By NRA-ILA
In 2016, UK shooter and popular YouTube gun channel personality Callum Long-Collins told the BBC, “Being British and a firearms owner, it almost feels illegal to have any sort of opinion on using guns for self-defense.” The comments appear to have been proved correct. According to an April 23 article in The Times titled, “Gun licences stripped from shooting activist over YouTube comments,” Long-Collins told the publication that he lost an appeal to have his firearms licenses reinstated with the primary reason being the content of his YouTube page, EnglishShooting.
According to a 2018 report from PJMedia, Long-Collins’ firearms licenses were revoked in 2016 following a reportedly false assault allegation that was later dropped. However, after coming to the attention of the state, UK authorities began looking into Long-Collins’s social media presence.
Long-Collins’s primary offense appears to have been his advocacy for the right to armed self-defense. Back in 2015, following the attacks at the Bataclan theater in Paris, France, Long-Collins posted a video to his YouTube page about the event. In it, Long-Collins reportedly contemplated that the French should be able to exercise their Right-to-Carry a handgun for self-defense in order to prevent such terrorist violence.
U.S. gun right supporters must pay close attention to the ongoing denigration of natural rights in the UK and other countries and redouble our efforts to ensure Americans never face these abuses of power.
In an attempt to preserve his ability to own firearms, Long-Collins announced in June 2018 that he would no longer post videos to his YouTube Channel. In a farewell video, Long-Collins explained that after the initial incident, “police then looked at previous videos that I had made in previous views that I had voiced on the channel and they felt that that wasn’t in keeping with that of a licensed firearms owner within the UK.” The shooter went on to note,
Over the past two years I’ve made significant efforts to change the direction of the channel change the videos and to change my own beliefs in views around fire firearms and firearm ownership, unfortunately, I’ve failed to bring the channel and the videos to the standard that the police feel is adequate.
Long-Collins also stated that, “due to repeated comments from other people on the videos [the licensing authorities] felt that the channel was a forum of extremism.”
In early 2019, Long-Collins began posting new videos to EnglishShooting. In an April 3, 2019 video Long-Collins explained to viewers that he no longer has a shotgun or firearm certificate.
Shortly after posting new content to the YouTube channel, Long-Collins sat down for an interview with The Times. The shooter told the paper, “The main issue was a video that I made around the Paris attacks where I advocated the French to be able to use handguns for self-defence because of the frequency of attacks that were happening at the time.”
The UK government does not respect its subjects’ natural right to keep and bear arms. In the UK, prospective firearms licensees are required to provide “good reason” for owning a firearm. In the majority of the UK, self-defense is not considered sufficient reason to own a firearm. Further, police are given wide discretion in determining whether a person has met the licensing criteria.
For an excellent overview of the firearms laws in Great Britain, please visit the Library of Congress at: https://www.loc.gov/law/help/firearms-control/greatbritain.php
Moreover, the UK government does not recognize its subjects’ right to free speech.
Despite the protection provided by the First and Second Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, U.S. gun owners should view Long-Collins’s situation as a warning, rather than as further evidence of American superiority.
On this side of the pond, some anti-gun politicians have shown a willingness to restrict firearms rights based on a person’s speech. In January, Illinois State Rep. Daniel Didech introduced a legislation that would require the state police to “conduct a search of the purchasers’ social media accounts available to the public to determine if there is any information that would disqualify the person from obtaining or require revocation of a currently valid Firearm Owner’s Identification Card.”
In addition to opposition from gun rights organizations, the legislation prompted concerns from the American Civil Liberties Union. An ACLU representative told CBS Chicago, “A person’s political beliefs, a person’s religious beliefs, things that should not play a part in whether someone gets a FOID card.”
U.S. gun right supporters must pay close attention to the ongoing denigration of natural rights in the UK and other countries and redouble our efforts to ensure Americans never face these abuses of power.
This article originally appeared at nraila.org and is reprinted here with permission.
Can’t happen here. We’re Americans.
Frogs sitting in a pot of water on the stove never notice the changes
“Frogs sitting in a pot of water on the stove never notice the changes”
American frogs are better and smarter than UK frogs.
Wellll, _some_ US frogs are smarter than UK frogs.
” Wellll, _some_ US frogs are smarter than UK frogs.”
There ya’ go.
If we score a *serious* win in gun rights, like the ‘NY Pistol’ SCOTUS case, expect the Leftists to focus their efforts on increasing the ways to increase the pool of ‘prohibited persons’ any way they possibly can. Like trolling comment sections in gun forums to find anything they can possibly find to “Red Flag” order someone.
They will not lay down and take it. They will fight back with every dirty, slimy trick they can…
“If we score a *serious* win in gun rights, like the ‘NY Pistol’ SCOTUS case,…”
The underlying concern is the destruction of the “gentleman’s agreement” to abide by elections, and court rulings. Leftists, and their courts, refuse to recognize SC rulings they don’t like. Non-leftists, on the other hand, accept the rulings and move along. For all its torturing of the constitution, the SC is only powerful when “the people” accept the rulings and honor the decisions. When the left doesn’t like a ruling, we find the SC powerless to enforce decisions; lower courts act as if nothing happened.
Careful. It was commenting on the frogs that got him in trouble in the first place 😉
That is a myth. Frogs jump our when it gets uncomfortable (if they can).
Vic…
Way back when stationed in Colorado, there was a notable named Ben Nighthorse Campbell. Are you related?
Extremely debatable: Edward Scripture wrote in “The New Psychology” in 1897 that “in one experiment the temperature was raised at a rate of 0.002 °C. per second, and the frog was found dead at the end of 2½ hours without having moved.”
The modern stories about it just being a myth usually go something like: “If a frog had a means of getting out, it certainly would get out.” -George Zug
IOW, these hit my mind like a guy saying; “trust me, I know because I have a lab coat”. They lack even a basis in experimentation, let alone the details of said experiment. Note the experiment’s specifics listed in 1897. THAT is the scientific method, not just some guy with a diploma stating his unverified opinions as if they were facts.
In any case, it matters little, because it’s only a metaphor for what is known as incrementalism, which obviously does work on sheeple, provided that one studies the matter enough to become aware of it.
New York… California… Hawaii… Chicago… Washington DC…
“New York… California… Hawaii… Chicago… Washington DC…”
People in those states have been denied ownership because of YouTube and social media postings?
Remember when Yeager lost his permission slip because of a Youtube video?
“Remember when Yeager lost his permission slip because of a Youtube video?”
Actually, no. That is something I need to look into. Thanx
“I’m going to start killing people”…that’s what got him into trouble. Even without a firearm, that’s dangerous speak. We’re typically held to a higher standard. What he was saying was not. Yeager is always in the middle of some trouble or controversy. He’s not the best poster boy for RKBA, IMO
Got it; thanx.
@RS
He said if the government [Obama] is going to start taking Americans’ guns he is going to start killing government agents. The whole don’t tread on me, water the tree of liberty speech. Hence why he got back his license once he apologized to the government for his founding fathers rhetoric. He bent the knee and was forgiven.
The situation back then was the Bundy Ranch get of my lawn and the commie mommies Sandy Hook apocalypse. He wasn’t calling for murdering innocent no bodies. He was yelling at the government doing the whole, “From my cold dead hands!”
Now I have “the rest of the story”. Thanx !
I will assume that is sarcasm.
16 states have gun confiscation orders. States like California rarely give non politically connected citizens a permission slip for self defense, they need to prove they are in danger.
“16 states have gun confiscation orders. States like California rarely give non politically connected citizens a permission slip for self defense, they need to prove they are in danger.”
How many people had guns restricted/confiscated because of YouTube and social media postings?
Yes…it was sarcasm.
There are a few states that seek to pass “laws” that will require an investigation into a person’s social media prior to them keeping and/or bearing arms. They want to make sure you are not a white nationalist or far right before they give you permission to exercise your rights.
Red flag laws literally give the government power to disarm and treat Americans as felons without ever getting an arrest or conviction. This is based on your 1st Amendment being exercised in a manner that the government is not comfortable with. Say something politically incorrect or aggressive, you lose your permit and your guns. Heck, the laws I read includes “abusing” drugs (that includes alcohol) as a valid reason to effectively make you a felon without a conviction.
So, yeah, it is moving in that direction. You can’t speak freely in 16 states because someone can rat you out to the government and the government could choose to disarm you for your thoughts/words. Eventually you will not dare to speak negatively of Islam, of black gang members, illegal immigrants and so on.
Tread lightly because they won’t let you carry a big stick.
“Eventually you will not dare to speak negatively of Islam, of black gang members, illegal immigrants and so on.”
Wish I could dredge it up, but a year or so ago, I remember reading that in UK or Canada, any criticism of Mohamedism, even if true, was hate speech, and actionable by law.
I bet being on the far side as a black nationalist calling for the creation of an Islamic state like Farrakhan wouldn’t get you on a list.
That’s easy acceptable by the left. They are very selectable in their outrage.
Most people know “laws” are just opinions in the united states now.
“Most people know “laws” are just opinions in the united states now.”
Rather thought they were more like suggestions.
They’re more like guidelines,har har.
lol
It seems more and more 1984 has been deemed to be an instructional manual by almost every government on earth.
Freedom….is a dying concept.
“It seems more and more 1984 has been deemed to be an instructional manual by almost every government on earth.”
All drawing the wrong conclusion.
“Freedom is Slavery”
Like HAL 9000, the UK has the greatest enthusiasm for the welfare of the people under their control, especially terrorists and criminals since you wouldn’t want your subjects to damage them before you can give them more money. I think the Borg is a better metaphor for the UK government.
Let’s start a White house petition to have the UK renamed to Airstrip One in all official communications. It’s time to officially recognize what their country has become.
In California self defense is not a good enough reason for a permission slip. You have to show you are in danger. Eventually they will remove your CCW because your not in danger everyday of your life unless you carry around a lot of money or contribute a lot of money to politicians.
Of course, the last thing any politician wants is one of their contributors getting shot.
Other than the coastal counties, the rest of California is pro-CCW and no reason other than self-defense is required. When my daughter was getting her CCW she was asked why do you need one and my daughter said, “uhhhh…” The sheriff said self-defense and gave her the paperwork.
The coastal counties are a mess morally and mentally and financially.
Isn’t it wonderful that small and safer counties don’t mind you carrying a gun but the big and dangerous counties say no? I guess we all got to move to small counties to get a permit after California changed the law that requires you to live in that county before you can fill for a permission slip. Then the counties will be full of transplants like Austin, Portland, Seattle, Denver..
Or they could just rent an apartment in the small town. Make that their official residence. And continue to live and work where need to. A bit expensive, but done right a good way to have a place for recreation.
Rusty Chains, your idea is doable except for the bay area (around San Fran). CA County CCW map: https://www.friedmanhandguntraining.com/CCW_map_CA.html
@SoCalJack
The green for Sacramento county seems wrong considering the sheriff there was known for revoking existing permits of folks who moved into Sac.
This man has committed a thoughtcrime in the the country where 1984 was written. Of course he should be prohibited from owning a firearm and banned from YouTube. That will assure his becoming an unperson. Which is the goal of the State. Orwell, socialist as he was, was nonetheless remarkably prescient. Nostradamus does not hold a candle to him.
Wasn’t Orwell part of an inner society and this is where he learned their plan for the future?
Yup. He was inducted into the fabian society by Aldus Huxley, another fabian and another ‘prescient’, the author of “A Brave New World”. That’s the book about the dystopian society held together by drugging everybody up with a synthetic opioid known as “soma”, until they perish in a somacoma? It was made into a movie long ago:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ek5vse2_Aq0
Sure is a strange coincidence how these connected individuals seem to know what’s coming like they’re looking backwards with 20/20 hindsight, isn’t it? Write about holding power by drugging up the citizens with synthetic opioids in the 1940s, and today we have the fentanyl problem. It’s almost like it was a plan they knew about…. somehow. Almost…….. But OFC that’s crazy talk. People don’t keep secrets. We’re talking gibberish. Naturally.
The world becomes more Orwellian every day.
Hopefully, you don’t willfully buy devices to install in your home that spy on you. Your cellphone and video game consoles already do that. The CIA even used people’s smart TVs as spy devices.
I won’t use a cellphone that doesn’t allow me to take the battery out.
That’s what tinfoil is for, not making hats with.
Aluminum foil is for covering the antennas of IOT devices so they can’t communicate.
Or wrapping up leftovers or lab glassware when you need to hold heat in……
https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-cia-mi5-hacked-your-smart-tv-to-spy-on-you
@Rusty Chains:
“That’s what tinfoil is for, not making hats with.”
Wonder how many here are old enough to have actually seen tinfoil.
Sam: Please note I used the correct term: ALUMINUM foil. Told you years ago I’d work on that. See? I didn’t lie. I still do it sometimes though, but not this time…
And I still use a dumb phone from 2000. I would still have my old Motorola Startak, but that ceased functioning at midnight, Dec 31, 1999, just like they said all cell phones would if they didn’t have a GPS sender in them. So I had to get a new one with the tattletail in it. But if one doesn’t want it sending, it’s just a matter wrapping it in metal foil to create a makeshift Faraday cage. Removing the battery works too, but foil is easier. And when one wants it, it’s a lot quicker to just tear off the foil than wait for the damn things to reboot.
I was a computer major with a math and polysci minor in the 1980s. I’ve been around long enough to remember when telnet was a necessary command to move from one site to another, and not a propaganda word for Trump to use against Huawei. In short, an ancient old graybeard. And I was a nontrad, a 25 year old freshman in 1985.
“Sam: Please note I used the correct term: ALUMINUM foil.”
Did you note my comment was related to a comment by @Rusty Chains, who did use “tinfoil”?
My question was completely unrelated to your comment, other than as a vehicle to ask a rhetorical question. No conflict with you was intended.
Oh yeah, I knew that.
I just thought it was a good opportunity to show that I do indeed, work on things that I say I will, even though I still won’t ever be perfect. Since it was mentioned AFTER I posted the one about aluminum foil, and then you chimed in and I remembered being told that back about when you first showed up here. Way before RF sold out. It might not even be you that said it, but it was some conversation that you were a part of anyway.
I don’t even take offense at being called an ass&** Mother*^^&%er , as so many others do. I’d never take offense at something that minor, even if it had been directed at me.
I’ve never been offended by you, even though I might needle you a little when I notice your bait about to catch another sucker.
I think THAT’S hilarious…. I love watching a newbie nibble at your hook. If I made any of them slip your line, I’m sorry about that. But it isn’t as if they were actually going to be your dinner, or cost you a lure like a real fish….
🙂
Great conversation. It’s all good. Keep an eye out for entertainment.
Sam: According to the Merriam-Webster the definition of tinfoil is “a paper-thin metal sheeting usually of aluminum or tin-lead alloy”. Words mean things so drop the condescension you moron.
Have you ever seen a sheet of tin-lead alloy (tinfoil)? Once upon a time, tinfoil was not interchangeable with aluminum foil.
If sarcasm is embarrassing for you,simply use the magic button.
BR:
And dictionary.com says:
“tinfoil
[ tin-foil ]
|
noun
tin, or an alloy of tin and lead, in the form of a thin sheet, much used as a wrapping for drugs, foods, tobacco, etc. ”
See how by cherry picking one’s sources one can cite virtually anything? You should learn that technique and take it to heart. The mainstream media will use it against you all the time, esp. around the gun issue. One can find “studies” and PhDs that will say almost anything, including that guns are magical and can invade your mind and dominate your will.
English. Learn it. Know it. Make it yours. That way some unknown guy on a website won’t be able to control your brain by putting a few words together in a semi literate fashion.
And if that’s too much like work, there’s an exit right over there —->
Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
User1, have you not heard of Siri and Alexa, whatever? Tens of millions of people have already paid to install devices intended to spy on them.
That’s what I was referencing. Those devices are designed to spy on you and they can be hacked by outsiders to use for that purpose. People are willfully installing “bugs” in there homes that can be used against them.
I knew of people in a certain community that used to install code into PCs that allowed them to access the microphone, camera and files. They used it to extort people, especially girls. They could remotely record video and listen to people. They could look through the files on the PC and make copies. This was back when Flash was the only way to play videos.
And there are still lots of those programs around to download for free. Anyone who understands a little about coding can download a RAT(Remote Access Terminal, the generic name for any program that accesses another computer and lets one give it orders from afar) and use it to log in on anyone he wants and listen and watch, time burglaries or home invasions, find out where you keep the stuff worth stealing, etc.
They’ve been around for decades. They’re a feature, not a bug.
But, like the aluminum foil Faraday cage trick, just a piece of tape over the lens and the mic renders RATs moot.
Just watch any videos of any tech guy, Musk, Bill Gates, etc., at any event where they have their laptop out. One will note they ALL have two pieces of tape on their face. They know the way to defeat high tech is with low tech. No software can do anything without access to the hardware. Cover the lens and mic and no software can remove it, no matter who wrote it or how advanced it might be.
But they can only stay a feature for so long as the public remains unaware. Wise up and just a piece of tape will destroy the usability of that feature. That’s why that simple little trick is never mentioned on any mainstream media, ever. They WANT that feature to function.
When you’ve gotten what you want don’t cry to me about what you have. Long live the Queen
Don’t mistake tyranny of the majority as consent of the minority.
“It seems more and more 1984 has been deemed to be an instructional manual by almost every government on earth.”
The nation suffers the tyranny of the minority, now.
Golly isn’t this the British who pleaded(or was it whined)that we send them our gunz at the onset of WWII?!? You can’t maintain the illusion that the English have ever given a damn about the welfare of their “subjects”. They’re not far from Venezuela😢😩😡
The next time they ask for guns for a national emergency, tell them to learn to speak Arabic and to pay the unbeliever tax.
Oi, dey pulled ‘is youtoob loicense next did dey?
Meanwhile drug addled chavs stab each other for kicks and fugee rape gangs grind the local children into kabob filling but the bobbies sure got that thought crime locked down.
He got on his knees and swallowed the gravy and they still kicked him to the curb. What about GB could be so great it is worth that sort of humiliation? Sounds like he is developing some sort of Stockholm syndrome. It’s rather nauseating to watch.
He is an American trapped in an European’s body?
This from the NRA? Is that the same NRA that indirectly endorsed this kinda shit via confiscation (I’m sorry, “red flag”) laws based on unconfirmed hearsay?
“Being British and a firearms owner, it almost feels illegal to have any sort of opinion on using guns for self defense.”
No “almost” about it!
Didn’t they at one time implore us to send guns and other materials for ‘self defense’ from the Nazis?!
I remember this guy, he capitulated to the state and censored himself in an attempt to keep his guns.
“Revolution is never the solution, until it’s the only solution.”
And a message was sent to everyone not to fuck with the UK government.
This is the same country where it’s a crime to tweet something “in order to cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety.” Thousands of people have been charged and many imprisoned for ‘offensive’ tweets over the past few years.
I guess all the men in England died in WWII.
Seems to be the issue all over Europe. The wars have pretty much wiped out anyone with any balls on that continent. I don’t think Europe ever quite recovered from that.
Then again it’s never exactly been a bastion of freedom and liberty.
European Americans like to exaggerate the “greatness” of Europe. They claim because Europe is so great America is great.
Well, America isn’t like Europe, that was the intention of those who penned the government. Because Europe was so bad they escaped and created something different. Places like New Zealand, Australia, Canada, didn’t follow the same path.
The U.S. was intended to be a safe place for liberty for everyone that wants that. It’s very hard to get Americans to live by that idea. It’s much easier to behave like Europeans instead of Americans.
There is little doubt the Crown and the Crown’s subjects are infinitely safer with the restrictions they placed on Long-Collins. Additionally they can all sleep better at night knowing he is supervised by armorers, police and officials when handling such dangerous devices.
Sad to see what an entire country turned into. Really.
He should look into immigrating to the US as a political refugee. If poor, uneducated, sick unskilled families can apply in Texas to flee Guatemala’s poverty surely we can make room for British victims of their government.
“Over the past two years I’ve made significant efforts to change the direction of the channel change the videos and to change my own beliefs in views around fire firearms and firearm ownership, unfortunately, I’ve failed to bring the channel and the videos to the standard that the police feel is adequate.”
This is what happens to a populace without the First Amendment protections we take for granted.
After so many stabbings and knife attacks in Sadiq Khan’s London, I’m surprised the Brits haven’t taken all the knives out of British cooking shows.
The world used to quake when they saw the Brits coming. Now it laughs. Englishmen have become candy@sses. No First Amendment, no Second Amendment, and no b@lls.