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From Hickok45’s Facebook page:

Apparently, Google + is more sensitive about firearms related postings and such. I never use Google+ and did not even realize the videos were being posted over there, I guess. I will keep you posted via Facebook here and the Hickok45andson channel. I have communicated with YouTube via email this morning, and hopefully, we’ll be able to get the channel back up soon. I had just posted a new video.

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106 COMMENTS

  1. This sucks! I hope they don’t go after every gun channel I watch….guess I won’t be watching much of youtube anymore if they do.

    • Not completely relevant, but interesting:

      2015 NRA lobby spending = $2,285,240

      2015 Google Inc. lobby spending = $13,370,000

      The POTUS and assault-media wants us to believe that the NRA is “holding congress hostage”.

    • Where have you been?

      YouTube has been rife with SJW’s for a very long time now. As have twitter Facebook and just about any other tech company.

      • True that. But coordinated SJW attacks come in waves. Anyhow, doesn’t look like this was that, rather ridiculous use policies and cross-linked google accounts.

  2. I was just watching his revisit of the glock 19 last night. This sucks. If Colion Noirs channel is shutdown, then YouTube definitely has an agenda in mind.

    • Well, Google is pretty open about hating guns and promoting gun control. Remember when they decided to kill all Gun adds a few years ago? I switched over to Bing and a few other smaller engines right away.

      It hard not to use google, I still do, but I’ve found that for anything that has the slightest hint of interest to the PC and SJW crowd, google results suck and I usually don’t even bother using it.

        • Yep…duckduckgo very nearly exclusively here.

          Google’s tendrils still permeate the ‘Net, though…no matter what search engine is used, one can’t get away from Teh Google.

      • I thought google owned YouTube, and you tube is an awesome resource for many things gun?
        This may not be a censor issuer and just some ad issue, given the guy has over 1mil subscribers (lots of ad dollars), I doubt YouTube wants to get rid of him, but will see.
        Funny, Howard Stern was talking about enjoying watching YouTube gun vids this morning on the radio.

        • Yes, Google owns YouTube. So I wonder why it would allow any YouTube videos to automatically appear on Google+ and fuss about it? Makes no sense b

        • That is why I get my gun-vid fix over at Full30.com. Forgotten Weapons, IV8888, Demo Ranch, and many more have gone there. I wonder if YT will zap their accounts for cross posting as well.

  3. On his FB page, hickok45 says that (unbeknownst to him) his youtube videos were getting cross posted to his Google+ page. Google+ automatically flags posts and users which contain firearm-related content. He’s trying to fix it.

      • I’ve heard anonymous is trying to make a secure Facebook alternative. It would be great because it would not allow censors so much or at all.

    • I love it, nobody was signing up for Google+ so they made it automatic for anyone who has Gmail/Youtube account… and then they kick people off for violating the terms of service for a service they didn’t even consciously join. SMH

        • Heehee, turns out their definition of evil may be a bit different than your definition of evil. Their definition goes something like, if it is possible to do something that advances a worthy cause and it is not attempted, then that is evil. After that you get to flip over to what the Alphabet (remember Google is now a division of Alphabet) considers to be worthy causes…..

      • Yep, and even when you deselect G+, it signs you up again, the next time you comment on a youtube,
        and defaults to the most open privacy for “groups” and tries to scoop up all your contacts, etc.

        I dont comment any more and getting rid of Gmail just for that reason.
        Any thoughts on a stable, handy, secure webmail provider?

    • Get off of ANYTHING google. They ARE the evil empire of the 21st Century. Facebook being the little evil empire.

      In any other world the monopoly power and abuse of these twits would attract the interest of the Fed Dept of “Justice”.

    • “(unbeknownst to him) his youtube videos were getting cross posted to his Google+ page.”

      …which Google does by default for you, unless you set it to do otherwise. Stupid.

    • Yup. I deactivated anything google except my gmail address when they forced integration with youtube. Now they’re angry that their own stupid policies are at work???

  4. I have watched a LOT of Hickock45’s videos. All he does is evaluate firearms and shoot inanimate targets like steel silhouettes and gongs, cinder blocks, soda bottles, etc. His upbeat personality is enjoyable and comes through on his videos … and I have never seen Hickock45 endorse violence against people.

    The ONLY possible reason that I can see YouTube inactivating his content is because YouTube is stridently anti-gun. For that reason, YouTube is going to lose a LOT of money over this: any aspirations they have of becoming a major video provider of traditional television and movies will have to include the loss of millions of otherwise would-be customers.

    • If you can see ONLY one reason then you are blind. It probably has more to do with advertising or in video product/store shout outs then guns. When YouTube filmers start doing in video advertising Google would get mad if it doesn’t get a cut of the $.

  5. The man is like a grandpa talking to a bunch if grandkids. He’s also very popular with over 1M subscribers, so my guess is political.

  6. Guys calm down until we have facts, it is probably an advertising thing. I was just discussing this on another blog. Relax go watch cat videos.

      • Google barking cat video, from then on every time you go on youtube it will suggest endless hours of video for you to watch. I mostly hate cats, but I once had a cat like lil Bub, she was awesome.

    • +1 – exactly. This is VERY likely an automated response by the system and not some attempt to remove gun channels from YouTube. I’ve seen the same happen on Google Play where an app is updated and it fires off too many automated triggers and suddenly you’re past the 3x abuse limit. Sh**ty things happen with complex systems and Hickok will get it sorted.

  7. Very simple. His videos were being posted on google unbeknowst to him. He will get it sorted out, and be back soon, doing his pot smoking! Lol. P.s. u cannot have any gun stuff on google

  8. I didn’t start watching his videos until about 2013 or so. It takes some time to work through the whole catalog and get current. I had no idea until someone told me in 2014 or so that Gunner had died.

  9. BTW, if you want to see videos by most of the big youtubers, you can also see them on Full30.com. It is a good way to watch them without giving Google ad revenue.

    • ^This

      I wish Hickok45 would move to http://www.full30.com. I’m sure MAC and Sootch00 have tried to convince him… there’s got to be a reason why he’s continued to stick with Youtube, and I assume it’s the ad revenue.

        • Go for it. Linux isn’t as scary as it was back in the early years. The only real stumbling block remaining for non-techie users is hardware compatibility, an area where Linux still lags behind. But as Dryw says, you can use a bootable DVD or thumb drive version to try it out and see if everything works with your hardware, before committing to anything.

    • Why does Linux scare you?

      There are many user-friendly distro’s out. We use Mint.

      Go Linux and never look back to that abomination toy OS that has the world fooled into thinking how computers should work.

    • If you don’t play games or do graphic design work that requires things like Adobe Creative Suite, then there’s no reason not to use Linux. I play a lot of games, so Linux is a no-go for me.

  10. The biggest issue is that he gets revenue from all the people watching his stuff. I really want to know exactly what the reason(s) could be. Until then, I will strive to keep my YT videos from cross-posting.

    If this is politically motivated, crap. I’m not going to shut down my channel. granted, I get a measly fraction of what Kickok45 receives…

  11. Automation tripped. Google+ sucks anyways the Google employees who use it will be disappointed that he got shut down. As they say it’s not a bug it’s a “feature.”

    • Cross-posting means to post something for view on multiple media outlets by use of one. For instance, if I have something relatively private to post, I put it on Facebook. If I want to make a public pronouncement I put it on Twitter since I have it set up to cross-post everything I say there to Facebook and my web site. Therefore, I enter the message once, and it shows up on all three.

      What seems to have happened is that Hickok’s videos were being cross-posted on YouTube and Google+ for some reason, and it was flagged as a violation. So, hopefully, it’ll be fixed soon as it was unintentional.

    • Google+ is like a facebook no one cares about so Google made it where certain things (such as Youtube) post automagically on Google+ to simulate having traffic. It’s the red headed step child of the Google universe.


  12. You can send feedback directly to Google about this.
    The feedback link is on the bottom line of the Hickcock45 page.

    I just sent them the following:
    You deleted Hickcock45’s channel, that had over a million viewers?
    What’s the matter with you people?
    You’re supposed to be the smartest people on the planet.
    Your anti-gun agenda is rotting the rational portion of your brains.
    Hickcock45 did nothing but review various guns & target shoot in his backyard firing range.
    Bring back Hickcock45!

  13. So, would the typical gun-content creator prefer that I watch his or her video on YT or full30? I’d like to give my favorite content creators as big an ad-revenue check as possible, so I assume they are better off when I watch on YT. For the time being.

    I’m torn, because I like the idea of full 30, and if I only watch the content on YT, I’m not helping it to grow.

    I like that the content is on YT, to be stumbled upon by muggles from time to time. That can’t hurt.

    What’s a part-time video watcher to do?

    • The shift from those that seek control has to start somewhere.

      How do you think full30 will get big enough to provide competitive checks to content producers? They need viewers.

  14. What’s most unbelievable about this story is that Google+ is still around.

    Google should have shut down Google+ a long time ago. No one really wants a 2nd class Facebook.

  15. Even if our beloved Hickock were banned, he could just create his own website with his own videos. He doesn’t have to use You Tube. This will get sorted out one way or another. I’d even pay money to subscribe to his videos.

  16. He should try full 30. I know they’re designed for gun channels, and he would surely be welcomed. I know MAC, iv8888, and a couple others already use it.

  17. Doesn’t Google automatically create and associate any Youtube channels with its corresponding Google and Google+ accounts?…in other words, it pretty much cross-posts for you by default unless you set it to do otherwise, I believe.

    Why would a company link services for you that have widely differing content policies?

    • See my post a few rows up from earlier this morning. No one was signing up, so they “gave” everyone accounts who already had Gmail and/or Youtube. Because yeah, otherwise there would be about the same number of people who actually bought a Google Glass (actually theres probably a fair amount of overlap of people who consciously signed up for G+ and those who paid their own money for a Glass headset).

  18. Rarely watch U-tube. Hickok should just have his own website. Google + sucks-my wife has had LOTS of problems with these azzwholes on her decorating blog. And yes-it’s mostly about revenue…

  19. While I do suspect this is just a glitch.

    One has to wonder whether or not Google by making revenue on ads related to gun sales is in fact by definition “In the business of”… as it pertains to this most recent decree.

    • When you look at the views he gets, there no way they would leave it shut down. I wonder if it was some automated BS Google has that did it.
      I was watching his videos last night because I have stiffy for a new big bore lever action to go along with my new .45 LC (Smoke Wagon) revolver.

  20. Just more reasons to support alternatives to youtube. Yeah, it’s a Google+ issue, but it really shouldn’t be an issue with Google+ either.

    Google’s just filled with a bunch of fascists that shut down any dissent from their ideal view of the world.

  21. What is wrong with cross-posting? Is it this same shit that Facebook does where it claims that it owns what you post there? Or is it because they believe it may reduce their ad income because viewers will go to another channel? If the latter, isn’t this a monopolistic practice that should be illegal?

  22. Guns are literally the only reason I visit YouTube or update its lousy app on my phone. If crap like this continues, I’ll ditch it altogether, and will seriously consider ditching Gmail and my Android power devices, too. On a side note, who in the hell voluntarily uses Google+? Instead of acting all butthurt, the Big G should praise Hickok for driving any kind of traffic to the site!

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