It's Fussy Busse time! And then the Joker started singing, "Peanut Butter Jelly Time." That's how we kicked off our show on the air in the Flathead Valley LIVE from the SHOT Show in Las Vegas Thursday morning.

I enjoyed having the Democrat candidate for governor here in Montana on the air a couple times last year (not to mention going back and forth on Twitter over the years).

One year ago at the SHOT Show, the folks at the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) made it very clear that they did not like the gun control activist who was running for governor in Montana- so you know they were going to have to do a bit of a victory lap this year. Especially after pro gun-rights Montana Governor Greg Gianforte (R-MT) won by 20....errr...21 points in the 2024 elections.

The Federalist's Sean Davis was the moderator for the 2025 SHOT Show Governors Forum. His opening question to Gov. Gianforte was HILARIOUS to John Jackson, the Joker from X, and I...and apparently several other folks in the room.

Sean Davis at Gov's Forum: "So Governor Gianforte- you are coming off the heels of a big election win. I think you won by 20 points. (Governor interjects- "21") And again, Montana is a state where people assume it's red...you look at presidential results in Montana, and you think 21 points, that sounds about right, but that's generally not how it goes in a lot of these statewide races, they can be really close and really nasty. In your case, you ran against a total deranged anti gun fruit cake...tell us about your race and what you did to put together such a big victory against such a big dummy."

With the election in the rearview mirror- Gov. Gianforte was, of course, magnanimous in his victory.

Gov. Gianforte: "He was a gift. One of the things I did was I said, if I have to run against a gun grabber, I'm going to give away a gun. So I did a statewide lottery on election night. I pulled a name out of a hat, and I gave a beautiful seven millimeter hunting rifle to a grandma from East Helena, and she was happy. But I think the bigger story is- Montana is bright red now. We- as of this last election, we have nine statewide elected offices. All nine are Republican now. And just to put that in perspective, including our new US Senator Tim Sheehy who helped us get the majority in the US Senate. But you go back to 2012 which is not that long ago, 13 years- seven of eight statewide elected offices in Montana were held by Democrats. So we, for those of you in bright blue states, there is hope, but it requires recruiting good candidates, working your tail off, and having a state party that knows how to do get out the vote. So we've turned the state around...but I will say- Montana's home to over 150 firearms and ammunition manufacturers. We have more per capita than any other state in the country. We're here at the SHOT Show to thank the vendors that are investing in Montana, and to recruit more, because we love our Second Amendment. We love our outdoor lifestyle. And I know many people have heard me say this, but you can hunt big game in Montana 11 out of 12 months, and the only month you can't hunt big game is July- and the fishing is pretty good in July."

Here's the audio:

 


Click here for full SHOT Show coverage:  https://montanatalks.com/tags/shot-show/

Full audio from Thursday's show which includes the 8a hour audio from the Governors Forum:

 

SHOT Show- Montana to Las Vegas

We took the trip from Montana to Las Vegas for the SHOT Show- the world's biggest guns and outdoor gear show. From radio row to the trade show floor.

Gallery Credit: Aaron Flint