The following was written and submitted to Guns.com by Will Carey
Back in the late 90s, comedian Chris Rock used to perform this routine about how even though he didn’t agree with the fact that the widely accepted belief OJ Simpson murdered his wife and her lover, he understands the Juice’s motivations if he did it. The whole thing was quite edgy back in the Clinton era and pissed a ton of people off. Well, I’m no comedian but as a life long gun owner, Second Amendment advocate and big time fan of Guns.com, I’ve got something to say about James Yeager and his “I’m going to kill people” videos. I understand.
Now before I’ve got badges banging at my door too, let me point out that it would take a team of lawyers to interpret what I just wrote as a threat and just because I understand Yeager’s motivations in making these videos, doesn’t mean I have any respect for him for making them. In my experience it’s a stupid idea to do anything while you’re mad, and the videos are embarrassing. I wish it was that easy too, that ensuring gun rights was just a matter of calling out the misguided, big mouths like Alex Jones, but the fact is we already have real obstacles and real enemies to contend with like Bloomberg, Cuomo and Feinstein. And this is why, James, I understand.
I understand because I believe your videos succeeded in at least making a good point poorly: a lot of people today, myself included, are feeling powerless and I think we feel this way because it’s rare that we see the people who we’ve trusted with power held appropriately accountable when they abuse it. Yes, Yeager abused his position as a defense instructor when he encouraged folks to take to the hills and even his Second Amendment rights when he threatened to shoot people. He should have his gun taken away until he cools off realizes what an idiot he’s being, which is what happened almost immediately. But the thing that keeps me up at night isn’t the thought that James Yeager might have a gun, it’s the fact that rarely these days do I see such swift and definitive action befall equally blatant politicians. That’s something I don’t want to understand.
From reporters wagging their fingers at gun owners with one hand, while breaking gun laws with the other, to security leaders who allow American guns to kill American citizens in foreign hands, to a President toying with the idea of enacting his will over the will of the people, we’ve bitterly come to accept that those in power will evade meaningful consequences for their actions. As a result, I don’t think the average American let alone average gun owner feels confident that we have a great system of checks and balances in the courts and legislature in place to deal with the wicked. When I watch Yeager’s video with these glasses on, I don’t see a terrorist promising mayhem but rather a scared, misinformed neighbor flexing the only muscle he feels he has left, the Second Amendment—and that I do understand.
To be sure, a check on tyrannical governments was what our Founding Father’s had in mind when they ensured the right to bear arms to all law-abiding citizens; the fact that governments don’t like it and people do only proves that we need it. While I wouldn’t use the word tyrannical to describe the Obama White House, I think they do a piss poor job of taking accountability for their bad decisions and Eric Holder is a living testament to this. By and large, this doesn’t make US citizens (the people to whom they are accountable) feel very confident in the state of the union and by extension, about their prospects in life.
So is James Yeager making those videos really so surprising when you consider a lot of the world’s revolutions originated in such feelings of powerlessness? I’m not saying we should do it. But I understand.