RSWC #150 Joe Drammissi – Riding Shotgun With Charlie

Riding Shotgun With Charlie
#150
Joe Drammissi
Gun Owners Radio/San Diego County Gun Owners

Having a YouTube channel and a ‘road show’ is an adventure. In June, I went to California for the first time, particularly to San Diego. I was attending San Diego County Gun Owners (SDCGO) GunProm. Of course, while I was there, I filmed a few shows. One passenger was Joe Drammissi. He’s a co-host of Gun Owners Radio (GOR) and on the board of SDCGO. I was on GOR’s Magnum show/podcast (link here https://youtu.be/y900a8JZBfk ). I was also a guest on the show once with Amanda Suffecool (RSWC #009) talking about the Concealed Carry Fashion show at NRA 2021. But this trip was epic: We ended up doing a show in studio with my cohort, John Petrolino (RSWC #093). Here’s a link to the show https://youtu.be/sRKiSkbB3hY

I’m happy to be able to return the favor to Joe and have him in the passenger’s seat. Joe has a history with the Navy, which brought him to San Diego. In his “previous life” had a career in project management, but also spent time volunteering doing search and rescue, ski patrol, and even got into storm chasing!. So his “Olympic rings” are wide and vast.

Joe said he found out about RSWC after I subscribed to his substack articles/emails. I think I found out about GOR through John Petrolino. Joe mentioned something about Beth Alcazar (RSWC #087) and I assumed that she had been on before. But I was wrong so I connected them. Joe was excited because he is a fan of Beth and she influenced his writing style for SDCGO blogs. And thus, the Olympic rings have expanded.

Joe used to hunt birds and small game as a youth. After some time of not shooting, President Obama is who got Joe back into firearms with all the things that were going on during his terms and Joe purchased his first handgun. He was going to a local parade and was talking with folks who said they were going to the ‘gun dinner’ after the parade. Then he met someone else who was going to the ‘gun dinner’. And then another person. Little did he know that ‘gun dinner’ was the first SDCGO GunProm! He ended up connecting with Michael Schwartz, the founder of SDCGO, (& upcoming RSWC passenger!) and offered to help with the group.

Once he was connected with SDCGO, he wanted to get more into firearms. He took a number of courses to learn about firearms, handling, and personal safety. Since many of his first classmates had a GLOCK, that’s what he decided to purchase. Then another. And then another. Joe became an NRA certified instructor in several disciplines, then moved into the USCCA as an instructor, too.

We get into what someone needs to do to get a California carry permit, including the classes, qualifications, high capacity magazines, and which guns you can carry after you do the qual. SDCGO was able to get some consistency with the sheriffs and what they’re looking for for permits.

Joe is a very thorough instructor. He gives his clients a list of books they should read as someone who is a firearm owner and a carrier. He’s got some great pointers from many of the great gun writers and instructors, which he incorporates into his articles on substack.

We cover some ‘other’ YouTube channels, the good and the not-so-good ones. That leads into talking about knives. It’s just a good overall conversation about several topics that you’ll enjoy. I love that I can do these interviews to expand my ‘Olympic rings” and in turn, help you expand yours too.

Favorite quotes:

“I’m really big on training, and learning, and education, and that kind of stuff.”

“In California, you can’t buy a standard capacity magazine…if I own them, they’re fine to own.”

“Adopt the concealed carry lifestyle.”

“It’s not the state’s responsibility. You’re an adult…it’s up to learn what you need to learn.”

“I’ve done everything I can do to help them… if they don’t take it seriously…I can’t feel bad about that.”

Gun Owners Radio

https://www.gunownersradio.com/

San Diego County Gun Owners

https://sandiegocountygunowners.com/

Get A Grip Substack

https://getagrip.substack.com/