hear from him. He gave me a ‘doctor’s
script’ note with his phone and asked when I was going to be
coming back to the area and said to call him. He was nothing less
than kind and polite, just a great guy.
The next day, I filmed 2 shows with Rev Kenn Blanchard in DC and
headed back to New Jersey. I texted Anthony with an ETA. After
I got to the GFH range, the concierge called Anthony. He brought
me into the executive member room and introduced me to some
folks there. He said I was in the media. I wasn’t in the media,
I’m a guy who was trying to start a YouTube channel interviewing
people in the firearm community. This was an exciting day and
I felt great!
RIDIN’ SHOTGUN WITH CHARLIE
www.thearmedlifestyle.com