Austin Knudsen is a rare bird in the halls of government — a politician who actually knows something about the shoulder thing that goes up. From his roots on the family farm in northeast Montana to ringing steel at one of the most legendary 3-gun matches, he has in-depth knowledge of firearms and the industry that creates them, as well as the threats the 2A community faces. From starting out as a small-time country lawyer hanging up his shingle in the town where he grew up, Knudson is currently the go-to authority among 26 Republican Attorneys General when it comes to guns. We broke bread with him during a prairie dog hunt attended by Jerry and Kay Mickulek, and can attest that while he’s sharp as a tack, he also loves to get on the trigger.
RECOIL: Tell us about your background.
I grew up as a farm and ranch kid from northeast Montana, so about as rural as it gets in the continental U.S..To give you some perspective, my kindergarten class was six kids, so a tiny little ranch town. My family raised Angus cattle, so we grew spring wheat, put up hay, rode horses to fix fence, chased lots of cows, and that was my life until I went to college at Montana State in Bozeman. That was the Ag school, the cowboy college if you will. Met my wife there, got as close to a criminal justice
