Michael Cargill
ABOUT MICHAEL
Michael Cargill has over 35 years of firearms experience in the military and private sector combined. Michael was born and raised in Florida. After high school, he joined the U.S. Army, achieving the rank of Sergeant. As a licensed instructor, Michael has taught more than 50,000 people the required material to obtain Texas private security and handgun licenses. Over more than 12 years, he has a greater than 99% student success rate. Michael is the owner of Central Texas Gun Works (CTGW), a U.S. Federal Firearms Licensed (FFL) dealer. He frequently speaks about firearms in person and on film, television, and radio, including the Come And Talk It radio show that he produces and hosts. Michael resides in Austin, Texas.
SMALL BUSINESS OWNER
CENTRAL TEXAS GUN WORKS
Central Texas Gun Works (CTGW) is a retail store and training facility located in Austin, Texas. In the course of his business, Michael Cargill has taught firearms safety to the public, members of both the Texas State House and Senate, district judges, justices of the peace, federal agency staff, Texas state and local agency staff, attorneys, and corporate employee groups. CTGW was the first business in Texas to have a completely solar powered sign and the first legal firearms business to accept Bitcoin cryptocurrency for firearms purchases.
COME AND TALK IT
The Come And Talk It (CATI) radio show broadcasts all things firearms every Sunday live on air from Austin, Texas. Michael Cargill produces and hosts topics including a weekly summary of worldwide firearms news, interviews with guests, and live audience phone calls. All live episodes are recorded and redistributed worldwide as a podcast.
ADVOCATE
Michael Cargill vigorously defends lawful gun ownership without regard to party politics. He testifies to advance this cause at each session of the Texas Legislature. Michael regularly speaks to professional, civic, social, political, and religious organizations across all spectrums of society. For several years, he has challenged adverse government policies in state and federal courts with the support of like-minded attorneys general and legal organizations.
GARLAND, ET AL. V. CARGILL
New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) represents Michael Cargill in a constitutional lawsuit that challenges the ATF’s effort to rewrite a federal statute. The principle NCLA and Mr. Cargill seek to vindicate is simple: If bump stocks are to be banned, Congress must make that decision and Congress must exercise the authority to ban them. If an agency such as the ATF can rewrite a statute as it pleases, then any agency can rewrite any statute as it pleases. Whatever one thinks of bump stocks, our laws must comply with the Constitution, or neither the Constitution nor the rule of law has any meaning.
CARGILL V. ATF, ET AL.
Under a new policy implemented summer of 2021, the ATF is now recommending revocations over simple paperwork errors, even when those errors did not result in prohibited individuals obtaining firearms. By some estimates, this has resulted in revocations increasing by more than 500%. Michael Cargill has joined together with the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) to challenge the new policy in court. The law only allows revocations for “willful” violations, and that does not include inadvertent clerical mistakes. Businesses that commit clerical mistakes are not “rogue firearm dealers.”
NSSF, ET AL. V. JAMES
National Shooting Sports Foundation, Inc. (NSSF®) retained Clement & Murphy, PLLC to represent NSSF and other plaintiffs, including Central Texas Gun Works, in their appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The lawsuit challenges a New York State statute which is designed to permit lawsuits against members of the firearms industry for the criminal misuse of firearms in the State of New York. The statute permits lawsuits even when sales occurred outside of the State of New York and in compliance with all applicable federal and state laws where sales occurred.
FIREARMS INSTRUCTOR
Michael Cargill is a National Rifle Association (NRA) certified Pistol Instructor, Personal Protection Inside the Home Instructor, and Chief Range Safety Officer. He is a Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) licensed Private Security Bureau (PSB) Levels II, III, and IV Instructor. Michael is a Texas DPS certified License to Carry (LTC) a handgun Instructor, School Safety Instructor, and On-Duty First Responder Instructor.
MEDIA APPEARANCES
Media organizations worldwide have recognized Michael Cargill for his excellence in business practices and the passion he has for his field by featuring him as a frequent guest and subject matter expert. His concern for local safety has led to features on local affiliates of ABC News, NBC News, Fox News, Telemundo, and YNN. Michael has achieved international exposure in such prestigious media outlets as the New York Times, BBC World News, CNN Money, Forbes Magazine, Huffington Post, Fox News, and Fox Business News. He has appeared in several TV shows and documentaries.
ARMY VETERAN
SERGEANT
Michael Cargill served his country honorably for over 12 years in the United States Army. He was stationed at Fort Benning, Norfolk Naval Base, and Fort Hood, and did tours in South Korea and Bosnia. Michael was awarded four Army Commendation Medals, eight Army Achievement Medals, and four Army Good Conduct Medals. He was qualified as an expert marksman and Airborne qualified as a parachutist. Michael instructed new recruits in Drill and Ceremony and guard duty. He also instructed musicians in the United States Armed Forces School of Music. Michael plays the trumpet, tuba, and trombone. While in the U.S. Army, he studied criminal justice at Troy University in Alabama.