Riley T. Bowman is a life-long student of the pistol. Having a desire to carry a pistol for defense since an early age, he went right out and bought his first handgun when he was 21-years-old and got a CCW permit to carry it. Riley soon learned there was a lot more to it than just strapping on a gun.

Riley was inspired to seek out greater knowledge and training when he was given the opportunity to become an instructor for the law enforcement agency he spent 8 years with. Riley discovered his passion for teaching others how to excel at shooting and developing skills that can be the difference in saving lives.

In 2016, Riley finally made the plunge into competitive shooting when he signed up for The American Marksman, a national competition designed to discover top talent amongst amateur shooters. Riley surprised himself when he won the Rocky Mountain Regional Championship that sent him to the National Finals where he finished in 10th. He started shooting 3-gun and has numerous top-10 and top-5 finishes at major 3-gun championships.

He has since turned his focus to mastering the handgun and competing primarily in USPSA, currently a Master Class Carry Optics shooter. Recent accomplishments include being the 2022 Carry Optics Division Colorado State Champion, the 2023 Production Divisions Colorado State Champion, finishing 3rd Master at the 2022 USPSA Carry Optics National Championship, and nearly breaking into the top-16 but ultimately finishing 18th overall at the 2022 USPSA Production National Championship. Most recently he finished 15th at the 2023 US IPSC National Championship in Production Division.

Riley has studied under and been influenced by many world-class instructors and has amassed many hundreds of hours of professional training from the following:

• Rob Leatham
• Tim Herron
• Mike Seeklander
• Scott Jedlinski
• Matt Little
• Charlie Perez
• Kyle Lamb
• Dave Spaulding
• Jeff Gonzales
• Bill Blowers
• Chuck Pressburg and others

Riley has had the opportunity of interviewing dozens of top instructors and shooters as host of the Concealed Carry Podcast, on-air for 8 years, over 700 episodes, and more than 8.5 million podcast downloads and listens. His “day job” is as the Vice-President of ConcealedCarry.com, one of the top destinations on the web for CCW-related information, training, and products. Riley is married to his wife of 18 years and father to 5 amazing children.

Accomplishments