Story Mode

Does it ever feel like the world is filled with things you didn't know you needed until someone showed you that they existed? New things are constantly being invented and marketed. When I see something new and cool, I'm like, yeah, I just gotta have that. I spent a whole lot of time working hard to buy these things. Every day I had trucks dropping off new stuff I ordered, and it was like that Christmas morning feeling every day of the year. It was intoxicating. Eventually, though, I got to the point where I found myself just looking for new things to buy, randomly.

Maybe I just had too much money at that time. Maybe it was the thrill of buying new things that previously I couldn't afford. I probably just wanted to show off to friends and have everyone think I was cool, smart, or lucky. Looking back, it was probably all of those things.

You see, I was a gun dealer in Arizona during the Obama years. Any gun enthusiast out there knows that during that time, the gun industry was booming. I don't remember any other administration that talked more about assault rifles and high-capacity magazine bans than the people in Obama's cabinet. Every time they would open their mouth about it, it only took a few hours before everything was sold out and backordered nationwide.

Now, we all know that when an item is in high demand but the supply dries up, the price for that commodity will rise accordingly. The demand for firearms and ammunition has always been high, but when all the news agencies and politicians are talking about new restrictions, people go into panic buying. Availability goes down, prices skyrocket, and the market can't keep up.

Surges in gun sales weren't only based on what the politicians were saying, though. Typically, if they were saying anything at all, it was because of some horrible gun-related tragedy that caused national attention. Widely reported mass shootings and school shootings were second to none when it came to spikes in firearm sales and profits. If the news agency showed a picture of the firearm used in one of these crimes, you could guarantee the phone would start ringing with people trying to buy that same model, and the price just went up.

The people, whoever they are, would always blame the gun for the crime and not the criminal. When the Second Amendment is under attack, it's not long before people who have never even owned a gun start showing up to buy one out of fear. Mass shootings and especially school shootings sparked national debate. Powerful people in high-ranking positions are often called upon to take action by the people most affected. But the more this subject was covered, the more guns were sold. It's like the anti-gun lobbyists out there unwittingly became the most effective marketing tool for the very industry they wish to abolish. You couldn't buy this kind of exposure, and they were doing it for free.

During those years, if you didn't have a monitor in your shop dedicated to a 24-hour news channel, you were going to miss a lot of big boats. I was always watching the news because I needed to know what they were saying and what gun-related stories were developing. I remember watching a news agency report on a mass shooting as it was happening, and I called my sales rep at RSR Group. I asked him, "How many 30-round PMAGs do you have in stock right now?" For those of you who don't know, these magazines are often used in AR-15-style rifles, and the AR-15 is often used in mass shootings. He replied, "75,000." I thought, well, that sounds like a lot, so I said, "Just hold 1,200 of them for me. Don't ship them. Just hold them, and I'll call you back."

Those 1,200 PMAGs were going to cost me over $10,000, so I wanted to be sure. I needed to watch the news a little longer. Just ten minutes later, I called back to check inventory again. I said, "How many now?" He said, "Zero." So within ten minutes, that company's inventory went from 75,000 to zero. He told me that all he had left were the 1,200 I asked him to hold. Needless to say, I said, "Ship them."

I made just under $60,000 profit on those mags in two weeks. They were $9 apiece, and I sold them for $60 each, minimum order ten at a time. The media causes panic buying, and when the supply goes to zero, the price is whatever the market will tolerate. If you're not watching the news as a gun dealer, you're going to leave money on the table.

Now, before any of this could happen, I first had to start my business, and when the ATF finally issued me a Federal Firearms License, I was really surprised. I mean, I didn't exactly have a spotless record. I wasn't a bad guy, but I did get into trouble with the law throughout my childhood and as a young adult, and later, even as a grown man.

I remember running around town, pretty much breaking the law everywhere I went. What I considered fun could probably be described as unusual. Although I never had any problems finding others like me, and they were all willing to support my bad ideas.

See, I grew up on movies in the '90s and late '80s. Back then there were a lot of cool movies that revolved around the premise of good vs. bad and cops and robbers. Movies like Goodfellas and Point Break really had an effect on me. It was always the bad guys I wanted to see win, and back then Hollywood did a really good job of glorifying the villains.

I could connect with them. I sympathized with their stories. And, you know, I just felt something familiar about their ideologies. They were always portrayed as smart but a little off their rocker, if you know what I mean. They were clever and ambitious, but they did things their way without following the rules. They usually did things in private until the plan was totally ready for the big reveal, and presentation meant something. There was a complex and intelligent message within their acts and beliefs.

It was also about the little guy pushing back against the odds, or taking a stronghold against a system that didn't think of everything and left a door open. I always idolized the villains who didn't do things for money, although they always did seem to have some. Rather, they acted for some higher purpose, driven by some unparalleled need to make a statement or change, even if that would eventually lead to their own demise.

These are the type of things I noticed when I watched movies back then. I was always looking for deeper messages beyond the script. I used to wonder just who must be writing these stories—and the actors; yeah, they really got it too. In the end, I was either connecting because these bad guys were just like me, or maybe I just wished I was one of them.

Whichever the case, there was always going to be just one big problem, they were all fantasy characters playing out plots in a movie, and I was living in the real world.

That didn’t stop me though. My determination to make a movie out of my own life and create a star character I wanted to be was unstoppable, but I knew I was living in a fantasy of my own creation. The crazy thing is, I find it easy to adapt. Some changes are harder than others, but give it enough time and I can pretty much play the part of anyone.

It’s all just an act, right? Well, who knows. I’ll tell you one thing though, if you stay in character long enough, things tend to get very real, and if you give it enough time, you get pretty good at being that guy.