Episode 260- Doctors and Firearms  Also Available OnSearchable Podcast Transcript Gun Lawyer — Episode 260 Transcript

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Firearms, medical industry, suppressors, hearing protection, gun safety, mental health, New Jersey gun laws, Second Amendment, gun rights, trauma medicine, public health, gun ownership, ethical boundary violations, firearm training, gun legislation.

SPEAKERS

Teddy Nappen, Speaker 1, Speaker 2, Dr. John Edeen

Teddy Nappen  00:15

I’m Teddy Nappen, and welcome to Gun Lawyer. Again, my father is allowed to have a vacation, and don’t worry, he will be back. Instead, I am going to be interviewing a very interesting individual who will provide, I think, a very important take that is being overlooked when it comes to firearms and when it comes to the medical industry.

Teddy Nappen  00:43

So, I’m looking to my guest here, Dr. John Edeen, and I believe it was a Edeen rhymes with mean, if I’m correct.

Dr. John Edeen  00:54

Well, that’s right, absolutely.

Teddy Nappen  00:56

Oh, good. So, yeah, if you would like to introduce yourself so that everyone can understand and like, what organization you have been a part of.

Speaker 1  01:07

Sure, I’d be happy to do that. So, my name is John Edeen. I am a pediatric orthopedic surgeon, thus being mean to kids is what I do for a living. Ha, ha, ha. It’s pretty funny. I am the membership director for Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership (DRGO), which is a Second Amendment foundation organization, and it was founded first in about 1994 by Tim Wheeler, who is an ear, nose and throat surgeon in California. (https://drgo.us/) He realized that there was a lot of bias in the medical literature, and also a lot of the academia locally in California, and he was one of the guys that was actually instrumental in getting the Dickey Amendment passed, which basically forbade the CDC from doing biased advocacy research against the Second Amendment. (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5993413/)

Dr. John Edeen  02:06

And I’ve been with DRGO for about 12 years now. So, DRGO is an interesting organization because it’s, you know, doctors and other healthcare professionals, and we even have, believe it or not, a couple lawyers as part of DRGO.

Dr. John Edeen  02:22

Yeah, I know. But we’ve done, we’ve done some amicus briefs for some of the, you know, pertinent cases that has some stuff to do with medical stuff. Just recently the ear, nose and throat society. I can’t remember the actual name of it, but they actually came out with a position statement supporting suppressors. And one of our members, Hayes Wanamaker, who’s also in the leadership of DRGO, actually spoke at the Gun Rights Policy Conference two weekends ago about this. He gave the kind of the scientific stuff, and there is a paper at our website, which is DRGO.us, which goes over a lot of that same information. And there’s, it’s really good intellectual ammunition, especially if you’re in a state where they’ve outlawed suppressors, and you’re trying to get that undone.

Teddy Nappen  02:22

Ah, get them out of there.

Dr. John Edeen  03:02

Because, you know, based on what happened with the Big Beautiful Bill, you know that the suppressor tax is going away, and so people are going to be buying suppressors left and right. But if you’re in a state that doesn’t allow you to have a suppressor, then you can use this to try to lobby. You use it as good information.

Teddy Nappen  03:36

I’m incredibly thankful for that, because I find that a lot of people, if we arm them with a lot of this information, they can persuade a lot of people. Because look, if you talk to the average person, they think suppressor, like, what? You want one of that and you want, like, random shootings, like in John Wick? No, it actually has a very important value, because we don’t need to all be going deaf. Thank you.

Dr. John Edeen  04:00

What was that?

Teddy Nappen  04:03

Exactly!

Dr. John Edeen  04:05

I mean, you have a bunch of shooters that are talking to each other. They’re, they’re like, half of the stuff you can’t hear, right? Because they can’t hear what the other guy’s saying because they have hearing loss. It’s just, it’s crazy. What is that? What did you just say? Huh?

Teddy Nappen  04:21

Sorry, I’ve got range ears.

Dr. John Edeen  04:24

Yeah, I tell you I’ve lost hearing. You know, all you have to do is be, you know, laying prone and with a rifle, and you bump your ear muffs, and all of a sudden you lose your seal. Next thing you know, your ears are ringing. And that ringing is your little hair cells in your cochlea dying. I want you to know that. That’s what that is. And one exposure to, I think it’s what 120 decibels or something like that, can cause permanent hearing loss. All that stuff is in our paper, and it’s worth having. (https://drgo.us/position-statements/suppressors-hearing/) There’s, there’s like, a little synopsis, but then there’s, there’s the whole paper. And you can print them out. There’s great pictures. It has pictures of the cochlea and, you know, and it gives you a fact.

Dr. John Edeen  05:07

I can pull this up right now. I’m sitting here in front of my computer, but here it is. It’s written by, first of all, it’s written by 1, 2, 3, 4 ear, nose and throat surgeons, and they have like, photo micrographs of the inner ear. They have the instant damage is at 140 decibels, by the way. And it’s all on here. And it tells you like a lawn mower is 90 decibels and a jackhammer is 110 decibels. And so a lawn mower for eight hours can give you damage. A jackhammer for 15 minutes can give you damage.

Dr. John Edeen  05:44

And then anything over 140 decibels, gives you instant damage, like a firecracker, a pistol or a rifle. But it’s interesting. It’s very interesting. And there’s a lot of good information. And then there’s also you, if you go looking for it, the ear, nose, and throat people have their paper too, and I think Hayes Wanamaker was one of the authors on that paper, or at least on that position statement.

Teddy Nappen  06:11

Honestly, I feel that this is going to be very important. As I believe, I think it’s NRA or GOA or  pro gun there, they just submitted their challenges to the NFA. The fact that they are removing the tax on the suppressor.

Dr. John Edeen  06:27

Right. It makes perfect sense.

Teddy Nappen  06:27

So, yeah. I wouldn’t be surprised. Like, you know, you might get a call or two saying, hey, we want some information, because we’re going to arm this up. But that is going to be very helpful and benefit, because it’s always a fight for freedom, just kind of going into it.

Teddy Nappen  06:29

Now, this is something that happens with a good chunk of us. Every time I go into the doctor’s office, there’s two things that always happen. One, he always calls me fat. Number two, he always asks if I possess firearms. So, what is up with that?

Dr. John Edeen  06:46

Well, you know, a lot of the major organizations, the AMA (American Medical Association) and the American Academy of Pediatrics, they’re all influenced by the Left. They’re Northeastern, you know, academia. Their whole goal is to disarm you so that they can do their Leftist stuff to you, and that’s why we, as gun owners, want to keep our rights so that we can keep them from doing the stuff they want to do to us. Because we’ll be armed and they won’t be able to do anything to us.

Dr. John Edeen  07:39

So, here’s the thing. First of all, doctors don’t receive any training in firearms. Firearm safety, you know, firearms mechanics, how guns work. They’re completely unqualified. And remember gun ownership is a civil right, you know, and as a consumer, you have a lot of power in the doctor/ patient relationship. So, don’t be afraid to use it. First of all, you can refuse to answer their question. In fact, I think was it Tom Gresham used to say, basically, it’s not a sin to lie somebody that has no business knowing the answer. And this is one of the things. You know, I’m not necessarily telling you to lie to your doctor about everything else, but frankly, for this, this is one of those things that they have no business even asking you or knowing.

Dr. John Edeen  08:32

If your health care plan, if this is part of their questionnaire thing, you can complain to them about that. And then also if the doctor, if they persist in asking intrusive questions about this, despite you saying, I’m not, I don’t want to talk about this. This is not why we’re here. There’s a term for that. It’s called an ethical boundary violation. And basically what that is, is that the physician is pushing an agenda that doesn’t necessarily benefit the patient. It’s, you know, they’re doing a political thing that’s not necessarily in your long-term benefit. And that’s an ethical boundary violation.

Dr. John Edeen  09:15

And probably the best example of an ethical boundary violation is having sex with your patient. That’s how bad this is. And you are allowed to complain to your professional board, the State Medical Board, and it’s a big deal when that happens. It requires the doctor to jump through a whole lot of hoops, and frankly, the process is the punishment. It’s not much of a fun thing to go through, having had complaints put against me in the past. It’s no good, honestly.

Teddy Nappen  09:51

I’ll save that the next time they ask me my pronouns.

Dr. John Edeen  09:55

Exactly.

Dr. John Edeen  09:56

Now, here’s another thing. This is my favorite thing to say, and by the way, a lot of this is at DRGO.us,  it’s just the question, the medical question. This is my favorite one, though. Ask the doctor, so, doctor, does your insurance company know that you’re practicing outside of your expertise in medical practice? And if I’m harmed by the advice that you give me, will your malpractice insurer cover you to my benefit? Even despite the fact that you are practicing outside of the scope of practice that you’re credentialed in?

Dr. John Edeen  10:34

And that usually will shut them up faster than anything else. Because they realize, oh, my goodness, I’ve stepped on it. I’m out. I’m out of, I’m out of bounds, basically, at that point, because, you know. And the other thing you can ask him is, you know, what organization certifies you to give firearms advice? And if it’s the AMA, say, well, I’d like to see that AMA course on firearm safety. It doesn’t exist. It’s, it’s, you know. Even though I think isn’t it one of the Bloomberg groups that is actually doing a firearm safety thing?

Teddy Nappen  11:08

Correct. Every time. They are doing that. EveryTown is putting out a certification course. Yeah, well, BearingArms did a whole article on it. (https://bearingarms.com/tomknighton/2025/10/18/everytown-is-having-a-rough-time-and-were-here-for-it-n1230299) I wish I could pull it up for you.

Teddy Nappen  11:21

But what they did was they had a guy who did, who knows who does the certifications, knows what it was. And it was this complete anti-gun bias all up and down.

Dr. John Edeen  11:33

Of course it was.

Teddy Nappen  11:34

Like, yeah, it was just galore. And it was like, oh, my God. It’s like having a vegan teach you how to do butcher like, you know, butchering. Like it was so disgusting,

Dr. John Edeen  11:48

Yeah, and it doesn’t surprise me. Because their intent is not gun safety, it’s gun confiscation. You know it, I know it. Your dad knows it. I mean, you know, as you like to say, Registration, and then, you know, Confiscation, and then you know Extermination, you know, that’s what they’re after.

Teddy Nappen  12:10

The step you missed. And this is what we always need to remember. It always begins with Legislation. So, everyone get out and vote.

Dr. John Edeen  12:17

Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.

Teddy Nappen  12:19

Like your life depended on it, so.

Dr. John Edeen  12:21

Because it does.

Teddy Nappen  12:23

Yeah. And going off of that and kind of one of the other topics, and this has been coming up a lot. I don’t know if you’re too familiar in New Jersey, what’s been going on with mental health commitments, of what they’ve kind of abused that, where they recently made a change under the Carry Killer law, where now voluntaries are considered involuntaries. So, instead of just getting a doctor’s letter saying you’re fine for a voluntary stay, you need a full expungement. That is a whole legal procedure that takes a mass amounts of time, money and effort to get cleared. Which, by the way, sometimes the records don’t even exist because they would destroy them after a certain amount of years. And in some ways, they can construe like rehab. So, what is your view on that when it comes to the mental health commitments for where they’re been making people equivalent of convicted felons?

Dr. John Edeen  13:18

Well, I mean, first of all, there are people that have mental illnesses that they probably shouldn’t own guns. And we have to differentiate those people. People with like, you know, chronic schizophrenia, where they have impaired reality testing, versus somebody who, you know, they just went through a divorce and was a little down. And, you know, situational, normal, reactive times of depression. And, you know, that’s a different area. And what you’re trying to do is conflate that with somebody who’s, you know, basically, you know, a psycho killer. You know what I’m saying?

Teddy Nappen  13:58

Yeah, I they do. My favorite one. I always highlight this to people. A guy is like in his 70s, 80s, and is denied because he was an unruly child when he was seven, and that didn’t screws him out of his gun rights because it was an involuntary commitment when he was seven for a day. Like, that’s disgusting.

Dr. John Edeen  14:20

Yeah, no. In fact that, in and of itself, shows you the extent that they’ll go to try to disarm people. And the whole thing is a travesty. And frankly, I mean, lawyers like you guys ought to be going after that kind of stuff, because it doesn’t give anybody due process. You have no ability to, you know, fight it, basically, you know. If they make a law that says, you know, 50 years ago, you know, you were, you had ADHD, and you went a little crazy, and you ended up in the hospital. Or, you know, you took some pills, and you got, you know, you were hallucinating, or something like that, and you end up in the hospital. That’s not necessarily something that you should lose your rights over.

Teddy Nappen  15:09

Yeah, and, quite frankly, just the level of what it takes to even get the records cleared. The judges have such broad discretion that, I mean, they can just say, oh, yeah, everything’s here. You’ve met the criteria. Doctor says you’re fine, but I’m still going to deny you because of character, temperament and whatever weasel clause they use.

Dr. John Edeen  15:35

But under Bruen, that’s not allowed, is it? I mean,  that’s the whole thing. It has to be a distinct set of criteria, not.

Teddy Nappen  15:45

The issue is, when it comes to mental health expungements, the three pillars they have. Under the law for mental health expungements, you have the medical history, then you have criminal history, and then community ties and relations, which, that’s the catch all. That was how they were going about denying people. So, now they have to go through this massive character factor issues that have to go through that, and it’s just. It’s a laundry list of issues that come into play for people. So, it’s something that definitely is quite disgusting. And luckily, the firm, the law firm, handles that pretty well. But it’s just, it’s always such a fight for these people, because they just destroy people’s lives in New Jersey.

Dr. John Edeen  16:33

They do, and it’s horrible. It’s absolutely horrible. And frankly, you know, fortunately, we have good people on the medical side, too. You know, you and I both know a lot of those people, and at least, but you know, it costs money. Then it costs time, and it costs mental anguish. You know, this whole, they’re putting you through it again. You know the process is the punishment, and they’re trying to discourage people from owning firearms. It’s all about disarming people, period.

Teddy Nappen  17:08

So, on that note, I will just, I think, as a way to cheer your mode. I want to talk about our good buddies at WeShoot. As our people may know, our good friends at WeShoot offer classes on getting your CCARE certification so you can get your New Jersey Permit to Carry. WeShoot is a range in Lakewood, New Jersey. They have a fantastic facility with great training and a great pro shop. They have all kinds of deals and specials. We love WeShoot. It’s where I and my father go and shoot, and we got our certifications. If you go there and mention Gun Lawyer, you’ll be treated like a king. If not, you’ll still be treated like a king, because they are the best. Go to weshootusa.com. That’s their website. Beautiful photos, and don’t miss the WeShoot girls as they’re posing with gorgeous guns. And there are guns that you can buy, and they have great deals, great sales. They can not only, they can not only sell you the guns, but also they can teach you how to effectively use them as well. Check out weshootusa.com. WeShoot is conveniently located in Lakewood, New Jersey, right off the Parkway. You’ll be glad you did.

Teddy Nappen  18:16

And let me also mention our good friends at the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs (ANJRPC). And the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs just had a case in the federal court where the appellate court gave a mixed win at the moment. But of course, the fight never ends. It was, we’ll call it a partial victory regarding sensitive places in the Carry Killer bill. Essentially, what the status quo is at the moment has been maintained. You can still carry in your vehicle with the carjacker protection law that was still enjoined. You can carry concealed, loaded on your person in your vehicle with a New Jersey Carry Permit. That is still enjoined. And you can do that because, remember, the Carry Killer Bill tried to prevent it.

Teddy Nappen  19:02

You can still go on private property, as long as it’s open to the public and not otherwise a sensitive place. We lost a little bit in terms of filming locations, in terms of movie filming, and in terms of transporting on public transportation. You’re going to have to have the gun cased and unloaded, etc., if you’re going to be riding a bus or train. However, interestingly, they found that the $50 fee portion that goes to the State was unlawful. It’s unlawful because it went to the VCCB, which is the Victim’s Crime Compensation Board. Under case law, you cannot have a fee for the license not actually go to regulatory activity. That is the purpose of the fee. That has been knocked out. So, now you only have to pay the $150, and if you live in any town that is refunding, such as Englishtown, which was one of the first to start it, they’ll refund their $150. So, you can actually get your carry permit in New Jersey for free.

Teddy Nappen  20:04

And the fight continues. This is just one step as we go along, challenging the Second Amendment oppressionists legislation as they’ve laid it upon us. And the Association is in the forefront fighting for your rights. Make sure you’re a member of the anjrpc.org That’s anjrpc.org.

Teddy Nappen  20:23

And before we finish off the ads, let me shamelessly plug my father’s book, New Jersey Gun Law. The Bible of New Jersey gun laws. You can get your copy of New Jersey Gun Law at EvanNappen.com. And you’ll be glad you did. Because it helps keep yourself out of the New Jersey Gun Owner Gulag. It helps you navigate the very complex course that has been laid out by the gun rights oppressionists who try to trip up and turn you into a criminal. To stop you from being a defender instead of a victim. You need to be a defender instead of a victim, especially since the police have no duty protect you, as you know. So, get the book. You’ll be glad you did. Go to EvanNappen.com and look for the big orange book. Order today, and when you get it, make sure you scan the front cover and get in the private subscriber base. You’ll be able to immediately access the archives, and you’ll get the up to date, including be able to download the 2025 Comprehensive Update that includes a new standalone chapter on “sensitive places”. Where you can and cannot carry. So, check it out today.

Teddy Nappen  21:27

So, Dr Edeen, one of the other big things that does come up a lot, and this is just something I see. The Left is constantly making this argument where they’ve tried and tried to make firearms a health issue. They always try to conflate that. And I don’t know if there was anything you can highlight to us like where did that kind of start or any spot to where you can kind of give your opinion on that issue?

Dr. John Edeen  21:59

Well, it goes back probably 20 to 30 years. They’ve been trying to push the public health issue side of this thing. And frankly, doctors have no control over the public health issue, over the “gun violence” issue. It’s not a public health issue. It’s a criminology issue. You have to, when you look at Dr John Lott’s research, it’s the same people over and over again in a very small area that are the recurrent perpetrators of the violent acts and end up causing the “gun violence”. So, it’s really not a, you know, public health issue.

Dr. John Edeen  22:46

It’s not like it’s a disease that you can stop, you know. I mean, I mean, if you can intervene at the gang level, and, you know, get the kids not to go into the gangs, that might be some kind of a public health thing that you can do. But that’s about as close as you’re going to get to preventing this, you know. Because this is really a gang violence problem. It’s a criminal, it’s a criminal violence problem, but it’s not a public health problem.

Dr. John Edeen  23:16

The beauty is that trauma medicine has evolved so well that we’re still able to save a lot of people when they get shot. If you can make it to the hospital alive, you’re probably going to survive. You know, the trauma centers and the trauma systems are set up to help people survive. So, you got these gang bangers, if you look at them, you know, they’ve been shot six times, 10 times. They end up getting shot. They go to the hospital, and they get patched up. They go back out, and they get into another gunfight. They get shot again. And so these guys aren’t afraid of you or me with a gun. I can tell you that right now, because they’ve been shot already. Most of them have been shot, and they’ve survived it. And so, don’t be surprised if you know one of these guys, you know, if you pull a gun on him, he laughs at you. Unless you’re serious and he realizes that you’re going to, you’re going to shoot him, you know, and you’re going to shoot him down to the ground. He may not be afraid of you. So, it’s really not a public health thing. They like to call it a public health issue, but medicine has no tools to stop a criminal activity. And that’s really the bottom line.

Teddy Nappen  24:27

Honestly, I was thinking of the, I remember there was some crime story where they were interviewing a former gang member, and he covered his face. But he took off his shirt, and he showed like he got shot gunned, like, point blank to the chest, and he lived. And it wasn’t even, like, bird, it was buckshot. So, I’m like, how? But yeah, some people, it’s

Dr. John Edeen  24:51

He’s lucky. They just didn’t hit, they didn’t hit something big enough to cause him to bleed out before he made it to the hospital. You know, they probably took out part of his lung and probably took up, you know, branches of the pulmonary artery in a vain. But it might have Tampa nodded off, or whatever. Or somebody might have stuffed something in there and kept him from bleeding to death. But, you know, I mean, the ability of the trauma surgeons to save people’s lives is pretty amazing.

Dr. John Edeen  25:17

Man, I was a military surgeon back in the, in the, you know, the 1980s and early, mid 80s to mid 90s.

Teddy Nappen  25:25

A saw bones, were you?

Dr. John Edeen  25:26

Oh, yeah. I mean, I am a saw bones. I’m an orthopedic surgeon. That’s what I do. I saw bones and correct them. Straighten them out, put screws and plates in them and all that kind of stuff. But, you know, the bottom line is that, especially like, since the global war on terror, trauma medicine has evolved and evolved. You know, people were using tourniquets and now we have quick clot. I mean, I carry a tourniquet and quick clot in my pocket wherever I go. I have it with me 24/7. because those are the most effective things in my view. You can, you can kind of jury rig, you know, a chest seal out of the packet for that, that troop, the clot gauze or, you know, with some duct tape or whatever. But the bottom line is, is stopping that, you know, stopping the bleeding is probably the most important thing for people to survive, you know, penetrating trauma

Teddy Nappen  26:20

Is there a tourniquet you would recommend for someone to carry?

Dr. John Edeen  26:24

I use the soft T wide, but the cat tourniquet is also good. Both of them are. They’re kind of the tourniquets of choice, put out by the military trauma people. I mean, there are other tourniquets out there too, but those are the recommended ones by the Committee on trauma.

Teddy Nappen  26:47

Honestly, that’s pretty good advice. I might actually start doing that.

Dr. John Edeen  26:51

Yeah, I have, I keep it. I wear scrubs all the time, and I have, you know, pockets, five pockets. And my scrubs are like cargo pockets. So, I’ll throw a tourniquet on one side and two things of quick clot gauze on the other, and just carry that. It’s easy to do. You don’t even know it’s there.

Teddy Nappen  27:10

I’ll definitely consider that. So, I know you touched on this. What is your opinion of the AMA and their position on firearms. I think you touched on it, but I think let’s paint it very clear as to kind of the enemies of our rights.

Dr. John Edeen  27:31

Can I say they’re a bunch of commies?

Teddy Nappen  27:33

You may do so. I fully believe it.

Dr. John Edeen  27:36

Yeah. And they want to take, they want to take over. They want to take over medicine, first of all, and here’s something. Let’s look at what happened during the Covid crisis. The medical community sold us all out for money. I’m on something called the Profession. I was on the Professional Staff Committee. They just dissolved it about a month ago.

Dr. John Edeen  28:03

But during Covid, I kept asking the powers that be. I said, why are we not doing any studies on ivermectin or what’s the other stuff? I can’t remember. Anyway, yeah, hydroxychloroquine. Why don’t we? Why aren’t we doing any studies on that? Well, you know, why aren’t we, you know, treating people early when they show up with a positive covid test. Why aren’t we giving them something to treat them? Why are we waiting till they’re on death’s door and then we put them in the hospital? Oh, yeah, and we get $40,000 a day from the federal government to treat each one of those patients in the hospital. But we get zippo when we treat them, you know, with medication.

Dr. John Edeen  28:47

And then the other thing is in order to get approval for an emergency use of a vaccine, there has to be no other medical treatment available. So, this is all about the billions of dollars that were available through the Government to Big Pharma, which was then also through Government passing down money, you know, to the hospitals. And so, we were sold out by medicine. And I’m a doctor, you know, and I could see it. You follow the money. I’ve been talking about this for five years now. I mean, since probably 2020, for five years, I’ve been talking about the fact that you have to follow the money to find out what’s going on. And we’ve been sold out by the, you know, the Big Pharma. We’ve been sold out by the American Medical Association. We’ve been sold out by the Centers for Disease Control, and we’ve been sold out by our Government. And this whole thing is, you know, this is the public health issue, not guns. Okay?

Dr. John Edeen  29:56

You know, the AMA is a Left wing organization. They’re crooked as, you know, what? And, you know, I don’t trust anything they say. And I’ve been dealing with, you know, my dad’s 97 right now. He broke his hip six months ago. We’re dealing with, you know, we’re dealing with all the health issues. They can’t get anything done, you know. And the whole system is corrupt.

Teddy Nappen  30:21

I completely understand that. We’ve had a lot of family where it’s always you’ve got to know somebody, but it’s just the games they play and the hoops they make you jump through. To the point I’m just, I always love at the end of every email you get from the hospital, it’s from the World Health Organization. I’m like, oh, that’s all, that really helps.

Dr. John Edeen  30:43

Yeah, it’s not, it’s not healthy at all.

Teddy Nappen  30:46

Nah, no, yeah, yeah. But on the one, the last questions, you’ve been very informative on all this, and I think our listeners will appreciate someone of your position and knowledge putting that out for people. Because they need to arm themselves and hear the truth. Regarding, what is your view on the health benefits of children and guns together, getting the early experience of firearms? I don’t know if you had anything on that.

Dr. John Edeen  31:16

Well, you know, kids and firearms, under good supervision, children can learn anything, right? And we’ve all seen organizations where children are taught how to use a .22 pistol to do target shooting, or shoot it using a shotgun for target shooting or whatever. Those kids step up, and they mature. And so, as far as I’m concerned, supervised firearms training and children is actually a great thing.

Dr. John Edeen  31:51

Because it allows, I mean, I live in Texas, okay? We’ve got ranches all over the place. Kids are hunting from, from the you know, they’re, you know, age 10 and beyond. They go out in the woods with their .22 rifle and shoot, you know, squirrels and whatever? Do I see kids getting shot? Yeah, I see kids shooting themselves once in a while, and the first thing I ask them is, so, what are the rules of gun safety? And you know, most of them don’t know that answer.

Dr. John Edeen  32:21

But you can ask some of the other kids, you know, some of the kids, they’re, you know, they’re competitive shotgunners. You know, that’s one of the biggest sports in the country. Did you know that? Shotgun sports? Yeah, the high school championships in the Midwest are huge. You don’t hear about it in New Jersey. But in other places in the country, there’s a lot, there’s a lot. It’s bigger than football in some places. And so, yes.

Dr. John Edeen  32:50

But if you look up, you look up shotgun sports and kids, you know skeet shooting and trap shooting and stuff like that. It’s a big deal on the Midwest. There are leagues, and they’re, you know, they’re like, it’s like, your team, you know, your high school team plays against the other high school team in shot gunning. It’s great stuff. So, you know, it’s limited in in certain places. You know, they try to suppress it, but in other places where it’s allowed, it blooms. And it’s just phenomenal for kids,. Because it helps them mature, and it’s a social thing. And it helps them with, you know, just developing responsibility, a sense of accomplishment. It’s that whole thing. Now, why people? Why kids do sports? It’s to develop into a into a good, responsible adult.

Teddy Nappen  33:46

It’s definitely, I see that benefit. And quite frankly, I remember when my uncle would talk about, like, he would go to elementary school, take his shotgun, put in his cubby. Then finish off school, and then when he was done, he’d go turkey hunting right after. Like, it’s that culture of training and growing up with firearms that I think is very benefit. And honestly, that’s why I think there are some schools now doing, like, firearm safety training as part of the school curriculum. They need to understand that. So, but, um, yeah, that’s actually very interesting on that. And I didn’t realize how popular it is.

Dr. John Edeen  34:21

Oh, yeah. It’s a huge thing. Huge.

Teddy Nappen  34:25

Huge. Nice.

Dr. John Edeen  34:26

Huge.

Teddy Nappen  34:30

Well, you gotta love it. Yeah, exactly. Oh, man, anytime I hear him like speak, it’s his us, wrong. No, it’s a stupid question, move along, like.

Dr. John Edeen  34:45

He is hilarious.

Teddy Nappen  34:47

Oh, yeah. So, yep. That is all the questions I wanted to ask regarding that, and I wanted to thank you for your time and just and discussing these issues. And again, can you repeat the organization and where they can find a lot of this information. Because.

Teddy Nappen  35:03

Sure.

Teddy Nappen  35:03

Again, I want everyone to take their time to listen and read this stuff, because it is important.

Dr. John Edeen  35:09

There’s so much on our website, you can’t read it all. I’ll tell you that right now. Our document archives goes back into the 1990s. So, we have, you know, on our blog, we have stuff from a lot. There’s stuff that I’ve written. They’ve actually published or republished two of the articles that I wrote. One was about an active shooter in the hospital. It’s called “The unthinkable: an active shooter in the hospital.” I wrote that in our local magazine for our medical society. And then I also wrote for USCCA, an article about terrorism against hospitals world wide, and I wrote that in, I think, 2015. That’s also reprinted. So, that’s some of the stuff that I’ve written. Plus, there’s more that I’ve written. But there are positions and resources, guns and public health, gun safety, gun research, gun question, EMRs and gun suppressors and hearing protective orders and external resources.

Dr. John Edeen  36:11

Article archives by a bunch of us, and then there’s just document archives. There’s media stuff or blog. It just goes, it goes on and on and on. We’re also on like Facebook. And Rob Young publishes a lot of stuff there. There’s a lot of interactive stuff, too. So, you can interact with him. Rob Young is  our director and again, we are part of the Second Amendment Foundation. If you’re interested in becoming a member, you can go to DRGO.us and just join. There’s a tab for “join now.” It’s like 35 bucks, but it’s worth it, especially if you’re in the healthcare profession. We would love to have you write articles. And you know, it’s just a good bunch of folks. I’ll just leave it at that. But this is a great resource. A great resource.

Teddy Nappen  37:07

Yep, and to anyone out there who is a doctor and is pro-gun, I mean, your voice needs to be heard. Because, like he said, good chunk of them are not, and I think we need to have that out there. There needs to be good doctors, ones you can actually trust and have your backing and aren’t trying to take away your rights.

Dr. John Edeen  37:27

Absolutely. And we’re the good ones.

Teddy Nappen  37:31

I know, right?

Dr. John Edeen  37:33

We’re the good guys. I will never try to take away your guns, believe me. Never in a million years.

Teddy Nappen  37:39

Yep. So, you can catch now. This is what we do at the end of the show, known as the GOFUs, the Gun Owner Fuck Up. It’s a lesson that other people have learned, so anyone listening can learn it without having to pay the price. And this is a lesson that has recently come up. If you are ever you know, arrested or the cop says, you’re not free to leave, shut up! People, men have died for your for those rights. Stand on them. Remain silent and ask for your attorney. That is it.

Teddy Nappen  38:18

If you are arrested, you are arrested, but do not say anything. If the cop goes up to you and says, oh, I talked to the other guy, but I want to get your side of the story. You say, I have nothing to say. Talk to my attorney. That is it. You do not need to give that side of the story. At best, it’s neutral and doesn’t affect the outcome, and you’ll still be and probably still be arrested. At worst, you’re hurting yourself, and it’s how it goes.

Teddy Nappen  38:47

My father always highlights this all the time. Where Martha Stewart, you know, what she went to jail for wasn’t tax evasion. It wasn’t for taxes.  It was for lying to the police. Do you know how you can avoid lying to the police? Don’t say anything. That’s how it goes. So with that, thank you to my guest, Dr. John Edeen, for coming on here.

Teddy Nappen  39:08

I am Teddy Nappen, reminding you that gun laws do not protect honest citizens from criminals. They protect criminals from honest citizens.

Speaker 2  39:17

Gun Lawyer is a CounterThink Media production. The music used in this broadcast was managed by Cosmo Music, New York, New York. Reach us by emailing Evan@gun.lawyer. The information and opinions in this broadcast do not constitute legal advice. Consult a licensed attorney in your state.

Downloadable PDF TranscriptGun Lawyer S3 E260_Transcript About The HostEvan Nappen, Esq.

Known as “America’s Gun Lawyer,” Evan Nappen is above all a tireless defender of justice. Author of eight bestselling books and countless articles on firearms, knives, and weapons history and the law, a certified Firearms Instructor, and avid weapons collector and historian with a vast collection that spans almost five decades — it’s no wonder he’s become the trusted, go-to expert for local, industry and national media outlets.

Regularly called on by radio, television and online news media for his commentary and expertise on breaking news Evan has appeared countless shows including Fox News – Judge Jeanine, CNN – Lou Dobbs, Court TV, Real Talk on WOR, It’s Your Call with Lyn Doyle, Tom Gresham’s Gun Talk, and Cam & Company/NRA News.

As a creative arts consultant, he also lends his weapons law and historical expertise to an elite, discerning cadre of movie and television producers and directors, and novelists.

He also provides expert testimony and consultations for defense attorneys across America.

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