Most gun owners are probably more familiar with NFA items than NFT items, but Top Shot champion, 2A activist, and technophile Chris Cheng is conversant on both topics, and I’m pleased that he could join me on today’s Bearing Arms’ Cam & Co to talk about the tech behind Non-Fungible Tokens and how he’s hoping to use them to raise money for some worthwhile Second Amendment organizations.

Earlier this year, Chris appeared on the cover of RECOIL magazine with the headline “2A For All”. As he explained in a Medium post not long ago, his appearance as well as his vocal advocacy for the Second Amendment rights of members of the LGBT community, got some people awfully riled up.

The cover has brought out both the worst, but also the best of the gun community. The homophobia and bigotry was on clear display, and a lesser company would have been scared, cancelled me and issued a weak apology. But RECOIL doubled down on their support of the LGBT community, of diversity and inclusion, and the notion that the right to self defense does not, and should not discriminate based on sexual orientation, gender, nationality or other humanistic traits.

I’d honestly missed some of the hateful stuff that was thrown at Chris at the time, but as he said, he also got a lot of support from the Second Amendment community, as should be the case. The Second Amendment is a right of the People, not just people who look, think, or live like me. It’s the same right regardless of your sexual orientation, gender identity, race, religion, or political affiliation, and I can’t understand how that could be considered a controversial position.

The cool thing is that Chris isn’t letting the trolls have the last word. He and Recoil are auctioning off ten NFTs of the Recoil magazine cover, along with a variety of other digital and physical prizes.

The prize packages not only include an NFT of the RECOIL Issue #56 cover autographed by Top Shot Chris Cheng, but a variety of physical prizes such as an autographed physical copy of Issue #56, subscriptions to the physical and digital versions of RECOIL magazine, and RECOIL swag.

The Top 5 bidders will also receive the premium experience of a lifetime: an in-person fun shoot with Top Shot Chris Cheng and the RECOIL staff. The top bidder will also receive the primo award of a 1:1 training session with me during the fun shoot. We’ll provide the firearms, ammo and instruction for an unforgettable experience. I wouldn’t be surprised if some machine guns make a guest appearance at the fun shoot.

Proceeds from the auction will benefit three Second Amendment organizations; the Firearms Policy Coalition, the Pink Pistols/Operation Blazing Sword, and a relatively new group in the 2A world, APAGOA (Asian Pacific American Gun Owners Association). The auction kicks off Tuesday, October 19th, and you can place your bid here: nft.recoilweb.com

So yes, Non-Fungible Tokens can and will aid in the defense of our Second Amendment rights, even if I still don’t completely understand their allure. As I told Chris, the rise of NFTs has made me feel really old, because while I can usually understand the appeal of new tech, I still have a hard time grasping the collectible value of a digital file on the blockchain. Given that some NFT’s have sold for tens of millions of dollars, there’s clearly something I’m missing, but Chris did a great job of talking me through my questions.

The good news is that even if you’re like me and NFTs leave you scratching your head, there are some great physical items in that auction, including that in-person range time with Chris and the RECOIL staff. Shoot a machine gun and support the Second Amendment for all the People? Sounds like a win-win to me.