Geoffrey Carter was kind enough to put me on Catchin’ Up with Carter — Episode 177 — and I owe him a thank-you for the chair.
His show started on a college internet station in Rockford in 2012. It has always been about interesting guests and a real conversation, not a monologue with a logo. He asked me on as executive director of Guns Save Life. We talked about the work, not the résumé.
GSL exists for a simple reason: we defend your right to defend yourself. That means grassroots chapters across Illinois, a monthly journal that still leaves a warehouse on pallets, lawsuits against laws that treat honest people like the threat, and the unglamorous job of helping members avoid other people’s mistakes. Not just tools. Preparedness. Knowledge. The skills that keep a family safer.
Illinois is a hard classroom. FOID cards, waiting periods, magazine bans, and a political class that talks about “safety” while the people who actually follow the rules get the paperwork. Geoffrey let that conversation stay on the ground — where statutes hit real households.
We also talked about a case that hits close to home for him. Geoffrey works in Freeport. That is where a 13-year-old named Jasiyah forced his way into a woman’s house with a hunting knife and tried to kill her 13-year-old son. She shot him. Then came the circus: “Justice for Jasiyah,” as if the kid with the knife was the victim. The follow-up was worse. The same punk later shot up a house trying to kill that first homeowner and her kids.
Geoffrey wanted the background, not the rumor mill. I was glad to give it. That is the job. Tell people what actually happened before the street narrative hardens into a lie.
I am grateful he made the time. If you have an hour, listen. Then visit Gunssavelife.com. Come to a meeting if you can. The episode ends. The work does not.