Gun writer and Second Amendment activist Brian Puckett, who currently serves as president of the pro-gun ad campaign organization Citizens Of America (www.CitizensOfAmerica.org) is also a painter. He recently completed a website offering print reproductions of his paintings: http://www.BrianPuckett.com.

Because anti-gun propaganda constantly portrays gun owners as ignorant, uncouth, uncultured barbarians, friend and fellow gun rights activist Angel Shamaya, director of KeepAndBearArms.com, thought it might be interesting to ask Brian a few questions about his art.

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AS: Before we talk about your "other side", even though most of our readers know your name, there are always new visitors coming to check us out. How about a few words on the importance of restoring the free exercise of our right to keep and bear arms?

BP: Sure. It's simple. We have the right to defend ourselves every single day. We have the right to use the tools best suited for that, which is guns. Without guns, the right of self-defense is meaningless for about 95% of the public. The young, the elderly, the handicapped, small-statured people, almost all women -- and most men, who have no experience in fighting or with the martial arts. Even martial arts practitioners have a hard time with multiple assailants. The bottom line is that if the means to exercise a right is prohibited, then that right is meaningless. For example, if the right to a free press is protected but printing presses are banned, then that right is meaningless.

AS: Right. Guns are equalizers in self-defense, self-defense is a basic human right, and if you can't defend yourself legally without fear of retribution from government, you're not a free person.

BP: Yes. Second, our fundamental law is the Constitution, which guarantees the right to own and carry guns. But the government no longer heeds the Constitution except where it's convenient. To a great degree the government is no longer "we the people", it's a separate, self-perpetuating, self-empowering entity.

AS: And of course the government doesn't like the self-empowering aspect of the Second Amendment.

BP: Not at all. The Second Amendment is the key to our freedom. More important than the First Amendment and all our other rights. An unarmed public gives the government the perfect excuse to continually increase its power, all in the name of "safety". And an unarmed public is easy to subjugate, which is the natural tendency of all government -- or rather, the people in the government. The more we force the government to obey the Constitution, the more we become free, self-reliant, safe, self-expressing individuals.

AS: That part about self-expressing is a perfect lead-in to what we're going to talk about, which is Brian Puckett the painter. To start with, how long have you been painting?

BP: Since I was sixteen. I was selling through a gallery when I was, uh, seventeen I guess it was. Mostly western art and landscapes at that time.

AS: Well, you moved pretty far from those subjects, haven't you?

BP: I think I'll always paint landscapes of one kind or another. But, yeah, I went through a realism phase, then a hyper-realism phase, mostly urban subjects, and then everything degenerated from there. (Laughs). The truth is, I like art that's a distortion of reality. That's the most interesting art, to my eyes and mind.

AS: Well, your most recent work fits that description, all right. The angular-looking people -- reminds me of Pablo Picasso, actually.

BP: The abstraction method is definitely reminiscent of one of Picasso's painting styles. But you wouldn't confuse the two.

AS: I understand you quit painting for a while.

BP: I did. For quite a few years after moving back to the mainland from Hawaii I went through an anti-art phase, then started writing, which I'm still doing. But I've never quit drawing and working on ideas for painting.

AS: Why did you quit painting?

BP: A couple of reasons. I was sick of the art world, and the feeling was apparently mutual. At the time, the galleries in LA and New York were showing rows of framed paper with pencil hatch marks on them, or rooms full of metal tubes lying on the floor, or bundles of rancid fat wrapped in felt.

AS: I'm not surprised to hear that. I still remember the crucifix immersed in a jar of urine being praised, and the anti-American "art" exhibit that required viewers to walk on the American flag to view said "art" -- what some people call taste is rather tasteless.

BP: I was pretty depressed by all of this, which turned me to writing. I wrote two novels, although neither's published. But I learned a lot, which helped when I started doing free-lance articles for gun magazines, which I still do occasionally.

AS: It was your writing that drew me to you three years ago -- you've got a way with words. While this may seem like an unusual combination in one person -- guns and painting -- does it seem that way to you?

BP: No. I grew up in Texas, where guns and hunting are still normal things. And I'm sure there are plenty of artists of all kinds who appreciate firearms. Or more importantly, who appreciate the right to defend themselves and their families.

AS: Is that what led you to help start up GunTruths.com [COA's sister website] and Citizens Of America?

BP: Yes, both. Appreciation of firearms and the right of self-defense. And the fact that the government is working hard to wipe out both. It sickens me that the government -- again, I should say most of the people who currently constitute the government and its bureaucracy -- that they're content to see women raped and killed daily, when most of these women could be safe if the Second Amendment were respected and enforced the way the First Amendment is.

AS: Amen to that, brother. But enough of this happy talk. Let's talk about the website. How long has it been up?

BP: It's been functioning for a few months, but a lot of the paintings I sold years ago have to be tracked down, photographed, and added. And I haven't submitted it to the search engines yet. So KeepAndBearArms.com is breaking the news, so to speak. Thanks for doing so.

AS: Sure. Tell us again what's offered on your website, www.BrianPuckett.com.

BP: Print reproductions of my paintings, which are personally signed. If you visit the site, keep in mind that it takes a while to load the pages, since they're full of graphics. That's what the whole site is about, of course -- graphic art.

AS: All right, we'll be patient.

BP: For that I thank you. By the way, the paintings are listed from most recent to earliest, but you can use the "quick jump" links at the top of the home page to access the main painting pages.

AS: Gotcha.

BP:  I hope you enjoy it. There are some nudes, so if that bothers you just close your eyes when necessary.

AS: Not a chance, but thanks for the notice if it might offend others.