Episode 26
Why the World Is Watching American Gun Culture (ft. GunnyGal)
State of the Second hosts Kaylee and John sit down with Alyssa Seymour, known online as GunnyGal, and her husband Tanner. Alyssa runs a firearms YouTube channel covering competition, education, and concealed carry, with a side passion for fitness and CrossFit. Tanner is the one behind the camera and works in commercial and automotive content, including rally work and shooting in the firearm space. Together they break down how a firearms hobby crosses over with cars, overlanding, and fitness, and why those connections pull in people who would never call themselves gun people.
Most of the conversation is a practical look at building a gun channel and bringing new people into the space. Alyssa explains how she started with short cell phone clips, then pushed toward long form educational videos right after SHOT Show, and how the audience took time to follow. Tanner talks through their scripting process, how they check SEO and competition before committing to a topic, and why long form is a slow build with evergreen payoff. They cover the reality of being a woman in the space, finding a middle ground between the gun bunny and LEO/military lanes, and explaining terms in a way a newcomer can actually understand. Their advice for getting better: be safe first, handle the gun until it feels natural, treat it as a hobby and a sport rather than a tool that sits in a safe, and learn from good instructors like Rick at Ohio Range Day.
The Soapbox segment turns to the second amendment movement's weak spots. Alyssa and Tanner argue the community should lead with the fun, hobbyist side rather than politics or fear, and they tie that to international friends, including ones in Poland, who want rights they don't have. Kaylee frames rights as natural rights the Constitution protects rather than grants, and shares a story about an activist who immigrated from Australia after its gun buybacks. The pair close on censorship and YouTube demonetization, describing how nearly every video gets demonetized and appealed, and why gatekeeping firearms education leaves more people uneducated and against gun ownership.
Links
Questions this episode answers
Who is GunnyGal and how did Alyssa Seymour's firearms YouTube channel start?
GunnyGal is firearms content creator Alyssa Seymour, who runs a YouTube channel covering competition, education, and concealed carry. She began with short cell phone clips and shifted toward long form educational videos right after SHOT Show.
How do firearms, cars, overlanding, and fitness overlap as a single lifestyle?
Alyssa and her husband Tanner frame guns as one part of a broader hobbyist lifestyle that connects to cars, overlanding, and fitness like CrossFit. Those crossover interests pull in people who would never call themselves gun people.
What is it like being a woman creating firearms content on YouTube?
Alyssa works to find a middle ground between the gun bunny and the LEO/military lanes, focusing on clear education instead of either stereotype. She aims to explain terms so a newcomer can understand a video without needing another source.
How do you transition from short form to long form video, and why does long form take so long to pay off?
Alyssa moved from short cell phone clips to long form educational videos after SHOT Show, and the audience took time to follow. Tanner describes long form as a slow build with evergreen payoff, so creators should not expect quick success.
How do Alyssa and Tanner pick video topics and use SEO before they film?
Their scripting process includes checking SEO and competition to find gaps before committing to a topic. Tanner still advises starting with something you are passionate about, regardless of how searchable it is.
What are the practical steps to getting better with firearms as a beginner?
Be safe first, then handle the gun until it feels natural, and treat it as a hobby and a sport rather than a tool that sits in a safe. Alyssa and Tanner also recommend learning from good instructors, like Rick at Ohio Range Day.
Where does the Second Amendment movement fall short when talking to people outside gun culture?
Alyssa and Tanner argue the community should lead with the fun, hobbyist side of guns rather than politics or fear. They point to international friends, including ones in Poland, who want rights they do not have.
How does YouTube demonetization and social media censorship affect firearms educators?
Alyssa and Tanner say nearly every video gets demonetized and then appealed, which penalizes creators for trying to educate. They argue that gatekeeping firearms education leaves more people uneducated and against gun ownership.
Chapters
- 00:00 — Intro and meeting GunnyGal and Tanner
- 00:26 — Rapid fire questions
- 04:01 — Who they are and what they do
- 05:58 — Firearms, cars, and fitness crossover
- 10:47 — Overlanding and the gun and car overlap
- 13:36 — Being a female firearms YouTuber
- 15:18 — Short form to long form transition
- 19:05 — Scripting videos, SEO, and finding gaps
- 25:18 — Practical advice for getting into firearms
- 32:50 — Soapbox: weak spots in the 2A movement
- 38:38 — International rights, Canada, and California
- 46:00 — Suppressors, the Hearing Protection Act, and censorship
- 49:23 — YouTube demonetization and the appeal fight
- 53:41 — Where to find them and closing
About the guest
Alyssa Seymour is a firearms content creator known online as GunnyGal. She runs a YouTube channel focused on firearms, competition, education, and concealed carry, and is also active on Instagram. She competes in both firearms and CrossFit, started in tactical games, and is moving into USPSA this year. Her husband Tanner is behind the camera and works in commercial and automotive content, including rally work, shooting in the firearm space for almost eight years, and work with brands such as Porsche AG. Neither of their families were gun people growing up; Tanner introduced Alyssa to firearms. Her YouTube is Alyssa Seymour and her Instagram is @thegunnygal.
Key quotes
"people like to feel strong and people like to feel like they can handle their own." — Alyssa Seymour (GunnyGal)
"you can't really expect success in long form quickly." — Tanner
"I want to be able to have people just watch my videos and be able to understand it without having to go to another video or source to find out what it means" — Alyssa Seymour (GunnyGal)
"start with something you're passionate about irregardless of searchability." — Tanner
"the moment you treat firearms with a passion and a hobbyist attitude, I think the more you touch them, the more you handle them, the more you have fun with them" — Tanner
"The Constitution is to protect those rights, not to grant those rights." — Kaylee
"the less you see of something, the more wrong it becomes." — Tanner
"YouTube demonizes you for trying to educate." — Tanner
Transcript
Welcome to Gun Owners of America State of the second podcast.
Speaker A:I'm Kayleigh.
Speaker B:And I'm John.
Speaker B:And today we're joined by Alyssa and Tanner, the gunny gal.
Speaker B:And Tanner, I don't know, do you have a name?
Speaker C:Well, he used to actually be called Gunny Gunner.
Speaker C:So that's where I got my name from.
Speaker C:But he doesn't go by that anymore.
Speaker C:So.
Speaker D:Yeah,.
Speaker B:We appreciate you getting being on with us.
Speaker B:We're going to start off with rapid fire questions.
Speaker B:We're going to ask you five questions, you go ahead and answer them for us.
Speaker B:Uh, let's see.
Speaker B:What was your last impulse buy?
Speaker C:Ooh, I know.
Speaker C:Yours.
Speaker D:Yeah, mine, Yours was the.
Speaker D:Well, let's talk about yours.
Speaker C:Oh my.
Speaker C:Well, I'm trying to think what was it?
Speaker D:I think it was probably optics.
Speaker C:Yeah, probably.
Speaker D:I think pistol optics was yours.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker D:On Utah you had me go get.
Speaker D:Yeah, so there's that optics for her guns for me.
Speaker C:Of course it's gun related.
Speaker D:The BNT APC 223, that was mine.
Speaker D:She's much more responsible.
Speaker D:I don't think about the planning of optics.
Speaker C:And a lot of his were our like larger buys.
Speaker C:Yeah, they cost a lot more.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:So fair.
Speaker C:Yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So TikTok or YouTube?
Speaker C:YouTube.
Speaker D:YouTube.
Speaker D:Yeah, hands down.
Speaker B:What is your go to EDCS?
Speaker C:Mine's kind of boring.
Speaker C:It's a Glock 48.
Speaker C:No optic, no nothing.
Speaker D:Yeah, it's kind of boring.
Speaker C:Sometimes I switch it up a little bit.
Speaker D:Say that's like your default.
Speaker D:Your.
Speaker D:The one you enjoy the most when it's like colder out here is probably the staccato C2.
Speaker C:Yeah, well we, we sold that recently unfortunately.
Speaker C:But yeah, in the winter I did like to wear that.
Speaker C:Or yeah, wear that one because you can in the winter jackets.
Speaker C:What do you wear now nowadays?
Speaker D:Uh, it's typically this atomic six.
Speaker D:Just like a carbon fiber block.
Speaker D:We've been spoiled for choice.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker D:So I kind of rotate out.
Speaker D:I would say like the one I go back to is probably that one the most, which is like a Glock 19 format with the comp.
Speaker D:I've been rocking actually the Hudson a little bit in the Zev, but yeah, I guess that's.
Speaker C:You like to switch it up.
Speaker A:Who is the youtuber you're more most likely to binge watch.
Speaker C:Oh, there's a lot.
Speaker C:Oh man.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker C: I like: Speaker C:That's probably my favorite.
Speaker D:That's solid.
Speaker C:There's a lot out there though.
Speaker C:There's some good ones.
Speaker C:Yours I know who, who yours Is answer it.
Speaker C:No.
Speaker C:Oh, who yours is?
Speaker D:I want to see if you're right.
Speaker C:Forgotten weapons.
Speaker C:Ian McCollum, 100.
Speaker D:That was my answer.
Speaker D:That says 100% Ian.
Speaker C:Yep.
Speaker C:He likes to geek out.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B: Now,: Speaker B:Is it just Chris you watch because of the beard, or is it everybody?
Speaker C:Everybody.
Speaker C:Yeah, I. I do like Chris, though, but everyone.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Chris is a good friend.
Speaker B:I had to poke fun at him a little bit.
Speaker D:His beard's.
Speaker D:His beard's great.
Speaker D:I.
Speaker D:It's something I can aspire to be.
Speaker C:Oh, yeah, He.
Speaker C:He's trying.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:Got the Amish, the bream young going on.
Speaker C:So.
Speaker B:What is the most underrated prepping item?
Speaker C:Oh, it's a good question.
Speaker C:Do you have an answer?
Speaker D:I think I got one.
Speaker C:What?
Speaker D:I think it's food.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker D:Probably long term.
Speaker D:Food supplies or water.
Speaker C:Water.
Speaker C:Honestly, that's probably water.
Speaker D:I feel like food you can condense.
Speaker D:So it's like a better practical one.
Speaker D:Maybe water is the one.
Speaker D:Because water, you can't.
Speaker D:Can't compact water, you know?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker D:It's got to be food or water, because that's the.
Speaker C:I gotta say water.
Speaker D:Basic necessities.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Because a lot of people think about the food.
Speaker C:I don't think a lot of people think about the water.
Speaker D:First aid's cool.
Speaker D:Guns are cool.
Speaker D:Food's not cool.
Speaker D:Is that fun?
Speaker C:That's cool.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker B:That was fun.
Speaker B:Cool.
Speaker B:I lost count.
Speaker B:I thought that was four.
Speaker B:See him?
Speaker A:That's how numbers were my public school education there.
Speaker B:So let's go ahead and dive into the meat and potatoes of this.
Speaker B:Kind of tell the folks who you are, what you do, all that stuff.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:So I'm Melissa Seymour.
Speaker C:I mainly have a YouTube channel that's kind of like the main thing that I do right now.
Speaker C:Also active on Instagram, but it's basically content creation.
Speaker C:Kind of along the lines of firearms, competition, education, concealed carry, kind of a little bit of everything.
Speaker C:And then Tanner here, he's my husband, and he does a lot on, like, the editing side of things and.
Speaker C:Sorry, you can talk about yourself.
Speaker D:No, no, you go.
Speaker D:I don't feel like you capped off.
Speaker D:Got a lot going on.
Speaker B:Oh.
Speaker C:About myself.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:Oh, I don't know.
Speaker C:What else do I say?
Speaker C:Yeah, I.
Speaker C:That's pretty much it.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:When I picked you in a nutshell.
Speaker D:In a nutshell, like a physical, you compete in not only guns, but CrossFit too.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:That space kind of fitness and firearms.
Speaker D:So.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:So.
Speaker D:And then I. Yeah, I'm.
Speaker D:I'm the guy behind, like, the Camera most of the time.
Speaker D:I, I, I work for brands on and off like Porsche AG and a lot of like independent subcontracting for rallies.
Speaker D:So I get to do a lot of rally content.
Speaker D:Big Car guy dragging her into that too.
Speaker D:So.
Speaker D:But yeah, also I shoot a lot of commercial stuff, as kind of Ben alluded to earlier, before, before we hopped on, but I shoot a lot of commercial stuff in the firearm space.
Speaker D:So I've been shooting commercials for I think almost like eight years or so, so still kind of mediocre at it, I say, but.
Speaker D:But yeah, you're pretty good.
Speaker D:She, she was, started uploading stuff on, on YouTube and kind of roped me into this.
Speaker D:I was like, all right, perfect.
Speaker D:I get to do this.
Speaker D:My best friend now.
Speaker D:So I'm like, it's pretty exciting.
Speaker A:But yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker A:So I love that, you know, you're kind of bringing in a lot of different worlds between firearms and cars and CrossFit, but they're all very, you know, inner intertwined and interwoven.
Speaker A:What has been the response that you've seen from the communities that might not necessarily be all firearms all the time, but definitely, you know, firearm adjacent?
Speaker C:Yeah, I'd say as far as like the fitness side of it, people like to feel strong and people like to feel like they can handle their own.
Speaker C:So I feel like that has to do with firearms in a way, especially when it comes to women.
Speaker C:You know, we can talk all about that as well.
Speaker C:And that's kind of one thing I've kind of leaned into is I like to feel strong in the gym.
Speaker C:I like to be able to deadlift £300 or whatever.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:And so I also like firearms because I feel like I'm strong and empowered in a way.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:And you can kind of talk more about the gun or the car side of it.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:But that's been an interesting kind of mix because there's a lot of people who are into cars and guns, but there's some people who are kind of off put with guns in the car world.
Speaker D:So, yeah, I mean, she mentioned earlier I had to change my, my moniker, I guess, Instagram account.
Speaker D:So I, as I developed more into the car world and started doing more things internationally.
Speaker D:Guns, guns have always been like a passion of mine, but definitely were put in the background just because I had to, I just had to play my cards right, you know, and make sure that like, I wasn't only guns and siloed into firearms and hunting spaces.
Speaker D:Because in, in kind of the creative world, when, as you work with larger brands and as you work with larger teams, you know, you kind of have to, I mean, it's, it's political, it's all connections and politics at times.
Speaker D:And so you have to kind of play it agnostic a little bit.
Speaker D:And then I, I, I recently especially have been like, kind of posting more about guns and the stories and kind of getting more back into it, trying to, trying to really show just how much of a lifestyle it is for us.
Speaker D:And rather than being upfront to a, you know, like, which I love and respect, I try to show more of a different side of arms where it's the hobbyist, the enthusiast side, the fun side, the creative side of things for me and try to get people into, on the, we'll call it, on the firearms team from a different perspective that they may have this perception from the news of what firearms ownership is like.
Speaker D:But then they meet me, a good friend.
Speaker D:I've developed relationships now at this point for years, and I kind of come out, you know, or whatever as a firearms enthusiast.
Speaker D:And it's actually kind of funny.
Speaker D:We got some friends in Poland who, you know, consider themselves the Texas of Europe.
Speaker D:And they're all, they're all excited every time we post something.
Speaker D:The stories.
Speaker D:I've got a buddy, Pavel, who's just like, hell yeah, brother, just so cool.
Speaker D:You know, like, he's, he's all about it, but, you know, the car world's interesting.
Speaker D:Like, there's something about cars too.
Speaker D:I think every gun guy in some degrees, outdoorsman, overlanding, car enthusiasts, you know, there's a lot of overlap there, especially here in the States, but internationally it's kind of interesting seeing the, the reception to it because, yeah, I mean, we could go on a whole thing about it, but there's a lot more Europeans that you'd, you'd be surprised are into guns and have guns, which I, I didn't find out until I started kind of merging the two and posting more about her stuff and the stories and stuff like that.
Speaker D:It's, it's really shocking just how the two actually do blend cross cultures across the world.
Speaker D:You know, I've got some buddies in Thailand who are asking questions about guns, which, which was awesome, but I'm probably going too long into it.
Speaker D:But there's just a lot, there's a lot of stories I have kind of about that also spoiled my shirt, but sorry about that.
Speaker C:I didn't realize it, but even like bringing it kind of more closer to home, like both of our families aren't like gun People.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:And so kind of seeing.
Speaker C:Having like seeing them watch us kind of get into all of like, guns and competitions and going out every weekend.
Speaker C:It's been interesting to see their reactions to it, but they're very supportive of it.
Speaker C:And we've gotten some of them, we've bought some guns for them, we've taken them out shooting.
Speaker C:So it's just fun to like, kind of see them get into it as well.
Speaker D:We've definitely introduced a lot of people we didn't expect to into guns from ways that we didn't expect.
Speaker D:And it's not a political thing.
Speaker D:It's just like, I don't know, it's just a enthusiast thing.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:You brought up getting people into the space in.
Speaker B:And that's a big thing with Gua is that on ramp into getting into the Second amendment space.
Speaker B:The thing that I also want to touch on, you brought up overlanding, and I feel like that's the biggest crossover between guns and cars that we're seeing is the overlanding community kind of getting into it.
Speaker B:What do you think about that?
Speaker B:Is it.
Speaker B:You think that's the next space?
Speaker B:Should firearms manufacturers start making more stuff for overlanding companies or vice versa?
Speaker C:Like, that's more of a you question.
Speaker C:You would.
Speaker C:You probably have a better answer for that.
Speaker D:Yeah, I definitely think there is a ton of crossover.
Speaker D:I can name a ton of CEOs who I know who are huge gun advocates in the overlanding space.
Speaker D:You know, that, that.
Speaker D:That community.
Speaker D:We had a Tacoma and built it out, and I was working for a few brands who were mainly in the Toyota space at the time.
Speaker D:I think there's a sense like, especially here in the States, we have to keep.
Speaker D:Like, I always have this to perspective, but, you know, we have such vast land to do whatever we want here.
Speaker D:And when you get in a truck or, you know, SUV and whatever and you're going out, you're in no man's land.
Speaker D:There's.
Speaker D:There's something about having a gun with you at the side where it's like, you know, come cougars, come bears, come, whatever.
Speaker D:Because you'll face that stuff if you go out to the right places.
Speaker D:Like, there's that sense of protection that you can offer, but also, again, the sense of fun where it's like shooting desert trash or whatever you want to call it.
Speaker D:Like, there's just a fun activity about shooting that.
Speaker D:It's just something to take with you.
Speaker D:You know, pack the rifle up and.
Speaker D:And a couple rounds of ammo and then go out, camp, shoot in the Morning.
Speaker D:You know, have a freedom.
Speaker D:Yeah, have a nice.
Speaker D:Like that's freedom.
Speaker D:You know, that's, that's like, that's the American dream.
Speaker D:I think in extent is going out and do whatever you want.
Speaker D:So.
Speaker D:But to answer your question, like is there overlap?
Speaker D:Absolutely.
Speaker D:I think we see a lot of companies making like truck safes and quick accessible accessories for like back your seats and stuff like that for firearms.
Speaker D:A lot of those companies actually have over landing gear or experience in that overlanding space or come from the overlanding space even.
Speaker D:I know a few cases of guys who were working for like a company like CBI or something who made roof racks and then spun off in their own company who make firearms safe for trucks or for vehicles.
Speaker D:So.
Speaker D:Absolutely.
Speaker D:I think the, the merging of the two is kind of gray area.
Speaker D:But yeah, you wouldn't be surprised at how many like people in those companies who are making gun specific truck accessories are actually sub companies of, of like an overlanding brand or something.
Speaker B:Recently started blowing up on YouTube.
Speaker B:You know what made you want to do YouTube?
Speaker B:What's that look like being a female on.
Speaker B:On YouTube?
Speaker B:Talking about gun stuff.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:So we first kind of blew up off of just like shorts, like cell phone footage, like cringy stuff.
Speaker C:So if you go back and look at it, it's, it is cringy.
Speaker C:But that's kind of how it started.
Speaker C:And then I really wanted to start pushing towards like long form and more educational stuff.
Speaker C:So that's kind of what we've been really focusing on at the start of this year.
Speaker C:Like right after shot show is kind of when we like hit the ground running with that.
Speaker C:But it's been interesting being a female because I feel like you're in that space.
Speaker C:I feel like there's either like the gun bunny or there's like LEO military.
Speaker C:And there's nothing wrong with that.
Speaker C:But I am, you know, I don't have a LEO or military experience and then I don't like to be portrayed as a gun bunny.
Speaker C:So I'm like trying to kind of, kind of find that like middle ground of being able to appeal to anyone.
Speaker C:It doesn't have to be females too, like just average civilians, men or women, just because that's the majority of Americans out there who are into guns.
Speaker C:And so just being able to bring information that anyone can watch and understand.
Speaker C:Sometimes I feel like when we watch videos, these gun tubers, they're great, but sometimes they'll say things and even I sometimes don't understand exactly.
Speaker C:Or just recently learned what that means.
Speaker C:The term that they use.
Speaker C:And so I want to be able to have people just watch my videos and be able to understand it without having to go to another video or source to find out what it means, if that makes sense.
Speaker B:Yeah, that makes sense.
Speaker B:You said you guys started off at short form content and brought it over to long form.
Speaker B:A lot of people start with short form and then the long form doesn't perform as well.
Speaker B:How have you seen the transition from short form over to long form?
Speaker B:And has your audience adjusted to that?
Speaker C:I think it's, they're finally adjusting to it.
Speaker C:We've had a couple videos kind of blow up, so that's helped.
Speaker C:But at first, you know, I mean, even now it's still kind of like a, it's a long game or long term game, you know.
Speaker D:So, yeah, you can't really, I mean, you can't really expect success in long form quickly.
Speaker D:Yeah, that's, that's the thing that I think shorts prepare people for, like immediate success.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker D:Whereas long form, it's a gradual buildup.
Speaker D:And that's even true no matter how many subscribers you have.
Speaker D:Like, we, you know, when we started actually putting out videos, you know, Alyssa was like, hey, I want to make this a thing and can you help me with the long form and develop the long form?
Speaker D:You know, I, I, I was like, oh, wow, you have all these subscribers at first.
Speaker D:This must mean that immediately our long form is going to kick off.
Speaker D:So at the time you had around a hundred thousand, I think, from just the shorts, and that was just not the case.
Speaker D:But we had to treat it like this is a fresh channel, this is new.
Speaker D:And then also too, like, we really need to find out what the audience wants.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:I think that's the biggest thing.
Speaker C:And yeah, I have this audience kind of in the short form, but like, what do they want?
Speaker C:Who are they?
Speaker C:What are they here for?
Speaker D:Basically, yeah, the trick is nailing the two.
Speaker D:Like what is short audiences want is like quick information or quick entertainment.
Speaker D:That's a different audience and different age group, frankly, than the long form audience who's searching for deep answers into problems that they're, they're facing.
Speaker D:And so that's why we, we script our videos.
Speaker D:We both look at them and say, you know, does, does this serve people who are looking this question up?
Speaker D:You know, we recently did a law one or traveling with firearms and tried to nail as much information as we can without being too lengthy.
Speaker D:And that was something that we workshops a lot on just to make sure we were actually having people Walk away from the video being like, I understand this and I know what I'm going to do if I got to cross state lines or go to this state and such.
Speaker D:And so, yeah, it took us, I don't know, probably a year and a half now to, I would say, feel confident with our scripting process and get some predictability in numbers.
Speaker D:But that comes with a lot of, like, research and time and trial and error, to be honest.
Speaker D:From our, from our experience and some.
Speaker C:Videos, we think they're gonna do great, and then they don't.
Speaker C:And then like, I did a video on, like, Hammer Fire versus Striker Fire.
Speaker C:And Tanner, at first he was like, okay, that's like, stupid.
Speaker C:Like, that's not gonna do good.
Speaker C:And then it, like, did way better than we thought.
Speaker C:I'm like, hey, I don't know.
Speaker C:But it works.
Speaker D:So you did well on it.
Speaker D:So.
Speaker C:Yeah, well.
Speaker B:And that's, that's the thing that a lot of people, when you get into doing YouTube and things like that, you.
Speaker B:Most people start off with shorts and you see instant success.
Speaker B:That builds you up because it's a.
Speaker B:It is a different audience.
Speaker B:It's a different really quick.
Speaker B:Where a lot of people don't look at it for long form is that it's evergreen content that's going to live there, or short form lives for a short period of time.
Speaker B:The long form is going to live there for a long time.
Speaker B:You'll get a buildup of audience where a video may have.
Speaker B:You may go two weeks, and it's like, oh, it's only got 500 views.
Speaker B:I'm kind of like, this sucked.
Speaker B:I'm mad.
Speaker B:And then three weeks later or a year later, it'll blow up to like 60,000 views just because people are now all of a sudden looking for that.
Speaker B:So when you look into things like that with the, with your content and you're starting to build up that audience and things like that, you know, how do you play with the metrics, the numbers?
Speaker B:You look at that go, hey, does.
Speaker B:Is this going to go?
Speaker B:Does my SEO scores look good?
Speaker B:Does my overall.
Speaker B:Am I tagging right?
Speaker B:Do I need to change tags or I need to change title?
Speaker B:All that kind of stuff.
Speaker C:Yeah, I feel like you're more on the marketing side.
Speaker C:That's your background.
Speaker C:So I feel like you have probably better analytical, like, an answer for that.
Speaker C:Just more surface level on my side.
Speaker C:I, I try to mix the, like the Hammer versus Striker Fire, that one.
Speaker C:I feel like people are going to be searching that for a long time.
Speaker C:Right?
Speaker C:Forever.
Speaker C:Um, and then there's some videos that when, let's say, a gun first comes out and it first launches, I feel like a lot of people are going to search for that, and then it might die over time.
Speaker C:So kind of balancing the two videos that are going to kind of be long, long term, like, gradually increase and then some that might be, like, at first might get a lot of views and then kind of dip down, kind of mixing the two is what I've tried to do as far as, like, when I'm scripting videos and thinking about ideas.
Speaker C:And then I know you do a lot of, like, looking on the back end and looking as far as, like, marketing and SEO and all that stuff.
Speaker C:So you can talk on that.
Speaker D:Yeah, it's.
Speaker D:We're.
Speaker D:We watch a lot of Hell's Kitchen,.
Speaker C:So, like, yeah, that's what we're binging.
Speaker D:Right now, Hell's Kitchen reference.
Speaker D:But, you know, you have your main dish, which is, like, your proteins, your meat, your steak, and then you have what's called garnish, which is, like, the stuff on the side, the potatoes or whatever.
Speaker D:And I always think, like, if your steak's not good, then the meal's not good, no matter how much garnish or what.
Speaker D:How good your garnish is.
Speaker D:And so what I try and do is, like, we.
Speaker D:We both brainstorm the ideas.
Speaker D:She'll come up with something that she feels passionate about, whether it's research on Reddit and.
Speaker D:And, you know, we'll kind of look at it for SEO terms, like, how much is this getting searched?
Speaker D:How much competition does it actually have?
Speaker D:Do people do it better than us?
Speaker D:Because we don't want to put something out if we're not.
Speaker D:If we can't, like, have our.
Speaker D:A different way of answering the same question or a better way?
Speaker D:And so if we feel like, hey, this question's been answered, this guy's got a great video, we can't do better than that, then I think we just move on at that point because we don't want to run the waters.
Speaker C:But it depends, because I'm mentioning the same video, but, like, the hammer versus Striker fire.
Speaker C:I watched a ton of videos and just trying to see what other people are saying about it.
Speaker C:And I was like, okay, hold up.
Speaker C:I feel like nobody's addressing, like, this specific point or saying it in this specific way.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:And so I saw a gap in the videos on YouTube and felt.
Speaker C:I mean, I'm talking about myself.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:But, like, I felt like I did it maybe not in a better way.
Speaker C:But in a different way than like newcomers approachable way.
Speaker C:And so I got a lot of comments like oh, thank you for explaining it.
Speaker C:Like this makes sense to me.
Speaker C:I just watched someone else who said this and I didn't understand it.
Speaker C:Yeah, but you said it in a way that I could understand.
Speaker C:So it kind of depends too.
Speaker D:Yeah, that's exactly it.
Speaker D:And then to, to kind of answer like the long, the long term thing, you know.
Speaker D:Absolutely.
Speaker D:Like some videos have recently popped off because there's regained interest in things staccato hd it's a good example of that.
Speaker D:So our HD video wasn't like great off the bat.
Speaker D:Now there's a resurgence.
Speaker C:Even like the staccato factory tour.
Speaker C:Like it was, I think it was like six months later it like jumped up.
Speaker D:So, so and then.
Speaker D:But yeah, it's, it's, it's hard to predict the future.
Speaker D:Yeah, things change a lot and quickly.
Speaker D:But you know, it depends if I'm answering this for somebody who wants to start their channel.
Speaker D:I'd always start with, start with something you're passionate about irregardless of searchability.
Speaker D:Irregardless because you're going to suck for a year.
Speaker D:You're going to eat crap for a year until you figure it out.
Speaker D:And, and if you're not passionate about it, that's going to drain your battery.
Speaker D:You're going to come home angry or be pissed off that things aren't working and it's not going to be fun for you.
Speaker D:Like luckily this is fun for me filming and, and, and shooting.
Speaker D:This is fun for her because she loves to shoot and, and she's honestly answering questions that she has.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker D:And, and is like well let's see if other people have these questions.
Speaker D:And so she's her, her gap I would say from the beginning of this year since we started this approach to now her, her, her knowledge gap has, I want to say decrease is the right word but you know, in order to, to teach it you have to learn it yourself.
Speaker D:And so she'll do months of research.
Speaker C:That's the, that's the most fun part about like scripting videos is like diving into it and learning as much as I can.
Speaker C:And then again like you said like being able to teach it and like say it.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:To in a way that people understand.
Speaker D:And so she's a, you know, a talented bookworm.
Speaker D:I'll say at that where I'm more street smarts and things.
Speaker D:But you know, this wouldn't work if we weren't enjoying what we do.
Speaker D:In the first place.
Speaker D:Because we would have quit a long time ago, that's for sure.
Speaker A:Yeah, I love that you are taking things from a practical approach and not, you know, kind of overthinking it in so many ways.
Speaker A:Because, you know, we're seeing more and more gun ownership, new gun owners.
Speaker A:You know, women are the fastest growing demographic.
Speaker A:And you are very humbly admitting I don't know everything.
Speaker A:And I'm going to research what I don't know and then I'm going to share that love and that passion for firearms to make the next person better.
Speaker A:And imagine where the second Amendment community would be if we all took that approach with whatever it is within the two way space that, that we feel deficient in ourselves.
Speaker A:And I think that's a lot of why you're seeing this, this catapult to success.
Speaker A:And you know, that evergreen content that you were saying is because there, every time that there's a new gun owner, there's going to be a new gun owner with a question.
Speaker A:And so I think those educational resources are way more valuable than I think even you recognize, because there's always going to be that next person in line.
Speaker A:And if we do our job right, there's more than one.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:There's a whole movement and a migration into the two way space.
Speaker C:Yeah, for sure.
Speaker A:What would be your kind of practical advice, your, you know, three steps to success for someone who is wanting to maybe get into the firearms space or take their knowledge base to the next level?
Speaker C:I'd say for me, what really kind of took mine to the next level was just going out and getting more experience and doing it with people who were better than me and learning from instructors.
Speaker C:Like, we went to Ohio Range Day, which is hosted by Achilles Heel Tactical and Rick over there, and then all the instructors he had at that event, they were just phenomenal.
Speaker C:And that was at the point where I was like, efficient enough with firearms that I can, you know, I can hold my own, but I wasn't like proficient with them.
Speaker C:And so that really was like, I feel like one of the biggest steps that I took and it really made me a better shooter and just learning from great instructors.
Speaker C:And yeah, I feel like that was the biggest thing.
Speaker D:Yeah, I think in my case, you know, I have a bit of a unique path because I worked in the space for a long time, so my offices were like littered with guns.
Speaker D:You every person would have a gun on their desk.
Speaker D:You know, it's like kind of thing and not loaded or anything.
Speaker D:It was safe environment.
Speaker D:But I Was, you know, in ranges, and I had a range right next to, you know, where.
Speaker D:Where I worked.
Speaker D:And so, like, you know, guns were part of the ecosystem, the culture, the environment.
Speaker D:And it's just like, you know, for me, it's much more of a caveman approach where it's like, you just do it until you succeed.
Speaker D:And I'm just kind of that caveman kind of guy where it's like, I just.
Speaker D:First thing I do with a firearm is I'll get familiar with it.
Speaker D:Like, when I got the apc, I was just, like, finagling it.
Speaker D:I took it apart, put it back together.
Speaker D:I was, like, interested in how all these components worked and just felt like.
Speaker D:I feel like the more you play around with it, of course, in a safe environment, dry fire, all that stuff.
Speaker D:But, you know, like, the more you.
Speaker D:You hang around the gun, the more.
Speaker D:The quicker it becomes, like, a part of you.
Speaker D:And you start pointing, you get your natural, like.
Speaker D:I don't want to call it natural point of aim because there's.
Speaker D:There's a lot of debate on what that term actually means.
Speaker D:But, you know, you start.
Speaker D:You start feeling like, yeah, this is how that gun gets into my shoulder or pistol.
Speaker D:This is how I roll my hands out.
Speaker D:And then the instructors are just like gasoline on the fire, like she said, where it's once.
Speaker D:You, the instructors, for me, kind of piece the puzzle together.
Speaker D:When I was, like, having issues shooting or trying to get better, I'd hit roadblocks back in the day, and then Rick would just put it in a simple term of rethinking.
Speaker D:Okay, this is what happens when you're shooting, and if it's hitting low to the left or up to the right, you know, whatever it is, let's rethink the process that you have and then figure out what could push that bullet that way and then try and correct it step by step.
Speaker D:And anyway, so I.
Speaker D:For me, it was just like making guns a lifestyle improve my shooting far faster.
Speaker D:And now that we're both into it and we have, like, we kind of sectioned off our basement area, our studio area.
Speaker D:So that way it's just in a safe space.
Speaker D:But we'll come down here and dry fire.
Speaker D:We've got the ace.
Speaker D:We dry.
Speaker D:You know, we.
Speaker D:We do a ton of gun manipulation work every day, if not.
Speaker D:And so we get familiar and pretty competent with guns pretty quickly because it's just part of our lifestyle.
Speaker D:You know, this is like.
Speaker D:This is like our hangout space, you know, and.
Speaker D:And I feel like, you know, if You're.
Speaker D:If it's possible for you to be dry firing all the time or whatever, get home, put some.
Speaker D:Put some time with your gun and your firearm, that helps.
Speaker D:That translates to the range a ton.
Speaker D:So, yeah, I guess, you know, kind of boiling it down.
Speaker D:It's just handle your gun right.
Speaker C:Yeah, I mean, first off, I mean, we got to mention you got to be safe.
Speaker C:And I know you already mentioned that, but as long as you.
Speaker C:Yeah, because that first step, you really have to know how to be safe with it and know how it works.
Speaker C:First off, because if you don't really know how it all works, you're not gonna improve.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker C:You're not gonna get better with it.
Speaker C:And then once you know how to be safe and everything, then you can have.
Speaker C:Can have some fun.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:And be able to dry fire and get just that experience just handling a firearm and knowing how everything works and being able to manipulate it on your own.
Speaker C:And then I really got into it when I started to treat it like it's a sport and got into the sport where, like, competition side of things.
Speaker C:I started with tactile games.
Speaker C:This year we're getting into uspsa and that's really where it really became, like, fun for us.
Speaker C:And so if you can get to the point where it's fun and it doesn't feel like, oh, I have this for self, like for self protection, which is a great thing.
Speaker C:But I feel like sometimes that might feel like a burden because, I mean, many people just have a gun and then it sits in the safe all year.
Speaker C:But if you can get to the point where it's fun and maybe turn it into competition, start doing competitions if you want, and then you'll get more experience and then become proficient with it.
Speaker D:I mean, on that point, you know where she was talking about, yeah, a lot of people have guns for self defense.
Speaker D:If you think of a gun and it's only for self defense, then you kind of, you know, and not to say like, yes, this is the backbone second amendment.
Speaker D:I absolutely love that we have the freedoms we have here in the states, but the moment you treat firearms with a passion and a hobbyist attitude, I think the more you touch them, the more you handle them, the more you have fun with them, the more you go out to the ranch.
Speaker D:If you make your experience with firearms fun and enjoyable, not just for you, but for your family, for loved ones, for people you want to take out and have fun shooting, it becomes an activity.
Speaker D:And that makes you a better shooter far more than just thinking of it only as a self defense tool because then you're just going to default to the guns over in the corner.
Speaker D:And I only touch it when things go bad, you know, and so therefore never going to touch it until things go bad and then I don't know what to do.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker D:So having kind of an attitude of like you mentioned competition shooting my.
Speaker D:I'm going to throw my sister under the bus here.
Speaker D:She's awesome firefighter, wonderful, wonderful sister.
Speaker D:She's never, never really touched guns up until these later years in her life.
Speaker D:And she, she was doing it because you got into the competition side in tactical games and she was like that looks fun.
Speaker D:And that spoke to me.
Speaker D:My sister's extremely buff, extremely fit.
Speaker D:She's a firefighter and you know, she never was into the CrossFit space but she was a soccer player for time and she has that competitive nature.
Speaker D:She's now handling firearms way more in, in the last like year.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker D:And we've seen her every range day get way more competent.
Speaker D:You know, when she started she was like this and last range day she's locked in, you know, pistol.
Speaker D:And it's, it's just that mentality of clicking that guns aren't, you know, aren't just for killing and maining and so I only need it when I, when that happens.
Speaker D:But guns are also like this, this enthusiast thing and can be used for so much more things and, and just something to connect us as a family.
Speaker D:Like you know, just seeing that change in her was like holy crap for me a learning experience.
Speaker D:I'm like this, this is how Americans can get into firearms.
Speaker B:This is brought to you by Patriot Mobile.
Speaker B:Use code GOA for one month free for freedom loving mobile service.
Speaker B:Patriot Mobile is a pro freedom mobile carrier.
Speaker B:They use the same towers as the big brands and even to the point where if you have that you can switch between networks, between ATT and Verizon and all that.
Speaker B:Just because Patriot Mobile does that for you.
Speaker B:So use code GOA for one month free at Patriot Mobile.
Speaker A:So it's time for our, our segment from the Soapbox where we dive into a little bit more of the spicier side of things.
Speaker A:So I wanted to, to ask out of everything that we're seeing with the 2Amovement, where do you feel like our weak spots are when it comes to speaking to people who are outside of the gun culture?
Speaker C:Oh, that is a really good question.
Speaker C:Gotta think about this.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:Do you, do you have anything to say immediately?
Speaker D:I feel like I talked a lot but I'll try and keep it concise here, but I think it is the hobbyist nature of firearms, you know, trying to highlight the sport aspect of it and rely on the merits of.
Speaker D:It's a fun thing for people to get into.
Speaker D:It's not a political thing.
Speaker D:It's not a.
Speaker D:It's not always death and destruction and whatever.
Speaker D:Military hoorah.
Speaker D:Like, which is awesome.
Speaker D:Yeah, there's that aspect to it I've very much enjoyed.
Speaker D:But yeah, just speaking more to the hobbyist nature and trying to highlight,.
Speaker C:Even.
Speaker D:Internationally, I mean, we recently had an international shooting competition that.
Speaker D:That was hosted in Europe, and the amount of people internationally getting involved in firearms is.
Speaker D:It's absolutely cool.
Speaker D:This isn't exclusive to.
Speaker D:This doesn't have to be exclusive to America.
Speaker D:We can hopefully spread this to around the world and hopefully inspire other people to take action to, I would say, regain their rights in other countries.
Speaker D:But from an American standpoint, I think we can do better at showing the hobby side of shooting and.
Speaker D:And from an enthusiast normal perspective, you know, that's kind of where I'd say yeah.
Speaker C:And even along the lines of, like, gun laws and all of that, it really comes down to our freedom if we really think about it.
Speaker C:So we're gonna.
Speaker C:It may not seem like outside of the industry, maybe a small little gun law may not seem like the biggest deal to some people, but it's a huge deal when you think about it.
Speaker C:Because if these people are taking these small steps and inching away at, like, taking our freedom away, then, like, eventually we'll be like.
Speaker C:We've seen with Canada.
Speaker C:Sorry, I'm like, kind of rambling.
Speaker C:But we've seen, like, with Canada and other, like, countries just their rights being slowly taken away.
Speaker C:And I feel like there's a lot that we can do as Americans.
Speaker C:And as long as we educate people, I feel like we have a strong backbone to be able to make a huge difference.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:What I love about what you said here.
Speaker A:I'll save you.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker A:What I love about what you said, though, is we want to see more people come into the fold, and there's a level of that that also affects the international community.
Speaker A:When you think about America and you think about freedom, we think of the firearms and there's a lot of restoration that has to be done here at home.
Speaker A:But being the global hegemon, the impact that we can have of showing the fun side, the shooting sports, getting people back into hunting.
Speaker A:If we look at, for example, the average age of a hunter, we could be losing the hunting tradition if we don't correct.
Speaker A:So much of the second Amendment community needs to be about sharing with others and so that people can look at the gun culture in the US and not see a narrative that is talked about or is pushed by big tech and those that have a set agenda, but rather what true gun ownership looks like, which is personal responsibility, which is freedom, which is very family focused in so many ways.
Speaker A:And so the fact that you guys are out there doing international competitions and you know, sharing a love of firearms with not only your friends in the US but abroad really helps move the movement forward.
Speaker A:Because you know, we talk a lot about how government wants to pretend that they gifted us our rights, when in fact the Constitution is, is to protect our rights because our rights are natural rights.
Speaker A:They precede government.
Speaker A:They are protected.
Speaker A:The Constitution is to protect those rights, not to grant those rights.
Speaker A:And that means these countries that are in far worse shape as far as second amendment rights go.
Speaker A:Those people also have these ineligible rights.
Speaker A:It's just their government doesn't recognize it and maybe they don't have the courage to recognize it themselves.
Speaker A:But the more that we show gun ownership and the more that we are able to protect those rights because the United States is the superpower, the more we can have a positive effect on the entire world's view on guns.
Speaker D:I do want to make a small correction just so audience is clear.
Speaker D:We haven't done any competitions internationally.
Speaker D:I speak a lot about the international side of things just because that's my work in, in automotive space and so like just ball correction.
Speaker D:But 100% agree with you there.
Speaker D:Yeah, I, I always think, sorry, just want to make that, that clear.
Speaker D:But I always think in the terms of international just because like I said, we have a lot of friends that are international at this point, just through the car connection and it is felt around the world.
Speaker D:Europeans are, are extremely pissed with their government and the policies.
Speaker D:And another side of it too is the whole Russia and Ukraine situation going on right now where Poland is pushing hard.
Speaker D:There's a big Polish movement to, I would say, you know, like you said, restore their rights to protect and self defense and have what we would call, you know, our own militia but you know, independent security at that point because it's become a real topic for them and they're a lot closer to those situations than us Americans have ever been.
Speaker D:So yeah, I'm a big advocate for a lot of our European friends to have the rights that we get blessed with.
Speaker D:But also we're currently working to restore like you mentioned.
Speaker C:So yeah, hearing you Talk about your conversations with them.
Speaker C:And having a few conversations myself with some of your European friends, it's been interesting to see the perspective because it's just something I never kind of thought about because I don't travel international a whole lot.
Speaker C:And so hearing some of those stories and just their perspectives, it kind of just like we're so similar in so many ways.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:So yeah, it's cool.
Speaker D:They're just like us with less rights.
Speaker B:Funny.
Speaker B:You bring up Europe and it's funny.
Speaker B:We've talked about it on other episodes where we talk about Europeans wanting their gun rights back and some European countries and how that have gun laws.
Speaker B:As the average American looks at Europe and goes, oh, it's like Great Britain because they don't know any better.
Speaker B:They, they lump Great Britain in with all their anti gun stuff because that's what we hear the most about in Europe.
Speaker B:There's a lot of countries in Europe that have guns.
Speaker B:Now you did bring up something.
Speaker B:Alyssa brought up something interesting earlier was Canada and the rights being stripped away from Canadian citizens.
Speaker B:And we're seeing a few that I know of that have moved down from Canada into the U.S. to keep those rights.
Speaker B:Do you guys have anything you want to touch on on that?
Speaker C:We don't have any personal ties.
Speaker C:I guess my brother in law is from Canada and he still has family out there, but we don't have, other than that we don't have a whole lot of like personal ties.
Speaker C:I just get a lot of comments in my YouTube talking like people from Canada and talking about just oh, I wish we could do that the here or oh, in Canada we just had this and this and that.
Speaker C:So I hear a lot about it mainly honestly from comments on YouTube.
Speaker C:It's where I get most of kind of just hearing about it.
Speaker D:Well, yeah, I'd say like one case that we do have is a lot of Californians move to Utah and Colorado too.
Speaker D:Colorado just had some recent stuff get pushed apparently.
Speaker D:I know you guys probably are more aware of that than what I surface level knowledge, but we get all the time here in Utah is just how much free freer it feels.
Speaker D:We have a couple California friends that were like, I just feel different here because I don't feel restricted and feel like a criminal or feel like, you know, my, my door is going to be busted in because I put the wrong accessory on my gun.
Speaker D:You know, like that.
Speaker D:That's something we get a lot.
Speaker D:But that's more interstate than Canada at this point.
Speaker B:But yeah, well I love how you brought up the YouTube comments from, from people in Canada and things like that.
Speaker B:And that's one of the cool thing about doing YouTube is the comments you get from other countries.
Speaker B:So I've gotten comments from Croatia when, when the Kuna came out people were like commenting about the Kuna and from Croatia.
Speaker B:I've had comments from Brazil.
Speaker B:When we do, when I do tour stuff, the comments from Brazil, the Brazilian people coming in and just getting their different perspectives.
Speaker B:I remember I got a comment the one time we're talking about the price of the gun, this gun in the, in the US and we're talking about it and somebody commented it's like, oh, in Lebanon it's.
Speaker B: This gun is $: Speaker B: in the U.S. $: Speaker B:I'm not a.
Speaker B:Can't point fingers on the globe.
Speaker B:I'm not very smart.
Speaker B:I don't claim to be, but it's just cool to see.
Speaker B:Not only do you be being doing YouTube, you're able to connect with a, you know, an audience in the US and most of the comments and most of the stuff comes from the US and get to talk to them.
Speaker B:But the international stuff is really cool to see how the gun community is not just a US thing, but it does spread throughout the world.
Speaker C:Yeah, that's been one of the coolest things.
Speaker C:We just had someone on the latest video we just uploaded.
Speaker C:They're like, hey, do a video on like UK gun laws next because they're from the UK and so we're like, okay, if we get 150 likes on this comment, like we'll do it.
Speaker C:So it's cool like seeing just international, just that community just get come together.
Speaker C:It's been pretty cool.
Speaker D:I think that comment has 135 likes right now.
Speaker C:Like yeah, it was very close.
Speaker C:So, so we might be coming out with a video on that.
Speaker D:Hey, gun lost.
Speaker A:But yeah, next time make it 250.
Speaker C:Yeah, yeah, up the pile.
Speaker A:But that's awesome.
Speaker A:That's awesome what you guys are able to do and, and build that community.
Speaker A:And it's so vital to the second amendment.
Speaker A:I think of several of the people we've been fortunate enough to meet at events.
Speaker A:I remember one of my first years at Goa, I was part of our activism training.
Speaker A:So the gun rights activism classes that we teach all over the place.
Speaker A:And I was in Arizona and teaching a class and this gentleman comes up to me and he's like, you have no idea how important it is for us to make sure we keep the Second Amendment.
Speaker A:And he had actually become a U.S. citizen, immigrated from Australia because of the gun buybacks and everything that was going there.
Speaker A:And he's like, you don't understand how valuable it is until it's taken away, and there's nothing that you can do about it.
Speaker A:And he's like, I refuse to live in a country that.
Speaker A:And go through this a second time.
Speaker A:And so he was becoming an activist and had become a citizen.
Speaker A:And those are the stories that really impact somebody.
Speaker A:And all of these years later, I still remember him from that class because this is somebody who left his family, his career, and started all over again in the United States because the Second Amendment was that valuable to him.
Speaker A:And then now he was going to do whatever it took to ensure that it was going to remain for his son and now his grandchildren.
Speaker A:And I think that's so important for us who sit in a place of privilege, where we have a Second Amendment in this country, to recognize that and to constantly be reminding ourselves that we not only needed to bend our rights, but we also need to restore those that have already been taken from us.
Speaker C:Yeah, I feel like it's easier for them to take our rights away than it is to, like, get them back, basically.
Speaker D:I mean, look at the suppressor.
Speaker D:That right now, the Hearing Protection act that's getting passed through.
Speaker D:It's.
Speaker D:It's almost been, I think, like 100 years since we've had that tax, correct me if I'm wrong, on suppressors.
Speaker D:I think it's been since then.
Speaker D:Were they the first things in.
Speaker B:Who didn't have a. Yep, since 34.
Speaker D:Okay.
Speaker D:So, yeah, so almost 100 years.
Speaker D:And we're just now the closest we've ever been to be able to pull some of our rights back.
Speaker D:You know, almost a century of work to get to.
Speaker D:To.
Speaker D:We're not.
Speaker D:We don't even have it yet, but it.
Speaker D:It's taken us this long to get that far.
Speaker D:And I think a part of that is, like, once it's taken away the, the pool of people who, who, who, you know, can participate or like, let's take SBRs.
Speaker D:Once you start seeing less and less of it subconsciously in the culture's mind, you start thinking that it's illegal or it's wrong or, you know, you can't do it or you shouldn't be able to do it, there's that sense of, like, group think that the less you see of something, the more wrong it becomes.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker D:And.
Speaker D:And you.
Speaker D:You subtly can change a society by removing things from, from like social media, for example.
Speaker D:You know, with how many things get shadow banned or blocked, there's a stigma about guns that, you know, it's wrong to have a gun in some people's mind because they just don't see it as often.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker C:Well, I even used to be afraid of guns like when I was younger, before I, before I met you.
Speaker C:Really, honestly, because you got me into them.
Speaker C:But I used to look at one and kind of like, I don't know, be afraid a little bit.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:Because I didn't know how it works.
Speaker C:I did not know how to be safe with it.
Speaker C:So I just kind of like stayed away.
Speaker C:Right?
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:So I mean once you take it away, it, it, you know, to your point, like, and it becomes so much harder to fight back for them.
Speaker D:You become so isolated and it's so important for us as, as you know, citizens of the United States to hold on with all we can do to, to cling on to our rights because you know, like I said, once it's taken away, once social media decides to not show it, that's just more people who will be against you, more people you have to fight against you who won't be able to see the fun side of it, the good side of it, the good side that firearms actually brings in general, in all cases, I think firearms are more good than there are bad.
Speaker D:You know, we see it in the stats with, with self defense stats in farms used to prevent crimes.
Speaker D:And we see it in honestly the people that we meet and the joy it brings and the hobbyist enthusiast side of how it gets people outdoors.
Speaker D:You know, reality is, is that it's it, it is overall good on all cylinders.
Speaker D:And I think, I think most people, because it's become a politicized thing because it's because social media bans it.
Speaker D:There's a stigma that guns are bad because so and so says so or because, you know, Instagram shadow bans it.
Speaker C:And I mean it's hard to even show education these days.
Speaker D:So even YouTube, like We Fight uphill battle every day with a video getting demonetized or rage restricted or whatever.
Speaker D:It's random and we have to appeal it.
Speaker D:Every video we upload on YouTube we have to go through an appeal process.
Speaker D:It is automatically demonetized.
Speaker D:You have to go through appeal and then go sometimes even further and then get somebody to actually watch and review the video.
Speaker D:They'll always send us timestamp that doesn't correspond.
Speaker D:There's so much bull crap that you start to feel like, you're a bad guy because they're telling you you're a bad guy.
Speaker C:You know, I'm like, starting whenever I, like, we're uploading videos.
Speaker C:I'm like, okay, what are they going to, like, ding on here?
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:And I hate having to, like, look through the lens of that because it's not accurate.
Speaker C:Like, everything we're doing is safe and it's educational and it's great stuff, in my opinion.
Speaker C:But I hate having to, like, go off of, you know, YouTube's guidelines.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:Because it's not fair and it's not right.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:I will say this about anyone who's trying to think about becoming a gun tuber is that you have to.
Speaker D:You.
Speaker D:You have to look at yourself as a villain and see how they're going to criticize you, because they will.
Speaker D:They will come after you and it will be random and it will be scary.
Speaker D:And we had a couple weeks or a few weeks ago, like, I had just lost my job.
Speaker D:We decided we're going with this full time.
Speaker D:And right at that moment, they demonetized, like, several videos and were coming after us for inexplicable reason.
Speaker D:And we had to fight each one of those videos and appeal it, which we won.
Speaker D:We won the appeals.
Speaker D:But it's just funny.
Speaker D:They'll say illegal firearms were shown at this point, and it's a marker where it's her explaining ammunition.
Speaker D:And it's like, doesn't even make sense.
Speaker D:And you know, it's just again, like, kind of, I guess going into the censorship of things back to the original statement.
Speaker D:Like, once they start censoring you, once the government starts censoring you and saying, you can't own this, this and this, it's just more uneducated people making more legislation about things they don't know and gatekeeping other people from even getting introduced to that.
Speaker D:And yeah, it's just close on that.
Speaker D:Like, don't lose your rights.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Well, you brought up demonetization.
Speaker B:The crazy part is like, I've done.
Speaker B:I've had videos that have been fully monetized, then I go in and I'll change either a tag or the title to help with SEO and searchability.
Speaker B:After it's been out for a little bit to just re.
Speaker B:Kick it off instantly demonetize and then get reviewed and then confirm the demonetized after it was monetized.
Speaker B:Yeah, it makes no sense.
Speaker B:The people at YouTube make no sense.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:Just gonna say it.
Speaker B:They don't know their own policy.
Speaker B:They don't follow their Own policy.
Speaker B:You can follow their policy to the T. Yeah.
Speaker B:And still get demonetized.
Speaker D:Yeah, right.
Speaker D:Yeah, we, we, we've had so much issues that.
Speaker D:And it all boils down to lack of education or dishonesty.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker D:Either they're not educated and they don't understand.
Speaker D:No, this is not a fully automatic gun because we're firing at semi auto or, you know, whatever it is.
Speaker D:Like they don't understand the difference.
Speaker D:And they should watch some of our videos so they can understand, hopefully.
Speaker C:Or they also have only have like a certain amount of time.
Speaker C:So it's hard when.
Speaker D:Don't justify that.
Speaker C:Well, I'm not justifying things, but you're not gonna expect everyone to be like,.
Speaker D:Yeah, it comes down to either they're not educated and they should be looking up the videos that they're trying to demonetize.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker D:Learn some things.
Speaker C:Like if someone' reviewing something for firearms, they should, they should at least know like the guidelines and.
Speaker C:Yeah, yeah, right.
Speaker D:And same with politicians.
Speaker D:They just do not know.
Speaker D:And that's the whole thing is like we're most farms.
Speaker D:YouTubers who are successful are based off education.
Speaker D:We're trying to teach people how these things work, to be safe, to know their rights, to know, you know, to know the laws.
Speaker D:And, and it's getting gatekeeped, which is making people extremely stupid because they're just gatekeeping information, you know, at that point.
Speaker D:And that's the biggest frustration for us is when, you know, we look at our content as trying to provide a service or always trying to provide a service.
Speaker D:And you only win when you think of it, you know, how am I going to serve the people today with these videos?
Speaker D:How am I going to educate and inspire and entertain?
Speaker D:And YouTube demonizes you for trying to educate.
Speaker B:Well, on that note, we have to wrap up.
Speaker B:So go ahead and tell the folks where they can find you guys at.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:So YouTube is just Alyssa Seymour.
Speaker C:Instagram is at the gunny gal.
Speaker C:And do you want to throw yours out there?
Speaker D:Find her, you'll find me.
Speaker D:So.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:Well, we enjoyed you being on.
Speaker B:We really appreciate it.
Speaker B:Thank you again.
Speaker B:Before we go, we have a little gift for you.
Speaker B:So AC Ammo and Palmetto State Armory have sponsored our gifts for our guests for the this year.
Speaker B:So you guys will be getting a gift from AAC Ammo and Palm Medicine Armory.
Speaker C:That's awesome.
Speaker C:Thank you.
Speaker D:Maybe we'll have enough ammo.
Speaker D:I can shoot something.
Speaker C:I hog it all.
Speaker D:By the time we're done filming, all of it's gone.
Speaker D:I'm like, dang it.
Speaker B:Well, hopefully they won't give you ammo.
Speaker B:Guys, Again, appreciate it, everybody out there.
Speaker B:Make sure to, like, share and subscribe.
Speaker B:Hit the little bell for notification.
Speaker B:Make sure to join us at Goals.
Speaker B:That's the Gun Owners Advocacy and Leadership Summit happening August 9th and 10th in beautiful Knoxville, Tennessee.
Speaker B:Go to gun owners.orggoals to register today, and we appreciate you watching, and we'll see you on the next one.
