Spending time at Ox Ranch in a remote corner of Texas is one big blast after another for gun enthusiasts, like the ones that participated in The Third Annual Gundie Awards. There are 18,000 acres of prime hunting lands there, but it’s also a place where you can maneuver and fire actual decommissioned military tanks and shoot assorted artillery that most only see in movies.
All of these things, plus a pavilion that holds 500 people, make Uvalde, Texas, an excellent location for the Third Annual Gundie Awards, which recognize the internet’s overachievers in the realms of shooting and hunting. In today’s parlance, the Gundies honor the pro-gun community’s top influencers and content creators. They’re the people who most effectively spread 2A message through various digital platforms. “The Gundie Awards is a popularity contest, in reality, but it’s also about coming together as a community and making an opportunity to focus on the fun side of things,” says Ben Stacy, a marketing professional who is co-creator of the Gundie Awards.
The Gundie Awards are the brainchild of his Myrtle Beach, South Carolina-based marketing firm called Forge Relations. Stacy’s business partner, Will Renke, is a big fan of the TV series The Office, and the idea sprang from that show’s employee awards called the Dundies. This year, their third, Stacy and Renke rolled out the red carpet for nominees and winners in 15 different categories. More than two million votes were cast, and just over 500 people attended the Gundie awards ceremony, which was also live-streamed.
Stacy says the get-together is also valuable for professional networking among the nominees and the many sponsors and a chance to make more personal connections. Their ultimate, more serious mission, he says, is to promote their lifestyle to younger people so it doesn’t disappear. “Guns are a passion just like someone might like to go fishing or dirt bike riding,” he says. “If we don’t reach this next generation and introduce them to this sport, this passion, it literally won’t exist in 20 or 30 years.”
And the Gundie Winners Are...
Read up on the winners of this year’s Gundie Awards, and you’ll see an incredibly diverse group with a common and undying interest in firearms.