Hawkins has authored over 17,400 articles in his 15-plus years at News, and he expresses that he wakes up each day with a fervent desire to report on the Second Amendment, utilizing his reporting to continually remind Americans of the crucial role armed citizens play.

When we asked Hawkins his thoughts on receiving the award he said, “I did not see it coming.”

He elaborated, “Writing for a living means you often get used to typing out words and expressing ideas without receiving much feedback. You rarely consider who might be reading an article or where they might be doing so. Once you finish one piece, you move on to the next because the narrative needs to be sustained, and the left should not be given time to pause or regroup. The significance of gun rights is too great to leave to fate.”