Top Shot Chris and RECOIL Magazine team up again for NFT Digital Auction
Megan Plete Postol 10.15.21
Top Shot Chris Cheng and RECOIL Magazine are teaming up once again, this time to raise money for second amendment advocacy. The team created controversy earlier this year when Cheng appeared on the cover of RECOIL magazine with his rainbow flag tee shirt. The message being conveyed was “2A FOR ALL,” meaning that gun rights apply to every American – no matter the sexuality or ethnic heritage.
The unveiling of the magazine cover was met by a flurry of social media backlash. Now that controversial art cover featuring Top Shot Chris Cheng will be auctioned off as “NFT” digital art. This first ever of its kind for the firearms space, the NFT digital art auction takes place Tuesday, October 19th through Sunday, October 24.
The digital auction can be accessed at https://nft.recoilweb.com.
RECOIL Issue 56 has become a piece of art that represents freedom, liberty, and universal civil rights. Winners of this NFT auction will be the very first NFT owners of a prominent firearms and Second Amendment-related digital art collectable. Only 10 serialized versions of the RECOIL Issue 56 cover art will be minted and auctioned off as NFTs. Cheng provides an explanation of exactly what an NFT is here. In addition to the NFT, auction winners will receive a physical, personalized and autographed copy of RECOIL Issue 56 signed by Top Shot Chris Cheng, physical and digital subscriptions to RECOIL magazine and RECOIL swag. The Top 5 auction winners will also receive the opportunity of a lifetime with a ticket to attend an in-person fun shoot with Top Shot Chris Cheng and the RECOIL staff. The notion that the Second Amendment is for everyone is a message that RECOIL and Top Shot Chris Cheng have been advocating for more than ten years.
“As an LGBT Asian American, I applaud RECOIL Magazine for standing up for our shared values and principles that gun rights are civil rights for all Americans. Cancel culture reared its head for RECOIL and me over this conversation art piece, but we stood our ground and defended liberty and freedom for all, ” Cheng said.
A portion of the auction proceeds will be donated to 2A organizations: the Firearms Policy Coalition, Pink Pistols / Operation Blazing Sword, and APAGOA (Asian Pacific American Gun Owners Association). In response to the controversy, RECOIL said in a statement:
Anyone who has followed us for any length of time knows that we are no stranger to controversy. However, even we were taken aback by some of the reactions to our upcoming cover draft which we recently posted on social media. Chris Cheng has been a staple in the shooting community for a decade and has graced the pages of RECOIL many times before. Most recently he has been an advocate for our gun rights in testimony to the US Senate and has founded a new Asian-American firearms organization in the midst of increasing anti-Asian street violence. Yes, he’s also married to a man. If you’re as strong of a defender of individual liberty as Chris Cheng, we’ll put you on the cover, and let you pick your own wardrobe too. We maintain that the Second Amendment is for Americans. Always have, always will. It’s up to us as individuals to bring that message to as many people as possible, and challenge the media-driven stereotype of firearm owners. We’ve seen record numbers of our fellow citizens embrace their right to bear arms this past 14 months, and new gun owners have shown they don’t fit preconceived ideas of what they “should” look like. Gun rights are for everyone, no matter their gender, sexual orientation, country of origin, or color of their skin.
Those interested in participating in the online auction can access it here.
