On the heels of YouTube shutting down Brownells’ channel in America, a stranger story has emerged on the other side of the Atlantic. It seems as if police in the United Kingdom have pressured gun blogger Calum Long-Collins into disbanding his YouTube channel.
Long-Collins, who had 15,000 followers and had garnered more than 15 million views over the past few years, said he shut down his site after authorities marked his work as a “forum of extremism” and he was going to have to “show the police that I am a fit character to own firearms within the U.K.”
Long-Collins posted a farewell video—well, one more that will present a montage of highlights from his video archives is yet to be posted—in which he discussed the factors leading up to his decision.
The dispute isn’t new. It was about two years in the making, finally coming to its denouement when Long-Collins voluntarily decided to end his posts.
Two years ago, the blogger lost his firearm licenses after someone make an unfounded accusation against him. The allegations proved false and he was again granted his right to own firearms, but investigators dug us “suspect” videos.
When those concerns were brought to light, Long-Collins says in his farewell video, he tried “to change the direction” of the content on his channel. “Unfortunately, I’ve failed to bring the channel and the videos to the standard that the police feel is adequate and I only have myself to blame for this.”
