#25 - Chris Cheng: Part 2 of 2 - Public policy & the discriminatory impacts, changing stereotypes & shifting focus to suicide prevention & mental health, and mindset shifts for creating impactful change surrounding firearms culture

Ep 25: Chris Cheng is a media personality, strategic consultant, and civil rights advocate in the firearms community. He worked for Google from 2007-2012 in many capacities. In 2011, Cheng decided to try something wacky and audition for History Channel's Top Shot Season 4 shooting competition, having not one shooting award to his name, nor any formal shooting instruction. Cheng is History Channel's Top Shot Season 4 Champion -- he beat 17 professional marksmen and won a $100,000 cash prize, the title of "Top Shot," and a pro marksman contract with Bass Pro Shops. He left Google in June 2012 to pursue a career in the outdoor industry full time. He works closely with the National Rifle Association, the National Shooting Sports Foundation on the Outreach Advisory Council, and the California Rifle & Pistol Association on promoting the shooting sports and protecting our Second Amendment rights. He recently created some controversy as the cover model of Recoil Magazine and used the artwork to enter into the world of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). In this 2 part episode Chris articulates his life and professional experience as gay Asian-American within the firearms community. He walks through his testimony in front of the U.S. Senate and his crusade to evolve the conversation around 2nd amendment rights and his frustration with the disproportionate amount of conversation between mass shootings as opposed to suicide and mental health. He hopes to bring awareness to both gun owners and non gun owners about how to have a different conversation and build community through the technology of NFTs. Iron Sights podcast is hosted by Scott Howell. *Please make sure to leave a review if you enjoyed the podcast!