Riding Shotgun With Charlie #259 Joe LoPorto NRA State Director, New Jersey Firearm Owners Syndicate I met Joe LoPorto with some of the other friends from New Jersey while we were at the Great American Outdoor Show in Harrisburg. Since then, Joe has jumped from a career to working for the NRA as the State Director of the northern New England states. When he was a young boy, he really was into the NRA. At 10 years old, he wanted a membership from his parents as a gift. He would put NRA stickers everywhere. It really seems that working for the NRA was his destiny. He grew up hunting and shooting at a young age, but his real passion was archery. The college years were busy for him. He went to college, got married, went to law school and had kids before he passed the bar exam. All at the same time. The Bruen decision changed a lot of things in New Jersey and for Joe. For the Garden State, they had to admit the peasants to have their pitchforks and the politicians went kicking and screaming. For Joe, he decided it was time to double down on the Rights fight. He left his career, got more involved with New Jersey Firearm Owners Syndicate and eventually got a job with NRA. The NJFOS was just a Facebook group sharing things like where they're going to meet for rallies, spreading the word about upcoming bills. After Bruen, they expanded and became a full non-profit organization. They've been involved with lobbying and litigation. The job is overseeing lobbying in those states, keeping up on what's going on in each of them, and going to all the NRA ILA events in each state.And accessing and endorsing candidates, managing the PACs, and being a liaison for the state organizations. Only taking the job in November 2025, Joe has jumped in with both feet. New England is tough. Massachusetts is a disaster, New Hampshire is the Live Free or Die state, and Maine is a big state that has some pro-gun Democrats. He's been driving up and down New England from New Jersey, and getting his hands dirty with all the activity going on in each of the states. The NRA has a lot going on with various programs, functions, and features. There's really something for everyone at NRA. With NRA 2.0, he's really enjoying where he's at and what he's doing. With career experience and a law degree, Joe knows how things run within the system and with politicians. Going to each state's capitol, working the state houses, and figuring out how to get around the political landscape in each state is a challenge. He'll be in Boston, then Concord, NH, then back in Massachusetts, and up to Maine. All in the same week. WIth the elections coming up, there's lots of work to do. Each of the states have different schedules for being in session, election seasons, and, naturally, personalities. WIth his passion and experience, Joe is doing a great job and loving every minute of it. His grandparents came over from Italy and enjoyed shooting. His cousin was an Olympic clay shooter for the Italian nationals. He's got pictures of his grandfather with small game he's harvested. With some of the firearms he has, he's got a direct connection to his previous generations. So what he's doing with the NRA is really just a family tradition. Favorite quotes: "I'm not new to either firearms or gun rights. That's been a priority for me since I was a little kid." "We can't win every battle. When those battles aren't won, it tends to be the NRA that takes the blame. Which is not necessarily a fair reality." "We didn't truly have a Second Amendment in Jersey until Bruen." "Because the Democrats in the state (Massachusetts) have super majorities in both chambers, they're constantly suspending all those rules." New Jersey Firearm Owners Syndicate https://www.njfos.org/ NRA ILA https://www.nraila.org/ NRA https://home.nra.org/ NRA on FB https://www.facebook.com/NRA NRA on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/NRAVideos NRA on IG https://instagram.com/NRA NRA on X https://x.com/nra Second Amendment Foundation https://secure.anedot.com/saf/donate?sc=RidingShotgun Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms https://www.ccrkba.org/ Please support the Riding Shotgun With Charlie supporters. US Law Shield Legal Defense for Self Defense. Use "RSWC" as the discount code and get 2 months for free! https://www.uslawshield.com Patriot Mobile Use this link and get one month for free! https://patriotmobile.com/partners/rswc Or listen on: iTunes/Apple podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/riding-shotgun-with-charlie/id1275691565
