Behind the Scenes with the GOA Family (Dysfunction and all!) | #12 GOA Team

State of the Second goes off the legislative beat for a Thanksgiving roundtable. Hosts Kaylee and John sit down with two of GOA's own media people: Tiffany, the videographer behind the Minuteman Moment and host of One in the Chamber, and Ben, a federal affairs lobbyist who now fronts the Minuteman Moment. The episode is built around gratitude, the team's favorite moments from the year, and a steady stream of good-natured roasting aimed mostly at Ben. It's a look at the people behind GOA's content rather than a deep policy breakdown. The conversation moves through the year's events and wins. The team talks about ShotShow, where members were surprised and happy to find GOA across the aisle from the ATF's booth, and a string of other outings including Lethal Weapons Texas, the Guns Out John Wick experience, and Naughty After Dark with Opie and the Smokies. On the policy side, Kaylee walks through the six coalition letters GOA assembled for the House joint resolution condemning the pistol brace rule, covering hunters, 2A influencers, industry, gun stores and ranges, sheriffs and police, and veterans. Ben pulls back the curtain on what reviewing bills like the NDAA actually looks like, including anti-gun staffers splitting the word gun so a control-F search misses it, and tracking statutes like 922 across stacked House reports. The back half turns to the shows themselves and the mission. Tiffany frames One in the Chamber around activism and education, including how to talk to the relative who hates guns at Thanksgiving, while Ben describes the Minuteman Moment as the place for breaking news and legislative action. Both make the case for normalizing what a gun owner looks like and for GOA's no compromise position. They share favorite guns from the year, including Kaylee shooting a Barrett .50 cal, John firing a full-auto P90, and Ben on the Barrett and the Radian Ramjet. The episode closes with each person naming what they're thankful for, shout-outs to GOA's federal affairs, state and local, legal, and comms teams, and a reminder about members-only Black Friday deals. Questions this episode answers What is the difference between One in the Chamber and the Minuteman Moment? Tiffany frames One in the Chamber around activism and education, including how to talk to relatives who hate guns. Ben describes the Minuteman Moment as the place for breaking news and legislative action. How does GOA's federal affairs team find gun control hidden in large bills like the NDAA? Ben explains that reviewing bills means tracking statutes like 922 across stacked House reports and watching for anti-gun staffers who split the word gun so a control-F search misses it. What were the six coalition letters GOA put together for the House joint resolution on pistol braces? Kaylee says Gun Owners of America assembled six coalition letters for the House joint resolution condemning the pistol brace rule, covering hunters, Second Amendment influencers, industry, gun stores and ranges, sheriffs and police, and veterans. How do you talk to a relative who hates guns at a holiday dinner? Tiffany makes this a focus of One in the Chamber, approaching the anti-gun relative at Thanksgiving through education and activism rather than confrontation. What is GOA's definition of a gun rights activist? The team makes the case for normalizing what a gun owner looks like and holding Gun Owners of America's no-compromise position. As Ben puts it, they are a bunch of gun nuts who all look like normal people. What events did the GOA team attend this year and what stood out? The team recaps ShotShow, where members were happy to find Gun Owners of America set up across the aisle from the ATF's booth, plus Lethal Weapons Texas, the Guns Out John Wick experience, and Naughty After Dark with Opie and the Smokies. Why does GOA show up at events like ShotShow when it's a member-based organization? At ShotShow, members came up happy to see the team and to talk with GOA's lawyers about current legal fights, all while the ATF's booth sat right across the aisle. What were the team's favorite guns to shoot this year? Kaylee shot a Barrett .50 cal, John fired a full-auto P90, and Ben named the Barrett and the Radian Ramjet as his favorites from the year. Chapters 00:00 — Welcome and meet the GOA media team 00:23 — A Thanksgiving episode about favorite moments 01:11 — Ben and Tiffany's memorable moments 03:23 — Why GOA shows up at events like ShotShow 05:50 — Lethal Weapons Texas and Naughty After Dark 09:46 — Standing up to attacks on the Second Amendment 10:25 — Six coalition letters on the pistol brace resolution 13:42 — From intern to federal affairs and the ATF Halloween bit 15:21 — Pulling back the curtain on reviewing bills 23:14 — What each show is and why to watch 29:38 — Reaching the relative who hates guns 31:55 — Normalizing what a gun owner looks like 36:39 — Favorite guns: Barrett, P90, and Ramjet 43:37 — Going around the table to give thanks About the guest The GOA team featured in this episode includes Tiffany and Ben, both part of Gun Owners of America's media operation. Tiffany is GOA's videographer, who started filming the Minuteman Moment in 2021 and now hosts her own show, One in the Chamber; she also does set design and script coaching. Ben hosts the Minuteman Moment and is a federal affairs lobbyist who started as an intern in GOA's Federal Affairs Department before moving up to a full-time role. They join hosts Kaylee and John for the episode. Key quotes "So the fact that people are coming up to us and they're happy to see us and they're happy to be able to talk to us and talk to our lawyers about the crazy stuff that's going on while the ATF's booth is right across the way, across the aisle." — Tiffany "We were able to put six coalition letters together for that House joint resolution. We had one for hunters, we had 1 for 2A influencers. We had one for the industry." — Kaylee "They'll try to cut off certain words so it doesn't say gun fully. It says gu n so that the control F function doesn't work." — Ben "We're a conduit between talking between Congress and our members so that the message of the Second Amendment shall not be infringed gets everywhere." — Ben "We're all a bunch of gun nuts, but we all look like normal people." — Ben "It's all these little victories that eventually snowball into something much bigger and much greater." — Ben