I don't know Beau, if a school full of slaughtered kindergarteners didn't change it, nothing will.

I’ve been a firearms trainer for years. The ‘gun culture’ has grown so extreme and toxic that I rarely associate with peers in my field. I second everything you just said, Beau

As a veteran, mental health professional, and parent I appreciate your directness and courage to say what needs to be said. I hope the right people see this. The culture NEEDS to shift. Complex issues usually require complex, multifaceted solutions, and part of that is taking personal responsibility for the messages we send to others and the culture we contribute to.

I was raised in a gun owning home, taught to shoot at a young age, and wasn't even allowed to point a squirt gun at anyone. Even finger guns were frowned upon. Why? Because it's too easy to become complacent with a real gun if you have no respect for toy guns. I have never understood how you can have to take a written and practical test to drive a car, but can use a gun with no more instruction than using a can opener. I also think that guns aren't really the problem, it's the culture of violence being the solution to your problems that exists in the US. And if you're going to solve your problems with violence, then what easier way than using a gun? You don't even have to be in the same room as your victim/opponent. That, however, is not an excuse to let just anyone own and operate a tool designed to kill things.

"There is a whole lot of people in the gun crowd who don't know anything about guns" -Beau Me: Amen.

I don’t want prohibition. I want responsible educated gun ownership.

As a gun owner who was raised on a "gun is a dangerous tool treat it as such" mentality I just can wrap my head around the crowd that act like your level of freedom is directly linked to how big of an armory you have

“Because a lot of people in the gun crowd don’t actually know anything about guns.” It’s like I heard a million voices scream out in terror and suddenly be silenced.

I've been saying for over a decade now that the problem is how guns are no longer treated as tools but status symbols. Absolutely spot on as usual, Beau.

When my grandfather (a career Army officer) taught people to shoot, he did it in much the same way my grandmother taught me to use kitchen knives: clear, practical, and with a focus on getting the job done safely -- no more, no less. I haven't heard anyone else in my life talk about guns that way. I'm personally in favor of moderate, sensible gun regulation -- things like minimum licensing requirements, safety training, and restrictions on gun ownership for DV offenders -- and whenever I mention that I support so much as a mandatory gun-safety class, I get called a communist and a bunch of names I can't repeat without getting flagged. All I can think is that these people who accuse me of wanting to "take their guns away" are exactly the people whose guns Grandpa would have confiscated, on the grounds that they couldn't be trusted with anything more dangerous than a Super Soaker. Grandma wouldn't have trusted 'em with a paring knife, either. Edits, with eye-rolling as appropriate: 1. I don't identify as a communist, nor do I interpret the term as an insult, nor do I think my beliefs are an accurate depiction of communism. Some Americans throw around words like "communist" to describe anything they personally dislike. I'm quoting them, not explaining or defending them. 2. Congratulations to everyone who pointed out the specific potential loopholes in my generally stated beliefs! That is, in fact, how generality and specificity work. A-plus. 3. I, personally, am not coming for your guns for the very simple reason that you have guns and I don't, and my mother didn't raise a fool. I still think there are some people, however small a population, who shouldn't have access to firearms. But the fact that you interpreted "maybe we should make sure people with guns are more likely to use them responsibly" as "coming to take your guns" is worth mulling over in light of Beau's points in this video. 4. Hello to all the people in the comments who had good grandparents and/or sensible upbringings! I wish your experiences were more common. 5. Please drink some water, check on your neighbors, and don't get too worked up about a random bear on the internet.

I found this channel around the beginning of the pandemic, and the first thing I did was watch your gun playlist. It completely changed my views on the subject. Like a massive shift in the way I saw the world. Thank you so much for continuing to cover this topic, we all need to be informed on this issue.

I own guns, but I also understand the difference between gun control and trying to take your guns away from you.

The Buffalo killer’s manifesto reads like a job application for a junior producer on Tucker Carlson.

"Taken into custody alive". How did I know the race of the individual before reading the article about the shooting? Smh

Sobering thought. "Might makes right" is sadly only one piece of it. Fear of being replaced by the people he shot - believing that lie is the other part. The original civil rights mentality was that if we don't get a handle on violence against one community, then it will spill into all. Unfortunately, this has been proven true time and time again.

Every time a democrat is elected, my father loses his mind and orders guns and ammo because he is SO sure his right to bear arms is going away. (wonder who gives him that idea). Anyway. Obama was elected and he bought an AR-15. A 60+ year old man as a partly hysterical reaction. He's never used it or ever plans on using it, but had to have it. That's gun culture.

Guns are definitely not something that makes someone look tough. When I see some guy in tactical gear and carrying a rifle at Safeway, I see a scared, timid person, frightened by the world around them.

The macho culture surrounding guns in the US seems to be a sub-element of the "Freedom" culture, in which freedom has been holllowed out to simply mean "do whatever you want, whenever you want". Responsibility should always go hand in hand with freedom and education is the way to bind the two together. Unfortunately, ignorance and egoism seem the be the name of the game today, with devastating consequences.

I grew up going hunting with my dad with a 30-06... And when you compared the ammo of the X-M5 to the 06. I'm pretty sure my heart dropped. That is absolutely terrifying. Why can't they like the .22 or something that can be stopped by a 2x4?

Don't ask the "Gun crowd" to wear a mask either!! 🤮😡

Hey beau, I’m an Army National Guardsmen and I notice you left out one thing. The m5 was built from the ground up to take on body armory which has some interesting implications. The army shifted to fight near peers like China who issued body armor. These civi models might have a little less power( different gunpowder used) but it still does the same thing. More cops will die as a result of this. It will be interesting to see how the back the blue crowd handles something that directly puts cops lives in more danger when it is a firearm they want. Just a thought

I really wish the media wouldn't read or show this murderer's name or his manifesto. This is and has been out of control for way too long. I sincerely hope Tucker Carlson and Fox will be sued to the max.

Dude, this is the most coherent discussion i have ever heard on the issue. As a combat veteran, I have handled firearms for decades and as a Scout leader have taught shooting skills to a lot of youth. I need to unpack this a bit.

'Low to intermediate power' may be meaningful in relation to assessing the needs of a professional military; but I'm not sure it's of any help when the weapon in question is being pointed at children inside a classroom. If the US army wants to upgrade the weaponry available to individual soldiers, I daresay it has its reasons; but how did America get into a position where a significant constituency of the population thinks it highly desirable that their personal firearm is comparable to the military issue? Do they envisage a significant likelihood of being in a shootout with the US military? If one's worldview has come to be largely an agglomeration of conspiracy theories, I suppose anything is possible ... but to think that lethal weapons have become just one more accessory in a culture of aspirational consumerism is very troubling. As is the suggestion that the scenes of devastation that might result from a shooter using the all new and updated model will be a game-changer. That may be true, but is the implication that America has become inured to the levels of devastation that result from current shootings? That the carnage of 19 schoolchildren murdered in their classroom over just a few minutes, and covered in eachothers' blood, bone and viscera, is too familiar, too normal, too predictable to provoke sufficient concern to bring about change. Sounds like all the gun lobby needs is to have the stomach to wait for the next level catastrophes to become normalised. People will get used to it in time.

I continue to hold the opinion that if 20 elementary school children between the ages of 6 and 7 being gunned down in cold blood doesn't cause change with the gun community, then what the hell will???? And I am a gun owner. But I'm definitely NOT part of the gun community that we are referring to.

As a gun owner, I find myself arguing with other gun owners more than the "gun-control" crowd.

Gun responsibility, not gun control.

For such a shitty weapon, they seem to get the job done . .

They view it as a status symbol or a symbol of masculinity, but ALWAY as an extension of their own identity. And in many cases it’s their whole damn personality

“It’s the price of freedom!” As long as it’s not them. Right? I don’t care if you have 20 guns on you and 10 more in your car. If someone gets the drop on you you’re getting buried with your guns.

I listen to this whole thing and I am still at a loss one rifle over another does not negate dead children.

They're not just treated as status symbols. They're treated as toys. So many of these mall ninja types run around with ten pounds of rail mounted accessories they don't need, like a child getting a bunch of accessories for their dolls.

I’ve had to rewrite this 4 times… The crux of it for me is that it often feels that there are people in the USA who care more for their guns than other peoples lives. I would like to believe Beau - but I don’t think things will change.

A right must contain a responsibility. Too many people want their rights, without being willing to accept the responsibility of them.

"Ban the doors, not our rifles!". Ok, America.

This will make heads explode. Not on either side of the debate, but rather on the shoulders of the shooting victims.

Still waiting to hear something I'm not going to like. As a gun owner I agree 100%.

"If we've learned anything from history, it's that we never learn anything from history"

I love that you not only speak your mind, but you start off saying nobody will be happy with this conversation. I may not always agree, but I hope you strive to keep your own mind.

Yep. Canadian here. Grew up in a subsistence hunting culture, later taught hunting and markmanship. You nailed it Beau.

Once again I’m grateful for my dad’s guidance. He taught me how to shoot at a young age, to have immense respect for a weapon, and to value living, breathing humans.

I remember talking online five years ago about climate change with a very pro gun person. She was very vocal that climate science was a hoax. They got super angry because I kept pointing out the holes in her "science facts". Well, after a few months we both at the same meeting. She came with two small handguns in her purse to show me. They brought handguns to a science debate! Some people shouldn't own guns.

Cool. Also expect this conversation to change when women begin to arm ourselves due to the overturning of Roe. It’s like conservatives think we WON’T arm ourselves as they take away our rights. 2A seems secure, if that’s how I defend myself from this crap, so be it.

"Is not a high powered round" is easy enough to illustrate with a side by side image comparison of the .338 Lapua Mag vs a 5.56mm round.

I feel like I grew up in a much different gun culture...Guns were meant to be respected, you didn't "play" with any gun and acting a fool around them got you a stern scolding. I have watched gun culture degrade into the "status" symbol it is now. It makes me sad.

When Beau mentioned "people who are not mature enough ... to have access to [firearms]" I immediately thought of Kyle Rittenhouse and how the gun crowd painted him as some kind of hero. In fact, he was young, dumb, and you know the rest. He brought gasoline to an apartment fire.

The most well thought and logical speech on gun debate I've heard in awhile.

Well said sir. Well said. And that is EXACTLY why I own a dozen guns, but not a single one is an AR

"It's going to get bad." - Beau's final sentence in this video... not what I wanted to hear right now but what I still needed to hear.

Thing is, walking around with a gun outside his pants screams compensation. We’ve been seeing it since Open Carry was passed. We know to just walk away quietly yet quickly because the first assumption MUST be that the dude is not reliable.

Here's the funny part the reason why this gun is legal for citizens to buy is because of police unions 😂 Fools always cheer for their own demise while blaming the other

How will a pile of dismembered bodies and destroyed furniture, doors and walls be any different? It won't.

I am a center left firearms owner and it makes me sick with what the NRA and the gun lobby has done. I’m for responsible firearms ownership, the current gun culture speaks on that but the actions of some don’t want to follow it. The fact that a significant number of states are going with permitless carry is bat shit crazy.

Every time something like Buffalo happens, I hear 2 things. One side saying, "We've got to do something about this." and the other side saying what boils down to, "It's the price of freedom.". And I question, "who's freedom"? The freedom/ability of the perpetrator to do it, or the freedom of the now deceased victims? Something doesn't add up here... I'm pro-gun, but to put it mildly, things have been getting out of control lately.

I keep hearing that a gun is a tool. Two questions. 1. For what task(s) is a gun an appropriate tool? 2. Are there other tools that would be as effective? Thank you.

Thank you for naming things so succinctly. May people listen to you and learn.

I have always felt that gun ownership should have to follow the same rules as automobile ownership: training, testing, licensing, registration, and insurance would all be required. We have those rules because an automobile can be deadly in untrained hands, even though it's main function is for transportation. Guns can also be deadly in untrained hands, and it's main purpose is to kill.

I'm a combat veteran, 2 tours. I live in Kentucky, born and raised. I have had a gun of one caliber or another in my hand since I received my first at the age of 6 (20gauge). I currently own more guns than most of those that will read this combined. All that said I will be very, very firm about this one thing. (There are far to many people that are not responsible, mature, educated mentally stable, and old enough. To own, operate or be within reach of a gun for any reason.) WE NEED FAR STRICTER GUN LAWS. EVEN IF I LOOSE THE RIGHT TO ONE SOME OR EVEN EVERY GUN I OWN. THAT IS THE BOTTOM LINE PERIOD....... Signed Common Sense And Thank You Beau for stating that a gun is a TOOL. I wish the world understood that.

Holy wow, Beau - I hugely appreciate the way you broaden the conversation space so that basic side-ism reveals itself as insufficient to the discussion. That’s hard to do well, informatively and as a knowledgeable gentleman with earnest concern. I think the world could use more like you

I don’t believe it’s going to change. I’ll believe it when I see it.

YES. You've nailed a huge issue here: the glamorization culture - so many want to cosplay 82 airborne or whatever helps them sleep at night, and they're doing it with live ammo.

That round is going to carry through like 7.62 NATO. Through the cinder block, through the cast iron stand pipe, through the eight year old, through the plate glass, through the siding and two by four at the end of the block, and through Mrs Blackthorn before the junction box and conduit finally stops the round.

Thank you so much for this thoughtful and candid explanation of how gun control debates will shift quite soon. I've heard passionate arguments for and against gun control from family and friends over the years. None of them clarified things nearly as well as you did here and for that, I can't thank you enough.

American politicians need to care more about protecting children who HAVE been born than they do about children were never born.

Best onion headline i saw a while back: ' "How can this keep happening?" Says only country where this keeps happening.'

At the very least we need a massive increase in gun education in this country. A lot of people just don't respect what they're capable of.

Thanks for the video. I’m not afraid to admit, I and many of my gun-averse peers unsurprisingly aren’t gun experts, so it was good to hear this in-depth explanation of both guns and the gun situation from someone I trust.

The Mental health of young American men is the actual problem here.

As someone who worked in a gun store at the time the US Military adopted the M17/M18 series of pistols, I can definitely attest to the fact that "It's what the military has" definitely has a huge influence on what the "tacticool" types want to buy.

Yep, noticed this gun culture change a few years ago. Most seemed to have the "operator" appearance and killer, not hunter attitude. Throw in the lack of training, and poor reasoning skills, and here we are.

Beau you'r speaking skills on this topic are outstandingly clear and a pleasure it was to hear how elegantly you address this polarized situation. love your passion !

Thank you so much for this video.

"It's going to get bad." From my point of view, it is already bad. Your country has a huge amount of problems, and ,give or take, about half your population either doesn't see it, or wants to make it even worse. And the other half thinks that just talking about it will make it better, as if that had done ANYTHING about it over the half century or so that that has been their total strategy!

Howdy Beau. I figured I'd throw in a comment that may help. One of my previous jobs, in 2014, involved visiting various nations on behalf of their governments. We went to every nation in North America, most of Europe (all EU nations), Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and South Korea. Our job was, upon landing, to immediately start a timer. We were timed on how long it took us to get a firearm. We were given one local as a helper, who was there only to translate. This helper was not a government employee, nor local police/military. Our results showed that if you wanted a gun, you WILL get one, regardless of where you are. Our longest time to get a firearm was just under four hours. That was in South Korea. Japan was just over three hours. Nobody in the EU took over two hours. North America took under two hours. When it comes to crime, we came to the conclusion that the reason those nations show lower crime rates is not due to the absence of firearms, because there is no absence. It was because they had made far more progress in solving the causes of crime. Namely access to healthcare, education, decent pay, a social safety net, ending/reducing homelessness, etc.

Just thank you. Truth is just good and you are damn good at truth

Thanks Beau Et Al.🙂

Just so you know, guys, waving a big gun around only shouts out that you're lacking in other departments!

These mass shootings becoming more frequent has me kind of dreading June this year. One governor wants to make a point for reelection and sparks a protest, or Tucker Carlson gets on the air waves and calls pride parades grooming festivals, then some guy writes a manifesto and opens fire. I gotta say the debate is quite different when you're the clay pigeon

Thank you. Conversation is key.

Brilliant man. Great take on it.

👋🏾Add: I hate this topic. I want to close my ears and go la la la la. But here I am listening trying to understand because being ignorant about this topic never helped me any.

Unfortunately our country has the attitude right now that "rights" are the only things that matter, and there is little/no sense of responsibility towards each other.

Thanks for sharing this information.

They needed DNA to identify the kids in Uvalde. An AR may not be "high powered" but it's damn ugly.

The problem with the gun "debate" is that it's never been a debate. Same with abortion. We're just two vastly different cultures that have a very different definition of "pro-life". And only one side it seems is racking up the casualties. Addendum: Re: the Second Amendment and who it's for: as a comedian once said, if instead of kneeling during the national anthem black football players marched out on the field sporting AR15s, we'd have GOP-sponsored gun control legislation by halftime.

"This new shooting is too fresh. We shouldn't discuss it until time has passed." - 1 day passes - - New shooting - "This new shooting is too fresh. We shouldn't discuss it until time has passed."

Thanks for the info Beau!!

After yesterday's shooting the part about "body armor meaning the cops arriving doesn't stop anything" sounds prophetic.

"The gun crowd has a short amount of time to change the culture" Well that isn't happening.

Good morning everyone!

Well said! Hope all give a listen.

Very well thought out points., 👍

When Elvis was young he wanted to buy a gun. His mom convinced him to buy a guitar instead. $8,000 will buy you a damn nice guitar.

Well Howdy Beau and followers !

Incredibly thoughtful video. Presented with intelligence, style and substance. Eternally thankful for your videos and thoughts!

I grew up in South Dakota in the 80s. I took classes at school about gun safety when I was 12 years old so I could get my license to hunt pheasants. Everyone I knew owned shotguns, rifles, and pistols. No one had or wanted or needed an assault rifle. There were NO school shootings even though every teenager had multiple firearms. There is no need for weapons of war to be in civilian hands. Legalize grenade launchers and act surprised when innocents get murdered by them.

I'm a Canadian Navy vet, when I joined we were still using the FNC1 - a 7.62 round. Our gun control debates have always been about the 'peace, order, and good government' part of how we do things. You can't have peace if everyone is armed. Keep your weapons locked the f up, until you need them. And if you need them, you damn well better be using them in a lawful manner. You can expect charges if you shoot anyone, if your weapon discharges when you didn't want it to you may also face charges.

Gun culture has changed so much in the south. When I was growing up guns were used for hunting, period or protecting your home because there were no telephones to call for help until I was six years old and they finally got the phone lines out that way in rural NC If one of the kids were caught with a gun without adult supervision let's just say someone's hand would have been having a serious conversation with their backside. And if that gun were loaded it probably would have been the cherry tree switch you were having that conversation with. We were taught respect for guns and you never heard of someone taking a firearm into a store or someone shooting up a school. I don't think that thought even crossed the minds of anyone I knew. You heard of an armed bank robbery every now and then but that was usually something you heard of that happened somewhere else for the most part. Not quite sure what happened down here but if people are that anxious to go play like they are in the military then there is a recruiter that will be more than happy to have a nice talk with you. If they are that "tough" go join the real military and stop thinking they are some kind of Rambo because he was a fictional character in a movie and some things should not be lived out in real life. The first time I really ran into present day gun culture was when I lived in Watertown NY in 1981 and it was not widespread there just some people that other people called crazy rednecks that were really into their guns. I found those people kind of scary to live around. Guns are status symbols for cowards.

You are amazing and. Thanks for making this video. I have been trying to talk about this for so long. It about the culture built around guns. That's what needs to be focused on.

YES! Truth. Thank you.