Episode Details

State of the Second hosts John and Kaylee sit down with Caleb, the photographer and videographer behind the YouTube channel Twelve Spies, for a conversation that moves from gear talk to the harder questions about gun rights in America. Caleb came into the firearms industry late, during COVID, bringing a video and photography background with him, and now works in the industry full time. After a round of rapid-fire questions covering his most recent purchase, his home defense setup, his everyday carry, and the pineapple-on-pizza debate, the group settles into the real subject: why the fight over the Second Amendment is as much about language and control as it is about firearms.

Caleb and the hosts spend a long stretch on GOA's first Knoxville event, GOALS, which Caleb names his favorite industry event of the year. They talk about the camaraderie, the unexpected demographics on the show floor, and the breakout sessions that drew standing-room-only crowds, from stop the bleed training to the homeschooling panel to citizens sharing their stories as the good guy with a gun. The point both sides keep returning to is that the gun owner base is not a monolith, and treating it like one is a mistake.

From there the discussion turns pointed. Caleb breaks down how the left reshapes terminology, from red flag laws to high capacity magazines to the claim that gun violence is the leading killer of children, and argues that conceding that language means conceding the ground. They cover the taxation of a constitutional right, the NFA's $200 stamp and what inflation has done to it, the West Virginia and Tennessee tax examples, and the broader problem of an unelected bureaucracy passing rules that can turn law-abiding gun owners into felons overnight. Caleb closes with a case for grassroots accountability, homeschooling, and a belief that rights come from God rather than government.

Questions this episode answers

Why is the gun owner base not a monolith, and what did GOA's GOALS event reveal about that?

Caleb points to Gun Owners of America's first Knoxville event, the Gun Owners Action Leadership Summit (GOALS), where unexpected demographics filled the show floor and breakout sessions on stop the bleed, homeschooling, and citizen self-defense drew standing-room crowds. Treating gun owners as one group is a mistake.

How does the left use language and terminology to shape the gun debate?

Caleb argues that reshaping terms like red flag laws and high capacity magazines is how the other side controls the debate, because conceding the language means conceding the ground. As he puts it, change the words and you change how people perceive reality.

Why is the claim that gun violence is the leading killer of children misleading?

Caleb treats that claim as an example of the left reshaping terminology to win the argument before it starts, and he warns that accepting the framing means conceding the ground. He does not break the statistic itself down further in this conversation.

Can the government tax a constitutionally protected right?

Caleb argues that taxing a constitutional right creates costs of entry designed to be prohibitive, putting protected activity out of reach. He cites West Virginia and Tennessee tax examples and the National Firearms Act stamp as cases of that problem.

What is the real cost of the NFA's $200 tax stamp when adjusted for inflation?

Caleb frames the National Firearms Act's $200 stamp as a deliberately prohibitive cost of entry, and notes that inflation has changed what that figure once meant. He uses it to show how taxing a right keeps protected items out of ordinary owners' hands.

Why is an unelected bureaucracy like the ATF harder to fight than an elected official?

Caleb's concern is that an unelected bureaucracy can pass rules that turn law-abiding gun owners into felons overnight, without facing voters. Th