Justin Dougherty – Publisher
Meet Justin, publisher here at 2A Truth & TTAG. Justin is the kind of gun enthusiast TTAG was practically created for, and he’s pumped to be part of the action. He’s been hooked on shooting since he could barely hold a gun, and has been working for almost a decade in the firearms industry. Whether it’s old school black powder or the latest NFA 2 stampers and kit, Justin is a fan of it all.
He has been a staunch 2A advocate since college, where he joined Students for Liberty and founded a Young Americans for Liberty chapter at Temple University. Justin isn’t afraid to say that every gun law is an infringement. He’s thrilled to be here to promote the unfiltered reality of firearms to the masses, ensuring that the truth prevails in every discussion in a world where the media bias against gun owners and the 2nd Amendment is unrelenting.
Doug Howlett – Editor in Chief
Doug Howlett developed an early love for guns and the outdoors when at seven years old, his dad took him squirrel hunting for the first time. They didn’t get any squirrels that first trip, but he did get to blow away some cans and a water-filled milk jug with his dad’s old Stevens .410 single-shot and a Marlin lever-action .22. Though he didn’t realize it at the time, his life’s trajectory had been set.
Years later, while working as a reporter for a North Carolina newspaper, Doug saw an opportunity to merge his love for guns and hunting with his love for writing and sharing great stories when he replied to a want ad for an assistant editor position at NRA’s American Hunter magazine.
He got the job and has worked in outdoor media ever since. After four years at NRA in the 1990s, he would go on to work on the staff of or write for many of the biggest magazines and websites in the gun and outdoor media including stints as Deputy Editor of Outdoor Life and as Editor in Chief of Gun Digest magazine. He is the author of The Shooter’s Bible Guide to AR-15s and was a regular guest on Gallery of Guns TV for three years.
Doug still loves a great story and as editor of TTAG is committed to sharing some of the best ones to be told about guns and gun culture in America with visitors to this site. From true-life defensive accounts and news that affects all of our rights to reviews on the latest guns, gear and laws as well as how to get the most out of our time on the range, in the woods or keeping ourselves and our families safe, he is excited to help share the stories that help make TTAG visitors some of the most informed and dedicated gun owners in this great country.
David Donchecz – Contributor
Jeremy S. – Writer
Jeremy brings an engineer’s mind and a background in product design and R&D to the gun reviews process. While he’s always looking for objective data, Jeremy has been an avid shooter since childhood and loves getting behind all types of handguns, rifles, and shotguns. His safes are full, his ammo shelves are sagging, and he’s coordinating much of TTAG’s gun and gear reviews while designing and manufacturing his own guns and gear as co-owner of Black Collar Arms.
Though Jeremy’s cowboy boots were made by hand in Washington State, he’s now a proud Texas resident after moving to the Austin area in early 2017.
Follow Jeremy on Instagram HERE.
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John Boch – Writer
A few years after graduating from the University of Illinois, John found a tiny group of gun owners relegated to the dreary basement of a restaurant in Urbana. When word of their presence spread in the less than gun-friendly community, the restaurant was torn down. The meeting was moved to another venue in Urbana. That location was later razed as well.
The gaggle of gun enthusiasts got the hint and moved their meetings outside of Urbana, attracting more great people to become Guns Save Life, a regional gun rights group with thousands of members across 40 states, monthly meetings in seven cities across Illinois, a monthly journal (GunNews) with a circulation of 20,000, and a highway sign program seen by 600,000 people a day. Education and activism are what GSL is all about and John is passionate about all three, today working as the Executive Director of Guns Save Life.
As a firearms instructor with GSL Defense Training for nearly 25 years, he’s helped instruct thousands of adults. The GSL Defense Training cadre of over a dozen active instructors has brought everything from entry-level classes for beginners to cutting edge training, as one of only a handful of companies nationwide that have offered force-on-force classes to civilians and a unique personal protection for teens course. He and his fellow trainers also volunteer at the nation’s oldest and longest-running NRA Youth Shooting Camp.
John’s also a Live Free USA Survival instructor, but much prefers sleeping in a bed over roughing it in a bivouac.
He’s a student of the gun, having taken dozens of classes from many top national instructors and schools in firearms, knife, Krav Maga hand-to-hand, and survival studies. Yes, he’s married to guns. More recently, he also married Wendy Boch, a delightful woman who could do better and he now has a pair of twin boys. Before passing, John’s ferret Nippers became world-famous thanks to The Truth About Guns and some anti-gunners attacking him personally.
John’s the published author of hundreds of articles on self-defense strategies, firearms use, defensive mindset and product reviews. John also serves as editor emeritus of GunNews Magazine. He’s also (legally) carried a gun every day since the late 1990s – no small feat as a civilian in Illinois.
At the same time, he has a reputation for being a terrible boat driver, tragically losing most of his guns and ammo in a series of unfortunate accidents, including some in the Gulf of Mexico, Lake Michigan, and, most recently, Lake Bloomington.
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Travis Pike – Writer
Travis is from the Deep South part of Florida, which means North Florida. He spent five years in the USMC School for Troubled Boys as a machine gunner and took a couple of trips around the world. He grew up in a family of hunters and shooters and has never known a time in his life without firearms. He combined that love with a keyboard while he was a Marine and has been writing about guns, knives, and other fun stuff for almost a decade. He’s an NRA certified instructor and enjoys teaching when time allows.
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Jennifer Sensiba – Writer
Jennifer Sensiba is a longtime firearms enthusiast, former volunteer law enforcement officer, and certified firearms instructor. She studied journalism and history at New Mexico State University, then emergency management and homeland security at American Military University. She lives with her wife, four kids, and entirely too many pets near El Paso.
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Bucky Lawson – Writer
Bucky Lawson is a typical Appalachian-American gun enthusiast. He is also a military historian specializing in World War II. He writes for several gun blogs and the occasional historical journal. He likes dogs, a good cigar, and an Old Fashioned with an extra orange slice.
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John Petrolino – Writer
John Petrolino is a United States Merchant Marine Officer, writer, firearms instructor, and author of Decoding Firearms: An Easy to Read Guide on Basic Gun Safety & Use. Petrolino matriculated at Massachusetts Maritime Academy, where he received a BS in Marine Engineering. Petrolino’s work on the 2nd Amendment has appeared in The Truth About Guns, Bearing Arms, AmmoLand News, NRA Women, The Save New Jersey Blog, The Second Press, Armed Lifestyle Magazine, The Shore News Network, The Buckeye Firearms Association, ANJRPC News & Briefs, News2A.com, and the JM4 Tactical Blog.
Petrolino has been a proud NRA certified firearms instructor for several years, and in 2020 he completed the USCCA instructor course. Also in 2020, Petrolino released Decoding Firearms. The book focuses on what a new gun owner may need to know to get started, or to perhaps serve to inform someone that might have a curiosity in the world of guns.
In 2022 Petrolino was awarded the “Media Figure of the Year” award by San Diego County Gun Owners PAC and the “Blogger of the Year” award by the Second Amendment Foundation. You can find him on the web at www.thepenpatriot.com, on Twitter at @johnpetrolino, on Facebook @thepenpatriot, on YouTube, and on Instagram @jpetrolinoiii.
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