Freedom Files | Episode 9 | Steve Jacobson

All right, everybody. Welcome to Freedom Files, episode number nine. Nine. Here we go. Today we got Big Steve Jacobson. Happy to have him. We also got Lloyd McKinnon along with Jimmy Freeman. All right, before we get started for some uh more in-depth introductions, Grant, we're screaming at Grant to move in the back. This a video. Wait, wait. Over this way.

Um, let's go over today a little piece of history. A Colt Single Action Army. This is an 1873 single-action six-shot revolver. Uh produced by the Colt manufacturing company. This one right here is the one that you know, the gun that changed the West. You hear about these. It's two 1873s. It's this and it's the Winchester rifle. Uh there were so many of these produced. They're still being produced today by Colt. Uh Italian companies like Uberti and Cimarron. Uh they make like replicated versions of them that are pretty much to spec. This one I've actually got some Colt paperwork on. So, if you've uh got yourself an original Colt like this, this one was in .32-20 or .32 uh WCF, a traditional caliber back in the day. It was shipped uh in March 18th of 1905 to St. Louis, Missouri to the Simmons Hardware Company. So, if you're interested in getting this, you can come talk to me. I can help you to authenticate your Colt through Colt or you can actually do it through Colt yourself. You just go to colt.com and go to the archives department. There's only two guys that do this. Um and they'll do it up for you. It's about $150 to $250 to get the uh the archive paperwork. That's actually a nice pistol. Yeah, very nice pistol. Very cool. Still works. Smooth as butter. Um yeah, it's a Oh, listen to that. Yeah, listen to that. Jesus, nice click. All right, so there's my my show and tell for today, man. That's that's an amazing uh piece of history right there. It is. It's really cool. Little known fact about that right there. Winchester, the Colt, they're made the same place I was, Connecticut. Look at that. Look at that. Special guest today for a reason. Lloyd, you need to get yourself a letter. I got to get authentic. My birthday will authenticate you. New Haven just like All right.

I want to talk a little bit about Big Steve. Uh Steve was in the United States Marine Corps. He has uh he is and he has been a cop. Uh he's a competing powerlifter at an age where most men in America have weight issues, diabetes, and health risks. Uh Steve's managed to keep an admirable health uh practice and a physique of envy and he's done all this with daily challenges that everyone else has. So let's talk a little bit about you, bro. Uh tell me a little bit about yourself. So I just want to thank you, Fred, for the opportunity to be here and thank the panel for having me. It's a privilege and honor to be down here. Dude, that's our privilege and honor to be here, brother. Absolutely. Thank you. You know, and you know, I wouldn't be Reess if I didn't have my t-shirt with my Eagle Globe and anchor right there. Anyway, I to come down to visit Fred Firearms right here. Marine Corps proud. I love it. So, I was raised here in Oakdale. Um, spent most of my life here in Oakdale. Still live in Oakdale. I uh went to work right out of the police academy for the city of Waterford. Left Waterford, came here to Oakdale Police Department. Spent a few years in our Oakdale PD. and then went to Modesto PD. Um went spent a few years there at Modesto PD and then was recruited to go to the district attorney's office and then I spent uh 22.54 years at the district attorney's office where I had a chance to work with Lloyd and some of the other men here in the back. Certainly a privilege and honor to work with all these guys and then I retired from the DA's office and I was just speaking to Lloyd a few minutes ago. is a privilege and an honor to get a job with the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office where I work for Pat Werrill, one of the best sheriffs in the state of California. I always vote for him. I like Jeff. I like Jeff here in Stanislaus County, but uh Pat Werrill. So, good man.

Tell us a little bit about uh you know, you're you're into all kinds of stuff. You're a shooting enthusiast. You know, you're I mean, I had the opportunity and the blessing to work out with this guy. Oh, yeah. It was awesome. when we were in the courts uh down there in the base court workout. It was fun stuff, man. It was a great time. Great time. Um the dungeon, the dungeon, Cookie and Fidel and Oh, yeah, man. It was good stuff. And you've always had, you know, um I think a little bit of extra as far as determination, mindset going forward. So, let me know where do you get your motivation from? Boy, that's a that's a big question, a loaded question there on motivation. Um the way that I look at it is that uh motivation kind of go hands kind of goes hand-in-hand with discipline, you know, although if you lack or your motivation's wavering, sometimes your discipline will pull you through. So when I think about motivation, it's it's I try to remain and stay disciplined as much as I can and that's what kind of motivates me is being self-disciplined. So, I always uh remember those that are less fortunate, those people that can't do what we do and some of uh you know, some of our comrades that we had in the Marine Corps that didn't make it back or yeah, you know, got wounded and whatnot. And then, you know, I think about all of the co-workers that I had an opportunity to work with and some of the investigations that I had with, you know, Earl Scott, Ronell Singh, and Dennis Wallace, and some of those guys that, you know, they didn't finish their career. And so, I'm inspired by these guys. I'm inspired by a lot of the guys that I still work with. And there's not a day that goes by that I don't think about a lot of those guys, you know, that we served with and a lot of the guys that, you know, we served with in law enforcement here in this in this county and and their families and whatnot. Valid motivation right there. Preach.

And, you know, I just uh I go back to the very basics of life, Fred. You know, I know that I didn't create myself, you know, and if I did, I would have created myself to be about six foot, about 300 pounds, you know, never needing to eat, never needing to sleep, you know, always, you know, just a a big stud, basically. So, I know got that part down. No, I wished I wished. So, I know that because I didn't create myself that somebody had to create me, right? I had to be created. I had to have a creator. And if somebody created me, then there was a purpose and there was a need for me to be created. You know, you stop to think about how many people that we have in this world now. What we have 8 to 10 billion people. Yeah. So, I was created, but yet there's 8 to 10 billion people already here. So, there had to have been a purpose. And if I was created with a purpose, then there's somebody that needs me. I'm not the one that needs to be needy, but somebody needs me. And so I need to have a purpose and I need to be needed. And I have found that purpose in my life and I found that there is somebody that's that needs me. The good Lord needs me. My family needs me. And so that keeps me motivated. That's my inspiration is just just going down to the very basics, the very basics. And whether the community knows it or not, they need you, too. And I appreciate that. They do. I appreciate that. You're here for a reason. honed yourself and you've you've put yourself into these places and the powers that be have put you where you are and then you've maximized on those. Matt, thank you. Have the good Lord's grace on that.

So, um I got a little bit of questions here for you, too. Like, do you have all the stuff that you do? You know, obviously we're hearing the mythical preparation of it. Do you have like a a ritual that you do? You know, you wake up in the morning at a certain time, man, you do these certain things. I mean, you got to have something, man. Like, talk to me about that. Absolutely. You know, so again, we go back to the basics. You get up out of bed. What do you do? You make your bed. You you pull your comforter over or whatnot. You start out with the very basics that you're thankful to be waking up vertical. Okay? So, the first thing I do is in the morning is I thank God. I thank God that he's given me another day to fulfill his mission because he needs me. And so, that's the person who needs me. So, I thank him first thing in the morning. Um, I I stay disciplined with my meal prep. So, I I get all my meal preps done so that I have my meals throughout the day. No matter where I'm at, if I'm out on a call somewhere or we're chasing a bad guy, even in another city outside of San Joaquin County, I always have my food with me. I'm ready to eat. I have ready to eat. There you go, man. I I keep my nutrition in check. Um, I try to keep my mental health in check by, you know, talking to the guys and whatnot and having the edification that I get with the fellow guys at work and whatnot. And then my spiritual, uh, my spiritual needs get met with my family. And then I also go to church here in Oakdale. So, um, I just feel blessed. You are, my friend. You are. Everybody's blessed to know you, too, my friend. Thank you by far.

Um, do you have inspiration, you know, other than the the Holy Father? Is there is there people out there that you set an example to? And here's here's kind of a funny thing, man. You know, uh, Hulk Hogan just passed away, I think, we grew up with, right? Piece, right? So, when I was younger, I used to like have a picture of Hulk Hogan. Now, I need to get a poster of Steve. Yeah, I need I need a poster. But anyway, you know, like him and Arie and others and everything. Is there someone that's out there that's famous or even not so famous that you gain inspiration from? Well, it's it's interesting that you brought up Arie. You know, I got a chance to work out with Arnold Schwarzenegger several different times. I have a picture there that I sent you. We'll put it up. I got where? So I, believe it or not, this small town kid from Oakdale, when I went into the Marine Corps, I was a platoon honor man and company honor man. And when I got to graduate as a Lance Corporal out of boot camp, they basically gave me an opportunity to go anywhere in the Marine Corps that I really wanted to go. And they marched me in and into this quarter deck in uh MCRD San Diego. And the guy asked me, he said, "Is any skeletons in your closet? anything that might come up that would preclude you from passing a top-secret clearance on a background." I said, "Well, I'm from Oakdale, but how much trouble can you get in there?" Oakdale not get caught. Yeah, exactly. They'll talk to Miss Schaefer and some of the other counselors down at the high school, but other than that, I should be okay. So, I ended up passing a preliminary background and then they sent me to infantry training school in North Carolina, which that was kind of odd to go from MCRD San Diego to North Carolina. So, I was like, "Okay." So something's good is going to happen here. So then when I was in North Carolina, they said, "Okay, you're going to uh Marine Barracks 8th and I." So I went to Marine Barracks 8th and I and I went and did the Washington Navy Yard. You know, we heard about the Washington Navy Yard shooting and stuff like that. Well, there's Marines at that time and likely still are. There's Marines posted at the Washington Navy Yard that protect the admirals on Admiral Row. So then there's a trial phase where you protect the admirals on on Admiral Row. You carry in the wives' groceries. You make sure you raise the colors appropriately. So kind of like PSD basically. Absolutely. Absolutely. So you get a chance to walk work in the Washington Navy and then when you get your recommendation then you can either go to the Pentagon, you can go to Camp David up in Thurmont, Maryland, or you can go to the White House. Okay. So at that time I talked to a guy that was at the at the Pentagon. I talked to a guy that was at the White House and he said, "You know, you'd be a good marine up at Camp David because you still like to get grungy. Still like to wear your cammies on occasion. You don't want to be in your dress blues all the time." So he goes, "Probably go to Camp David." So I went up to Camp David and lo and behold, I got to be a bodyguard on in Camp David for President Bush, but first with President Reagan. Yeah. Oh, there you go. I'll pitch. Put on. It was a blessing to be able to talk to President Reagan. He was a great guy. Um, he's the one that brought in Arie too for uh No, President Bush did. Bush brought it brought it in. Yeah, I remember that. For presidential fitness advice. Yes. So that's how I got to meet him. So So uh after Reagan, which uh Reagan was a big inspiration, just a very true genuine individual who would stop and most of the time he stayed secluded in his cabin. Uh, I won't get into the specifics of kind of a layout of all that, but he would stay secluded in a particular area on Camp David where he didn't basically want to be bothered all that much. He'd call you on the phone and say, "Hey, here's what I want. I want the White House mess specialist. They'll come in and cook for me and whatnot, but other than that, just kind of leave me alone for the weekend and let me let me decompress from all this stuff." He was a very genuine guy, great guy. After after President Reagan, of course, we have uh President Bush Senior, and he was just the opposite. He wanted to go throw horseshoes all the time. He wanted to play, he called it volleyball. So, he'd always want me in there with the rest of the guys on the other side of the net playing uh uh volleyball in a racquetball court. Okay. So, we had to go play volleyball with him. Yeah. Volleyball. And then he loved to shoot skeet, which was horrible because the Marines, the duty at at skeet shooting is we had to either pull the little button when he'd say pull so the birds flew the clay pigeons or after he or we'd sit there and give him his ammunition or afterwards we'd have to take off our cover and we'd have to police the grass and pick up every piece of broken clay pigeon so that it was nice and clean so that it looked like nobody ever was in the burn pits. So it was it was it was terrible. Yeah. No trigger time for you, Devil Dog. You don't get to you get to watch somebody else and then pick up after them. That's it. That's it. And then he liked to throw horseshoes all the time. So then he'd throw horseshoes and we'd be on one side of the pit and then we'd have two Marines on each side. So he'd throw it, we'd pick up the horseshoes, have it standing ready for him and he'd come pick up the horseshoes from us. And so we made life really easy for the president. Obviously, you know, we did everything we could. We were kind of kind of butlers for him, whatnot, but we were armed butlers, right? Um, and so we had an opportunity and then he had Arnold as a presidential fitness advisor. So then Arnold and Maria Shriver would come up to Camp David and when he was there then I would get a chance to work out with Arnold and Wow. Uh, our weight room is called Wy Oak and we used to work out in the in the Wy Oak. It's amazing. But it's a it was great. It's a great opportunity. It's a blessing.

Did you uh did you end up down the road getting like one of your post certificates actually with Arnold's um signature on it when he was the governor? So this is uh really bizarre. So you know when they're up at Camp David, you're told do not and don't do not engage them in any conversation. This is their opportunity to digress to decompress from all the life down in Washington DC. Don't talk to them. If they speak to you, then obviously talk back, answer their questions or whatnot, but do not engage them and be there, but be invisible. Be be there. You're visible, but don't be there. Yeah. So Arnold would come up and I had that Pumping Iron book and I he was always an inspiration earlier on and I wanted the book the book the book I wanted him to sign it so bad I had it in my barracks I had it in the barracks and so when they'd come get me to go work out with Arnold I'd always look up there I go what's it worth you know just to kind of slide that in there to see if Arnold would sign it but I was too chicken I didn't want to get in trouble we used to call it the Bible the yeah the Bible Pumping Iron so you know I was just too chicken that to kind of bring that up there to have him sign it. So, I never got him to sign the book. I got a picture with him in the weight room after we got done working out and whatnot and I thought that was good enough. Well, when you brought up the fact that you became a governor, he came here to Oakdale and there was a deal out there at Roaches where he had some kind of um speaking event or whatnot. And I go, you know what? I'll go I'll take my kids, my young kids at the time, and I'll take that Pumping Iron book. Yes. just in case I ever get that opportunity to run into him and I go I'll also take that picture that I sent. Yeah. And I'll and I'll just say, "Hey, you probably don't remember me because you ran across a lot of guys and a lot of different times, but I was that Marine that you made he made fun of my calves one time." Oh [ __ ] Yeah, he made fun of my calves. Skip leg day was I do I try not to skip leg day, but he did. He even competing against him. He's still mentally. Yeah. Yeah. He had he had me turn around. He goes, "You know, he's always knocking the Marines." And I saw I was in the weight room with him and he goes, "All right, so I can see you can press pretty good." He goes, "You lift him more than him?" No. No. And he's he's a pretty thick guy and he's pretty strong, too. But he really wasn't getting into like really to get it to get it cuz the president was there and the president was lifting too. So he'd go over and he talked to and Maria was on the treadmill at the time. So he'd walk over and talk to Maria at the treadmill and then he'd go over and see how the president was doing. He'd change weights for the president. Then he'd come over to me and it kind of back and forth like that. And then that's that was kind of how he really wasn't getting into it, you know, but he was just he was in it like a trainer. Like a trainer. Yeah. And so he saw he saw me. He goes he goes, "Stand up. Come over here." And I went over there and he goes, "Turn around." And he goes, "That's the problem with you, Marines." And I go, "Oh, no." He goes, he goes, "You Marines?" He goes, "You guys are strong." He goes, "You guys got good physiques. You guys are you built." He goes, "But look at your calves." He goes, "You are you are neglecting your calves. You are not hitting your calves. And it gave me a complex [ __ ] awesome. It was like, oh my gosh. I guess every time you step Arnold, look what you did to this guy. He still remembers it. Yep. Arnold remember in Wy Oak. So look at that photo. So anyways, the the president uh one of the guys from the Marine Corps that flew up in uh what's it called? HMX-1. The the helicopter crew of Virginia. Okay. He actually had a camera and you cannot get a camera in the Camp David because the cameras were only by the White House uh press specialists that could have cameras. So you could not have a camera up there. This kid, I don't know who you are, but he was like a Lance Corporal or a Corporal on HMX-1. He snuck a camera in and then not only did he sneak a camera in, he snuck it into his bag into the gym when we were working out. And this would be 90. This is uh No, this is this is 90 98909 890. So that be your cameras aren't like this, dude. Your cameras are your cameras are cameras. Your cameras, bro. Yeah. So he's we're working out and this kid goes he goes, "Nobody's ever going to believe that we're in here working out with Arnold Schwarzenegger." And he goes, "I'm getting a picture." Yeah, he did. I'll do it 11. I don't care. And he probably did. He And I got stuck in the chow hall for it, but I'm sure he got in. Oh, you did get in trouble. Yeah, I got in trouble for it. Oh, wow. Everybody in the photo got in trouble. I got uh stuck for 30 days mess hall, but that's a whole another story. I'll tell you a photo with Arie. So, and I was getting in trouble over the whole deal and the mess hall and the captain came in and he goes, "You really want that photo, don't you?" I go, "Yes, sir, I do." He goes, "I hear that you're giving the Navy uh the Navy chief in the show a big issue." He goes, "You get through this 30 days and you don't buck the system and you do your discipline the way you need to be and man up." He goes, "I'll get you that negative of that photo." Oh, right. And I said, "Yes, sir." And I instantly That's a solid. Yeah. He did me a solid on that one. So, uh, yeah. So, Arnold made fun of my calves and whatnot. So, that was a deal where I was inspired early on by Arnold in the lifting world, you know, with Franco Columbu and those kind of guys. The greatest bodybuilders, the original the original the original crew, you know. So, I was inspired by those guys, Frank Zane. But now, you know, when you're talking about uh motivation physique, awesome to sign it at that event. So, oh, going back to the event. Say, bro, don't keep me on this. Yeah. So, hate to keep you on pins and needles here on this. So, uh I'm in the far back and I'm a nobody at this and now this is like '06 '07. This was maybe '08. If somebody can do that research where Roach's auto auto he was governor, right? Was he governor? He was not governor yet. Oh, wait. He was not governor yet. I think he was running. It was '06. '06. running in '06. So, I go to this event. Of course, I'm a nobody. I'm in the far back and there are a ton of people that are between me and Arnold on that stage. I think they had like Roach's had a truck that backed up and he was on the truck and he was speaking to everybody in Oakdale and there was a big turnout over there. A lot everybody to who's who's at zoo was there uh wanting to talk to Arnold and whatnot. And there was just way too many people. And at the very end of the event, my two boys, one's a deputy sheriff now at San Joaquin County Jake. And uh one of my other sons, my uh Joey Jacobson, uh he's at Stan State. Good kid. Uh they said, "Dad, give me that photo. Give me the photo and give me your Pumping Iron book." And I gave them my photo. And I gave them the Pumping Iron book. And they made their way all the way through the crowd all the way up to the very front. That would have been like 10 at that time. Maybe 11. Yeah. If that because Jake is uh how old is Jake now? So So Jake is turning 30. Oh. Oh wow. Okay. So they would have been like teens, early teens or maybe maybe even then. Yeah. So they they make their way all the way to the very front of the stage with my photograph with the Pumping Iron book and they get up to the very front and Arnold stops and he addresses my my two boys. And they show him the photo and he goes and they gave him the book and he goes and he signed my book. Oh, nice. I got I was even there and I got goosebumps. That's incredible. So, I still have the Pumping Iron book by Arnold and it's signed by him and uh it was just a blessing. It was really ironic that you know here I worked out with him. We were up at Camp David all the way on the other side of the United States and then boom he's back in in your hometown back in Oakdale and he finishes the book purpose meant got both of them. Awesome. So anyways got to make a shrine with it both put up there. Yeah absolutely. So anyways, you know, uh Arnold was a big inspiration u lifting weights and whatnot. And I would say that almost almost on a weekly, if not a weekly, maybe a bi-weekly or a monthly basis, there is something that somebody does that inspires me. Yeah. Okay. You're pulling. So, it's not a it's not maybe a particular person anymore like Arnold or whatnot, but you know, Lloyd, and Lloyd, you guys will relate to this. You know, in law enforcement sometimes we see the gutter walls, man. We see we see the worst in humanity out there. You know, sometimes they're knocking on your window. They're wanting you to run for warrants because they need to get medical to jail and just the the low lives of just people that just can't get their crap together, you know, whatnot. Mostly have mental health issues or are addicted to dope or whatnot. They're in the trenches. You know, the Stockton PD guy that back there would recognize, you know, we're talking about the Mormon Slough and some of the trenches that we have in Stockton just the just just the gutter walls. Well, yeah, that's a part of the job that we deal with. But what a lot of people don't know about, you know, our profession, Fred, is that we come across some of the best of humanity and it never makes the news. No, no. And you know why it never makes it? Because it doesn't sell. Horrible. Horrible stuff. And not only that, but these people that do these great generous acts, most of the time they don't want to be recognized. True. Yeah. You know, we just recognized a guy not too long ago who jumped into a river to save this Mexican guy, jumped into this river after saving a person, goes back to save another person and drowns. Okay. Not too many people know about that. No. You know, not too many people know about when people loved ones die. There are people that show up at the crime scene that don't even know these people. And what do they do? They're dropping off flowers. They're asking, "Hey, can the can we drop off food for the family?" So, we see the worst in humanity. But then again, we turn around and we see those kind of people and it is inspirational to see. Yeah. Just that little bit of goodness can last you through all the BS. Absolutely. Or you see, you know, uh, you know, with lifting or you see some of our sports events where sometimes there's people that were not blessed to have, you know, um, arms or legs or whatnot and what are they, they're still out getting it, you know, you know, they're still out getting that's the real challenge right there, right? Is there's genetics that are in involved with everything, but it's that it it I don't care if you have genetics or not. The real challenge is making, you know, making yourself a Superman by your mind. Yep. You meet a lot of people like that in in the law enforcement field that uh kind of I've got a lot of people that inspire me. There's a lot of people in this room that do that. Um and you you look at it's that extra mile. It's that little or not even a mile. It's that extra inch that's taken, you know, that that people are willing or they're not willing to put forward. Absolutely.

Hey, I also want to ask you um being in San Joaquin now, you did a lot of years uh as well investigating with DA. I always like to talk about CCWs and guns on this because it's, you know, kind of our relevant issue that we that we go for for for the firearm store and and our subject. Um, how are CCW stuff uh, you know, I'm always trying to get statistics from people out in the field. We hear a lot of stuff from uh the Attorney General in California and our governor that vilify uh CCW carrying for very very difficult for the public. What's your opinion as a seasoned law enforcement officer on CCW carrying? And then I'll let you go on that and then I've got some questions if you've ever come across any instances. Yeah. So, my my personal belief, and it's interesting that you bring that question up because I was just talking to Lloyd before we went on camera, and I was talking about Lloyd's neighbor, who is a sergeant that works on our A team, Sergeant Dan Lavine for the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office. And we were just talking a couple weeks ago about some of our rural crimes and some of the investigations that we have to do outside of the city to where we go to basically kind of no man's land sometimes where we're out dealing with farmers who get uh agricultural equipment stolen or whatnot. And we always tell ourselves, yeah, the guys can come from the city to help back us up if something happens out there, but we're so fortunate and glad that we have a lot of farmers and a lot of ranchers and just a lot of good people in general out in the East County or South or North County that are CCW holders or have weapons that have are available to them on their property or whatnot to be able to be that 12th person on the build for us. Uh so we always appreciate people that have good firearms training that know how to safely operate a firearm and would be there for us if necessary to have to get involved in something with us. Yeah. So we always appreciate it county. I love hearing that and I I think it would be a huge benefit if at the the state level and the staff that is for the states and I know like you know when you look at state troopers most of the CHP guys they're all for it as well. So when you you look at the guys that are actually in the field that touch base on this they're the majority of them or at least the people that I come across are for it. I have talked to a few uh cops and even upstairs there's a couple uh investigators that are solely on the CCW side now and that's all they do. Mhm. That have said that they have run across a few people that have abused it. Absolutely. So I mean that's out there. But I think the majority is it's it's refreshing to hear actual law enforcement say, "Hey, we're happy to have it out there." And I wish that at the state level I wish our Attorney General and his staff um would recognize that. Yeah. Yeah. you know, especially as a sheriff's deputy out in the rural areas areas, you come across it. I know I have in my career. I'm sure Jimmy has. Um I'm not ashamed to say that I had a former 10-101 me before and I absolutely gone on them. I mean, that's usage, man. I It is. I you know, they're they're they're well trained. They obviously back the blue with their four. That's fine. Yeah. They're our 12th person. They're our 12th person on the field out there for us. They really are. And most of the guys that have the CCWs, now Lloyd and I, we worked the case uh right toward the very end of our retirements where we did have uh unfortunately we had guys that uh a couple guys that were CCW holders that probably should not have been. Uh but you know, I think you get that. I think it's a small percentage. It's a very small percentage. Yeah. And you know what? We kind of we kind of actually police that within our agencies when we see somebody that's involved in something that they ought not to be involved in. Um it's something where we would normally sound off and we would talk to the sheriff admin or whatnot. Especially here with uh our sheriff Jeff, man. He uh you know, he has his um we we have the deputies that come across people that are doing, you know, silly things with their CCW. And some in in my opinion, they shouldn't probably have it. And you know, there's a mechanism for that. You know, luckily, people don't realize you think just because you have your CCW, you can just go and do whatever you want, but they are regulated. And if you come across your uh in a crime or or it's easy to get, but it's also really easy. It's a phone. It's a phone call. It's a phone call. Most people that have it, uh, they don't have incidences. I mean, I know in our our instruction, you know, uh Mike and I teach them, um, steer clear of trouble at all all avenues. Steer clear. And we get it. You're you're holding that thing for insurance. Like, you have insurance for your car, but you don't want to get in an accident, you know? So, it's a great analogy. I know that our sheriff here supports it. I know that your sheriff supports it. I'm I'm happy with the sheriffs in California that support it. And I I really would like to see at a state level uh in instead of just vilifying um yeah vigilantes like they always say. Yeah. Well, you get Rob Bonta, man, who is well, that's what he said. We're vigilantes that um they're criminals and I'd like to see that statistic and I I've I've requested it, but it's really hard on my level. Well, we have looked at some of the stuff and and what was it? Uh 0.03%. That was nationally too. Yeah. In the country. Absolutely. 0.03%. Um, and we when Lloyd and I were talking about that from that previous investigation, that was a unique investigation, whatnot. And CCW holders rarely ever cross our our desks or any type of criminal investigation. So, this is that's a very unique situation with these CCW holders. But, it's good to know that there's statistics out here because you guys are talking real like I can call you like I I requested from the state to get the statistics on what they were talking about these criminals. I mean, okay, CCW broke the law. Did they not use their blinker and get an infraction? Was that the law they broke? Was it the brandishing of firearms? I don't think I bet you we can get a hold of CRPA and tell them about that thing. I know, but we we could probably they could probably break it down for us maybe. But I mean, or get them here on the show. Yeah. I think it's important to know there's way more you guys good ones than the bad ones. Absolutely. Well, yeah. You know, Sheriff Adam Christensen was big. He loved it. He was big into the I think in his day is when it really got big. He got faster. He sped up the process. It was when we uh when the big hit came for the state and uh there was all those riffs. Remember he puts out if if I'm going to have to get rid of deputies because of the budget, then I'm going to make sure my citizens are armed. That's exactly what he said. Good job, Adam. Yeah. Yeah.

Um, I want to talk real fast about, of course, I like to complain about the state a little bit and then I want to get into complain about tip. Yeah, there is a lot to complain about. So, this last week, if uh this show, what's the date today? The second. This show is probably going to be like the fourth and the fifth like that when you guys are watching this. So, there's probably even more stuff that's going to happen. Always. Um, last week or should I say earlier this week? No, it was last Thursday. Yeah. The freedom the freedom we had. Yeah. Freedom two days or whatever. We had uh Road versus Bonta which goes all the way back to 2019. This is the California Rifle and Pistol Association litigated against um the state of California's decision to do background checks on ammunition. And a federal judge, I think Bonta's, I'm not sure, but anyway, um the Ninth No, no, the Ninth Circuit wasn't involved in 2019. It was a federal judge that said, "Hey, that's unconstitutional. You can't do it." That was the first one, right? That was the first one. Then it came across the Ninth Circuit. It got kicked back. Um, now it's come back and the Ninth Circuit it was a three out of I'm sorry, a two out of three judge panel agreed with the federal uh judge. No, it's not constitutional. So, last week you had a couple days of confusion. The state has now issued this. Let me put this out like on my Instagram to show everybody stating uh that this is an update on the bulletin distributed February 5th, 2024. That's when this uh Road v Bonta was uh initially viewed by the court and it's the ammunition purchase laws are immediately back in effect stay an injunction in Road versus Bonta and it says on July 24th uh 2025 a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued its opinion finding that California's ammunition background check regime, it is a regime, yeah, is unconstitutional and uh affirmed the district court's grant of permanent injunction. However, before that opinion and permanent injunction may take effect, there are a number of uh procedural steps that must take place, including the Ninth Circuit must issue a mandate. So, basically what happened is the jud the the court of appeals said their opinion is this. It is totally unconstitutional. We agree. And now the state of California is saying, well, that's just an opinion. So, we are gonna come back and they're gonna do this thing called an en banc, which is basically they're gonna get more judges on there, a full panel. Yeah. So, that's coming. In the meantime, God, I mean, the state is saying you still have to go through this. So, just let everybody know regime also in there. Regime. It is. It's Well, that's what it is, man. It's regime. So, if you really want to see this, go to uh California Rifle and Pistol Association's page. They have a YouTube channel. Their attorneys kind of break it. It's like a 16-minute video. It's very educational, but to simplify it, yes, it's unconstitutional. However, the state of California is fighting against the Constitution as it always does. They don't care. So, so the question that I have on something like that, Fred, and you guys know this best working in the shop or whatnot, is during that period of time in which the law was valid and whatnot, and you were doing these background checks, was it effective in any way? Well, that's where I don't see that out on the street. It's definitely effective. I'm dealing with guys where Yeah. I'm dealing with guys that doing what they say that it does. No, it's not. The guys that you're dealing with the the criminals do not follow these laws. They do not come in. They're not going to go to Bass Pro. No. No. So, I I appreciate the fact that they're trying to say it's for public safety, but that's those are the statistics that I requested from the state. They're not. Has it indeed minimized gun crimes and ammunition-based crimes in the state of California? It hasn't done it. No way. They can't do it because it's a money grab. It's a money grab. It's in order to support more and more uh state employees. And I'm all for those people that work for the state. Get their money for the state. But here's the deal. Five bucks for an ammunition charge. Now you have an 11% excise tax. Give it a break, man. I mean that. And he's calling it a syntax and it's already called a syntax. Bonta and uh Newsom came out in '23 when it got affirmed. and they get all this money and they keep and the state keeps going under under mismanaging it uh more and more taxation going to all those social programs and I'm kind of a results guy. I want to see the results on these things. You know there is no and I want to see I'll tell you the results. Are there any results in that? Are they helping are these laws helping us protect our community? This is my idea. Here's my Are they helping me? I don't get any I don't get any feedback on I want to compare the ammunition uh taxation and 11% taxation to the funding of the homeless in California. Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's what I want to compare it to. And here's why. What's the result that we've had in the last 10 years on homeless? It's terrible. It just got worse. Where did Where did that money go? Quintupled the rich billions of dollars these agencies and it's just so they can the the result is to just hire another government employee or the war on drugs. Oh, let's go on uh drugs and let's hire all these people to deal with drugs and mental therapists and everything else. Well, the drug problem again well it's a facade. That's all it is. It's a facade so they can continue to hire more government. So I I watch the mainstream media on occasion and Oh god, that drives me nuts. And I I see like for instance, there's this story out that's out there right now where there was this guy who was uh overstayed his visa, but he's a full-time law enforcement somewhere back in the Northeast. So, they hired him even though he overstayed his visa, but it wasn't caught until he went to purchase a firearm. That's weird. And then they said, "Oh, he can't. He's a prohibited person from on the federal side because he's an illegal alien. Basically overstayed his visa, but he's working as a law enforcement officer. So, I don't know ex I don't remember where the town was or what the state was, but it was somewhere back in the Northeast. So, I could see where something that fact that he tried to purchase a firearm created a red flag that ended up finding out that this person had no status here in the country and then they wanted to move on that. But where is the results for the ammunition purchases? There is. Is there any results that I I have been able to see before the drop test? What's the result that the drop test is actually keeping? What about the micro stamp? Remember that cuz they were trying to push that. Our boy Arie was responsible for that. Yeah. No kidding. Yes, he was. And the Well, and the drop test, all that. He's the one that started that. No, I think that was started prior to Arie and he just approved a lot of it, but he but they he wasn't going on before. Um, the micro stamping uh came in 2007 and it was introduced and then he did review it and he approved. Yeah. Yeah. The micro stamping that was the biggest Arie in the world. Still love Arie. Somebody would have came and talked to you personally. I know who you are. I've talked with you before. I know you are a reasonable man. And you would you would have likely did the right thing on me. It it was people talking in his ear. You know, this is this is good. This is good. This is good. Be careful who you put around you, Arie, and the rest of you politicians. Get it from the horse's mouth. Come down to the streets. Yeah. We're just talk to cops. How about that? Talk to cops. Yeah.

Um, you want to shift gears and go over some 1911 tips? Uh, sure. We'll go over a real quick thing. I see a lot of uh videos people uh wanting to like polish the slides or their frames and stuff. And one thing I do see what you what I see a lot of and you don't want is when they're trying to like uh polish it or sand it, which it actually is, they'll you'll look at it and there'll be like waves in it. So, there's a way you're supposed to do it. It's uh and Anthony will put a uh post thing on there. What? You got it? A video of the Yeah. Well, in the corner over here. You care. Like and sub subscribe. Yeah. So, when you're doing it, you want like a block. This one right here. I got it from Harrison Design. It's It's uh actually really easy to use. It has these uh plates of screws and it's recessed here so you can wrap the sandpaper around. But there's two ways to do it. If you actually try to sand your slide, most of the time, like a 1911 slide, you'll you'll see it. They're they're not true. They're not true. So, there'll be like uh ripples in it. You will notice it when you sand it. When it gets shiny, it it you could see it more. Well, yeah. Say say if it's like blued or cerakoted or whatever, and you run it across it, you'll see highs and lows, a lot of them, and that's just not true. So, it just depends on what you want. A lot of times what I'll do is before I start uh cutting it or customizing it, make my you know cuts on the slide, I will make sure that it's true. This is um and then that means just the whole slide or frame is uh flat, no ripples, no highs and low spots. But if you're not going to do anything like that, you want to polish or you want to reblue it. The best way to do that is one, you want to get like a foam pad on the underside. So what that does is when you go across it, it will ride with those highs and lows. So So to get it all at the same, you won't see like a the you know the it'll be a bright spot where the high is and then a dull spot where the low is. when you put a pad in there, it hits it all at the same time. And then when you're doing it, you want to make sure you you go slow because the faster you go, you'll you'll start the wave. And what you'll see a lot of times is when someone's getting towards the end and they want to pull off, they'll either pull off to the right or the left. You want to keep it straight out, keep going, or you don't want to dip or anything like that. And what that will do, it will keep those uh serrations or those lines straight. Yeah. Instead of waiting. Yeah, good tip, brother. Good tip, man. Um, you got You don't want it looking like [ __ ] You don't want it looking janky. Yeah.

Anybody got anything else, man, before we wrap it up? We've been going for about 3 minutes. Was there something? No, I think I can't remember now. I was going to ask something, but now I can't remember. Steve, you guys good? Thank you. Thank you. All right, man. Well, I'm so glad. Thank you, Steve, for coming. Thank you so much for coming. Thank you for having a great time. Yeah, absolutely. And uh stay tuned, everybody. Please like and subscribe and we'll see you episode 10. Cool. Heat up here.