Paul Harrell passed away on Tuesday, September 3rd, at the age of 58. I do not know the details of his family, and I believe that they’re entitled to privacy in this matter, given that Paul’s relationship to us was parasocial. In the event they ever read this, I have nothing to say but thank you.
Paul Harrell is not someone I have ever met, and yet he inducted me into a world wholly alien to me. I did not grow up around guns or in a “gun family,” and when I first began to explore this world, I was a foreigner. Many entered this sphere through Gamergate, but I entered through my love of firearms and the culture surrounding them. I was then a novice, and barely an adult. Learning about this forbidden realm through YouTube and Instagram was my initiation to forbidden ideas, to pealing back the polite pieties upon which “public opinion” rests. It was exhilarating, but overwhelming.
The YouTube Gun Scene then was not really that different from now, except the scale was a lot smaller and forums still had enormous sway. For a time, I enjoyed the infotainment, but I realized pretty quickly how empty so much of the content was. For all the talk about civilian defensive shootings, there really weren’t that many examples anyone cited. I stumbled across a reference to the 1986 Miami FBI shootout, and after a quick perusal of the Wikipedia, I entered it in on YouTube.
Paul Harrell’s video was the second result; the first result wasn’t worth clicking on, so I immediately went to Paul’s. And I was greeted with something completely unlike the gun content I had theretofore been consuming.
Harrell produced a wealth of content on a bevy of other subjects all relating to this fundamental theme of being a responsible gun owner. He embodied the very best of American civic virtues, and his videos stand as a testament to his wisdom and knowledge. They have and will serve as a great public benefit, and should not be forgotten.
In a sea of phonies, price-pointed machismo, and advertising dollars sloshing around, Harrell was a voice who had nothing to prove and had nothing to say except solid common sense that felt like a crisp drink of water to any of us initiates into the Gun World. His Miami shooting vid is still one of the best on YouTube, and if you have any interest whatsoever in the subject matter and haven’t seen it yet, you should.
Sleep well, Mr. Harrell, and Godspeed.
Thumbnail image is from “I’m Dead,” recorded December 20, 2023, and released September 3, 2024, upon Paul’s death.
Lost one of the good ones.
Rip