Episode Details

YouTuber and recent Gundy Award winner Liberty Doll joins State of the Second hosts John and Kaylee in Myrtle Beach to talk about how she went from a Massachusetts gun owner who felt like she had to keep a secret identity to a full-time creator in free America. She traces her start to a Facebook page and blog, built because her family called her a terrorist when she got into gun rights, then a YouTube channel she launched around 2016 after readers told her they liked her content but did not want to read it. Now, with a toddler at home, YouTube is the one platform she stays active on.

Much of the conversation centers on South Carolina's new permitless carry law, which Governor McMaster signed on the 7th after almost ten years in the making. Kaylee and John make the no-compromise case: a win is not a finish line. There is still meat left on the bone, off-limits places and provisions that need tweaking, and the time to keep applying pressure is now. They walk through why the gun lobby can acknowledge incremental wins without trading anything away to the anti-gun side, point to the 29 constitutional carry states and the wave of lawsuits headed toward the Supreme Court, and talk through the Illinois assault weapons case and Judge Benitez's California ruling as proof that pushing eventually moves the law where it should go.

The group gets into the cultural side too. They cover voting with your feet versus voting with your ballot, the warning not to bring blue-state policies into red states, the disappearance of big-box gun retailers like Sears and Kmart, and the stigma gun owners feel in anti-gun states. Liberty Doll shares how being a gun owner felt shameful when she ran a mental health therapy practice in Massachusetts. They close on community: GOA's Empowered 2A women's range day in Dallas that trained 340 women, armed civilian patrols in Hartford, the 2020 Virginia lobby day that helped kick off the constitutional carry movement, and an invitation to GOA's family-friendly convention in Knoxville on August 17 and 18.

Questions this episode answers

How did Liberty Doll get started as a gun rights creator?

She began around 11 years ago with a Facebook page and a blog, started after her family reacted badly to her interest in gun rights. When readers said they liked her content but did not want to read it, she launched her YouTube channel around 2016.

What made Liberty Doll leave Massachusetts and move to South Carolina?

She was born and raised in Massachusetts, where being a gun owner felt like keeping a secret identity, even while she ran a mental health therapy practice. She later moved to the upstate of South Carolina, near Greenville, to live in what she calls free America.

Why does the no-compromise gun lobby celebrate a permitless carry win instead of treating the fight as finished?

Hosts John and Kaylee argue a win is not a finish line. South Carolina's new permitless carry law still leaves off-limits places and provisions to tweak, so the gun lobby can acknowledge incremental wins while continuing to apply pressure without trading anything away.

What can gun owners do in restrictive states like Illinois, New York, and California?

Keep pushing through the courts, since lawsuits are heading toward the Supreme Court. The hosts point to the Illinois assault weapons case and Judge Benitez's California ruling as proof that sustained pressure eventually moves the law where it should go.

Why did big retailers like Sears, Kmart, and Walmart stop selling guns?

The conversation covers how big-box stores that once sold firearms have largely disappeared from the market, tied to the broader cultural shift and the stigma around gun ownership that the group discusses.

What happened at the 2020 Virginia lobby day and how did it shape the constitutional carry movement?

The 2020 Virginia lobby day is credited with helping