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The Unfiltered HONEST Truth About the Firearms Community (ft. Whiskey & Windage)
Description
State of the Second host John welcomes the crew behind Whiskey & Windage, the cigar-smoking, bourbon-drinking trio of Adam, Mike, and Matt Brass. The conversation opens with a Blackout Coffee rapid-fire round (time travel, aliens, firearms movies, what they're binge watching, and current EDCs) before settling into the real subject: what their show is and why they do it. Mike, the founder, explains the idea came from the way guys talk guns around a campfire, and the mission is to humanize an industry people assume is full of heartless companies. The group makes the case that even the big names are still family-owned American businesses, and that a lot of the manufacturing is shared across the industry like 'two A farmers' crop sharing parts. Mike even owns up to being the kind of guy who used to poor-shame budget guns before he learned how the supply chain actually works.
From there the episode turns to the media landscape and why podcasting is on the uptick as a place people go for unbiased news and real conversation, with a side complaint about America's gnat-sized attention span and the way pure stupidity goes viral while valuable content stalls. The crew agrees the election went the way they wanted but warns against letting the pendulum swing too far, and presses the point that voted-in politicians have to be held accountable to preserve the Constitution. The show's 'From the Soapbox' segment, brought to you by Patriot Mobile, is where it gets pointed. Mike argues America has a judicial system, not a justice system, and that anyone deemed fit to return to society should get their rights back, including the right to own a gun. Adam frames it as three options: termination, incarceration, or full citizenship with no felon label hanging over you. They apply the no-compromise logic to Hunter Biden, agreeing that if he's not in prison and not violent, he has the same right to protect himself as anyone.
The back half digs into veterans and rights. Adam, an active-duty Army drill sergeant and medic, calls the VA a failed system and explains why the fear of losing firearms keeps service members from seeking behavioral health care. Mike, speaking as a non-veteran, argues a VA card should be accepted at any hospital, the same care politicians and four-star generals get. The episode closes on the ATF, where Mike says the chant should shift from 'abolish' to 'reform,' and lays out a plan to move suppressors out of ATF control by building a uniform, OSHA-compliant hearing-safety standard the silencer industry could compete on. John thanks the guests and notes Palmetto State Armory and AAC sponsored gift packages for season two guests. Find Whiskey & Windage at whiskeyandwindage.com and across YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Spotify, and Apple.
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Questions this episode answers
Who is Whiskey & Windage and how did the three of them come together?
Whiskey & Windage is a firearms podcast hosted by a cigar-and-bourbon trio: Mike, founder and owner of a Nashville firearm shop; Adam, an active-duty Army drill sergeant and medic; and Matt Brass, a collector. It started October 1, 2023 on Tyler Hoover's Antihero channel, then went solo January 1, 2024.
What does Whiskey & Windage mean by humanizing the firearms industry?
The trio's mission is to push back on the assumption that the firearms industry is full of heartless companies by showing that even the big names are still family-owned American businesses. Founder Mike modeled the show on how guys talk guns around a campfire, putting real people behind the brands.