USA – -(Ammoland.com)- In a letter sent Monday (February 14, 2022) to YouTube’s Chief Executive Officer Susan Wojcicki, five U.S. Senators expressed their “serious concern that YouTube continues to host videos that instruct viewers on how to make and manufacture ghost guns.”
The five Democrats, who were led by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, include Sens. Christopher Murphy, Edward Markey, Robert Menendez, and Cory Booker.
The lawmakers insisted that the homemade firearm videos were a “direct violation of YouTube’s existing Community Guidelines on firearms.”
“While we acknowledge and appreciate that YouTube has engaged with congressional staff about this problem and, in recent weeks, removed some of these videos, we are alarmed that an extensive amount of this dangerous content still exists on YouTube. It appears that the steps that YouTube has taken thus far are insufficient,” the Senators wrote.
They claimed that homemade firearms have become the “weapon of choice for gun traffickers and convicted felons as well as domestic violent extremists and foreign terrorists” – as if foreign terrorists would trade their AKs for guns they built themselves in their cave.
The lawmakers cited a 2021 story by NBC News, which cited a letter from Everytown for Gun Safety, which alleged that there were “dozens” of videos about homemade firearms watchable on YouTube even after the site said they were taken down.
The Democratic Senators also posed a series of questions to the YouTube CEO and demanded that she respond to them in writing no later than March 7th 2022.
Some of the questions include:
“What steps does YouTube take to prevent users who have repeatedly violated the firearms related Community Guidelines from continuing to post or upload such prohibited content?”
“Does YouTube acknowledge that its Community Guidelines related to firearms prohibit content that provides instructions to viewers on how to construct a ghost gun or 3D-print a firearm?”
“Once YouTube has determined that content violates its Community Guidelines related to firearms, does YouTube review other content on the same channel or posted by the same user to determine whether additional content violates its Community Guidelines?”
“The number of videos actually removed from YouTube’s platform, including the number specific to ghost guns.”
The letter contained an appendix that included links to YouTube videos featuring homemade firearm content, which the Senators said were still live as of last weekend.
Debunking Danang Dick
Americans have been making guns in their homes since before there was a United States of America. It remains perfectly legal in all free states.
The current jihad against homemade firearms, which the gun-ban industry calls “ghost guns,” is just the latest attempt to infringe around the edges of the Second Amendment by getting the media to label a legal firearm or accessory with a provocative name. There’s a long list of similar labels: “assault weapon,” “high-capacity magazines,” “cop-killer bullets,” “Saturday Night Specials,” not to mention the list of alleged “loopholes,” which seemingly grows every single day, even though they too are completely fictitious.
I have personally spoken with sheriffs and other senior law enforcement officials from across the country – from Florida to Washington State. Not a single lawman said they were concerned about homemade firearms, nor have they seen the “scourge and surge of gun violence” that Blumenthal and the other Senators claim homemade guns are causing. Most of these officials said they’d never seen a homemade firearm at a crime scene – not one. A few top cops even volunteered to check their property rooms for “ghost guns.” They could not find a single homemade firearm that was seized as the result of a crime.
I should also point out that the vast majority of firearms that the ATF and other anti-gun groups classify as “ghost guns” because they lack a serial number are not homemade firearms. They are factory-made weapons, which have had their serial numbers removed or altered by criminals, which is itself a felony. The ATF classifies all such weapons as “ghost guns,” regardless of whether they were made in someone’s home or had the serial number removed by a criminal.
In May 2020, Blumenthal introduced the “Untraceable Firearm Act,” which was co-sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein and then-Sen. Kamala Harris was endorsed by Everytown for Gun Safety, Giffords, and Newtown Action Alliance. The legislation would have banned all homemade firearms made from either kits or 3D printers. Now, it appears that not only does Blumenthal want to ban homemade firearms, he wants to ban videos of homemade firearms too.
Takeaways
The Senators’ letter raises some serious questions and more than a few concerns.
First, who is Blumenthal to start policing YouTube’s Community Guidelines for possible violations? Does he not have enough to do? He sits on the Armed Services, Judiciary, Commerce and Veterans’ Affairs committees, as well as the Special Committee on Aging. It looks like Joe Biden is about to drag us into another war, so perhaps the good senator should spend a little more time with his fellow Armed Services committeemen and a bit less time trolling YouTube.
Second, if an elected official pressures a private business owner to censor free speech, how is this not a violation of the First Amendment? The First Amendment prohibits the government from censoring free speech. So, if five sitting U.S. Senators conspire to misuse the power of their office to violate the First Amendment, where is the FBI? For that matter, where is the ACLU? This is a blatant civil rights violation.
Homemade firearms may not be for everyone, but for gun owners and those who appreciate freedom that should not matter. Today, the anti-gun industry wants to ban homemade firearms and even videos about homemade firearms. Unless we resist this and every other infringement, tomorrow it will be something else, since the gun-banners will never be appeased. After all, their goal is total civilian disarmament, but if you don’t believe that, you have only to look at some of Joe Biden’s campaign promises.
This story is presented by the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project and wouldn’t be possible without you. Please click here to make a tax-deductible donation to support more pro-gun stories like this.
About Lee Williams
Lee Williams, who is also known as “The Gun Writer,” is the chief editor of the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project. Until recently, he was also an editor for a daily newspaper in Florida. Before becoming an editor, Lee was an investigative reporter at newspapers in three states and a U.S. Territory. Before becoming a journalist, he worked as a police officer. Before becoming a cop, Lee served in the Army. He’s earned more than a dozen national journalism awards as a reporter, and three medals of valor as a cop. Lee is an avid tactical shooter.
The democrats should be censored they need a taste of their own swamp water.
A fair number of Republicans are riding in the same boat.
Depending on the definition of “untraceable”, and there are several, some estimates place 80% of the world’s stock of firearms in that category.
Someone should ask the good Senators how many crimes, besides the ones in a CSI screenplay, have been solved via a serial number trace.
If these five senators did their job, along with the rest of their party and got serious about enforcing the laws already on the books when it comes to crime and the criminals who are committing them. Letting criminals out of jail with no bond or little bond is creating most of the problems when it comes to gun crimes. How to video’s in any category is educational and for these elected idiots to demand a private company to not allow them is beyond the scope of the jobs they were elected to do. Wonder why they aren’t wearing the… Read more »
How about that. These dems are quelling the 1st and 2nd Amendments both at one time. Surprised? How long before we have a list of what we can and cannot view, talk or converse about?
The videos are ingrained in my brain and these clowns cannot ban that . If you build enough of them it becomes second nature and the video is a mute point then . LMFAO Nice try clowns but you are way too late !
The only reason to use YT. That & reloading. Not that hard to find on other platforms either. Go ahead YT shoot yourself in the foot again. lol
I saw an article the other day on this. It listed the Senator’s names and home states. One of them was listed as D-MA. My first thought was Dumb @$$
I’m still waiting to read the data re: “Ghost Guns”. I strongly suspect the majority of the non-serialized firearms confiscated are guns which had the serial number defaced or ground-off; not unserialized home-made guns!
Of course we know we’ll never see this data; no way, no how!
Scaredy cats.
It’s way to late to stop the bus, one day soon we will all have an affordable desktop CNC machine that will carve us up all the guns we want. I’m not talking about that wimpy ghost gunner machine either, a heavy duty desktop machine that can mill stainless.
The goal of the current administration is not gun or crime control it is confiscation of law abiding citizens guns! During the 2020 campaigns they have already told us that! There are somewhere between one hundred fifty million and two hundred seventy million gun owners in the US. This number increases daily by hundreds. Especially now! Furthermore the “average” number of guns owned per person is eight. You do the math. How long do you think it would take to confiscate that many guns from an unwilling to comply population? Just who will they get to confiscate them? Other American citizens who also own guns and risk them… Read more »
“You do the math.” You have mentioned before that there may be as many as 270 million firearm owners in the United States. Can you please provide the source of that estimate? It would mean that every single male and female over the age of 14 owns a firearm (or, for every person who doesn’t, someone 14 years or younger owns one). “Just who will they get to confiscate them?” The same people who have been enforcing tens of thousands of firearm laws for decades. Some posters here will thank them – just like they thank NYPD employees for arresting… Read more »
Even though your starting assumptions are exaggerated, your point is valid. Got to agree with @JSNMGC on this one. There are somewhere between 300 and 600 millions firearms in the country. Assuming that you are right and the average gun owning individual owns something like eight. Thus there are somewhere between 48 and 75 million firearms owners in the country rather than the 150-270 you stated. I suspect the average per owner has decreased over the last couple years as we’ve added a significant number of new gun owners. Just take count above and add 2-4M for new gun owners.… Read more »
Dick Blumenthal,well known Vietnam war hero has much to say .
These Un-American TYRANTS, using their “power of office” as a “representative” of the American Citizens need/MUST to be Arrested, Charged, Prosecuted, Judged and PUNISHED according to OUR American Constitution for ABDECATING, ABRIDGING, NEGATING and DISHONORING their OATH-OF-OFFICE!
Get these COMMUNISTS out of OUR government!!!!!