Hammer & Pistol

CW: This episode is about war. This episode includes graphic discussions suffering, violence, and death. Listener discretion is advised. This episode is part 1 of 2. Heval Gerdûn Merdîn, AKA Freeman Stevenson, volunteered to fight with the YPG from late 2015 to late 2016. I spoke with him about his experiences supporting the Kurdish struggle for liberation in the region commonly known as Rojava. You can find images from Freeman's time in Syria on the Hammer & Pistol Twitter and Instagram. You can find all of Hammer & Pistol's links here: linktr.ee@hammerandpistol Intermissions: 0:39:32 1:28:11 1:54:41 Music Credits: Lee Brickley; "On A Cold Night in Syria." Used with permission. Adam Griffith; "Latis," "Neo-Lens," "Still Affect." Via Facebook Creator Studios. SooK; "Breezy Summer (Loop)". Via Facebook Creator Studios.

I traveled to the basement workshop of Red Star Defense to talk about body armor manufacturing and running a tactical gear worker cooperative.  Disclaimer: Red Star Defense gave me some sweet tactical gloves so now they are official sponsors of the podcast, which means this is a conflict of interest, the show is compromised, and I am a corporate sellout. Bless.

This episode is the second of a two part conversation with Soju Operator from Yellow Peril Tactical. If you haven't already listened to the first part, I recommend doing that before playing this episode, as part of that conversation do carry over somewhat into this one. We look briefly at POC assimilation into whiteness and adoption of reactionary politics. We also talk about bad trends we see among leftist gun owners. As always, there is discussion about many facets of violence and racism.

I speak with Soju Operator from Yellow Peril Tactical about an insider's perspective on the gun industry. Content Warning: Discussion of racism, homophobia, and other forms of bigotry; sexual coercion; gun violence; colonial violence; and more. Follow Yellow Peril Tactical on IG @ https://www.instagram.com/yellow_peril_tactical/ Sources: Tweet with Jade Struck's deleted statement (https://twitter.com/StephenGutowski/status/1236790329451429889?s=20) Tweet with Taran Butler's deleted statement (https://twitter.com/hammerandpistol/status/1434581128065667073) Interview with Struck in Hook & Barrel (https://hookandbarrel.com/girls-who-hunt/shooting-star-jade-struck-taran-tactical-innovations/)

This is a long one so I am including timestamps for the various discussion topics below. Adam Denker called in from the mountains of the PNW so the sound quality is not the best, but I think we had a good discussion on the breakdown of who owns guns, who owns the means of production in the gun industry, and more. Content warning for the episode: Discussion of military-related violence; white supremacy; suicide; right-wing and fascist ideas about violence; discussion on the history of indigenous genocide and enslavement of Africans. You can help grow and support the Hammer & Pistol project on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/hammerandpistol), and you can follow us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/hammerandpistol) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/hammerandpistol) Timestamps: Intro and discussion about Adam's background - 0:00 Discussion about gun ownership demographics - 32:50 Discussion about ownership of the gun means of production - 1:32:53 Can we organize/build a better culture around guns and gunshops? - 2:00:10 Where to find Adam Denker: Twitter (https://twitter.com/adam_denker) Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/laughing_communist/) Tiktok (https://www.tiktok.com/@laughingcommunist) Sources: Pew Research Center: "2017 Report on Demographics of Gun Ownership" (https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2017/06/22/the-demographics-of-gun-ownership/) Gallup: "What Percentage of Americans Own Guns?" (https://news.gallup.com/poll/264932/percentage-americans-own-guns.aspx) Compilation of various sources and data (https://medium.com/random-terrabytes/the-demographics-of-gun-ownership-441c14b048ad) NYPD Demographics (https://app.powerbigov.us/view?r=eyJrIjoiZTI4OTRjZTYtNTYwOC00NzcxLThhYTItOTU5NGNkMzIzYjVlIiwidCI6IjJiOWY1N2ViLTc4ZDEtNDZmYi1iZTgzLWEyYWZkZDdjNjA0MyJ9&pageName=ReportSection)

A very brief look at what the Hammer & Pistol Project will entail.