RSWC #098 Dan Grdovic – Riding Shotgun With Charlie

Riding Shotgun With Charlie
#098
Dan Grdovic
President, CNJFO

Like many people in the 2A community, Dan Grdovic and I were “Facebook friends” before we met in person. We finally met face to face at Coalition of New Jersey Firearm Owners’ (CNJFO) fundraising event called “Hunting Pheasants With Charlie” at Giberson’s Farm and Wildlife Preserve in Pemberton, NJ I’ve never hunted with dogs and it was an amazing experiment watching them work the field.. One of the hunters was a young man out with his father for the first time. And yes, the son bagged a few birds!

We had a wonderful hunt that morning. There was another hunt that afternoon after lunch, raffles, and a few speeches. The money that was raised helps CNJFO fight their main mission to end “justifiable need” for carry permits in New Jersey. New Jersey has unbelievably ridiculous gun laws. They way CNJFO does this is with a solid foundation of education, activism, safety, and awareness.

Dan went shooting with a cousin and really enjoyed it. But after getting an application, he put it away. And getting another application and putting it away a second time. Like many people, Dan thought about what the government and town police would think if he applied for a firearm license. Finally enough was enough, and he filled out the application and went through the required paperwork.

After doing some shooting, Dan tried his hand at hunting and really got into it. What he didn’t enjoy all the restrictions on law abiding, background check passing citizens in New Jersey.

CNJFO has only been around about 6 years. We need all types of people and their varying strengths in the firearm community, author & activists, instructors, and wordsmiths. There’s what Dan was able to help out being a self described ‘grammar nazi’. After a couple years on the board, Dan stepped up to take the role as an intern president.

Being from Massachusetts, I really feel a kindred spirit with the folks from New Jersey. Dan and I spent a lot of time commiserating about the gun law similarities between our states. MA has had a 10 round magazine capacity since 1994 and permanently since 1998. NJ has had a magazine restriction since 2019. In both states, we have closet gun owners who don’t come out and admit they own firearms. And of course, no matter all the gun control laws we have, criminals disregard them anyway.

Dan is a really great guy and it was a pleasure to get to know him. It’s wonderful to know that someone like him is fighting for our Rights in “occupied territory”.

Just for the record, we both bagged some birds that day.

Favorite quotes:

“They call them schemes, that’s exactly what they are. It discourages people from applying and getting their license.”

“The reason I put them in the drawer is because I was concerned about “what would the government think, right? What would the police think? What would the town think? Is this going to put me on someone’s radar?”

“The issue with any more gun control, for that matter the gun control we already have, is that none of this, not one stitch of it, stops crime.”

“At some point, you don’t care what they think of you anymore. You just want your Rights.”

Coalition of New Jersey Firearm Owners

https://www.cnjfo.com/

CNJFO Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/cnjfo

Giberson’s Farm & Wildlife Preserve

https://www.facebook.com/Giberson-Farms-Wildlife-Preserve-181668498531649/
Address: 101 S Pemberton Rd, Pemberton, NJ 08068
Phone: (609) 726-0600

RSWC Hunting Pheasants Hat Cam Video