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YouTube Suddenly Shuts Down The Official Brownells Channel

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Firearms websites and video channels all lit up this weekend with the news that YouTube Channel of Brownells, one of the biggest firearms and firearms retailers in the world. According to the official Facbeook page of Brownells, their YouTube channel was closed down without any warning:

So when you visit their channel, you will be greeted with this message “This account has been terminated for violating YouTube's Community Guidelines.”

We assume here that Brownells may have violated the YouTube Policies on content featuring firearms, since they are a retail company, with this particular provision:

  • Intends to sell firearms or certain firearms accessories through direct sales (e.g. private sales by individuals) or links to sites that sell these items. These accessories include, but may not be limited to, accessories that enable a firearm to simulate automatic fire or convert a firearm to automatic fire (e.g. bump stocks, gatling triggers, drop-in auto sears, conversion kits), and high-capacity magazines (i.e. magazines or belts carrying more than 30 rounds).
  • Provides instructions on manufacturing a firearm, ammunition, high-capacity magazine, homemade silencers/suppressors or certain firearms accessories such as those listed above. This also includes instructions on how to convert a firearm to automatic, or simulated automatic, firing capabilities.
  • Shows users how to install the above-mentioned accessories or modifications.

Since the Brownells YouTube Channel cannot be reached when you visit YouTube, we cannot identify which particular video(s) they have uploaded that may have caused the action. In a report at Recoil Web, the company intends to appeal the decision:

We discovered Brownells’ YouTube channel had been terminated early Saturday morning, June 9. We received no warning and no reason for its termination.

We appreciate the outpouring of support we’ve received from channel subscribers and Brownells customers.

We do plan to appeal. Any help the gun community can provide is greatly appreciated.

Will NRA pressure the video-sharing website? Pete Brownell the CEO of Brownells, just stepped down as the president of NRA, replaced by Oliver North, the man known for the Iran-Contra affair.Brownells are enjoining supporters to contact Google and YouTube to pressure them to restore their channel.

Will YouTube relent? Sometimes appealing something to YouTube is like banging your head against the wall especially if your audience is small. But if your channel has many followers, it can be possible since channels which have large numbers of followers are usually favored content creators.

Stay tuned.

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