If you have ever gone online looking for the latest news in the gun industry, and it’s very likely you have, you may have noticed a few things…
You will find a wide range of self appointed “experts” doing combat rolls out of their wife’s minivan, and giving you advice on how to “gunfight” despite lacking the prerequisite of having actually been in a gunfight themselves. Or you might find yourself watching a video of a middle aged, sad looking dude doing an “unboxing” of a product you are interested in. If you don’t know what an “unboxing video” is, count yourself lucky. The long and short of it is the dude gets a box cutter, opens the damn box the product came in, and then talks about it at his dinner table. He usually sprinkles in a lot of emotionally connected words such as “I like” and “I feel,” but nothing actually informative gets passed in those ten minutes of shaky video paired with shitty audio.
Pretty much anyone with a smart phone can start their own YouTube channel, and sadly, many do. An estimated 6 billion hours of video gets watched on YouTube every month. If you get followers, you can make money. The skinny blonde that really isn’t that intelligent and knows fuckall about what she’s discussing but has 2.5 million followers looking forward to her next video? Yeah, advertisers paid for those knockers and her new condo. Stay at home dad that has nothing to do all day and more ambition than knowledge? He can create a Youtube channel to share that valuable insights and experience with the rest of the world.
Frankly, the internet is starting to feel a little crowded, particularly with useless information. Trying to find a decent tutorial or informative video on the subject you would like to learn more about means some serious searching, sometimes requiring sorting through a lot of garbage.
We recently spoke to Jon Patton of The Gun Collective, to talk about his new channel and what exactly makes TGC stand out in the dismal sea of YouTube personalities like Tex Grebner and these idiots.
“My idea was to create a channel that most shooters will enjoy, one that takes a completely different approach that what we are use to seeing,” Jon told us, and after watching his new channel, we think he did it. “We want to be the best gun media outlet possible. Through better quality, better content, and a sense of humor, the goal of the Gun Collective is to not just inform, but also to entertain.”
Most TGC videos are under six minutes, meaning you will likely watch them in their entirety and actually return to watch the weekly show, which is published every Monday. The Gun Collective wants to bring shooters together, and engages their audience in a way seldom seen on the internet. Viewers can ask questions, or recommend content that they think others will find interesting. With Jon Patton’s unique, funny perspective on the firearms industry and the help of his crew, the channel shows off unique firearms and accessories, answers common questions, and explores a gun world free of ego. That alone is refreshing.
The channel got its start back in May of 2015, and already many people are starting to take note. The “everyman” perspective is by design, and a lot of work went into planning the format before the show went live. “We don’t want to sugar coat anything, or just create content for the hell of it.” Jon tells us. “We realized that most of the video news outlets for the firearms industry are stuck in a carbon-copy rut of boring, stagnant, and unpolished content.” He continues with “The content of The Gun Collective will appeal to those sick of the cookie cutter formats they are used to seeing, and to those looking for something with better production quality and relevant perspective.”
After watching all the channel’s published videos, we are inclined to agree. The show has a good blend of humor, knowledge and news. A sort of “Tosh.0” vibe flows from its production, with use of green-screen and video clips. The show targets (pun intended) firearms news that are current and of interest to most shooters out there. The obvious effort put into the show’s execution is a breath of fresh air, and you are likely to laugh more than once during every episode.
We asked what comes next as The Gun Collective grows. “We want to attract other shooters with new, innovative ideas for content.” Jon told us. “Too many people are set in their ways, or hold overly emotional attachments to firearms as a whole. We want to change people’s perspectives, and help them shed some of the bias that exists even among our own community.”
He continued by explaining that the show has set out to bring shooters together, and continue to push the envelope of quality forward. We feel that they have a good start on this path and have faith that they will be successful in the long run.
So there it is folks, something new to check out. We like to see new endeavors that deviate from the norm, and the Gun Collective is exactly that. In typical fashion, we expect others to follow their lead and shamelessly copy them, but that’s why its called the “gun industry” and not the “gun community.” Hopefully they will be part of changing that.
You can follow the Gun Collective on Instagram (@theguncollective) and find them online here.
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I just watched the video of those idiots. Holy shit. Are there actually people that stupid who have firearms? People who give petite women high powered weapons and laugh when they hurt themselves? Or who wave their guns around, oblivious to their state if readiness? That’s the most concentrated collection of fuckedupness I’ve ever seen. And That Grebner dude. WTF?
Damn. Just Damn.