Media Censorship

The anti-gun Community will continue to champion gun control as the solution following any tragedy, and they will pressure businesses to oppose our interests. Your ability to find firearm magazines such as Guns & Ammo has already been restricted in many grocery stores and megaretailers, while internet search engines are secretly eliminating search results and incentives for us to communicate with each another. Recently, Apple removed Gunbroker, the popular gun-­auction website, from its App Store, which many of us would never know because applications already downloaded are still functional on devices — for now.

In my opinion, given that our right to keep and bear arms is protected by the Second Amendment, there should be legal protections that guard against businesses discriminating and restricting our ability to communicate with one another in exercising our rights.

It should be noted that there are some exceptions to the rule that the U.S. Supreme Court will not apply First Amendment mandates on private actors. For example, in Associated Press vs. U.S. (1945), the Court, though primarily relying on antitrust law to affirm a governmental injunction against the Associated Press’ bylaws, argued “Freedom of the press from governmental interference under the First Amendment does not sanction repression of that freedom by private interests.”

It’s easy to argue that private companies are not subject to limitations of government action, but this line of thinking was rejected by numerous state courts when businesses were once attempting to discriminate against customers based on race, religion, gender, income, education, etc.

In Stanley v. Georgia (1969), the court claimed, “It is now well established that the Constitution protects the right to receive information and ideas. This right to receive information and ideas, regardless of their social worth, is fundamental to our free society.” The Supreme Court clearly and firmly recognized the right to receive as a natural and necessary extension of the literal right to speak in the First Amendment.

Without action on our behalf to influence legislatures and the U.S. Congress, the nameless faces working for the technology industry will erode our ability to be entertained and learn about firearms through popular media streaming services until a future generation doesn’t care enough to fight for their rights.

It is important for companies like the one that owns Guns & Ammo to continue supporting initiatives that expand our reach, influence and services. Chief Operating Officer Mike Carney of the Outdoor Sportsman Group (OSG), parent company of Guns & Ammo, recently announced, “In January 2020, OSG Publishing will be giving all paid print subscribers digital access to their publication as part of their subscription for no additional charge.”

If you’re not a subscriber, allow me to encourage you to become one so that you don’t miss out on the most detailed reviews and commentary featuring the latest firearm-­related products. If a store decides not to carry an issue because its manager doesn’t approve of “black guns” on its cover or in its pages, you’re guaranteed not to miss it if you’ve subscribed. There’s always a special offer for first-­time subs at gunsandammo.com/subscribe.

Help us spread the news! You can do it socially by liking, sharing and retweeting this promotion, which you’ll find posted at Guns & Ammo’s Facebook page, as well as on Twitter and Instagram. If you’re a already a print subscriber, please don’t recycle. Instead, share this issue by passing it along to another enthusiast. 

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