In September, The Wall Street Journal ran an article titled “The Most Surprising New Gun Owners Are U.S. Liberals.” One of the people interviewed in the article was Tom Nguyen, owner of L.A. Progressive Shooters. Nguyen started L.A. Progressive Shooters in 2020 as the pandemic raged and social unrest prompted millions more Americans to take responsibility for their own safety by buying guns for self-defense.
Doug Hamlin, NRA executive vice president and CEO, sent me a link to the article and noted that Nguyen might be an important and interesting person to speak with, as his clientele is mainly comprised of new gun owners who need the NRA’s help to learn to safely shoot and carry their new guns. Indeed, as they’ve now navigated California’s onerous system to utilize their Second Amendment-protected freedom, Nguyen’s Progressive Shooters’ clients should now have some appreciation for the NRA’s efforts to win back and defend their rights.
Nguyen began in 2020 by taking NRA training courses. He soon became an NRA-certified instructor and began offering classes. He says he has not had a difficult time filling up his classes. He says his clientele is diverse and that a majority of them are not from gun-owning backgrounds. He says many of them likely voted for the freedom-infringing gun laws that California’s legislators continue to send to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) desk, but that some are now questioning their opinion about our right to keep and bear arms.
When asked about “surprised” Californians who, after voting for so many restrictions on law-abiding citizens, were shocked with how hard it was for them to lawfully purchase a gun for self-defense, he had some insightful things to say.
Nguyen is smack in the middle of a cultural divide that, if it can be successfully bridged, just might make this critical part of our freedom less partisan again. He says he gets criticism from both political extremes for starting and operating L.A. Progressive Shooters. But he says, as more people experience their freedom firsthand, their views of this constitutional right should evolve. He agreed that political pressure from more knowledgeable voters on the Left could go a long way to protecting our Second Amendment-protected rights in state legislatures and the U.S. Congress.
Now that would be a good thing!
