RSWC #155 Chris Cheng – Riding Shotgun With Charlie

Riding Shotgun With Charlie
#155
Chris Cheng
Top Shot Winner

When Chris Cheng came up to me at Gun Rights Policy Conference 2019 in Phoenix, I was buzzing from being awarded the Blogger of the Year the day before. He said when I was in San Francisco he wanted to be on the show. I’d seen him play the tunes on the Musical Targets, which was like a shooter’s xylophone and told him about the GunGrams. And that we need to film a duet with him on pitched plates and me on trumpet. We tried to connect this past summer while I was in California, but it didn’t happen. However, we were at Rick Ector’s (RSWC #032) Ladies Event in Detroit this past summer and were able to film a show there.

As a young man, Chris did some shooting with his dad, but they didn’t go to the range regularly. After working with Google and having some expendable income, Chris started shooting again. He started getting into shooting IDPA and USPSA, and learned that shooting was static and you could run and gun.

While watching The History Channel’s Top Shot, Chirs decided to audition for the show. That meant he needed some training and practice. Practicing was nothing new because he also played the double bass and understood that he needed a practice schedule. He was an amatuer shooter who practiced 20-25 hours a week, and worked his way to win Season 4 of Top Shot. Along with the winning prize, he was now a household name in the firearm community.

He was offered a sponsored shooter position with Bass Pro Shop and traveled the country teaching at their stores everywhere. Having access to all kinds of firearms and ammunition was great, but Chris really enjoyed being around like-minded people who enjoyed shooting and sharing his passion with everyone. All of these things lead him to becoming a Second Amendment advocate.

After the Bass Pro contract expired, Chris decided to take everything he learned, everything he was sharing, and put it into a book, which is called Shoot To Win: Tips, Tactics, and Techniques to Help You Shoot Like a Pro. This book is geared towards the new shooters for any firearm, rifle, pistol, or shotgun. It’s a lot of what he studied to get on to and win Top Shot.

During the pandemic, Chris was contacted to be on a show called The Go Big Show. He says it’s like America’s Got Talent on steroids. There were many celebrity judges on the show. Chris got to shoot several types of firearms in many fun situations, but this time it was in an indoor sports area. He and the producers need to get some lessons on building a safe area where he would shoot. He also said that he was going to need some full auto fun for the show!

More recently, Chris has been active with suicide prevention as over 60% of deaths with a firearm are suicides. With the pandemic producing 12,000,000 new gun owners, there’s a concern about preventing suicides. There is a new Suicide Prevention Hotline number which is simply 988. If you or anyone you know is in crisis and thinking of taking your life, please call that number to talk with someone. You can even reach out to me and I’ll talk with you.

I”m honored that we finally got our schedules to work out and have Chris on the show. He’s accomplished a lot as a shooter and showman. He’s testified in front of Congress in 2021. He’s a force to be reckoned with. And I’m glad to call him a friend.

Favorite quotes:

“Top Shot made me change my life where it made me realize that the freedoms that we take for granted may not always be there.”

“We all have to speak up and show up to defend the things we believe in.”

“There’s a lot of training and education opportunities.”

“I 100% absolutely need to shoot full auto.I’m not going to come on the show if you will not let me shoot full auto.”

Timestamp

00:00 Intro

01:13 Chris Cheng

04:42 Starting shooting

06:33 Running & gunning

07:45 Watching Top Shot

09:04 Auditioning for Top Shot