“You Don’t Belong Here!”: Mitt Romney Berates George Santos on House Floor Before State of the Union; Trashes Santos to Reporters After: “He’s a Sick Puppy!”

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Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) has set himself up as the arbiter of who should be a Republican and who should not. He voted to convict President Trump in his first and second impeachment trials, he refused to support fellow Republican Utah Sen. Mike Lee’s reelection bid last year and now he’s going after accused serial liar freshman Rep. George Santos (R-NY).

Romney was seen berating Santos on the House floor before Biden’s State of the Union address Tuesday night. After the speech Romney trashed Santos in comments to reporters, telling them Santos is a “sick puppy. He shouldn’t have been there.”

CNN’s Melania Zonona broke the story: “CNN’s @MZanona reports Utah Republican Senator Mitt Romney— who spoke to freshman Congressman George Santos as he entered the House Chamber for tonight’s State of the Union— told the embattled GOP rep “You don’t belong here,” per a member who witnessed the exchange.

TRENDING: LIVE NOW: Here Is President Trump’s Response to Joe Biden’s State of the Union Address – VIDEO

Video of the exchange shows Santos not taking it from Romney:

Semafor’s Kadia Goba reported Santos’ side of the incident: “Rep. George Santos describes, to me, his exchange with Sen. Mitt Romney during the State of the Union tonight: Mitt: You don’t belong here. Santos: Go tell that to the 142K that voted for me. Mitt: You’re an ass. Santos: You’re a much bigger asshole.”

Romney spoke to reporters after Biden’s address, telling them he was offended that Santos was on an aisle where he could greeting arriving senators and the president when he should be in a back row because of his ethics investigation.

NBC’s Frank Thorp: ROMNEY on what he said to @Santos4Congress: “He’s a sick puppy, he shouldn’t have been there.” “Given the fact that he’s under ethics investigation he should be sitting in the back row and being quiet instead of parading in front of the president.”…More ROMNEY on SANTOS: “He says he, you know, that he embellished his record. Look, embellishing is saying you got an A when he had an A minus, Lying is saying you, you graduated from a college, you didn’t even attend, and he shouldn’t be in Congress.”…ROMNEY on SANTOS: “And they’re gonna go through the process and hopefully get him out, but he shouldn’t be there. And if he had any shame at all, he wouldn’t be there.” “It’s an embarrassment,” Romney said.”

Video posted by CBS’ Alan He:

Romney lies to reporters at the end when he says he doesn’t know if Santos said anything back to him, “He may have, I didn’t hear…”

Another view of the Romney scrum.

Santos pushed back at Romney afterward on Twitter, “Hey @MittRomney just a reminder that you will NEVER be PRESIDENT!”

Biden did not shake hands with Santos, reported NBC’s Garrett Haake: “President Biden clearly looked Rep. Santos in the eye but they did not shake hands. They didn’t appear to say anything to one another from my vantage point.”

CNN captured Santos and Biden locking eyes:

YOU LIE! Marjorie Taylor Greene Calls Out Biden At SOTU For Claiming GOP Wants To ‘Sunset’ Social Security And Medicare

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Joe Biden told more than a few lies in his state of the union address on Tuesday night, but one of them got a huge reaction from Republicans.

Biden claimed that the GOP wants to ‘sunset’ Social Security and Medicare.

The House erupted and Marjorie Taylor Greene called Biden out, yelling ‘You lie!’

Breitbart News reports:

TRENDING: LIVE NOW: Here Is President Trump’s Response to Joe Biden’s State of the Union Address – VIDEO

Marjorie Taylor Greene Calls Biden a ‘Liar’ During State of the Union Address

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) interrupted President Joe Biden’s 2023 State of the Union address to call him a “liar” after he claimed Republicans want to “sunset” Social Security and Medicare.

“Instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset. I’m not saying it’s the majority,” Biden claimed.

Greene then shouted “liar” from her seat in the House of Representatives. In addition to Greene’s outburst, other Republicans in attendance shouted “no” and booed Biden after he falsely claimed the GOP wants to “sunset” Social Security and Medicare.

Watch the video below:

She followed up on Twitter:

Democrats and media were outraged by the pushback. They think no one remembers how they treated Trump.

EVIL IN OUR MIDST: Democrats Ditch the US Flags and Wear “Abortion” Pins Instead to SOTU Address

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In June 2022 the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in a landmark decision. The SCOTUS ruling effectively ending recognition of a constitutional right to abortion and giving individual states the power to allow, limit, or ban the practice altogether.

This was a blow to Democrats and their supporters. Satanists are now setting up abortion clinics to observe their sacred right to kill babies.

On Tuesday night at Joe Biden’s State of the Union Address several Democrats ditched their American flag pins and instead wore “abortion” pins.

Senator Ed Markey.

TRENDING: LIVE-STREAM VIDEO: The Gateway Pundit to Air Joe Biden’s SOTU Address with Live Commenting Access – STARTING AT 8:45 PM EST

Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders Delivers Republican SOTU Response to Joe Biden’s SOTU Address (VIDEO)

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Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders delivered the Republican Party State of the Union Response on Tuesday night to Joe Biden’s SOTU Address.

Sarah, the former White House spokesperson under Donald Trump, was sworn in as the first female governor of Arkansas last month.

Her speech was in stark contrast to Joe Biden’s screaming and slurring from an hour earlier.

The Daily Caller correspondent Henry Rodgers posted a list of Sanders’ talking points:

TRENDING: LIVE-STREAM VIDEO: The Gateway Pundit to Air Joe Biden’s SOTU Address with Live Commenting Access – STARTING AT 8:45 PM EST

  • “GOP is fighting [to] hold Biden accountable and for safe communities, jobs, and freedom from the woke mob in state capitals, and in Washington under Speaker McCarthy and the leadership of Senate Republicans.
  • The choice is no longer between right or left. The choice is between normal or crazy.
  • Republicans are for freedom, Biden and Democrats are for government control.
  • Biden is unwilling to defend our border, defend our skies, and defend our people. He is unfit to serve as commander-in-chief.
  • Governor Sanders is the youngest Governor, Biden is the oldest President.
  • As Sarah talked about on the campaign trail for two years, it is time for a new generation of leadership.”

Here are Governor Huckabee Sanders’ remarks from tonight.

Washington Post Writer Slammed For Column Arguing That Eggs Aren’t As Expensive As You Think

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Every once in a while, our media class proves just how out of touch they are with average Americans.

At the Washington Post, writer Megan McArdle has just published a column arguing that eggs aren’t really that expensive, if you look at egg prices over the last hundred years.

That doesn’t change the fact that egg prices are through the roof today.

FOX News reports:

TRENDING: LIVE-STREAM VIDEO: The Gateway Pundit to Air Joe Biden’s SOTU Address with Live Commenting Access – STARTING AT 8:45 PM EST

Column arguing eggs are ‘really cheap’ compared to 100 years ago blasted: ‘Freaking nuts’

Washington Post columnist Megan McArdle attempted to reframe Americans’ concern over rising egg prices by arguing that, when compared to prices from over a century ago, the prices today are relatively fair.

Her Tuesday column “Why eggs are cheaper than you think” acknowledged the “soaring price of eggs” in recent months but provided additional context using data from as far back as 1896 to explain how “eggs are still really cheap, historically speaking.”

“If you look at old cookbooks, you will notice that the authors seem to view eggs and chicken as almost a luxury good. My 1950 ‘Betty Crocker’s Picture Cook book’ contains recipes for making mock chicken dishes — out of veal. Go back further and the 1896 Fannie Farmer cookbook sternly informs readers that, ‘eggs, even at twenty-five cents per dozen, should not be freely used by the strict economist.’ An odd assertion to the modern ear, until you realize that in 1896 a pound of round steak was about 35 percent cheaper than a pound of eggs,” McArdle wrote.

This argument followed a previous Twitter trend in January that had social media users declaring eggs a “luxury item” with people displaying photos of prices as high as $11.49.

McArdle is dumbfounded by the blowback she has received.

It’s really annoying the way some people in media try to spin inflation for Biden.

President Trump’s Play-by-Play of Tonight’s State of Union Here…Pure Gold…”Nice to See Nancy Pelosi Not Sitting in the Background. Hopefully She’s Spending More Time with Her Husband!”

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Due to popular demand, President Trump is providing a play-by-play tonight of  Biden’s address to the nation.  

President Trump shared on Truth Social moments ago that he will be providing play-by-play of tonight’s speech by lying Joe Biden.

I will be doing, by popular request, a live and full “Play by Play” analysis of The State of the Union Address, TONIGHT ON “TRUTH” AT 9:00 P.M. If properly done, and if Joe has just a modestly good night, this speech has the opportunity to rival any of the World’s great orators, including, Lincoln, Washington, and, of course, the late, great, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Sir Winston Churchill. Watch Truth Social tonight. Enjoy!

TRENDING: LIVE-STREAM VIDEO: The Gateway Pundit to Air Joe Biden’s SOTU Address with Live Commenting Access – STARTING AT 8:45 PM EST

We are truly a Nation In Decline, and for that reason I want Joe Biden to do well tonight!

Is everybody getting ready for commentary on the State of the Union Speech and a possible Review? I never liked harsh critics, because usually they are unable to do anything themselves. Perhaps this is a different situation, but let’s hope all goes well tonight!

Looking at the expensive fence that was just put up around the Capitol Building, but not wanted at our Border. Fortunately, I built hundreds of miles of Wall, and had the safest and best Southern Border in History, by far!

What a beautiful place!

Nice to see Nancy Pelosi not sitting in the background. Hopefully she’s spending more time with her husband!

Big stumble on Schumer. He called him Minority Leader. Can’t do that! Each time he’s going off script, he’s making a mistake. Hopefully he will improve!

Too much use of the word “folks!”

If Democracy is unbroken, he should stop the Weaponization of Republicans by the FBI and the Justice Department!

Crazy Uncle Joe Screams About Xi Jinping and World Leaders for Some Reason – Maybe His Check’s Late? (VIDEO)

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Crazy Uncle Joe Screams About Xi and World Leaders for Some Reason

Old Joe can’t help himself.

It’s not clear why he was screaming about Xi Jinping. Maybe his check was late.

The post Crazy Uncle Joe Screams About Xi Jinping and World Leaders for Some Reason – Maybe His Check’s Late? (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Biden Honors Paul Pelosi During SOTU, Blames January 6 and Trump for Attack at His Home (VIDEO)

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Joe Biden blamed Donald Trump and January 6 protesters for the attack on Paul Pelosi during his State of the Union address on Tuesday.

Biden referred to the former president and protesters as peddlers of “hate and extremism.”

TRENDING: LIVE-STREAM VIDEO: The Gateway Pundit to Air Joe Biden’s SOTU Address with Live Commenting Access – STARTING AT 8:45 PM EST

“For the last few years our democracy has been threatened, attacked, and put at risk. Put to the test here, in this very room, on January 6th,” Biden said. “And then, just a few months ago, unhinged by the Big Lie, an assailant unleashed political violence in the home of the then-Speaker of this House of Representatives. Using the very same language that insurrectionists who stalked these halls chanted on January 6th.”

Biden continued, “here tonight in this chamber is the man who bears the scars of that brutal attack, but is as tough and strong and as resilient as they get. My friend, Paul Pelosi.”

“But such a heinous act never should have happened. We must all speak out. There is no place for political violence in America,” Biden said. “In America, we must protect the right to vote, not suppress that fundamental right. We honor the results of our elections, not subvert the will of the people. We must uphold the rule of the law and restore trust in our institutions of democracy. And we must give hate and extremism in any form no safe harbor.”

Pelosi, 82, was arrested on May 28 after a car crash that California Highway Patrol officers said that he caused due to being drunk.

“His eyes appeared red/watery, he was unsteady on his feet, his speech was slurred, and he had a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from his breath. CHP determined Mr. Pelosi was the proximate cause of the collision,” Pelosi’s arrest report said.

LIVE NOW: Here Is President Trump’s Response to Joe Biden’s State of the Union Address – VIDEO

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Joe Biden released a series of disingenuous statements prior to his State of the Union Address on Tuesday night.

71% of Americans say the country is not heading in the right direction. The rest are either disinformed or not paying attention.

But the Biden regime thinks things are great.

President Trump at a previous State of the Union Address

President Trump released his response to Joe Biden’s State of the Union Address.

TRENDING: LIVE-STREAM VIDEO: The Gateway Pundit to Air Joe Biden’s SOTU Address with Live Commenting Access – STARTING AT 8:45 PM EST

The Gateway Pundit was sent a copy of the president’s statement earlier today.

President Donald Trump: Here’s the real state of the union. Over the past two years, under Biden, millions and millions of illegal aliens from 160 different countries have stormed across our southern border. Drug cartels are now raking in billions of dollars from smuggling poison to kill our people and to kill our children. Savage killers, rapists, and violence. Violent criminals are being released from jail to continue their crime wave.

And under Biden, the murder rate has reached the highest in the history of our country. Biden and the radical democrats have wasted trillions of dollars and caused the worst inflation in half a century. Real wages are down 21 months in a row. Gas prices have soared and are now going up much higher than even before. And the typical American family is paying $2,200 in increased energy and food costs each year.

Joe Biden’s weaponized justice department and I’m a victim of it. Is persecuting his political opponents. His administration is waging war on free speech. They’re trying to indoctrinate and mutilate our children. He’s leading us to the brink of world war three.

And on top of all of that, he’s the most corrupt president in American history. And it’s not even close. But the good news is we are going to reverse every single crisis, calamity, and disaster that Joe Biden has created. I am running for president to end the destruction of our country and to complete the unfinished business of making America great again. We will make our country better than ever before, and we will always put America first.

Thank you.

[SHOT 2023] Exclusive Interview with New Barrett CEO Rob Nioa

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At the start of SHOT Show 2023, the news broke that Australian defense company NIOA had purchased Barrett Firearms.  Rob Nioa, the new CEO of Barrett Firearms was in attendance at this year’s SHOT Show.  I was given the rare opportunity to interview Mr. Nioa about his history in the firearms industry, and about the future of Barrett Firearms under his leadership.  Without further ado, the interview with the new Barrett CEO, Rob Nioa.

[SHOT 2023] Exclusive Interview with New Barrett Owner Rob Nioa

NIOA Group CEO Robert Nioa poses with a Barrett (NIOA)

TFB (Austin R.): Let’s first dive into the history of NIOA because obviously, you guys are already an established defense company. What’s been your role in that industry?

Rob Nioa: So we actually started in the sporting firearms markets in a small country town in regional Australia as a retail gun shop in the back of a gas station. And so the company has grown from there. My dad started the company and we’ve now been going for 50 years in the business. So this is our actual 50th year we’re celebrating.

TFB (Austin R.): Congratulations.

Rob Nioa: So 1973 was the first gas station we set up where we first started selling guns.  And dad started just selling his own second-hand guns and his friends guns and got a license and some accounts to start selling guns and ammunition. So we started from there and then in about 1985  got out of retail and went to full-time wholesale.

So the business started to grow towards wholesale in the early eighties. And we were distributing around Australia, all over Australia. And in the mid-90s we had a whole lot of new gun laws come into Australia and we had to diversify the business because the sporting market itself was under attack and it was challenging and so we figured we had to get big or get out.

And we figured we weren’t getting out. We were always going to be in the gun industry. And so I led the diversification to law enforcement and the military. In fact, it was only law enforcement we were targeting to start with.

And we sort of fell into the military. We didn’t really think we could get into the military, but, you know, the first product we got had a military application as well. So we ended up by default in that market.

And then as we progressed on that journey, we saw more and more opportunities in the defense area. I spent probably 20 years working on gaining defense contracts and defense business. And we’re now the largest privately owned supplier of weapons and munitions to the Australian Department of Defense.

[SHOT 2023] Exclusive Interview with New Barrett CEO Rob Nioa

[SHOT 2023] Exclusive Interview with New Barrett CEO Rob Nioa

TFB (Austin R.): What factors kind of drove you guys to look at Barrett as a potential acquisition? How did that relationship start?

Rob Nioa: So there are a couple of different things which drove us toward Barrett.

The first thing, though, was we had a strategy to expand beyond Australia geographically and into the Five Eyes nations. So that’s Australia, New Zealand, the US., Canada, and the UK. So that was our general growth strategy.

And the reason for the growth strategy was that we were growing quite large in Australia. It’s a small market, with one customer. There is the Australian Department of Defense, and we’ve got a large part of our business relying on that one customer.

So in order to keep growing you can either sell different things to the same customer, or you can sell the same things to different customers. And we saw we were always going to stick to weapons and ammunition.

So guns and ammunition, we weren’t going to go off to electro-optics or, you know, unmanned autonomous vehicles and other adjacent things. We wanted to stay true to guns and ammo. And so that drove us down a path of looking at geographic expansion.

And so we did an acquisition in New Zealand last year and set up there. But if you’re going to be in the guns and Ammo business, geographically diverse within that five-eyes world, then America is the big one.

And we were looking actively at how we got into the US market. And we’ve had a long relationship with Barrett, so we know the company well. And so we just started a series of conversations with different people and it just turned out that Barrett was considering, or rather, Ronnie Barrett was considering a sale.

And through our relationship, we got to find that out. And we started a conversation with the company about whether we would be a natural fit, and that happened during the course of last year, particularly the second half of last year, and became a very natural fit and worked for everyone.  So I managed to pull it all together at the beginning of this year.

[SHOT 2023] Exclusive Interview with New Barrett CEO Rob Nioa

[SHOT 2023] Exclusive Interview with New Barrett CEO Rob Nioa

TFB (Austin R.): Is there a new sort of vision or idea you have for the company going forward?

Rob Nioa: So then I guess there are a couple of elements of that. Firstly, we’ve invested a lot of money in Barrett, the company. So we don’t want to do anything that adversely affects that investment.

And what makes Barrett such a good company is its high-quality products, its detailed design, and its manufacturing house, most things are made in-house in Murfreesboro, Tennessee and it’s at the forefront of the capabilities that it chooses.

We want that technical superiority, that authentic product at high quality, and that commitment to high quality has got to continue with whatever we do. So we definitely want to make sure that we lock down business as usual, but then we also want to grow the business over time, and we’ll spend a little bit of time working with the team there in Murfreesboro to make sure that how we think we want to grow or what we want to grow to make sense.

And then we’ll work out a plan to do that. But it’s ultimately going to be more machines, more people, more production, and that’s something we’re going to have to work out and map out. That’s not going to happen in the next twelve months because those sorts of things are a little bit longer term.

But immediately we will want to pick up some of the things that Barrett has lost the capacity to do because of their current contracts and workload.  Things like the Fieldcraft, the REC7, and REC10.

We want to get production back up and going on those because there are customers that want them and we need to at least fill current requirements and then we can look at how we expand, and what’s logical.

I’m already aware that there are really good projects and programs we’re working on internally. Lots of R&D going on. Barrett will always remain at the forefront of that long-range precision leadership.  There’s no question about that.

But we will explore, whether we can expand beyond a very narrow line of products? And I don’t know the answer to that as we sit here today, but my gut feeling is that with the skilled engineers and the people and the team and a commitment to expansion, I would imagine there will be other opportunities we’ll uncover over the next year or two.  So we’re open to ideas.

[SHOT 2023] Exclusive Interview with New Barrett CEO Rob Nioa

[SHOT 2023] Exclusive Interview with New Barrett CEO Rob Nioa

TFB (Austin R.): This question is more for our readership. Are you a fellow shooter or a Barrett shooter in this case? And do you have a favorite Barrett product?

Rob Nioa: I do.  So I’m a hunter and shooter. That’s what I do when I’m on holiday. I hunt and shoot. I’ve done a bit of hunting over here in America, but we do lots of shooting in Australia, so a lot of its feral pest destruction in Australia rather than hunting.

We do some Deer hunting and things like that. I’ve shot since I was a kid. My first rifle was a Winchester single shot of 22 when I was about six. Dad taught me how to shoot and how to aim and all those things.

I’ve always loved it. My kids all shoot and that’s formed the basis of many of our family holidays, so I’m absolutely committed to all of that. That’s how we have fun. As far as my favorite Barrett rifle, I have certainly shot 50 cal and we’ve done a fair bit with the M107A1 because we’re supplying both the New Zealand military and the Australian military with that rifle.  We’ve done a lot of test firings and things. I’ve got an MRAD myself chambered in .338 Lapua and play with that on the farm.

But my absolute current favorite Barrett firearm is my .243 Barrett Fieldcraft, really, and that’s what I’m using hunting in the Australian outback at the moment. It is the best hunting rifle I’ve ever used and I love it.

It’s lightweight, I’ve got a really cool Leupold optic on it and there’s nothing I can’t shoot with that. And it is absolutely magnificent. So I’m really keen to see that fieldcraft production picked up again because I absolutely love the product.

Use it. Love it. Yeah.

[SHOT 2023] Exclusive Interview with New Barrett CEO Rob Nioa

[SHOT 2023] Exclusive Interview with New Barrett CEO Rob Nioa

TFB (Austin R.):   And then someone told me that you have some advocacy that you like to contribute within the firearms industry.

Rob Nioa: I’m of the view that if you’re in the industry and you want to be a leader in the industry then you’ve got to engage government and you’ve got to have a view and you’ve got further industry issues for the industry and you’ve got to work with legislators and you’ve got to try and get the right outcomes for the industry.

There are end-user advocate groups that really focus on the individual shooter and their rights, and then there are industry advocates focusing on industry-specific issues. I see the two as being pretty closely aligned because if we don’t have shooters, then we don’t have an industry.

But also if the industry doesn’t solve all sorts of technical challenges, everything from ammunition compliance and transport regulations and legislation we can’t get all of that working, and we can’t get product shooters.

So we have to work like a left and right hand of each other. But in Australia, for more than 20 years, I’ve certainly worked at various state and federal government levels advocating for sensible gun laws for the industry.

And at the moment, I’m a director of an organization called the Shooting Industry Foundation of Australia. I was a foundation member of that, and that is a group of major wholesalers that have pulled together.

We contribute a percentage of our sales into a fund so that we’re there to do a range of advocacy activities. That includes getting better research and better data around gun laws and legislation, but also highlight where the industry is being attacked and fight back against a lot of the things which you’re seeing in the US. Like banking organizations that are refusing to deal with licensed businesses. So we call that bad behavior out, that poor corporate behavior we’ll call that out. We will try and address that, and we will focus on those sorts of things, and we will advocate for the right outcomes as best we can.

And that’s a really important body of work that’s going on at the moment. And then I  sit on various advisory boards of governments and try and get the right outcomes as best we can. And I sit on the Queensland Firearm Dealers Association, which is our State association, and I am currently the vice president of that, but I’m also the president of the National Firearms Dealers Association in Australia. So I’m wearing a couple of different hats at that national level.

[SHOT 2023] Exclusive Interview with New Barrett CEO Rob Nioa

[SHOT 2023] Exclusive Interview with New Barrett CEO Rob Nioa

TFB (Austin R.):  Concerning the press release and the comments we’ve seen, I think everyone wants to know if the remaining structure is going to remain in place with Ronnie and Chris still involved within the company.

Rob Nioa:  Ronnie and Chris have been retained on a multi-year advisory deal and they will remain available to us for continued advice, whether it’s technical or business-related advice.

They’re both staying in Murfreesboro Tenessee and close by, and I’m going to lean heavily on them over the coming years. From the daily operational point of view. We’ve made two executive promotions within the company.

Ronnie was previously the CEO. He is no longer the CEO. He’s moved into that executive advisor role. We’ve promoted the past president. Sam Shallenberger has been moved from president to the CEO role. And then Bryan James was the chief operating officer and has been promoted into the president role.

All were existing staff executives, and it was a path that they already had planned. And I’ve known both Sam and Bryan for a lot of years, and we feel really comfortable with them in the leadership, as does the company.

You know, they’re well known, well respected within the company, so they’ve taken on that leadership position.

[SHOT 2023] Exclusive Interview with New Barrett CEO Rob Nioa

[SHOT 2023] Exclusive Interview with New Barrett CEO Rob Nioa

TFB (Austin R.): Will civilian sales still remain a priority in the United States?

Rob Nioa: Absolutely. Civilian sales are where we started our business and we’re also still the largest seller to the sporting market in Australia as well. So we haven’t, we’ve never ever walked away from civilian sales.

It’s where our personal passion is, my personal passion. It’s where we started the business. It’s the core of our business and it’s sales day in, day out. And we’re going to want to introduce more consumer products as we go.

The first one you’ll see is the reintroduction of Fieldcraft to start. But we will want more consumer products as we go. We sell guns and ammo.  And we’ll sell as many guns and as much ammo as we can to the civilian, law enforcement, and military market.  We want to make sure we push all three. We’re not going to let anyone drop off.

[SHOT 2023] Exclusive Interview with New Barrett CEO Rob Nioa

[SHOT 2023] Exclusive Interview with New Barrett CEO Rob Nioa

TFB (Austin R.): Barrett in the US has always been known for, if we can’t sell it to consumers, then we won’t sell it to law enforcement agencies, so they won’t conduct sales within California where they can’t sell those firearms to consumers. Ethos like that, do you see those things changing or are they going to stick around?

Rob Nioa: We’ll respect the decisions that have been made in the past, and we’re not intending to change any of the philosophies on the way the company operates and we will remain true to the brand and its values, and its heritage.

We’re not looking to change any of that. We get that as an industry, there will be fights we’re going to have, and we’ll be part of those industry fights and struggles if that’s what’s needed along the way. We’re used to it. We understand the industry, and we’re not afraid to stand up for our rights.

[SHOT 2023] Exclusive Interview with New Barrett CEO Rob Nioa

[SHOT 2023] Exclusive Interview with New Barrett CEO Rob Nioa

TFB (Austin R.): Any other personal message that you have about this acquisition to clarify anything you’ve seen in the press?

Rob Nioa: Yes. Well, look, I think something that’s important is Ronnie Barrett could have gotten more money by selling to private equity or a big multinational company or a big firearms manufacturer that was already based in America.

He chose not to do that and he chose to go with us as a family business. And he is proud of the legacy he’s created and wants to ensure that it continues on. And if this transaction had gone a different way, if it had gone to a big company and got swallowed up and manufacturing consolidated, I think it would have been very very bad for the brand.

That would have been the worst possible outcome and Ronnie knew that. And so the trust that he and I have is that this is our only facility in America. This is our start and the beginning of the journey in America, and we’re going to grow and expand it.

And that’s what he wanted and that’s what he liked. And the other thing that’s important is the mission we’re on. We’re 50 years into the gun business, a business as a family-owned company. And my vision is to create a 100-year family-owned legacy.

This is not the sort of transaction where it’s corporations or private equity or consolidate and run it for a little while and build it up and sell it off. We have no interest in that at all. This is a very long-term commitment and consideration from our point of view.

So we’re really committed to the brand, to Murfreesboro, to the staff, to the people, and we want to explore expansion opportunities. I think all of that is very, very good for the brand.

[SHOT 2023] Exclusive Interview with New Barrett CEO Rob Nioa

[SHOT 2023] Exclusive Interview with New Barrett CEO Rob Nioa

TFB (Austin R.): This is always a fun question that we like to ask. We’ll say the world has ended. You can make up any scenario you want, but the world has ended and you have to take one firearm with you.  What do you decide to take? You got to be able to do everything, and I’ve never heard an Australian answer to this.

Rob Nioa: Well, at the moment, I’m taking my Fieldcraft .243. It’s lightweight to carry. Anything I want to hunt, I can kill with it and it pretty well does anything I want it to do. I love it, absolutely love it.

TFB (Austin R.): Perfect. We look forward to seeing that coming back. Yes. And thank you again so much for your time.

TFB and TFBTV’s coverage of SHOT Show 2023 is proudly sponsored by 5.11 Tactical. Click here to check out their new products.