NFTs and the Future of Gun Culture

In the late 1990's and early 2000's, the rapid development and spread of the Internet resembled the Gutenberg Revolution in that suddenly the amount of information available to the average citizen expanded so quickly it impacted the cultural zeitgeist. While this article represents the development of new forms of media, it also pays tribute to how the internet has brought together the culture of firearms ownership. Not only are those who live in rural areas more likely to own firearms, but in some cases, gun owners are less likely to live in cities. As a result, when the internet brought with it forums, blogs, and social media, gun culture around the world experienced a revival. Now, the events of 2020 and 2021 have once again decentralized much of our living spaces as many people continue to work from home.

Last week, a watershed moment took place for RECOIL as we took part in the first-ever auction of an NFT of RECOIL Issue #56 Cover Art Featuring Chris Cheng. However, it wasn't just about the novelty, as the proceeds went towards advocacy groups including Pink Pistols, the Firearms Policy Coalition, and APAGOA. By the end, the total value of the 10 NFT's came to $31,000.

In a conversation with Chris Cheng, he had this to say about the significance of NFTs and the future of Gun Culture:

Pick your favorite 2nd Amendment organization. If you support them, you can donate to them. Maybe you take a screenshot and share that you donated $100 to them. But if they started selling NFTs as a way of advocacy. Say you donate $100 and get an NFT as part of your donation: it's a different way of being connected to the organization that you are supporting. You then have this NFT that you can share with the world. There are all of these NFT platforms that are allowing you to show off your stuff and people love doing that whether it's in the analog world or the digital space.

Just as the internet impacted print media, NFTs continue that trajectory by adding the element of collecting to the digital ecosystem. Beyond the technical utility of Blockchain technology, it now has the opportunity at impacting the social side of our digital experience. Collecting, whether as an investment, a hobby, or a form of entertainment certainly didn't start on the internet, and now with the possibility of collecting an original NFT of a favorite patch or piece of artwork, the expansion of gun advocacy is open to new opportunities.

When speaking about what NFTs can do for the Gun Community, Chris had this to say:

What I want to build towards is creating a community, an online ecosystem of gun aficionados, whether you're just here for the guns, or you're here for the 2nd Amendment, or you're here to meet good people, whatever brings you into the community. What I think is also fascinating about NFTs with respect to firearms, politics, and gun culture is that it is abstracting this whole conversation to a whole different level. I think it is good because it is less threatening and opens up this window for more conversation. I think there's a similarity between collecting baseball cards and firearms NFTs.

The response of you, the gun community, was part of what took place with the Auction. As a proof of concept, the event of the NFT auction represented that the 2nd Amendment is for All. As we have noted in recent articles, not only is the 2nd Amendment Alive and Well, but it is being upheld the way it should be: by the will of the people.

Just as we can look back and see how the internet impacted Gun Culture by bringing firearms owners, enthusiasts, and professionals together from all over the world, so we see that advocacy for the Second Amendment may begin in our homes, but must spread into the new commons. As social media and new platforms continue down paths of censorship, innovations like NFTs remind us that the organic community is more potent than the artificial one. The more reasons we have to come together: whether to support a creator who has been censored, or to converse about the possibilities that blockchain technology has for the Gun Community, the better off we will be and the brighter the future will look.

More about Chris Cheng

Occupation: IT guy for a Silicon Valley tech company
Base of Operations: San Francisco, California
Hobbies: Eating, traveling, music, guns, moving dirt from one place to another, watching movies, politics, policy, bourbon
Favorite Film: The Kingdom
Favorite Quote: “Everything in moderation, including moderation.”
Favorite Firearm: Glock 19, for its versatility and reliability
URL: TopShotChris.com

More from RECOIL Magazine

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• Young Americans are Turning Away from Gun Control.
• American Contingency has faced some of the greatest Censorship to date.
• No One Is Coming To Save You: RuneNation on Personal Ownership in the Age of Censorship.
• Warrior Poet Society, John Lovell, addresses Censorship, The Second Amendment, and Moving Forward.
• Year after year, Americans prove that the Second Amendment isn't going away. Here's the testimony.
• In Early 2021, Instagram Decided that the Second Amendment was Fake News. Read the Story.
• Time to Act: the ATF moves against Pistol Stabilizing Braces.
• SB Tactical versus the ATF: What Winning Looks Like.
• Punishment for Good Behavior. Why it matters when the ATF betrays the people.
• What the Leaked ATF Documents say about 80% parts.
• For the Veterans.

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