Bearing Arms has been tracking for years the digital warfare waged against the firearms industry. We have a new casualty to report, and this time it’s manufacturer Big Horn Armory.
YouTube has notoriously been bad about giving out strikes and deplatforming creators. While the company has a very strict set of rules and standards, many creators have reported that they follow the rules to the “T,” yet they find themselves in the crosshairs of the video warehousing giant. Big Horn Armory recently reported that their YouTube channel was completely taken down.
There have been more and more random reports of “strikes” against Second Amendment and firearms related content on YouTube. The last few weeks in particular, there’s been a pile of anecdotal stories of creators having to get creative to combat strikes.
As explained by Big Horn Armory, YouTube’s latest changes to their policies are being enforced retroactively and is the likely source of the problems. They noted in their announcement that the “updated language appeared to prohibit the type of firearms-handling content that is central to virtually all of Big Horn Armory’s video library.”
From YouTube’s firearms policy:
Content intended to sell firearms, instruct viewers on how to make firearms, ammunition, and certain accessories, or instruct viewers on how to install those accessories is not allowed on YouTube. YouTube shouldn't be used as a platform to sell firearms or accessories noted below. YouTube also doesn’t allow live streams that show someone holding, handling, or transporting a firearm.
Sometimes content doesn't violate our policies, but it may not be appropriate for viewers under 18. YouTube age restricts content showing the use of certain firearms and accessories also noted below (note: this restriction applies to real use of firearms only; details are below). In some cases, we may make exceptions for content with educational, documentary, scientific, or artistic context, including content that is in the public’s interest.
Our friends over at Texas Gun Vault recently adopted a new strict policy of stating several times throughout his videos that he’s not selling guns — which he’s not — and that his work is for educational purposes. Friend to Bearing Arms, Charlie Cook from Riding Shotgun With Charlie, said he got a pile of recent strikes, one in particular because someone was selling a book on Gun Broker and mentioned it in one of his episodes. Apparently even saying “Gun Broker” is a “no no.”
“Big Horn Armory (BHA), makers of big-bore firearms, announced (... on May 19) that YouTube has permanently removed the company’s channel from its platform,” said BHA in a release. “The termination follows three strikes issued against videos that had been posted more than two years prior without incident, each cited as violations of the platform’s updated firearms policy.
“The videos in question were routine, non-instructional content that included demonstrations such as shooting frozen chickens. They contained no instructions for manufacturing or modifying firearms, no sales solicitation, and no content that would have violated YouTube’s long-standing community guidelines at the time of posting. The company assesses that the strikes were the result of retroactive policy changes that now classify the mere handling of a firearm as a policy violation in certain contexts.”
“We are a federally licensed firearms manufacturer. We operate legally and transparently, and we have done so since our founding. We did not change our content. The platform changed its standards and applied them retroactively to videos our community had watched for years without issue,” said Greg Buchel, the owner of Big Horn Armory. “At a certain point, continuing to appeal a policy that is written to exclude us made no sense. We accept what has happened, and we are moving forward.”
The company announced that their full video library is available on Rumble where they intend to continue to post content.
YouTube is a private company and they’re welcome to have whatever policies they want. Rather than embrace the firearms community, they’ve worked very hard to limit what creators can actually do in videos hosted on their platform. If all the Second Amendment or firearms-related content disappeared overnight from YouTube, it’s not likely that it’ll cripple them financially. But, should they embrace the guntubers regardless?
Big tech’s censorship and war on the Second Amendment is still, unfortunately, a problem. Eventually many creators might be forced to pack up their marbles and go elsewhere, like Big Horn Armory. However, at least there are some viable options out there like Rumble and even Second Amendment-geared online networks, like We The Free, for folks to consume quality content.
Editor’s Note: The radical Left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.
Help us continue to report on and expose the Democrats’ gun control policies and schemes. Join Bearing Arms VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member