patches

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NRA Annual Meeting, New Patches, Etc.

April 10, 2026 by 2 Comments

The NRA Annual Meeting is just around the corner. It opens next Friday, April 17th, in Houston at the George R. Brown Convention Center. I know it is coming because I’ve been getting multiple press releases from various companies in the firearms industry saying they will be exhibiting there. I think there will be over 500 exhibitors this year.

This Annual Meeting marks the return to Texas after being in Atlanta last year. A lot has changed since that meeting in Dallas. The reform wing of the NRA is solidly in charge of the organization. we have a balanced budget, and many of the Old Guard have deserted the NRA for the NRA Foundation. As Jeff Knox points out in an Ammoland article published yesterday, 72% of the Board including the recently elected newcomers are new since 2019. He goes on to add that the vast majority have been elected since 2022.

A couple of other changes from the past will include no vote for the 76th Director and no big Friday political event with state and national politicians. The reason is that there won’t be a 76th Director election is that there were only two candidates not seated and Isaac Demerest withdrew his name from consideration. Thus, Lynn Gipson will be elected by default. I’m not sure why there won’t be the political event but I’m sure cost was a factor. Frankly, I don’t miss it.

Even without the Friday political event there are a number of events planned ranging from the NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund Annual National Firearms Law Seminar to the National Friends of the NRA Dinner to the NRA Women’s New Energy Brunch. There will be over 50 seminars held that on topics ranging from hunting whitetails to self-defense and everything in between. Most importantly, there will be the Meeting of Members on Saturday morning at 10am. I do know there will be some resolutions introduced and the officers will be reporting on some proposed bylaw changes. This is a chance to have your voice heard.

The Complementary Spouse and I will be flying in on Wednesday evening. I have committee meetings on both Thursday and Friday. The Board meeting will be on Monday starting at 9am. If you are still in Houston on Monday, I’d encourage you to attend.

This will mark my first anniversary on the Board of Directors. To commemorate this, I had a new blog patch made specifically for this Annual Meeting. They were made for me by A-B Emblem which is a local company which has made the custom NASA patches for every flight from Apollo 11 through Artemis II.

I will have a limited number to give away. If you see me in Houston, stop me and ask for one. I’ll be glad to give you a patch. Regardless, if you are in Houston and you see me, I’d love to chat on ways to make your NRA even more effective.

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SHOT Show Swag Vipers

January 30, 2023 by

I learned a new phrase this week. It is “swag viper”.

A swag viper is someone who goes to the SHOT Show, vacuums up every bit of swag exhibitors have at their booths, and then puts it up for sale on EBay shortly thereafter. The swag ranges from giveaway caps and T-shirts to limited edition patches to 2023 SHOT Show LaRue Tactical “dillos”.

Below is some of the swag I got at the SHOT Show this year. I didn’t go out of my way to collect patches…much. I did make sure to get a complete set of the hexagonal Tuff Products patches. I know I gave out many more onlygunsandmoney.com patches than I collected.

I saw the Geissele badge holders going for $20 on Ebay. The LaRue Tactical commemorative dillo is still selling for close to $50. The most expensive patch soon after the show was the Liberal Gun Club unicorn patch which was selling for $189. It has fallen in price to “only” $89. Currently, the most expensive thing is 50 Glock giveaway pens going for almost $200.

I collect the patches and other swag as a remembrance of the good times I had at the SHOT Show, the people I met, and the companies I visited. Eventually, all the patches will go on a display board and hung somewhere in the house.

I know when I give out patches it is to remind people of my blog. Likewise, the exhibitors give out patches to attract people to their booth and to thank them for stopping by. Companies like Original S.W.A.T footwear have patch boards and a new patch for each day of SHOT. In that case, it is leave a patch, get a patch. I don’t think any company gives out patches only to see them being resold within hours on Ebay.

I have no problem with someone selling off a patch collection accumulated over the years nor do I have a problem with someone trading a patch or selling a couple here and there. What I do find objectionable are businesses vacuuming up swag only to sell it on Ebay. They go by cutesy names like “nevadatreasures” and “kristiescountlesscollectibles“.

How re-sellers like this get the swag is unknown. I just wish the swag vipers would go away.

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SHOT Show Patches

January 14, 2023 by 2 Comments

I got my first SHOT Show patch and I haven’t even left for Las Vegas!

A-B Emblem is one of the largest manufacturers of patches in America. They have done almost every NASA mission patch along with patches for the military, law enforcement, and the Boy Scouts. Just as important to me, they are local. Some patches are made here in Buncombe County. They also own factories in both Mexico and China where they can produce both embroidered and PVC patches.

I had decided it was time to update my own patch. The old patch still had the Blogspot address. Moreover, I was down to just a few. I decided to go with a round patch with a green background as opposed to the old khaki or tan background. As you can see below, I think they did a nice job.

If you see me at the SHOT Show, ask for one of my new patches.

As both my wife and David Yamane will testify, I do have a thing for patches. I blame it on my years in the Boy Scouts where patch collecting was a big thing especially in the Order of the Arrow. I am sure I will do a post on the patches I return with from Las Vegas.

One of these days I’ll also do a post on a low-cost way to display them. The Complementary Spouse – mostly her – and I have got this figured out.

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The Black Swan Patch

July 9, 2020 by 1 Comment

I love patches. I already have more than I could reasonably stick on hats, display boards, or my messenger bag.

Nonetheless, when I saw this limited edition patch at CountyComm, I had to have it. It appears that they did a second run of these patches with a different background than mine.

I think you can understand why.

This patch epitomizes 2020 so simply.

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Polite Society Podcast Patches

April 24, 2017 by

Many of you remember the legal travails that Paul Lathrop of the Polite Society Podcast went through last year. To refresh your memories, a hothead at a truck stop falsely accused Paul of waving a gun in his face and threatening to shoot him. This led to his arrest for “terroristic threats” and “possession of a weapon during the commission of a felony”. The good news is all charges were dropped as surveillance video confirmed Paul’s account of the incident. The bad news is that he still has some debts left over from the incident.

To help retire these debts, I have had Polite Society Podcast patches made. These patches are 100% silk thread embroidered with a Velcro backing. It measures 2.5″ square. As you can see below, the patch company did a great job with our logo.

The price for these patches is $10 for one or $18 for two including postage. I have set up a special PayPal account to handle the sales of these patches. Payments can be sent via PayPal to john@politicsandguns.com. I’m not going to ask you to send the money as a “gift” but I won’t stop you if you do as PayPal charges a transaction fee for payment for “goods”.

If you don’t wish to use PayPal, just pop me an email there and I’ll send you an address to mail a check.

I will have some of these patches with me at the NRA Annual Meeting if you happen to run into me there.

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What It Could Come To

August 18, 2016 by 2 Comments

We know our opponents hate us and our culture. Some of them go so far as to want us dead. We also know what happened to a disarmed people when those in power want them gone. Just ask the Jews and the Armenians.

I came across this patch on Instagram this morning and thought it was extremely powerful in its message. It comes from patch maker Violent Little Machine Shop. If you want one, you can find it here.

A photo posted by Violent Little Machine Shop (@violentlittle) on Aug 17, 2016 at 10:04pm PDT

Updated: The Instagram embed was giving some people problems so I changed it. The text that accompanied the original Instagram picture said:

violentlittleGo to your local office and “register” yourself and your family for your beliefs… No big deal they said… “Turn over your arms, the government will take care of you” they said… Get your flair at violentlittle.com. Thanks for the photo @never_out_tactical.