If you want to meet some down-to-earth celebrities, look no further than Chris Loesch and his wife Dana. I’m not even sure they’d be cool with the label “celebrities.” Maybe they’d prefer conservative, gun-loving patriots who regularly appear on TV, radio?

My point is, their relative fame has not gone to their respective heads and they’re as cool in person as they are on air. There is no act. There is no artifice. What you see is what you get.

That’s rare these days. I spent a decade living in Los Angeles, I can tell stories all day long about how fraudulent most famous people are. Anyways, on the last day of SHOT Show 2016, we caught up with Chris while Dana was hosting her nationally syndicated radio show, aptly titled, “The Dana Show.”

We all joked around a bit, but amidst the laughs, there were some insightful points that were made. For one thing, Chris commented on how the obsession with hardware has distracted gun owners from the very important component part of training.

“The sad state of the industry, I think, is we’ve become so gear-centric that we’ve left the training behind,” noted Chris. “A lot of people buy some really great weapons… But they take them home and they don’t shoot em.”

Interviewer Jon Hodoway doubled down on that notion, saying, “I think it’s a lot easier to get people to buy gear sometimes than it is to get them to invest in themselves and train.”

I think it’s true too. Folks do everything they can to look the part but don’t seem to put in the time to really be the part. It’s easy enough to get the arm tatts, grow out the stupid beard, purchase the 5.11 tactical outfit, buy the latest and greatest black rifle and call oneself an “operative.”

However, to actually walk the walk, to actually join the military or put in the time, effort and commitment to hit the range on a regular basis, to exercise, to study up on self-defense and concealed-carry laws, to practice force-on-force training and situational awareness, to learn martial arts and lifesaving skills (CPR), you know, to do all the critically important stuff that will really make one operative-like takes a backseat. Why? Because it’s time consuming. Because it’s hard. Because it takes discipline and sacrifice.

I guess we all recognize that there are a lot of wannabes out there. And hey look, I’m as guilty as the next guy for being lackadaisical on a lot of those fronts. But then again, I don’t go around pretending to be Tier 1. I guess the takeaway is, spend less time shopping for guns and gear and more time shooting the guns that you already own. Invest in yourself, as Jon says. If you do that, it won’t matter what platform your shooting or clothes your wearing or how long your beard is. You’ll be prepared and capable, come what may.

Chris also brought up the, in his words, “the most important Second Amendment rights book ever written,” called “Hands of My Gun: Defeating the Plot to Disarm America,” written by Dana. Now is this really the most important 2A book of all time? Does it best seminal works like “Principles of Personal Defense” by Col. Jeff Cooper or “More Guns, Less Crime” by researcher John Lott Jr.?

Well, I guess there’s only one way to find out. Buy a copy and read it! If you do, or if you have read it, please let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

Lastly, word to the wise for you young dudes out there, take Chris’s advice and join a band. It worked for him. Maybe it’ll work for you too! LOL.