State of The Second 70 – ATF tries to Silence FREE SPEECH? (ft. AmmoLand)
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January 29, 2025
TLDR: John and Kailey interview John Crump from AmmoLand to discuss gag orders by the ATF, Foya requests, journalism, and big tech issues.

In this episode of the State of The Second podcast, hosts John and Kailey engage with John Crump, an AmmoLand writer, to discuss critical issues concerning the ATF's gag orders, freedom of speech, and the intersection of journalism and big tech.
Key Discussion Points
1. ATF Gag Orders and Freedom of Speech
- The episode opens with a discussion on the ATF's attempts to silence free speech, particularly in relation to firearms and the Second Amendment.
- John Crump shares insights into FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests and how they pertain to media coverage of firearms legislation and regulation.
- The overarching theme stresses the importance of transparency and the right to free expression in the context of government oversight.
2. Challenges Presented by Big Tech
- The podcast dives into the influence of big tech on the discourse surrounding firearms, exploring how platforms can suppress certain viewpoints.
- There are questions raised about the implications of social media censorship, especially regarding discussions around firearms and self-defense.
3. Journalism and Accountability
- Crump emphasizes the role of journalism in holding governmental agencies like the ATF accountable.
- The conversation highlights how accurate, unbiased reporting is essential for informed public discourse, particularly concerning rights guaranteed by the Constitution.
Insights and Takeaways
- Importance of Free Speech: In a climate where free expression is often threatened, it’s crucial for advocates of the Second Amendment to speak out against censorship.
- Role of Media: Responsible journalism can serve as a vital check on governmental power, ensuring that citizens are aware of their rights and any encroachments upon them.
- Public Awareness and Activism: Listeners are encouraged to become more active in advocating for their rights, staying informed, and supporting both ethical journalism and freedom of speech.
Conclusion
This episode serves as a powerful reminder of the ongoing struggles between citizens' rights and government control. As the conversation unfolds, Crump underscores the significance of advocacy, awareness, and the ongoing need for transparency in government operations. The podcast reaffirms that, in defending our freedom, it’s vital to stay informed and vocal about issues impacting our rights under the Second Amendment.
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you're about to listen to a podcast from the Firearms Radio Network. For more, visit firearmsradio.net. Our government used to care about us, you know, during World War II, when there were food shortages, they taught people what they call a victory garden.
Welcome to Gun Owners of America's State of the Second Podcast. I'm Kaylee. And I'm John. And today we're joined by a gold and silver precious metal expert. Trey, how are you my friend? I'm great. Thanks for having me on. Go ahead and give the folks a little backstory of who you are, what you do, all that fun stuff.
All right. So I've been in the precious metal space a little over 30 years. I've run three of the largest retail companies in the nation. Recently, I had done a startup that is on its way to becoming one of the greats as well, right? Also have gotten in on the wholesale side. So my background in precious metals, I've spent
You know, the majority of my life in it, right? And that's kind of where I come from. And not only that, but you're also a patriot member of GOA as well. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, as a matter of fact, I think it was one of the podcasts that I saw where you guys were like talking and, you know, what can you get for $25, right? And so to be able to protect our second amendment and our constitutional rights for $25 a month, I figure it's a duty that every American should be doing.
Couldn't agree more. So we're going to hop into our first segment real quick, and that is rapid fire. I'm going to ask you five questions you can answer them as long or as shortly as you'd like. We're just going to start from there. So first question, what is on your bucket list for guns? Oh, that would be the staccato choice. Yeah. All right. Gold or silver? Both. Both. I had to ask it. It's a good question.
If you could go back in time and change history, would you? No. Okay. What have you been watching right now? It's a good question. Right now we've been watching, what is that show? Outer Banks. Outer Banks, okay. And then the last question is, I think you're a good one.
Let's see, we've hit out on most of them. I think of a really good question. Barbecue or pizza? Barbecue pizza. Ooh. That's what I said yesterday. She looked at me like I was insane for choosing barbecue pizza. I think something she just got to separate. No. It's my favorite green one. You should welcome for that.
I'm sorry, I didn't know, right? I could have went either way, but I don't like the either-ors. I kind of liked them. I like it where I can kind of meld them together. So let's just dive into this. We've got all this cool stuff in front of us. We've got silver, we've got gold, we've got coins that are thousands of years old. We've got stuff that's newer. What is the history of precious metals in the US?
Well, they've been around for, you know, before the U.S. So, you know, you start talking about the history of the U.S. We will limit the history of precious metals, right? They've been around since the beginning of time. You know, it's mentioned in Genesis, right? God made gold and gold is good, right? You know, it's the, it's not that the
that money is the root of all evil, right? It's the love of money that creates, right? It's what you give up in your pursuit of money, but it's what kingdoms have been built on. It's what every war has been fought over. It's the heavyweight champion of the world. It's the only, there's been a ton of things that have been currency, but it's the only thing that has been money since before Christ.
So for a lot of people, they see the advertisements for precious metals and it all seems very overwhelming. Why would someone add this to their portfolio or why should someone start saving to make a purchase?
It's a great question because it does get overwhelming. Like you said, there's a smattering and there could be a ton more that I put onto the table. And there's a lot of marketing out there and there's a ton of misinformation and real information. It's a unregulated market. And if you don't know what you're doing, you get your head separated from your shoulders because premiums are set by each individual dealer.
So why you should start storing up? Number one, it's six on my list and that blows people's mind, right? And I'll hit you with my top six real quick, right? I think number one, you got to get right with God. And that's the only thing on my list that's not up for debate, right? Number two, you better have fire. Number three, you got to have water.
Number four, you gotta have food. Number five, guns and ammo. And when you get enough of two through five, cause I don't think you can get enough of number one. That's when you come talk to me and we talk about precious metals. Cause you can only store so much food. You can only store so much water and then you're gonna have to have a means for barter. And that's where that comes into play.
Now, would you say we are in now? The US we had the gold rush. Kind of died down. And then I would say 20. 20 out five or even.
Later, we saw this big push into precious metals again. Are we in a new era of kind of a gold rush, kind of a silver rush, but not finding it in the ground, but purchasing it? Yeah, I mean, it's uncharted waters right now, you know, dealing with a lot of the experts trying to
Analyze, right? We can get into measures of money and get real technical, right? But that's where this gets real confusing. So I want to keep it more on a simplistic level. And let's just put it this way. Right now we're sitting close to 2700, which is an all-time high for gold. And it's not being driven by investor demand. It's central banks. Central banks are buying more gold and silver in an alarming rate because the US is weaponized the dollar. And so more, it's the only asset that's not simultaneously somebody else's liability.
So people are going back to back in their currency with gold and silver rather than the dollar. And that's what you're seeing this surge for. Americans, unfortunately, are always late to the party, right? And so once investor demand kicks in, there's no telling where the top's at. For those who understand real wealth, secure your future with $10,000 or more in gold and receive up to $500 in free government silver. United Patriot Coin is here to help you protect what matters. Call today.
So when it comes to the everyday person, what is the entry level point that you see for the big players in the market? Is it saving up $1,000? Is it saving up $10,000? Where do most people find themselves when it comes to starting this as part of their portfolio?
I hate to set it at a limit, right? You know, one of the things I used to say when I was with a company was we didn't ever want to be too little for the big people. And we never wanted to be too big for your everyday person, right? My background, right? I come from three generations of union pipe pitters, right? So I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth. And I want to make sure that everybody understands, right, how to get in. And it's some advice I got from, you know,
yard guy mine a long time ago, he said, Trey, a little bit of something is better than a whole, not a nothing. So you can literally get started in this at, you know, $30, $40 and start, start putting back an ounce and you know, at, at a time, that's how I actually got into the industry. My grandfather used to make me write a one page report on Morgan silver dollars before he would give him to me a Christmas.
And after I tore my ankle up in Mogadishu and got out of the medical field, I had to go find something else to do. And the government makes all these promises that you guys are well aware of, especially where us veterans are concerned on how we'll never go hungry. We'll never look.
I couldn't find a job, right? So I ended up having to go sell the coins. My grandfather, that was the last bit of assets I had. And when I walked into the company, they went, well, you want a job? You know a lot about coins that I went with them, but I know a lot about these, right? So you can literally, you know, change your life by starting out one coin at a one coin at a time.
And so, from there, it's a matter of personal opinion, right? Any financial advisor worth his weight and salt should recommend that you have 10% of your overall assets and tangible assets. So there's a foundational start. No.
A lot of people know or don't know, uh, all coins before 65 or 90% silver. So as somebody who's looking through my change star, what am I looking for? If I find that if I'm looking specifically to grab some silver coins or if I have them, what do I do with them? It's real easy on, you know, when you, when you bring that up, it's real easy if you got a stack, right? What I like to do is
tell off on my age, right? You used to go to the bank and get rolls of quarters. And what we would do is we'd go buy rolls of quarters and then we would go home. And then we would take the paper off of it and leave them in this line. Obviously these are all 90% and you can see that it's silver throughout. If you pull out your coinage of today, you're going to see the clad, the copper in it. And so the silver coin stands out if you keep them up and you're looking at the room to be able to find that pre-64.
And as the more money is minted, inflation is going absolutely crazy right now. And a lot of people I think are nervous about their future and probably rightfully so. What is the benefit to hedging inflation with owning and having these tangible assets? The interesting thing is if you go back throughout history, inflation or deflation, gold is one.
So it's really not so much of an inflationary play as people like, you know, that falls into a lot of the fear tactics that people are seeing on advertising and commercials, right? And I try to stay away from making predictions on spot price and where I confuse a lot of real experts as they'll say, well, Trey, the goal is going to go to 5,000 an ounce. And I'm like, OK, based on what?
you're basing that off a currency that you believe is still going to be in play. So if the dollar falls, now what are you going to value it back on? Right? And so, you know, as capitalists here in America, we've come too far to not set a standard, but always challenge them with it could go back to $20 an ounce.
but it would buy what $20 an ounce bought 100 years ago. So it's gonna be a matter of where that play comes in as to whether or not, right? You know, for an inflationary or deflationary time frame for what you actually think you're gonna need it for.
We were talking downstairs about minimum wage and things like that. We've got some notes in front of you showing what our notes used to look like, how they were backed by silver and gold. Was that a huge mistake by the US government to move away from the gold and silver standard? Absolutely.
I mean, that's kind of why we're in the situation we're in now. The last two times our country was anywhere near the state that it's in today was in 1933 when Roosevelt, most people believe took us off the gold standard. It didn't happen in 33. What he did was make it illegal for Americans to own gold. So they came on, they said, turning all your gold. And, you know, as proud Americans, we did what our government said and we turned in our gold at $20 an ounce. Well, then they raised the price to 35.
So they created $15 an ounce out of thin air, and that's what got us out of the Great Depression. The second time that happened was in the 70s during the recession, right? And so the second time they used precious metals to bail us out was when Nixon actually took us off the standard. And then we were able to print money without it being backed.
And so yeah, I mean, it was absolutely, it's in our constitution, our founding fathers knew that if they took us off a standard, because like you had said, with that note, it said paid in $10 in gold coin. This would have been the $10 gold coin, right? So for every note they produced, they had to back it and wait by gold. So they couldn't overprint unless they could mine.
And now they knew that, you know, like I was saying, they knew that if we overprinted, we would overspend. And then if we overspend, we're going to continue to overprint. And now we're in a hyperinflation scenario similar to what happened in the fall Rome. You know, and this has intrigued me for a long time. You know, you see shows out there now where people are mining for gold again and we see these people, is it better just to buy it or go try it at yourself?
I tried that one time. I took a year and traveled the U.S. and I ended up in Oregon and found that I could go get a gold claim. And I thought, oh, this is cool. And I found this little spot and it looked like it had some flex and a swirl where backwash where the locals had taught me kind of what to look for. I never found anything. I mean, yeah, I mean, it'd be great, right? I mean, but, you know,
You're looking for, you know, literally a needle in a haystack. You know, you've got to understand the veins and the rock and where the core is at. And then, you know, I mean, that's why, that's why the value is there, right? It takes 10 tons of raw order produce one ounce of gold. Same. 10 tons of raw. Wow. And gold rush makes it look so easy.
Well, I mean, look at, it's not just Gold Rush, the funny, I watch a lot of weird things on the internet.
which is not something a lot of people want to admit. But in Australia, they're finding gold metal detecting. It's on top of the ground because all the old miners just came through and were just looking for chunks. And now we're seeing people finding gold, things like that. But I don't think there's very much left gear to find if you can find it. Well, the interesting thing is it's the only thing that can't, the only way you can reproduce gold is there's a method by
heating platinum, but then platinum's rare than gold. So why would you destroy a rare metal, right? The reason platinum was never in our currency is because there wasn't enough for circulation, right? Gold was actually formed by when the cosmic collided.
and then buried deep within our earth. So how much of it's underneath there? Who knows? But you can go on to big organizations like the World Gold Council. They've got some great information out there. They'll tell you, you know, all the gold evermind would fit in three Olympic swimming pools. So, you know, there's not a lot of out there, which is why it's worth its weight in gold.
So shifting gears to our other segment which is from the soapbox where we kind of deal with a controversial topic or a topic that can be a little touchy for some people. A lot of Americans are looking at how do we survive the current economic conditions while establishing some form of generational wealth for our families.
What is a way that precious metals plays a part in that? And what would be the recommendation that you have for people who are wanting to make sure that the next generation is taken care of?
How that would play a part, you know, it's fascinating. I did a report not too long ago where you can find it on YouTube, just Google Trebo, and you can find it. And it breaks down exactly what you're talking about where you could buy 3,612 ounces of gold with a million dollars back in the year 2000.
Right? Today, that would be over nine million. So not even that long had you had the money then, right? The problem, the real question Americans want isn't the one you're asking, it's how do you accumulate the wealth to be able to protect it? Because that's the problem in precious metals, right? You have to have, most people think you have to have money to get involved in it, right? And it's just real simple, right? If you'll take a look, nobody carries cash anymore, right? And if you watch what our
country and what other countries have done, right? When they shut down the truckers in Canada, all they did was shut down their bank accounts because everything is electronic. So it's not so much generational wealth that I try to preach for people, right? It's called generational freedom, in my opinion.
I would much rather be free than I would be wealthy. And I think a lot of Americans feel that way today as well, right? But it's the only asset, like I said before, that's not simultaneously somebody else's liability. And it's the only asset I know that can be converted into any other currency in one step.
So it's more about protecting your freedoms and being able to go as we've got, you know, this is a CBDC centralized digital banking currency coming, you know, they're talking about social credit scores, where if we talk about things like the Second Amendment, or we mentioned God, you know, we'll be shadow banned, right? Or.
And they're talking about limiting monies, you know, it's communism. It's already happening in China. Whether or not that gets here, I try to stay away from the doom and gloom, right? We've been predicting the end of time since the beginning of time. But that being said, right? I also want to be prepared. So my recommendation, right? You know, I mean, just as I ran through my list, and I think I've told you guys, right? I live on a small little four acre farm in the middle of the Southeast Texas, right? And our government used to care about us.
You know, during World War II, when there were food shortages, they taught people what they call a victory garden. And I encourage everybody to go learn what a victory garden was, right? They had these gardens put in place so that as the troops were overseas, right, you would be able to produce food because there were shortages on things getting over here. Now we're crazy, right? We go out and buy instead of going buy food, we go buy toilet paper.
Hey, we're going to have an embargo, you know, the cargo ships are going to start and everybody goes and buys toilet paper. I don't know what they're going to do with that toilet paper, but what they should be doing is preparing for what happens when we don't have a food source.
What happens is the supply chain, right? I mean, they're trying to get us right on, you know, everybody's seeing what's happening in North Carolina, right? I mean, you don't see electric cars and digital currency out there bailing people out. You see sweating brows off a good old country boys, right? That are willing to help their neighbors in diesel and oil vehicles. They are moving debris. I don't see anybody out there with those Tesla trucks clearing pathways to save families. So.
What I would recommend is, you know, you got to start somewhere, right? I've fallen a thousand different financial advisors, right? 10% starts in the Bible with hiding and 10% seems to always come up. Take 10% of your paycheck, right?
Set it aside. There's been a book that's been around since 1928 and it's called The Richest Man in Babylon. It's touted as one of the best financial platforms. And what America hasn't done, we've lost touch with what it takes to create wealth. And it's not going out and learning a craft, right? We need to learn how to make your money work for you. And then when you have your money working for you, you want to teach that money how to go to work for you.
And then that way you end up with a steady free because I didn't find money until I tried to figure out how to live without it. I was trying to figure out how to get off the grid and not getting into money. And when I quit chasing it and I started down a path of putting 10% down and trying to figure out how to be self-sufficient, I started noticing the money just started stacking up because I wasn't doing and I wasn't trying to keep up with the Joneses anymore.
America is very consumeristic. And we want instant gratification. We want the dopamine hit. Precious metals for a lot of people probably doesn't give that dopamine hit. But you're not only investing in that generational wealth or in securing your financial freedom, but you also talk a little bit about bartering.
and what that could look like for people who are wanting to be that extra level of prepared. Go into how those coins work and why people should potentially be paying a premium for something that can be bartered versus something that would be harder to barter with.
Yeah, so when you start talking about premiums, that's where you start getting into all the different men, right? So you've got several, that's why I have so much out here, right? The U.S. meant in one of the easiest ways and most basic in the way I would recommend most people get started as a Silver American Eagle.
It's protected by a public law 99-185 that was written on December 17, 1985 that deems it numismatic. Therefore, it doesn't have any reporting requirements. I'm not going to ask you for your Social Security number. It's between you, your conscience, and your tax advisor.
That being said, it's produced by the US men. It's tested. So it carries a higher premium than say a silver round. Both are one ounce of silver. They've got the same content. The difference between a round, you'll see them cheaper on every site than you will a minted coin from a government is because the government actually test and verifies what it is.
It gives it a $1 legal tender, but you would never sell an ounce for $1, right? But that legal tender gives you that peace of mind that it is actually what it says it is versus a private mint that you don't have any idea. You know, there's a lot of reputable private mints and I recommend rounds for people that understand what they're doing, right? But, you know, a lot of the things that people don't know is we were talking about the rims on the quarter, right? The reason those are there is in the old days, they used to shave off the edges of the coin.
and they would put back the little pile and it still had its face value. So they were in essence, you know, building up this little stockpile and then we got smart and that way we would know what the content in that coin is. But when you start talking about premiums, that's where it gets real tricky and real interesting, right?
You know, obviously, if you're going to have a hundred ounce bar on the table, right? And that's going to be a cheaper way to buy, right? Because they only have to pour that bar one time versus striking a hundred coins with the dies and the presses and the machines and the employees that they have to do it. So the U.S. meant there used to be a pretty standard formula on gold coins, right? It was a 3.75% premium.
on one ounce, then it broke down to a 5% premium on a half ounce, and then a 8% premium on a quarter and 13% on a one ounce. Those premiums change and fluctuate, right? But it gives you a foundational understanding that the smaller the coin, the higher the premium for the same example that I use with the bar. It takes
The machine, you know, to produce a half ounce coin, it has to work twice as hard. They have to use twice as many dies. So that's why those prices start, premium start coming in and people don't understand, you know, they want to buy as close to the melt price as they possibly can. And then they're not thinking about what does that premium offer. So to answer, you know, a question.
I like instead of buying for a bartering situation, right? A one ounce gold coin is going to have roughly $2,600 today in gold.
But then if you got to go barter with your local farmer, how much are you going to be bartering with one ounce, and then how are you going to have change, and how are you going to break that down? And there's right at 31 grams of gold per ounce. So I like to buy one gram. There's a company out there, and it's called a gold seed. They sell this in a wheel with 10 in it. You buy three with an extra gram, and you pay about another $125 more
to buy it that way, then you would the one ounce, but the advantage for you is you have 31 transactional pieces versus one for $125 premium.
So that would make more sense based on, there's not a blanket that you can throw out there that would cover everybody's needs. It's really a one on one, get to know who your, you know, it's relationship, get to know who your customer is, what they're thinking, why they're doing it, and then you tailor it based off of their belief system. So if I were to take that piece there, what do you think the value worth trade?
Uh, right now you'd be looking right at a hundred dollars. So in a bartering system I could get a hundred bucks worth of stuff. You get a hundred dollars worth of stuff. If you still thought that, you know, a hundred dollars, right? That's the hard part, right? If we're actually bartering, what is the money system?
It's true, right? And so I tried for most people to try, you know, we can get complex with the spot price of metal and like I said before, measures of money and inflation and you can get real technical, right? But let's make it real simple for people to understand. The spot price in my opinion has nothing to do with the price of gold or silver. It's only indicative of the dollar. It takes more dollars to buy the same ounce. So what you're looking for is purchasing power.
You want to be able to protect your purchasing power. Stay out of the thought process, right? Otherwise, you make a whole lot more money in the stock market than you can in gold and silver, but this isn't to get wealthy, right? This is for protection.
I mean, that's well said. It's hedging your bets, it's keeping you protected. And if anything happens, if we get super ultra inflation, which we're dealing with high inflation right now, that is worth more than what that paper note is. Well, I mean, that's what we were discussing, right? You said I had this note. Today, what can you go get with $10?
Right? I mean, you're not even, if you can't go get, if you can't feed yourself on $25 a month, right? I mean, what are you going to go out and get with $10, right? But this is when you ask me the question about whether or not I think it was a mistake. That $10 gold coin, right? That's $1,300. And that's not that long ago.
Right? So I mean, this $10, so you tell me what you want to hold onto. A $10 currency that's backed by nothing, the government's promised to pay, or $10 that is backed by the metal content, which it has. Half ounce of gold right now is at $1,300. I can do a few things. I can feed a few families on 1,300. I can't feed my family on 10. So if I were to get, if anybody were to get into this,
What would be the way to go about it? What would be the first step? First step would be to figure out what you're trying to protect and what your purpose is. If you don't know what that is, then you're going to make a mistake and you're going to call somebody and they're just going to tell you what they think you want to hear in order to sell you. That's what I wanted to get on here, right? And be able to tell people, look, know what your plan is.
Why are you purchasing precious metals? What is your purpose? Right? Because there are, look, Raymond Lombra, who was a professor of economics for Penn State, who did a study for the joint house on taxation, have found that rare coins have outproduced even bullion.
over the last 40 years, right? So there are areas in which you can go accumulate generational wealth, right? Because they're tiny pieces of art. It's like anything else, supply and demand. You start getting into, you know, coins that are, there's only one or two that exist in the world, right?
then you're talking about, that's where real wealth and the elite start, you can compare them to Mona Lisa's or a Babe Ruth baseball bat. You wouldn't talk about the value being the lumber in the bat, right? The values and the fact that it's Babe Ruth, right? So, for somebody that was like you that was first starting out, the first question I would ask is, what do you think you need it for?
Let's just say I wanna hedge my bets and have something to border with in the future. Yeah, so, you know, and that, there's something that not a lot of people are aware of, right? It's called golden silver shot. And it's...
produced by the refineries when they're melting down the little BBs that shoot off and cool down. They're all triple nine fine. They're all tested there at the refinery. But it's one of the cheapest ways that you can buy gold and silver by the ounce. And a lot of people don't talk about it because
there's not a giant premium that they can go place on it where they make a lot of money, right? I like it because it's something you're not going to have to worry about change. And it's going back to the 1800s where you could literally weigh that out all the way down to, you know, um, I ever small of a
sides of the nugget is that you've got, you're talking about being able to get into fractional pieces of milligrams of weight, right? So it offers you the same type of protection. This is what they call silver shot here. And it gives you the same opportunity to own without having to break that down or understand the rest of it.
There's no mint associated with it. There's not a date on it. There's not a triple nine. But if we end up in that bartering situation, whoever you're bartering with is going to have to learn how to test it just like they did back in the day. So would it be better if I were to get into this and talking them, would it be better to start off with silver and then getting to gold or is it better to start off with gold? Depends on the amount of money you're trying to protect. Um, you know, I,
I don't like it either or in gold and silver play, right? I like both. You can make a case either way you want to, right? I mean, that hundred ounce of gold or a hundred ounce silver bar is gonna weigh the same amount, either way it goes, right? So, you know, weight-wise, you're just talking about how much value you're looking at, right? Hundred ounces of silver right there, you know, you're talking about $3,200. Hundred ounces of gold at 2,600, you're talking about 200.
60,000 I think if my mask hit me quick, right?
So it's a matter of what you're trying to protect or where you need to, what you think you're going to do. If you think you're going to have to bug out, you know, you could have all the silver in the world, but try lugging it out of your house and your bug out bag, right? You're going to want a couple of gold coins, you know, small size that you could take, put in your pocket, go and be inconspicuous, right? This is a British sovereign. It's what we put in our pilot packs during World War II in case they were shot down behind enemy lines.
So back then, they even knew they didn't give them cash today. Our operators go across with cash because cash is king. But back then, they went across with the most worldwide recognized coin. So if they needed to get back, they had a means to barter their way through.
What is kind of your baseline for operations when it comes to, I know that you're not affiliated with any company. So if you're somebody and you're interested and you're seeing all of these advertisements, are all companies kind of created equal in the space, like you offer a cost to your service?
What have you learned about the different companies out there that kind of put the consumer mind at ease? It's kind of hard to put the consumer mind at ease. It's an unregulated market. There are a lot of good solid companies out there. The problem is it's like anything else. With it being unregulated, there's a few bad apples that will really just take advantage. And that's where a lot of people have gotten
Confused and don't know where to go. So that's kind of where I'm at right now with what you said on a concierge service. And if anybody's looking to get involved, where I'm not affiliated with one company, I'm still connected to the top five wholesalers in the country. I still have relationships with 15 or 20 of the top retailers in the company. And each one has their own special niche.
So, you know, it's when John was asking me, well, what do I do? And I start asking those questions. I want to get a feel for who you are, what you're trying to protect, what your belief system is, and then I'll help match you with the right company so that you can have that peace of mind. And that's what we're trying to, that's what I'm trying to accomplish. Now is being a new kind of coin dealer for a new kind of coin buyer. Demographics used to be that it was, you know, it was your ultra rich,
older generation, right, that invested in, and that demographic has changed, right? And I mean, now there's younger people that are waking up and understanding that, you know, they've got to protect themselves. And so that's where, that's where you've got to know who it is. Do your homework, you know, before you, you know, the whole adage is before you buy the coin by the book. And I would tell you before you buy the book, research the company. If you think because somebody told you that's where they need to go,
go to your homework, go find out who they are, go find out what their belief systems are, right? And make sure they're like-minded. I think that, you know, right now it's more important to support companies that are aligned with your conservative, right, belief system than it is for you just to go buy the cheapest thing possible and not know what those guys are, who they're behind support and who they're not behind support. And I think more importantly than anything right now, right, is people have to stand up and understand our Constitution. We don't need to
rewrite it, we just need to reread it, right? Second Amendment, first Amendment. Those are forefront problems of our country. Our borders need to be protected.
So, and I still agree with this reminder that the reason that somebody would get into precious metals and a lot of people may say, well, you know, how does that have anything to do with the second amendment? And it's about protecting your freedom. It's about the fact that a lot of people have seen the desire of credit card companies to hand over information to the government about who's buying guns.
it's about creating an entire class for transactions. It wasn't very long ago that discover announced that those transactions are separate class and we've had a lot of discussion on whether we need a separate economy or a second system. And so this isn't to be.
As scare tactic by any means it's just for a lot of people that are looking and are uneasy with how big the mega corporations have become. This is an opportunity for us as individuals to make the choice to say I think I want a little more control.
I agree with you. And that's exactly what you do precious metals for. It's similar with the Second Amendment, right? You know, people go, well, why do you need a military grade weapon that holds 33 rounds, right? You know, if I go deer hunting, I'm like, no, I'm not worried about deer coming after my personal rights. It's not deer that I've got. I've got a weather be 308 that I'll handle the deer with, right? The rest of it is, right? I mean,
Look, Americans are going to have to stand up. There's enough of us. I talk to people on a regular basis and I very rarely run across anybody that doesn't agree with the philosophies.
Once they figure out, I think you can even go into silly stuff like the bug's life cartoon, right? When they said, look, if those ants ever figure out that they outnumber us 10 to 1, we're in trouble. I mean, I don't know why we haven't figured out that the government's gotten too big.
and out of control and it's putting us in a position to where we're having to defend our rights and we're catered to people that, you know, and emotions and their feelings. And this country wasn't founded upon that, right? I mean, we got tired of paying taxes, right? That's what started the whole 1776 to begin with. And here we are, people ever really sat down and did the math of how much our dollar is being taxed, not just on your income, right? Because they're taxing us when we make it.
They're taxing us when we save it. They're taxing us when we pull it out of those retirement accounts. Then they're taxing it on our gas. Then they're taxing us on our food. By the time they get done, we're at 77, 78% tax on every dollar that we make. It's no wonder people are out there struggling trying to figure out an alternative method and an alternative means. And like I said before, with the Constitution, you don't need to rewrite it. And we don't need to rewrite currency. We need to go back to what our founding fathers built this country on, right?
which is, you know, faith and freedom. Absolutely. So last question, and then we'll let you go. You talked about the book, The Richest Man in Babylon. Is there any other recommendation for people who may have no education in this space that are interested in building wealth, that they can, you know, start that educational journey that you would recommend?
No, that's a solid, it's a short solid book and it's not going to help you in the precious metal space. If you're asking me for a precious metal space, our Bible in the coin industry is the red book of coins and it's a great starting point. Don't look at prices because 2026's books are already out. They do it in advance because there's so many coins that they have to cover.
But as far as mintages and history and the foundation, it's a solid piece for you to start your educational background on in precious metals. I've got one last question. This is going to be an interesting one that I think. So I buy silver. Let's just say I need to sell my silver. You see pawn shops and we buy gold and precious metal shops everywhere. Can I take this to the bank?
Or what's the best way, if I need to sell often part of my assets, what's the best way to sell it off? I will always tell people the best way is the company you trusted to do business with. When you bought, it's typically going to be the best company for you when you sell. And the reason for that is they get behind certain products and they support them. And so they're gonna pay you more when it's time to sell, then if you were to take
For example, a type 220 dollar gold piece, right? If you were to take that coin to somebody that doesn't recommend type 220 dollar gold pieces, he's going to try to buy it from you as cheap as he possibly can because he's got nowhere to place it. And that's why it's so important for people to do their due diligence on the firm that they're going to do business with, right? Make sure it aligns with their philosophy.
because it is about relationship. Stay with that company because they're going to offer you both. Now, that being said should, you know, what happens if those companies aren't around and we got to actually barter, right? So that's when you get into understanding what that is. And look, guys, I mean, you've probably seen, right? Costco made the headlines. They're selling one ounce gold and it's big uproar in my industry, right? Because, you know, they're selling one ounce gold, you know, they limit it.
But it's a price point that most dealers can't keep up with because of the purchasing power of Costco, right? But then flip that around. It's going to be great for our industry because Costco's not buying it. So when somebody turns around and wants to sell it, they're not going to be able to go to Costco. They're going to have to go to another dealer to make that purchase. And that's why it's so important for you to know who it is you're doing business with. Well, Sam. Okay.
I already did like two last questions because then I had a follow up. So it's all cool. Well, Trey, we appreciate you being on. Thank you for sharing your knowledge on precious metals and everything. If people want to reach out to you to consult with you and everything, what's the best way for them to do that?
Yeah, the best way to do that is you can follow me on Instagram. It's my name backwards. I'm just bowtray on Instagram, right? I'll start up a YouTube channel, which I'm sure will be off the same, but you'll find a link there. You can email me at bowtray3.
at gmail.com or, you know, I'm a personable guy and I like people. You can reach out to my personal cell phone numbers, 409-659-9690. Give me a call. I'll be glad to talk with you. I'll be glad to educate you. I'll be glad to answer your questions before you ever spend any money and get you started knowing what the right things for you to do are. Perfect. Well, guys, thanks for watching and listening. Make sure to like, share, subscribe, hit the little bell for notification and we'll see you on the next episode.
This podcast has been a production of the Firearms Radio Network. For more, visit firearmsradio.net.
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