About Us
The Truth about Guns
WHO WE ARE
The Truth About Guns is always looking for new talent. There’s no “party line” on gun issues; we accept editorial/videos from any perspective. Gun reviews are most welcome on firearms both old and new. All we require: a dedication to telling the truth about guns and great writing. Learn more about us and get in touch at – [email protected].
Doug Howlett
Editor Emeritus
Doug Howlett is the former Editor in Chief of TTAG. He is a writer, editor and book author who has written for many of the top hunting and gun magazines and websites in the country. He began his career as a newspaper reporter in his native Virginia before moving on to serve as Assistant Editor of NRA’s American Hunter, Editor of the NWTF’s Turkey Call, Deputy Editor of Outdoor Life, Editor of Southern Sporting Journal, Editor in Chief of Gun Digest magazine, Editor of AR-15 magazine and Editor of Fur & Fang, a predator hunting magazine. He is the author of The Shooter’s Bible Guide to AR-15s 1st Ed. and co-author of the 2nd Ed. and was a regular guest on Gallery of Guns TV for three years. He is an occasional contributor to TTAG, iSportsmanUSA.com, Game & Fish magazine and Field Ethos but is thrilled to spend the majority of his hours each week at U.S. LawShield where he oversees publications and newsletters that help the organization’s members be some of the most legally knowledgeable and responsible gun owners in America.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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If you have any comments or concerns about The Truth About Guns, email us at [email protected].
