Annals of Cool: My Lunch with Chris Cheng

I touched down at SFO Thursday night, went to bed in my childhood home in Half Moon Bay by midnight, and twelve hours later I was sitting at Humble Sea Brewery in Santa Cruz having a beer and empanadas with Chris Cheng.

Yes, that Chris Cheng. Top Shot Season 4 Champion, Professional Marksman, Author “Shoot to Win,” Purveyor of Fun. Former Googler. LGBT/2A advocate. #NFT firearms entrepreneur.

If you read far enough into the archives of this blog, you know that I’m am a huge fan of The History Channel’s Top Shot and that it played an important role in my becoming a gun owner.

So, like any good fan boy would, I not only brought a copy of my book for him, but I also brought the publicity photo he signed for me at the 2013 NRA annual meeting.

The Author and Chris Cheng at 2013 NRA Annual Meeting. Photo by Sandra Stroud Yamane

As it was an informal lunch, our conversation was “off the record,” but I can say we compared notes on our somewhat similar experiences navigating both the gun culture and the wider worlds in which we live as square pegs – as a gun owning liberal academic in my case and a gun owning LGBT advocate in his.

I am hoping to be able to create an additional bridge between our work by having him guest lecture to my Sociology of Guns class the next time I teach it, probably next fall.

Chris also talked about some ideas he has for using developments in the tech world (e.g., blockchain technology) to advance gun rights and gun safety. Stay tuned to his social media channels and his Medium page for more.

FWIW, the beer and empanadas were good. I bought these ones, but if you’d like to support my research, writing, and speaking on American gun culture, use the link below to “buy me a coffee.”