http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6QpFsquIDg

Gun guru James Yeager lost his Tennessee concealed carry permit after saying he’d shoot someone if the Obama administration continued to pursue civilian disarmament. They did, he didn’t, Tennessee pulled his permit and now it’s back. Happy ending? Not entirely.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

94 COMMENTS

      • Who here has to prove jack sh!t to you? I’ve watched lots of his videos and a number of his earlier DVDs. Some stuff is good, some is junk. In all I don’t even really have anything against him, but any objective evaluation of his content as a whole would lead one to see that he is an irresponsible immature little tool and a jackass. He runs his mouth and can’t back it up. He probably got his permit back because the sheriff probably took a look at his stuff maybe had a chat with him and realized that he is a jackass, but a harmless jackass.

      • He is a coward too. Besides his well known cowardice in battle, he issued a video challenging anyone to call him a coward IRL, including to pay all their expenses to visit him. I took him up on the offer and he then backed out. Then he set the coward challenge video to private.

      • C’mon R, have YOU watched more than 5 minutes of his vids?

        I’ve never heard so much arrogant ranting and bragging in my entire life.

        • I have met James a number of times and he is a great guy, I personally don’t have any issues with him.

        • I just don’t buy it.

          There’s something wrong with a guy who feels the need to act the way he does on youtube, and claims to be a professional firearms instructor.

          Funny how I never heard truly great guys like Clint Smith threaten to murder anyone.

    • This is a mistake.. He is obviously unstable and has no business even owning a gun.. Its morons like you who give us law abiding gun owners a bad name.. He even looks menacing..

  4. Although in many ways he is a jerk, you cannot question his passion for 2A. With that said, making threats during his rant was beyond stupid.

    As to being “politically correct”? Screw that. The time to get real, and be plain spoken in our support of our rights is NOW!

    • I don’t question a crackhead’s enthusiasm for cocaine either…..both a crackhead and Yeager are beyond stupid though, so maybe they do have something in common. Such a blowhard…..they should bring back dueling, but if they did Yeager would talk smack about it and then never accept a challenge. Oh wait, he already did that…..

  7. Meh, let the moron keep his permit… He’s certainly not the only idiot with one. It’s the fact that he runs a training facility that bothers me. An arrogant hothead like Yeager shouldn’t be allowed to teach people how to lawfully defend themselves. He’s made multiple public threats to assault/kill people for reasons as petty as insulting him.

    And what’s worse is there are people who actually respect this guy and pay him money to take his classes! Seriously?

    Looks like the slap on the wrist Tennessee gave him calmed him down somewhat though, wonder how long that lasts…

    • Those are my thoughts. I respect his passion, but I’m more than a little bit pissed off at how much damage he has done to the RKBA cause. Between the fact that I shoot .40 cal, don’t issue duel challenges, and don’t threaten to start shooting at random, I don’t believe I’ll ever take one of his classes.

      Still, he has calmed down and not actually broken the law. If the antis want to slam him, it’s pretty easy to point out that Yeager has not actually “gone ballistic.” If I ever met him I hope that we could have a civilized conversation, although be strikes me as the interrupting type.

      • You shoot .40, don’t issue duel challenges, AND you seem to be in the Huntington Beach area? It seems I have a faceless pardner in law-abidingness! If you see a white regular cab F250 cruising around north HB with Air Force stickers hit me up. Oh yeah, James Yeager is crazy.

    • Seriously 2wheels?

      The guy definitely comed across as a braggart a bully and a coward,( he did challenge anyone to a duel for calling him a coward and when Matt on this board took him up on the challenge, Yeager caved and turned Matt down), but that is not a reason to revoke his CC permit, the Sheriffs should have charged Yeager with a crime and arrested him or left his right of self-defense alone.

      But that’s the difference between a right and a privilege; that’s another reaon I OC without a license here in NM, instead of getting a license to CC; I practice a right, not a privilege.

      • You don’t want to carry concealed? You truly prefer carrying openly? If not, you’re only practicing the “rights” that they are allowing you to practice.

        Truly exercising your rights would be to do practice them regardless of legality.

  8. The man is a lying coward. When he came under fire he ran leaving his comrades in danger and hid in a ditch. When they found him he was in a fetal position crying like a baby and had peed his pants. He’s nothing but a big mouthed coward. All talk.

    • Not gonna Monday morning QB another man’s firefight, but for a weapons instructor he has terrible safety procedures, that should be reason enough for us not to want him on our side. Well that and the tapout gear and the duelling.

      • Absolutely correct on the safety thing. Couple of years ago there was a picture from one of his pistol classes with students firing down range. Not a big deal until you see that the perspective was from the photographer. Students were live firing with a photographer posted down range by the targets. Hard to believe.

        • Can you imagine? Students learning to defend themselves in an extremely structured environment without hitting a bystander miles from their target! It’s as if the students were adults getting training from a competent instructor willing to introduce some realism without first praying to your interpretation of the 4 Safety Rules!

      • Well….uh….no, I wasnt. Thats kind of why I asked (11) if he really was ‘in a fetal position and crying like a baby after having peed his pants’. Not saying that I would or would not have pooped myself silly in such an instant…..though I doubt I would be talking about the whole affair or be doing videos, at any rate.
        I think it is 11 who you may want to address with regards to Yeager.

        • that was towards 11, not you pat.

          youre good in my book.

          somebody has to call out the powers to be and their obsession with creating pelvic ashtrays.

    • I’m not fan of James Yeager’s style, but I kinda think he did the right thing in that case as a contractor in Iraq from what little information I can find about it.

      Cars do not stop bullets, in fact, cars become a veritable bullet-magnet in a firefight sometimes. If you must use a car for cover, put the front wheels and the engine block between you and the bad guys. Those parts are huge chunks of solid metal compared to the rest of the car. Any other part of a car is designed to crumple up in an accident, and will not sufficiently stop a bullet if shot. In other words: Those other areas of the car are Designed to break.

      Your best bet would be to do what JY did, ditch the car, and find some real cover, like a ditch by the side of the road/highway. Don’t just sit around waiting to get shot, especially in his case, when he apparently couldn’t see where the shots were coming from. Putting lots of Earth, dust and soil between you and guys who are shooting at you is a great way to keep on living.

      Again, I’m not a fan of James Yeager, I think it would be best if he shut up about politics (among many other topics…) but it’s really bad form to do any sort of Monday Morning Quarterbacking.

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8QC-RZYauk

      That first video is the 9:22 of the incident in question.

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MixUhSYqhXo

      That second video is the entire 43:49 video of the incident in question if anyone wants to watch it.

      • Forgetting that your car isnt in gear and has the parking brake on is doing the right thing? Thats why he left his car, he thought it was disabled, when in reality he didnt know how to drive stick. What about shooting up a empty building where you know for sure the enemy is not, just to piss away ammo to make noise? Does shooting up a unarmed civilians car qualify either? Because he admitted to doing all of that in the after action report.

        In addition James takes anabolic steroids.

        • He supposedly represents some aspect of manhood and can’t drive a stick shift?

          Someone help me up off the floor. I can’t catch my breath from laughing. Every person in my family with the woman parts can use a weapon and drive a stick shift.

    • 11, you really need to take the time to read the After Action Report from ERM, James was cleared and nothing you stated above in factual.

  9. The man (I use the term loosely) is an irresponsible, conceited smart mouth. The best thing he can do for the 2A cause is hike into the Tennessee mountains and stay there.

  10. While this guy is an idiot and I hate to see that he’s a fellow Tennesseean, Tennessee has Handgun Carry Permits…they allow either concealed or open carry….just sayin’

  11. Tennessee should not have restored his permit. He threatened to “starting killing people” on video. The video was not uploaded live so this was not a heat-of-the-moment mistake. He intended to broadcast that message, and he should live with the consequences of being a fool. He isn’t a good representative for the Second Amendment.

    • There is not idiot test for right to keep and bear. And 15yr old lockerroom shooting off moronic mouth does not count for diddly. Did he take action to kill anyone?

  12. Ya’ll sound like a bunch of Feinsteins. One rule for Yager, another rule for you.

    Personally I don’t pay him any mind – fools usually go away if you don’t give them the time of day. I am glad that he’s back carrying. I’d rather have hot-head Yager locked and loaded and on my side than be down one less guy and a gun.

    • Furthermore, carry permits do not facilitate criminal gun use. If this guy was gonna go off the deep end, it’s not like an absence of legal carry was gonna stop him.

      The man shouldn’t have had his permit revoked in the first place. Either go full Monty and strip his right to possess any guns, or leave him alone. Revoking a CCW doesn’t do diddly.

      • A reason to yank his permit is that if he’s likely to carry anyway, then the state has a convenient charge already set up shoud they have a need to give him a cold shower.

        Stop. Frisk. “Watch your head.”

        Personally, I don’t like the guy. Maybe Tennesee, Inc. doesn’t, either.

  14. He has done what 99% of the rest of you will do when the government comes a calling,you’ll get on your knees and say mother my I.

  15. This thread is choked full of pack mentality and testosterone. Yet, I bet none of you would cross him face to face. The man is passionate, and has made mistakes, but he has also educated and help more people than all of you combined!!!

    Enough said.

    • Quit defending the guy, he deserves every bit of criticism he receives. He is a troll, he says and does things to get people riled up intentionally.

      The sad part is, you are probably right, he is most likely good at what he does in training, unfortunately, it’s hard to take the guy seriously, so I would NEVER attend his training, especially when so many others out there aren’t assholes for simply being asked a question.

      He is his own biggest fan, anytime that is the case, there is something not right.

    • I took him up on his offer to call him a coward to his face, and James backed out and set the coward challenge video to private.

    • I love your “logic”. You accuse anyone that disagrees with this idiot of being driven by group think and testosterone, and then insinuate that if James finds out he’ll kick our asses, cuz, you know, he said he would.

      I bet you’re a brilliant scientist in real life. Shouldn’t you be off curing cancer or inventing a longer lasting light bulb?

      • or maybe all of you can start up your own training company, STFU about yeager, and actually do something constructive besides bash on one of our own.

        Besides yeagers yeagerisms, hes good in my book. He favors decriminalizing drugs, believes same sex marriages should be left alone, and doesnt play into the left/right, democrat/republican paradigm.

        • I’m glad he has all the positions you listed in the second paragraph, but as to the first, it’s Yeager that needs to STFU, not us.

  16. I’m good with Chuck, as long as he can control himself on camera and not give the media something to point at and proclaim: ” See…..They are all crazy, right wing, gun toting red necks, with short tempers and SMedium Graphic Tee Shirts.”

  17. Here’s the thing: The last thing I need is a loose cannon on my deck. The best safety, the best survival tool is the one between your ears but it must be engaged and scanning the Big Picture, not engaged in self centered narcicisistic contemplation and bouts of acting out.

    • he threatened to break the back of anyone who called him a coward, and then ambiguously threatened to kill government employees. Not only that, but he thought it would be a good idea to publish these threats on youtube. They have since been made private.

    • He lost his carry permit because at the end of one of his youtube video’s talking about the Obama administration possibly trying to go around congress to enact gun control, he said he’d “start shooting people,” if it went any further. I saw the video before it got pulled, and it was pretty clear, from what he was saying in rest the video, that he was implying he would not give up his guns with out a fight with any LEO’s tasked with taking them. It was fairly clear that he wasn’t threatening to go on a mass shooting spree that targeted innocent people, but broadness of his statement at the end of the video could of given that impression to some.

      You need to take him and what he says with a grain a salt, as he says controversial things with the intended purpose of getting attention.

    • Agreed. Legally, a “threat” must be credible and specific. I believe his words were credible but they were not directed at any specific person. Therefore, he did not break the law.

      • Good point. It’s not a threat, just an intimidation. Still, it doesn’t help the cause though. Reinforcing stereotypes never helps. Like it or not, we are in a democratic republic and we need our views to stay in the majority. James’s comments are harmless, but only because we are of like mind and can see he’s blowing off steam. But to a gun grabber, he reinforces their ignorant beliefs and makes it harder for us to explain the very logical case for expanding gun rights to people who are on the fence. We need to keep in mind that the opposition has a purely emotional argument that they’re trying to pitch. We have facts and logic and history on our side. Adding more emotion to the fight only helps them.

        • I agree that their viewpoint is based on emotion. I disagree that acting civilized will change their minds. Their emotional reaction is to the gun itself regardless of the person holding it (unless you have a badge, of course). I’m done caring about what they think of me. Appeasement doesn’t work. Better to warn them of the very dangerous reality of their continued meddling.

        • Henry,

          We’re not trying to convince the gun grabbers. They have staked out their position and there is no convincing them otherwise. But they aren’t the majority of the country or the 2A would have been repealed. Not even close. Most of “we the people” are open to convincing and typically they fall on our side or at least lean toward us and the brown gunners. We can’t make the case that gun aren’t dangerous and shouldn’t be regulated, while making threats and trying to intimidate people with talk of armed insurrection.

          Trust me, you don’t want to be an insurgent when the majority is against you. I live in the South and know a lot of people who have lived through civil wars in their own countries.

        • “Trust me, you don’t want to be an insurgent when the majority is against you. I live in the South and know a lot of people who have lived through civil wars in their own countries.”

          My only response to that is this,

          “THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated….”

    • Henry is the only one that got it right.

      He DID NOT specifically threaten anyone.

      its interesting how gun owners turn on one of their own ..

      • He’s not my own. He’s an asshat. At a time when we’re trying to convince the middle part of the voting spectrum that we’re not all frothing at the mouth, wannabe baby killers, this asshat publicly exclaims that he’s gonna start shooting people, and then hopes you continue watching the rant to the end of the video so you understand he only means the “bad” people.

        I don’t give a damn what your politics are, or how highly you hold the 2nd amendment in your esteem. I don’t care how many tours you served or where you serve them. If you publicly make an ass out of yourself, and I get tarred by the same brush you do, then I have no use for you.

        When it comes to publicity, perception is reality. Regardless of whether or not he actually broke a law, the perception he created with his own words was that he was about to. It doesn’t matter if he was specific…what people outside of the gun culture heard was that he was about to pop off if someone passed a law. And they didn’t watch to the end of the video to see who he planned to be shooting at, because the media who reported it didn’t bother to show the whole video.

        • your perception is only effective if the masses favor you.

          Perception, like democracy, is mob rule, the antithesis of liberty.

          The sooner you figure that out, the better off you will be.

  19. I know nothing about this guy except for these videos where he said he would shoot people & then when he kinda apologized for saying that.
    But if it was me, I woulda told the state of TN to stuff their permit up their backsides.
    If we have to get permission for something, it’s not a God given right.
    The state doesn’t own us – y’all do understand that, right??

  20. Fat Yeager was funny and his vids were informative and entertaining. ‘roid rage Yeager…well, that’s another ball of wax. Obviously dude’s life came off the rails somewhere and he really needs to get some help.

  22. He owns a lot of NFA Class 3 guns. I guess it’s harder for ATF to revoke those permits than people seem to think. Same goes for his FFL.

    He’s not my idol, but I don’t hate the guy. He’s just passionate and has a big mouth. He does seem to hire good people to lead his training cadre. I wish I could have trained there when Paul Gomez was his lead trainer. His classes are also quite affordable. I’m sure most people would learn something that made it worth while. Plus, they look like a lot of fun.

    • Just so’s you knows, there’s no such thing as “Class 3 guns.” They are actually Title II weapons. Class III is a type of firearms license; it refers to the type of Special Occupational Tax (SOT) paid by the licensee. Title II is the National Firearms Act of 1934, which enumerates what weapons are regulated by the NFA. It was incorporated into the Gun Control Act of of 1968 (which is Title I).

      Class III SOT licencees sell Title II weapons. (Incidentally, Class I SOTs import NFA firearms, but do not sell (retail). Class II SOTs can manufacture new NFA items.) There’s a half dozen or so more classes of SOT, but those are the ones I know.

      The more you know…

  23. Let us step away from the lack of wisdom of making threats for a moment.

    They pulled his permit because he exercised his free speech in a way that government did not like. Were his comments wise? Obviously not, especially if one is going to wage war on government. But should a bureaucrat be able to restrict his right to keep and bear arms? Obviously not, yet that is what happened. It was punishment for protected political speech. This is EXACTLY what the Founders had in mind for the First Amendment because they engaged in it themselves! It seems to me that many people have forgotten this fact or know it but are afraid to do it themselves.

    This demonstrates how far government has gone out of bounds.

    • I disagree. As a CCW holder you can’t post a video, and state, “I’m gonna start shooting people,” and not expect the local authorities to question your motives and intent. But James Yeager was not intending on going on mass shooting spree targeting innocent people, the tone and content of the rest of the video made that pretty clear, he just made a very broad and foolish statement. I don’t blame the TN authorities for pulling his permit though, but they did the right thing by reinstating it.

      If a CCW holder posted a video in which they made specific and direct threats of committing violence, I would hope some one would take note and disarm them. That wasn’t really the case here though. The context of the “threat” needs to be looked at.

  24. Yes, start eating our own, the antis love it.

    Yeager is RKBA and thats all that matters.

    • Horrible reasoning, so we should tolerate and protect anyone and everyone who is “on our side” even if they’re potentially damaging our movement?

      We aren’t eating our own, Yeager is actively feeding the anti-gun movement.

      • Yeah, you are so right, just scrap Yeagers 1st and 2nd Amendment rights. People like him should not have access to guns, or the internet to espouse their unpopular views.

        Thanks for showing me the light, comrade.

    • Yeager eats our own. Without bothering to search for the exact quote, I recall him stating that gun-video makers who use a empty gun and show the camera that a gun is clear are “fags”. He similarly bashed open carry. Dude is full of hate, and he’s been happy to direct it at fellow gun owners.

      • This Yeager guy is a monster, I am convinced. I am calling this number to report him, thanks for the heads up. We need to get these monsters and their machines of death off the streets, a few years in a FEMA Re Education camp and our ranks will be purified. Its hate speech like his that is keeping US from going Forward. The term “fag” should only be used by the Brits.

        Thank you for sharing your wisdom with me, comrade.

        1-855-GUNSNYS

      • I would agree. Those that seek to “prove” that their gun is “safe” on a pre-recorded video defy logic and only seek to pander to little half-men like yourself that would comment against such things on his video. Same crowd that ducks and screams when a gun is pointed at the camera in clear violation of the 4 Safety Rules.

  27. Anyone who has actually been in combat knows there are multiple physiological effects from stress and adrenaline. This is known as the Tachy Phsyche Effect. Tunnel vision, auditory exclusion, loss of dexterity and fine motor skills, break down of cognitive processing, time-space distortion, etc.

    Forgeting that a car is not in gear would be a perfectly understandable mistake when under fire. Staying in a vehicle that you believe is disabled would be incredibly stupid. Finding real cover and providing covering or directed fire is the right move.

    Additionally, anyone who’s been in combat knows that it happens in a 360 degree environment, not on a square range with a 180 degree rule and no non-targets downrange. Disagree with Yeager’s training practices all you want, but he didn’t force the photographer downrange, and he facilitated the thought process of his students to deal with the realities of a gunfight.

    Yeager, himself, admits that he’s an asshole. Don’t want to train with him, fine. Just know that if you never step out of your comfort zone, you will never get better. And if you’re not good enough or willing enough to fight against tyranny when the time comes, then, really, what good are you?

  28. I’m probably not going to change anyone’s mind with this post, but I feel compelled to level the playing field a bit. Before that, though, I have been enjoying TTAG for two months now, and think that it is an incredible site. This kind of info is just what we needed.

    That said, as someone who has trained extensively with James Yeager, who knows him personally in and out of classes, I feel that what we have going on in this thread is a bit ridiculous. James may be a passionate man, but he is primarily passionate about the RKBA. He is an asset to the cause. His school, Tactical Response, has trained tens of thousands of students from all walks of life, from law enforcement to soldiers to the average Joe and Josephine who want to be better with their guns.

    I took Active Shooter, Fighting Pistol and Fighting Rifle classes in the last few years alone. Never did I feel that I was in an unsafe situation. He and his trainers are top notch, and since we train for the real world, yes, we DO train in 360 degrees, to make for more realistic training scenarios. Gunfights happen in a 360 degree world.

    As far as his Youtube channel, it is, in my humble estimation, 95% useful, factual information based on extensive testing. The other 5% is his opinion on RKBA issues and other things. As it is his channel, he can say what he wants, (yay, First Amendment!) and we are free to watch or not, and decide for ourselves whether the info he takes great pains to produce and stream is useful for us or not.

    It is easy for armchair/internet heroes to point fingers at people that put themselves out there and take the time to create videos, or build a school. You make yourself a target when you create things. Armchair heroes don’t create anything. They just point fingers and find fault. I trained at James Yeager’s excellent school because the armchair heroes didn’t spend their lives creating tactical schools. I watch James Yeager’s YouTube channel because none of the armchair heroes took the time to create a YouTube channel for me to watch.

    James has done WAY more good for the cause than he has done bad. And he has done 100% more than any of the detractors here, who have created NOTHING useful for us to use/learn from. Love him, hate him or be ambivalent towards him, just go do something yourselves for the cause, rather than pointing fingers and finding fault. Nobody has been forced to watch his channel or attend his school. Want to find out how his classes are? Take one. You might learn something.

    In closing, we are trying to fight the good fight here; let’s not devour ourselves in the process. We stand or fall together.

    • If I may add, most of the gun gurus that TTAGers respect, like John Farnam, Chris Costa, Rob Pincus, Paul Markel, Clint Smith, etc, have either trained, been trained by, or trained with Yeager and been featured in his videos. Seems to me that Yeager would have to know his stuff cold to be able to hang with that crowd.

      • Excellent point, Henry. When you train with James, he actively advocates training with as many different people as possible, to get a well-rounded training experience.

      • First time posting here, been lurking a long time though…

        I just wanted to say thank you to both of you for adding some sanity to this post!

    • Since you stated you are close to and have trained extensively with James, you are clearly biased and thus I can not take what you say as gospel!

Comments are closed.