{"podcast":{"title":"State of the Second","slug":"state-of-the-second-6604741","podcast_index_feed_id":6604741,"rss_url":"https://feeds.captivate.fm/state-of-the-second/","website_url":"https://stateofthe2nd.com","image_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/5c1ba3ec-041a-4f0c-8c7f-3f645a8a1e00/rzBp1JmNTLPL5oywdC41G-y8.jpg","author":"Gun Owners of America","episode_count":141,"summary":"\"State of the Second isn’t your typical 2A podcast—it’s a backstage pass into the firearms industry. Hosted by Kailey Nieman and John Fahrner, we sit down with the real people behind the brands, builds, and big ideas shaping the gun world. From shop owners to social media legends, each episode dives into how they got started, what keeps them going, and what it really takes to make it in the firearms industry, plus the battles they face along the way. If you’ve ever wondered how to break into the industry or what it’s like behind the scenes, this is your front-row seat.\"","last_synced_at":"2026-07-30T02:19:50.974174+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/state-of-the-second-6604741"},"episode":{"title":"How New Jersey Tries to Destroy Gun Owners (ft. Tony Simon)","slug":"how-new-jersey-tries-to-destroy-gun-owners-ft-tony-simon","published_at":"2026-06-04T13:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/state-of-the-second-6604741/how-new-jersey-tries-to-destroy-gun-owners-ft-tony-simon","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/state-of-the-second-6604741","url":"https://stateofthe2nd.com/episode/how-new-jersey-tries-to-destroy-gun-owners-ft-tony-simon","audio_url":"https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/2f9b64f3-839b-4962-ac5f-1ce728db9982.mp3","summary":"Tony Simon, founder of the 2A Diversity Shoot, joins John and Kaylee to trace how he went from a gun kid on a Virginia farm to one of the most active Second Amendment advocates in New Jersey. He grew up on a farm in Virginia, shot on his high school air rifle team, and joined the Marine Corps. After getting out he moved to New Jersey, where the state's firearms ID card requirements stalled his gun ownership. A 2012 class with an NRA certified instructor friend rekindled it. He became an NRA certified instructor in rifle, pistol, and shotgun, and when Sandy Hook hit and New Jersey's legislature put forward 76 bills to impede gun rights, he got into advocacy. As the only black guy testifying out of 200 people, he realized the movement needed more people who looked like him to speak up. That realization became the 2A Diversity Shoot. In 2015 he partnered with Anthony Colandro of the Gun for Hire range to bring in people who don't fit the assumed gun owner profile, teach them firearms law, and connect them with Second Amendment advocates. The first event drew four people out of the 27 who said they would come, plus a New Jersey State Police firearms officer who showed up posing as a regular attendee. Colandro pushed him to keep running it until the room filled, then overfilled past fire code. Today Tony runs diversity shoots every two weeks at four different ranges across New Jersey, ran one in Pennsylvania for three years, and did a shoot in Omaha with the Nebraska Firearms Owners Association, and the events now sell out. Each event mixes pizza, raffle prizes, jokes, and a lot of shooting, with the goal of normalizing firearms ownership for people of every background. The conversation turns to a blunt message about complacency. Tony, originally from Virgini…","meta_description":"Tony Simon, founder of the 2A Diversity Shoot, joins John and Kaylee to trace how he went from a gun kid on a Virginia farm to one of the most active Seco…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2240,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/state-of-the-second-6604741/episodes/how-new-jersey-tries-to-destroy-gun-owners-ft-tony-simon/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/state-of-the-second-6604741/how-new-jersey-tries-to-destroy-gun-owners-ft-tony-simon.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}