News
Youtube Community Strike Issued to My Channel
I regret having to compose the following message, and I will apologize now in case it runs long. I am writing to inform all of you that youtube has issued a “community guidelines strike” to my channel. I’ll explain how that happened shortly, but before I do, I want you to know how this affects my production schedule in the near future. In short, there will be two consecutive mornings (this coming Wednesday and Saturday) when I would normally have a new video premier. As a result of the community guideline strike, I cannot upload video or conduct a livestream (among other restrictions). Therefore, there will be no video content of any sort on either morning. This will be the first such occurrence in at least a decade.
Those of you who participate in the live-chat that accompanies the video premier know, as do I, that we have built a community around these premier events. The sense of camaraderie coupled with the exchange of information and pleasantries is something that goes well beyond the release of a new video. I am deeply troubled by the fact that many regular viewers will now miss out on that experience. This is all compounded by the fact that upcoming events in my personal life are going to make it difficult for me to produce new content until approximately mid-May. For the past couple of weeks, I have been endeavoring to create a sufficient stockpile of new videos to “carry us past” this time period. That effort has now been derailed. For those of you who have a youtube channel of your own, I would ask the following favor. If it isn’t too much trouble, would you please consider posting a message on your community page, or possibly a “short” to get the word out as to what is going on with my channel. For everyone else receiving this email, if you know people who are regular viewers, and you have their contact info, please forward this information to them. I will be posting new content again as soon as possible, but it might be delayed or sporadic over the next several of weeks. I would like to get the word out to as many of my viewers as possible so everyone knows what is going on. I would also like to reassure everyone that things will get back to normal as soon as possible (unless there is some new obstacle inserted by youtube - more on that later).
OK, if you’re still reading, I believe I owe you an explanation as to how this all came about. Some of you know that last week I posted a two-part review of the CVA Cascade rimfire rifle. Those who do will recall that I was not really satisfied with the accuracy I achieved while shooting it. Late last week I went back to the range with the same rifle for a second test (albeit with different ammunition). I am happy to report that the rifle performed considerably better in this second test. I subsequently produced an “update” video to pass along this new information (That video is now posted at the top of the adjacent column). The video was typical for my productions. It included a combination of range footage and post shooting analysis in my shop. I must say this is one video that I never dreamed would cause a problem. Everything seemed normal when I uploaded the video to youtube on Friday afternoon, and I planned for it to premier this coming Wednesday morning.
Yesterday (Sunday May 26), at approximately 3:00 am, I received an email from youtube informing me that my video had been “removed” due to the fact that it violated their firearms policy. The email went on to say that as a result of the violation, my channel had been issued a “warning.” I didn’t see that email until several hours later when I awoke to find it on my phone. Shortly thereafter, I sat down in front of my computer and brought up my “Youtube Studio” page (For any of you who don’t post content to youtube, this is the page where all of a creator’s uploaded videos, analytics, and general information are located). While outlining the warning that I had received, youtube indicated that the violation of their policy occurred at the 6:10 minute mark in my video. This is where things get extremely vague. I went to that point in my video and it was simply a close-up view of one of the targets I had used on the range. I was holding the target in my hand and discussing the group I achieved on that particular target.
There was absolutely nothing I could see in the image or hear in my oration that I could identify as a violation of any youtube policy. In the information youtube sent to me, the only thing I was provided was the timestamp for when the violation occurred. Youtube never identifies the specific violation, nor do they explain how the content violates their rules. However, they did provide three options for dealing with the warning. Rather than re-write it, I’ll just copy & paste from their email:
What to do next
Review your content and the policy. Then you can optionally:
Appeal if you think we got it wrong
Edit the video and submit for another review
Take an optional training to remove the warning
I chose option #1. I appealed the warning because I absolutely thought there had been a mistake. Several hours later, I received this:
We have reviewed your appeal for the following:
Video: CVA Cascade XT Accuracy Update
We reviewed your content carefully, and have confirmed that it violates our firearms policy. We know this is probably disappointing news, but it's our job to make sure that YouTube is a safe place for all.
“Disappointing” is quite an understatement. I had invested approximately 10 hours of work into this video (as well as a substantial amount of rather expensive ammunition), and it was going to be part of the “content-stockpile” I mentioned above. So I decided to try to re-edit the video to bring it into compliance with youtube’s rules. The problem is that I don’t know how it violated their rules in the first place. This is a little like trying to defend yourself from an attack while being blindfolded. For the re-edit, I went to the 6:10 point in the video and performed a “cut" (I think I actually cut it at about 6:08 trying to be safe). I deleted roughly 20 seconds of my discussion of the group on that target. I surmised that something I said must have been interpreted as improper (although, I had no idea what it could have been). I then re-uploaded the video under a slightly different name. I did that to hopefully indicate to youtube that I was not just re-uploading the exact same video.
At 8:17 last night, I received this email:
It looks like CVA Cascade XT: Loads it Likes? didn’t follow Community Guidelines. To help keep our community safe, we removed it from YouTube.
What we found
We think your content didn’t follow our firearms policy.
Content that facilitates the sale, use, or creation of certain illegal or regulated goods isn’t allowed on YouTube. Read policy
You can see an example around 00:06:11, although there could be other instances.
How this impacts you
Your channel now has 1 strike. You won’t be able to do things like upload, post, or live stream for 1 week. This strike expires after 90 days.
Remember not to use other channels, including new or existing, to get around restrictions – that’s called circumvention, and it could result in the termination of all your channels and the removal of your content.
What to do next
Review your content and the policy. After your review, you can appeal if you think we got it wrong. Learn about your resolution options.
I was again given the opportunity to appeal the strike, and my appeal was again denied. At present, I have only one guess as to what youtube sees as a violation of their policy. On the target in the image above, you can see I marked it “FGMM HV” for Federal Gold Medal Match High Velocity. Maybe their system is seeing the abbreviation as a website address, and interpreting it as me trying to direct people to that address to purchase the ammunition. As I said, however, that’s just a guess.
Another disturbing part of this ordeal is that it all took place during an 18 hour period. If my channel receives two more strikes, it will be deleted. Obviously, that could occur very quickly.
In any case, thank you all for your friendship and support. Again I apologize to all of my viewers for my inability to post the content they have grown to expect.
August 2025 - Hollywood CA:
No-one was more surprised than me when I was presented with an Academy Award and a star on the Walk of Fame during my recent trip to Hollywood. OK, well, I photoshopped the star and got to hold a “Best Picture” Oscar anyway! BUT, I’ll be covering my other adventures from that trip in an upcoming livestream. I’ll post a link here that will take you to that show once it is up. See you in the movies!
NEW SERIES: Starting April 9, 2025 I’m starting a new instructional series the basics of riflescopes. This will be a multi-segment tutorial answering many of the questions I have received over the years regarding scopes. I’m calling the series “Riflescopes 101” and the first segment is already live. Check out the “Latest Video” to see each future segment as they are posted.
The Gathering March 21-22, 2025: I attended the Gathering in Clinton SC this past weekend and had the opportunity to try a lot of firearms I’ve been curious about for a long time. Follow the link below to my livestream to hear all about it!
Hey Gang, I’m going to the 2025 SHOT Show! Click on the logo below for details!
December 6, 2025 - Gundie Award Nomination: I have been unexpectedly nominated for the 2025 Gundie awards. Thanks to whoever nominated me! The Gundies are sort of like the Oscars for those of us in the firearm video/media, and I never thought I would be in that group! I was nominated in the category “Most Likely to Survive the Apocalypse.” If you want to vote for me, just follow this link: https://thegundies.com/event-categories/?referral=MzY2NTk6QTFrTHAzeFpxVzltNzJSVA%3D%3D . Voting is open until December 20, 2024. Thanks to all! Update: I didn’t win. Still, it was great to be nominated. Thanks to all who voted for me!
November 5, 2024: Special Livestream!: At 1900 I will be joined by Dr. Andrew Berry. This will be a special show as Dr. Berry is an expert in the realm of PTSD and its effects military veterans, Law Enforcement officers, Firefighters, and others who deal with traumatic incidents as part of their working life. You won’t want to miss this pre-Veteran’s Day event. If you, or someone you know is having difficulty, please join us for this show.
September 18, 2024: You won’t want to miss this livestream with special guest star Mimi! It’s always fun when she joins in the chat (please excuse the technical issues at the beginning of the stream. Things were cleared up quickly).
News & Info
Latest Videos!
August 30, 2024: Be sure to tune in at 2:00 pm (EDT) for a livestream with HR. The stream will be carried on the youtube channel, and there’s going to be a big announcement you won’t want to miss!
August 28, 2024: In response to YouTube’s increasing restrictions against content creators posting links to sponsor’s information, discount codes, and product information associated with firearms, HRFunk launched a personal website to serve as a repository for all such data. The website will also serve as a communication link between HR and his viewers as well as allowing a convenient location for everyone to stay up to date on all the latest news pertaining to his activities