Episode 307- How Many Guns are in the US?Also Available OnSearchable Podcast TranscriptGun Lawyer — Episode TranscriptPage – 1 – of 11Gun Lawyer — Episode 307 TranscriptSUMMARY KEYWORDSGun ownership, firearm data, Second Amendment, gun rights, common use, New Jersey, legal standing, NSSF, voter turnout, political elections, gun training, self-defense, intersectionality, police interaction, legal adviceSPEAKERSSpeaker 2, Teddy Nappen, Evan NappenEvan Nappen I’m Evan Nappen.Teddy Nappen And I’m Teddy Nappen.Evan Nappen And welcome to Gun Lawyer. So, here’s a number I want you to keep in mind. The number is 461 – 461 Million guns are in private hands in the U.S. That’s roughly 100 million more guns than people in the U.S. Now, where is this number coming from? Is this just speculation? Is it just good guessing? Is it? No, no, no, no, no, no, no. This number is one of the strongest, most data-based numbers that I’ve seen. Now, this is from an article in AmmoLand by one of my favorite writers, Dean Weingarten. The article is titled “461 Million Guns? Survey’s Firearm Numbers Nearly Matches 125 Years of Federal Data.” (https://www.ammoland.com/2026/09/461-million-guns-survey-federal-data/?utm_source=Ammoland+Subscribers&utm_campaign=5d24fd0d04-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6f6fac3eaa-5d24fd0d04-21268623)Evan Nappen That’s how strong this figure is. And why is this important to know? It’s important to know the number of guns to illustrate the absolute absurdity and futility of the gun rights oppressors’ dream of banning, confiscating, and removing all guns from the United States. You know ultimately that’s their wet dream, right? o get rid of every gun, you know. Ultimately. In the meanwhile, they come up with every possible way of trying to diminish and extinguish our rights. And what makes this survey and this data combo so fascinating as to its force, strength, and validity is that the survey, William English did a survey of gun owners. It was done in mid 2026, and these ratios of the survey methods,, and numbers of firearm findings. This is mirroring the federal data. So, the survey paper, which was released in August 2026, was is and is considered the best designed and executed survey to date. The 2026 survey has been designed to overcome minor defects in the original survey that was done in 2021. The questions were sharpened and clarified, and ownership has been limited to the individual questioned. Page – 2 – of 11Evan Nappen The survey’s respondents were represented in 50 states and the District of Columbia, and the participants were not volunteers for this particular survey. So, the first national representative survey of 51,398 individuals over 18 were chosen, and the screening questions that they used identified over 18,000 individuals as potential gun owners. Then almost 17,000, a little under, of the individuals were validated as gun owners, and in the middle of the survey, a question was used to validate the responses. Only people who read the entire question could answer it correctly, and 98.2% of the respondents passed the internal checks. This roughly 17,000, a little lower, respondents were found to average 5.2 firearms per owner. About 87,000 firearms. And this is a very large sample. The smallest sample was in Vermont with 28 respondents. California had 1,549, and Texas had 1,686.Evan Nappen So, based on this, it’s calculated that there were 461 million firearms in the United States. his is very interesting in and of itself. Then they took these survey results and they compared them to the numbers of ATF. ATF. They were placed into a spreadsheet. By the way, that’s provided online by The Trace. (https://datahub.thetrace.org/dataset/firearm-production/) This is by our, you know, key group of Second Amendment oppressors. Using the numbers in the data from the ATF, The Trace found that 513 million in the end of 2024, including 231 million and change handguns, 171 million and change of rifles, and 110 million and change of shotguns. The numbers show that the agreement in both databases is astounding. The ratios are nearly identical, as shown in the graphic. The largest difference is shotguns, in which the difference is only 0.1 percent. That’s how close these two different databases are. And as the article points out, skeptics may say in a large sample of 87,000 firearms selected at random, you’d expect resulting ratios to be extremely close. That is exactly what you would expect of a very large sample selected by random. That is the point. It is validation of the sample methodology, and it’s validation of the accuracy of the reporting by respondents. So, folks, the number to use when discussing, arguing, debating, and slamming those that want to oppress our rights is that you’re talking about 461 million privately held firearms in the United States.Teddy Nappen There’s another factor to this that I think was highlighted in the Cheeseman case. The thing that won the day about ending the assault weapon ban and ending various basically the strong arm of the Left’s gun control is common use. 400 million guns all across the nation. I want to make sure. I want that number going up because that’s how we win the argument. Where common use, if they ever try to make any claim on anything from the argument with suppressors, right now we have that up in the air. Over 6 million, yeah. This needs to continue.Evan Nappen The numbers are there, and common use, and just even the impossibility of the anti-Second Amendment dream is so clear. We are a country that has essentially 100 million more guns, give or take, more than we have people. So, we are strong in gun ownership, and the Second Amendment is strong. It is something that is absolutely a fixture in our culture, and these folks that want to take away our rights and remove this are in a dreamland. Yet, they’ll still try, and they try various methods. Page – 3 – of 11Evan Nappen As a matter of fact, New Jersey’s latest one of their gambits is, of course, abusing consumer protection and trying to sue the firearm industry out of existence. We just had a really great case out of the Third Circuit, which is allowing the gun industry to challenge New Jersey’s reasonable controls laws”. (thereload.com/third-circuit-allows-gun-industry-challenge-to-new-jerseys-reasonable-controls-law/) So, New Jersey put this forward to lay a foundation to attempt to litigate and sue out of existence gun makers and guns they don’t like and all that. Originally the federal court did not allow NSSF, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, to assert a legal standing to challenge this law, And the federal court said, “Oh no, no! Yes, they do have standing, and the challenge can continue. And that’s really great news. Because while the state tries to enforce their, you know, lawsuit to kill firearms in state courts, which of course lean toward always toward favoring the state and their anti-second amendment oppression agenda, the federal court takes a much fairer view, as we’ve seen. It now allows the PLCAA (Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act) law, the federal law, which was designed to stop this tort lawfare taking place, to go at the our Second Amendment rights through abusing, you know, the civil system. It allows the PLCAA arguments to be asserted by NSSF and the other plaintiffs in federal court and to have their day. So, this is great news. It is very important because it is going at, for example, New Jersey’s attempt going at Sig and going at Glock and others. The district court has essentially reopened the case. They’ve accepted the complaint, and they now found that NSSF has standing to bring the suit. So, this is good stuff. We’re seeing tremendous wins and victories stacking up in the federal courts. You know, not the least of which was the fantastic so-called assault firearm and large capacity magazine ban being found unconstitutional.Teddy Nappen Would there be a way to? I’d be curious. What would be the best method in kind of strengthening PLCAA to stop the amount of litigation? Because they continue to try to carve their way out. Some narrow loophole around PLCAA.Evan Nappen Exactly what NSSF is doing by bringing these federal suits is establishing the case law precedent, which is at the moment the best plan. But if we, as Americans now, if we decide that we would rather get $5,000 from having Republicans win the midterms, that not only do we stand to gain a lot of gun money out of that victory, you know, I’m sure we could use five grand to buy some really fine weapons. It will also further strengthen our ability in a Trump administration to improve and add to laws that protect Second Amendment rights, and in getting rid of laws that harm our rights, and continue with the various funding and removal of other NFA taxes. Let’s say that will make other things still out there on NFA good to go, and there’s just tremendous change that I see just in two years of President Trump’s administration and Republican control. It is critical that everyone you know get out and vote. Tell them get out and vote, and get our liberties secured further. Our Second Amendment freedoms, and maybe even pocket an extra 5K of our own money anyway, which I’d rather see go to American citizens than to illegals or funding USAID or all the other Left-wing mega NGOs and all this stuff, where the money circulates back so that the Democrats can continue to use it politically. No, you know what? Instead, let’s just see the money go to us, back to us, and see our freedom increase. How’s that? Page – 4 – of 11Teddy Nappen My only issue with the aspect is you can never beat the Left in terms of just giving away free stuff because they that’s always been their platform of everything when it comes to programs, welfare, and so I understand the value in this, like trying to make a tone for that. I think what was smarter was the 9K for essentially stay-at-home moms or taking care of the kids, because that it was a good argument. I think it was with either Mark Levin and it was a few others talking about the whole discussion of the 9K because we don’t like government welfare programs, but it now we’re putting it more towards the moving it to the window of, hey, let’s do the right thing and parents in the home. instead of using the welfareEvan Nappen Instead of using the welfare system to destroy the family and eliminate two parent homes and to create you know 5, 6, 7, 8 generations of welfare families. If we use the money as incentive, that’s good. And also, you know, the so-called Trump dividend of $5000, it could also be done in the form of tax rebate. It could be done in terms of the tariffs that that were collected, and we get a reimbursement. It can be done in terms of war reparations, once Iran bites the dust, which will happen shortly, and then with oil and these great oil deals we’ve cut with Venezuela. There’s all kinds of ways for this money to be accredited back to American citizens, and I’ll tell you what, Teddy. Here’s the bottom line: if you vote for Democrats and Democrats gain power, you’re not going to see a dime. You’re going to lose money. You’re going to lose freedom. You’re going to see it spent. So, you know what? That’s the stark choice. The Dems are freaking out about it because, oh, it won’t happen. He won’t pay. Doesn’t have it. Yeah why do they say that? Well I’ll tell you one thing. If you want to guarantee no money, if you want to guarantee it, vote Democrat, and you’ll only lose money and freedom. That’s the guarantee on the other side.Teddy Nappen I understand that they just oh they’re the Left’s entire thing is programs, and that’s always their shtick when it comes to expanding welfare programs, expanding more government spending. So, it’s enough to say I think the wording would have been better tie it back to something conservative, like $5,000 to homeowners or $5,000 to small business. Tie it to something to the ties and pillars of concern, and I think it would have been better messaging. I understand the value in sending that as a method. Like, look, he throws stuff out there, he tests the waters on stuff. Trump is who he is. He fires from the hip.Evan Nappen Well, I think this can actually work. And if it encourages more people to vote for freedom and for America to be even greater, and to do all and look at the progress, my friends, that we’ve made just in our arena, thanks to President Trump. And listen, you better thank President Trump. There’s a reason we’re getting Supreme Court decisions that are going our way, and that’s because three justices were appointed by President Trump. There’s a reason for the change in attitude of ATF completely, and that’s because of President Trump and his administration. There’s a reason for 34 administrative codes changes, federal code changes to the CFR, and for the elimination of all the anti-Second Amendment clampdown that Biden and company put forward, and for the removal of all that. There’s a reason why the Department of Justice is pursuing federal civil rights actions for Second Amendment violations. There’s a reason for all this, and that reason is President Trump and Republicans in control. Face it. If Page – 5 – of 11you care about Second Amendment rights, that is the only way for you to vote, for you to maintain and continue on this path, which is so exciting to see this night and day change with our rights.Teddy Nappen And that’s one of the things that is very disgusting. You have the woke Right who completely discount all the victories, and they just complain and say it’s not enough moving the goalposts. We’ve had some of the greatest Second Amendment victories, and we had some of the greatest net negative migration. They cannot discount that and close the border. You have all these wins that would have any other president. It would have been a re-election victory lap all over. Here, you know, is unfortunately Trump was right. We got tired of winning.Evan Nappen Well, hopefully not. And there’s winning that can still happen that will possibly directly benefit every one of us monetarily and in terms of increased liberty. I mean, look, we wouldn’t have the Rights Relief Program back and running after 33 years of people that are qualified people to get their Second Amendment rights back. It took President Trump, 33 years of Democrat oppression. Okay? There’s a great example: Chuck Schumer and company. They’re the ones that stopped that program, and President Trump reinvigorated that program. It’s just item after item that we look down the list and see the advantages. Wake up, see the difference.Evan Nappen It doesn’t mean you have to agree with everything Republicans stand for, everything President Trump stands for. Just look at the full picture in a general term. What will Democrats do? What will Republicans do? And man, it is staggeringly stark the difference. Midterm elections critical. Let’s make history because normally the opposing party wins in the midterms. Let’s make history and see that not happen. he next two years are going to be even more glorious, more victorious. Absolutely fantastic. But our adversaries are going to do everything they can to stop it.Evan Nappen And Giffords. So, you know you have the anti-gun Bloomturd group of, you know, The Trace. But then you also have Giffords, right? Another one they like to call a “gun safety group”. Of course, it has nothing to do with gun safety. Gun safety to them is elimination of all guns. But the gun safety group founded by Gabby Giffords is now putting $10 million into a midterm blitz. This is coming from an article in Semafor, which is “Intelligence for a New World Economy”. (https://www.semafor.com/article/09/09/2026/giffords-launched-10-million-midterm-blitz) The interesting thing here that directly impacts New Jersey, and frankly, 10 million is not a lot in the big picture, but it is still significant. What they’re doing is kind of a money ball approach. They’re focusing their monies on very key, specific handful of races. Particularly three. They’re focused on Mike Rogers in Michigan and Jen Kiggins in Virginia, both Republicans. But they’re giving, Giffords is giving, $350,000 against Tom Kean. Tom Kean, Jr.. They’re desperately trying to stop Tom Kean from winning, and, of course, he’s the Republican in New Jersey. They’re running ads against him, and the article claims the ads knock GOP candidates as soft on gun crime. Oh, get it, soft on gun crime. No, no, no, no. What it is is they’re defending Second Amendment rights. That’s not gun crime, okay? The soft on crime is, of course, Democrats. They’re completely soft on crime, unless you happen to be a gun owner, particularly white Page – 6 – of 11male gun owner. Well, then that’s a different story for you, of course. But they’re knocking them on that, and they’re going after particularly Tom Kean as “putting our police in danger”. So they make that amazing leap that somehow protecting Second Amendment rights puts police in danger. No, actually, it’s the opposite.Teddy Nappen Yeah, you know what puts police in danger? When they force the police to not have stronger tasers, and it can’t take down the suspect. So, all of them have to open fire into a knife-wielding maniac.Evan Nappen Right! Crazy. And, you know, you add into this that, and we keep picking it up how absolutely freaked out The Trace is in knowing that their demise is coming. They just put out pieces about, you know, they’re trying to brace their folks for this tremendous loss that they know is going to hit, and they’re belly aching about why there’s you know over 3000 court challenges and Second Amendment victories happening all over the place. They’re blaming, of course, the Bruen decision and Justice Thomas with his test of constitutionality of the laws for the encouragement and success, and they know that their bellwether issue that they love is, you know, assault firearms and mags. Come June, they’ve essentially all but thrown in the towel, knowing that that entire gambit is going to die, and that we are going to regain our Second Amendment liberties when it comes to that. It’s really actually heartwarming to watch their losses, not just us winning, but these sanctimonious aholes finally getting their butts handed to them. It’s good times, and we want to see that continue. Make sure you vote and get everyone you can out there to vote. It’s critical, and it has already. If you just step back and see the tremendous change in the two years we’ve been blessed with having already with the Trump administration.Evan Nappen Hey, let me tell you about our good friends at WeShoot. WeShoot is an indoor range in Lakewood, conveniently located right off the Parkway. It’s where Teddy and I both shoot. Where we both train. We love WeShoot. Now they’ve got New Jersey concealed carry course that they’re offering, and you can get your New Jersey carry. I think we’re well over 100,000 permitted carry holders right now, and you want to join in with that. If you need to get your renewal, you can get that great training at WeShoot. It’s where Teddy and I got ours, and you can get yours. They’re offering the New Jersey CCARE courses. So, check out WeShoot at www.weshootusa.com.Evan Nappen They’re also offering the New Jersey carry course for seniors. That’s right. You can get your New Jersey CCARE and get certified as seniors. And you know, seniors are particularly vulnerable. Many not having the same strength they had in their youth and being able to have the need. They have a need to defend themselves, and the great equalizer, of course, is a firearm. And you want to learn how to use it right. You want to be able to get your license, and they are offering Tuesday, September 22, is the NJ Carry Certification for seniors course. So, if you’re a senior, you could take care of that.Evan Nappen Plus, they’re offering New York non-resident carry. They have a new low price of only $289. You can get your New York resident and non-resident carry. They’re offering Maryland carry as well as Page – 7 – of 11Washington D.C. carry, and they’ll be doing that on Saturday, October 10. They’re offering the ability for you to get your non-resident and/or resident carries with certified instructors to do that. Every course to meet your needs, WeShoot has it. They have great offerings in Adult CPR /AED, and at a and the and the ACS Stop The Bleed, knowing how to deal with gunshot wounds and other very important emergent health issues that can arise. They have courses for that, too. They have new shooters courses, etc. They have weekend classes. Listen, folks, WeShoot is your place for great training, for a great range, for a great experience. They will treat you like family. Check out weshootusa.com. weshootusa.com. Get your training, get your guns, get your ammo, and get a wonderful experience at WeShoot. weshootusa.com.Evan Nappen Let me also mention and shamelessly promote my book, New Jersey Gun Law: The Bible of Jersey gun law. It is your key to not becoming a GOFU and understanding New Jersey Gun Law. It’s done in question and answer format. It’s a book used by everybody, and you will love it, and it will help you to understand the insanity that is New Jersey’s gun laws. Let me just warn you: don’t loan your book out because you won’t get it back. I hear that all the time. If you want to get your copy, go to EvanNappen.com today and get your copy.Evan Nappen And let me also mention, as we talked about, the Relief from Disabilities Federal program is now beginning. If you or someone you know would like to inquire about getting their rights restored, we’re happy to talk for free consultation to figure out the pathways to regaining your Second Amendment rights, particularly if necessary, with New Jersey expungement procedures, with federal relief from disabilities. We’re looking to find out what’s best for you. Go to evannappen.com today and give us a call. Hey, Teddy, what do you have for us today in Press Checks?Teddy Nappen Well, as you know, Press Checks are always free. This is something that I think is coming up more and more as we’ve talked about previously about the from the previous one of the socialist dilemma of gun rights and gun control, where the Left cannot find their position on the issue. The one thing that’s been on the rise for a lot of them. This article is from a woman who wrote “My Gun and Me”, as an LGBTQ advocate’s view on owning a firearm. (https://slate.com/life/2026/02/gun-range-safety-gay-lesbian-lgbtq-trump.html)Teddy Nappen starts with, if you had told me an urban progressive lesbian 10 years ago that I would own a gun, I would have laughed in your face. Now I can’t let my weapon go, and I’m far from alone. So, it’s definitely, and you know, goes into this whole thing where she, you know, two moms have a child. They were talking about hopefully wanting to protect themselves. There’s been various break it, you know, worrying about oh, you know, normal crime. Almost like there’s an aspect of wanting to carry for self defense. Oh my God, what a concept! But it’s this shock and awe of like the intersectionality of gun control. They’ve tried to merge that into the progressive wing, and then they come to the point of the minorities that they claim they want to protect, but also don’t want to disarm, and then the quote unquote oppressed group like LGBTQA plus blacks Hispanics they want to make sure their rights are Page – 8 – of 11protected so it falls into this narrow threaded they cannot thread this needle whatsoever and this woman talks about you know where she.Evan Nappen It’s almost like you know “Gays for Palestine”, right? I mean, you know.Teddy Nappen Yeah. Well, yeah, and that’s just Marxism. Again, it comes back to Marxism. You have to know it’s in the Communist Manifesto. Marx wrote the idea of to be a communist, you must know your enemy and know who is the oppressor and who is the oppressed, and you keep to those terms regardless of ideology. That’s how you end up with “Queers for Palestine”. That’s how you end up with LGBTQAI plus, where you now have gays and lesbians coming out against the trans movement. It’s the failure of their intersectionality trying to merge everything over. Cut to right here, where now they’re taking the position of well, we want self-defense. We want to have carry for these groups, not for the oppressor. You know, the straight white men and women. That’s the that’s the oppressor in their mindset. So that’s how they have to shake it.Evan Nappen Well, I’ve got to say though that the 2A is for everybody, and I don’t care what a person’s sexuality is. As a matter of fact, I’m an honorary life member of the Pink Pistols, the gay gun rights group, and I’m proud to be an honorary member of their group. I want everybody and anybody who is a law-abiding citizen to be able to exercise their Second Amendment rights. Even though politically this is exactly what you’re saying, you know this intersectionality is very hard. How do they thread the needle and all that? The bottom line is, once we get folks that have a vested interest in Second Amendment rights, and the way you have that vested interest is by being an actual gun owner. Then you will find that what actually happens is their politics start to change because they see that one group is trying to prohibit them from having the firearm that they now know, love, and respect and want because they’ve learned the difference of when that thing goes bump in the night and you don’t have a gun versus when that thing goes bump in the night and you do have a gun, and that becomes very important. And you can actually see, and I’ve seen it in individuals that were left, that were you know folks that you would never just like this woman you’re talking about here. That what happens is they come around, and their politics change even more, and it becomes gun ownership that starts them on the path to enlightenment. Believe it or not. Now I understand, Teddy, what you’re saying that that’s a you know hard here. They’re trying to still keep it, stay eft, and have a gun, and they have other motivations. But not in the big picture, it does help tremendously.Teddy Nappen My only critique, and this comes with the big tent. We saw this with MAGA, where there were groups of voices who now abuse, who abuse and tried to break it up, who became like if these people want to come in and support the Second Amendment and want to sit and learn and understand, great. Sit in the pews. You do not become a preacher because here’s why. I do not want the progressive to then say, “Oh, I’m for carry, but I don’t like AR-15s. Also, we should do Universal Background Check, you know, and they become not they become the voices, and then try to shift the Overton window back to their “common use”, “common sense gun laws”. No, we shift the Overton window as far as we can to get it Page – 9 – of 11to where we cover it. Are we push it as far in the politics? Because this is the other issue: joining hands with these groups, that is fine, but you have to remember they still stand on the views of LGBTQ, AI plus, transient kids, abortion up until nine months, and pushing every other aspect of the left wing communist agenda. So this is the difference of the big tent motive. Good, they’re for Second Amendment. Absolutely, we found common ground, and maybe just maybe we can convince them. But unfortunately, a lot of it is a death cult for a lot of them. So unless they’re willing to sit in the pews and listen and learn, we gotta be mindful of who we live.Evan Nappen Well, that’s our challenge on our side here to take folks that are finally even acknowledging, hey, you know, maybe having a gun is actually good, and I actually like it. And guess what? I don’t want to get rid of my gun. And slowly, getting them further to see the light about that right and its universal importance. And so, hey, I’d rather see them being gun owners and hopefully on a path where we can further enlighten than to just be stubbornly against it and stupid. But you’re right, Teddy. There’s risk. There is risk on the politics end of it, and I get it. So we got to be smart about it.Teddy Nappen To the point, even in the article, she’s talking about ICE protesting and filming ICE and having the carry. So, it’s literally conflating the idea of carry versus wanting to fight the death squads and battle.Evan Nappen But that can really backfire on them. Because once these people have firearms, that second part of it doesn’t necessarily have to follow. It might be what initially gets them, but then once they start seeing, wait a minute, now. I can’t wait for them to go through the process. Let’s say in California of getting the gun and seeing everything they have to go through. It’s quite an eye opener for them. And then once they’re gun owners like, wait a minute, now they hear about people in their own party wanting to restrict, take away all this thing. So, it can actually help us, but we do have to be careful. And you’re absolutely right. Hey, cool, cool issue. That’s for sure and important. But let me tell you about this week’s GOFU, which is the gun owner f up, and this is where gun owners make expensive mistakes that you get to learn for free. And I want to talk to you about a police trick that I see done, and you may have heard about it. and I see cases like this that come up. Now, you know, in Jersey, we do have that duty to disclose. So, if you are carrying and you have a carry permit, you must immediately tell the officer that you’re carrying your gun, and you have to have your permit on you about that. But let’s say you’re not carrying your gun, or you’re not transporting handgun. It’s just long arms, or whatever it is, or you know the duty to disclose is still there. And although that’s constitutionally questionable, and. Whatever, but you need to obey the law for now. But in the general sense, this is the question to watch out for. Now you’re going to have to reveal. But assuming you’re not in that position, and the police come up and they ask, they ask, “Do you have anything I should be concerned about in the car? Do you have anything illegal in the car? You know, do you have anything illegal in the? You know, and you say no, right? Now you’ve answered no. Oh, then you wouldn’t mind if I search your vehicle. So it’s a setup of since you told me you have nothing illegal, why would you have anything to hide? So that’s the gambit, and if you fall for it now, you’re subjecting yourself to a warrantless search because you consented to it, and you fell for the trap. So the answer is, even with a duty to disclose, you disclose you have your handgun, and you show your permit. If they ask beyond it, you know, do you have Page – 10 – of 11anything illegal in the car that I should know about? Okay, I mean I’ve seen this over and over again, and you say no. Well, now that you’ve engaged, then then you wouldn’t mind if I search your vehicle. Of course you mind. So what’s the answer? The answer is very simple. You disclosed because you immediately had to disclose. You didn’t disclose because you were asked a question. You disclosed because you had to immediately disclose, which is what you have to do. But when a question is asked, okay, do you have anything illegal in the car? You say, I don’t answer any questions without my attorney. And guess what happens then? The questions have to stop. Okay, it’s that simple. I don’t answer any questions without my attorney. I don’t do it. Do not answer any questions. Anything you do, you can be set up and become the next GOFU. Now I know you’re thinking I don’t have anything illegal in the car. When I said no, I meant it. Well, except for your daughter’s boyfriend, who left his jacket in the car that you didn’t even know when you picked him up, and in it is some kind of contraband you weren’t even aware of, or some other who knows what that happened to be in the vehicle, or some other thing because you don’t know every law, etc. Do not open yourself up for a fishing expedition.Evan Nappen But let me tell you about this week’s GOFU, which is the Gun Owner Fuck Up. This is where gun owners make expensive mistakes that you get to learn for free. I want to talk to you about a police trick that I see done, and you may have heard about it. I see cases like this that come up. Now, you know, in New Jersey, we do have that Duty to Disclose. So, if you are carrying and you have a carry permit, you must immediately tell the officer that you’re carrying your gun, and you have to have your permit on you. But let’s say you’re not carrying your gun or you’re not transporting handguns. It’s just long arms, or whatever it is. The Duty to Disclose is still there. And although that’s constitutionally questionable, and whatever, you need to obey the law for now.Evan Nappen But in the general sense, this is the question to watch out for. Now you’re going to have to reveal. But assuming you’re not in that position and the police come up and they ask, “Do you have anything I should be concerned about in the car? Do you have anything illegal in the car?” You know, do you have anything illegal in the vehicle? And you say no, right? Now you’ve answered no. Oh, then you wouldn’t mind if I search your vehicle. It’s a setup of since you told me you have nothing illegal. Why would you have anything to hide? So, that’s the gambit. If you fall for it now, you’re subjecting yourself to a warrantless search because you consented to it, and you fell for the trap. he answer is, even with a Duty to Disclose where you disclose you have your handgun, and you show your permit. If they ask beyond it, you know, do you have anything illegal in the car that I should know about? I mean I’ve seen this over and over again. You say no. Well, now that you’ve engaged, then you wouldn’t mind if I search your vehicle. Of course you mind. So what’s the answer? The answer is very simple. You disclosed because you immediately had to disclose. You didn’t disclose because you were asked a question. You disclosed because you had to immediately disclose, which is what you have to do. But when a question is asked, okay, do you have anything illegal in the car? You say, I don’t answer any questions without my attorney. And guess what happens then? The questions have to stop. Okay, it’s that simple. I don’t answer any questions without my attorney. I don’t do it. Do not answer any questions. Anything you do, you can be set up and become the next GOFU. Now, I know you’re thinking I don’t have anything illegal in the car. When I said no, I meant it. Well, except for your daughter’s boyfriend, who left his jacket in the car that you didn’t even know when you picked him up, and in it is some kind of contraband you Page – 11 – of 11weren’t even aware of, or some other who knows what that happened to be in the vehicle, or some other thing because you don’t know every law, etc. Do not open yourself up for a fishing expedition.Evan Nappen So, what’s the answer? The answer is very simple. You disclosed because you immediately had to disclose. You didn’t disclose because you were asked a question. You disclosed because you had to immediately disclose, which is what you have to do. But when a question is asked, do you have anything illegal in the car? You say, “I don’t answer any questions without my attorney.” And guess what happens then? The questions have to stop. It’s that simple. “I don’t answer any questions without my attorney.” I don’t do it. Do not answer any questions. Anything you do, you can be set up and become the next GOFU. Now, I know you’re thinking I don’t have anything illegal in the car. When I said no, I meant it. Well, except for your daughter’s boyfriend, who left his jacket in the car that you didn’t even know when you picked him up, and in it is some kind of contraband you weren’t even aware of. Or some other thing, who knows, what that happened to be in the vehicle, or some other thing because you don’t know every law, etc. Do not open yourself up for a fishing expedition.Evan Nappen Don’t fall for the trap or trick of “Do you have anything illegal in the car or anything I should know about?” And then engaging by saying “no”. And of course, don’t say “yes”. That’s about as idiotic as you could be, right? The answer is, “I don’t answer any questions without my lawyer”. And that’s it. hat’s what you have to do.Evan Nappen This is Evan Nappen and Teddy Nappen reminding you that gun laws don’t protect honest citizens from criminals. They protect criminals from honest citizens.Speaker 2 Gun Lawyer is a CounterThink Media production. The music used in this broadcast was managed by Cosmo Music, New York, New York. Reach us by emailing Evan@gunlawyer. The information and opinions in this broadcast do not constitute legal advice. Consult a licensed attorney in your state.Downloadable PDF TranscriptGun Lawyer S5 E307_transcriptAbout The HostEvan Nappen, Esq.Known as “America’s Gun Lawyer,” Evan Nappen is above all a tireless defender of justice. Author of eight bestselling books and countless articles on firearms, knives, and weapons history and the law, a certified Firearms Instructor, and avid weapons collector and historian with a vast collection that spans almost five decades — it’s no wonder he’s become the trusted, go-to expert for local, industry and national media outlets.Regularly called on by radio, television and online news media for his commentary and expertise on breaking news Evan has appeared countless shows including Fox News – Judge Jeanine, CNN – Lou Dobbs, Court TV, Real Talk on WOR, It’s Your Call with Lyn Doyle, Tom Gresham’s Gun Talk, and Cam & Company/NRA News.As a creative arts consultant, he also lends his weapons law and historical expertise to an elite, discerning cadre of movie and television producers and directors, and novelists.He also provides expert testimony and consultations for defense attorneys across America.Email Evan Your Comments and Questions [email protected]Join Evan’s InnerCircleHere’s your chance to join an elite group of the Savviest gun and knife owners in America.  Membership is totally FREE and Strictly CONFIDENTIAL. Just enter your email to start receiving insider news, tips, and other valuable membership benefits.  Email (required) *First Name *Select list(s) to subscribe toInnerCircle Membership Yes, I would like to receive emails from Gun Lawyer Podcast. (You can unsubscribe anytime)Constant Contact Use. Please leave this field blank.var ajaxurl = "https://gun.lawyer/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php";