Robert Eugene Owens (1971-May 8, 2017) better known as Bob Owens was a conservative writer and gun rights activist as well as a married father of two. He founded and was the editor for the pro-gun rights news site BearingArms.com which has a following over 2 million on Facebook. ^[1] He often appeared on NRA TV to discuss gun rights.

Bob Owens was married to Christine Owens, together the couple had two daughters.

They lived together in Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina a suburb of Raleigh, North Carolina. He is originally from Greenville, North Carolina. The family also owned two dogs named Sophie and Tripp.

Bob Owens founded BearingArms.com in August, 2013 and worked

for the site as an editor.

Bob started blogging in 2004 at the politics-focused Confederate Yankee in 2004.

In 2007, he began writing about firearms, gun rights, and crime at Pajamas Media, and added gun and gear reviews for Shooting Illustrated in 2010. Bob has often appeared on NRA TV to discuss gun rights. Prior to working in writing, Bob worked as a web developer at Net Applications from 2008-2012. Before, he also worked as a web developer at Cisco Systems and as a contractor.

Bob is a graduate of roughly 400 hours of professional firearms training classes, including square range and force-on force work with handguns and carbines.

He is a past volunteer instructor with Project Appleseed. He most recently received his Vehicle Close Quarters Combat Instructor certification from Centrifuge Training.

Bob graduated from East Carolina University in 2000 with a master's degree in Technical and Professional Communications. He had completed a bachelor's degree in English with a certificate in Technical Writing.

On May 8, 2017 at about 10:54 a.m.

Bob Owens police received a report of a gunshot victim near a stop sign at the intersection of Sequoia Ridge Drive and Judd Parkway at the entrance to a subdivison in Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina. A firearm was found near the man, who was later identified as Owens. Just minutes before Owens' body was found, at 10:51 a.m., Bob Owens made a post on his Facebook profile stating "In the end, it turns out that I'm not strong. I'm a coward, and a selfish son of a bitch. I'm sorry,". Police in Fuquay-Varina, a town about 16 miles southwest of Raleigh, said the death could be a suicide but added that an investigation is still underway. The Medical Examiner's Office and the Raleigh/Wake City-County Bureau of Identification will both assist in the investigation.