close
close

YouTuber who advocated for gun safety was 58

Posted on by angelo
YouTuber who advocated for gun safety was 58

Paul Harrell, a gun safety activist and YouTube personality, announced his death in a pre-recorded video posted to the platform Wednesday. Harrell was 58.

In the video, created on December 20, Harrell sits on a snowy log near his home in Oregon and talks about how even though his pancreatic cancer diagnosis was caught early, he didn’t have as much time as he had initially hoped because the aggressive cancer progressed to stage 4 and his bones “crumbling.” He shared his cancer diagnosis with his followers on July 16, 2023.

“I’m recording this and I’m giving instructions to Brad (Nelson, Harrell’s manager) to release it when I die, so if you’re watching, I’m dead,” he says at the beginning of his latest video.

“A few months ago I was sitting here on this log and I told you that I had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. And I told you that they had caught it early and that we were going to suffer with it for a while. Well, we caught it early, but not as early as I thought,” he told his 1.2 million followers.

“My time is running out,” he added, after explaining that he had broken his hip and now used a crutch to get around.

A veteran of the U.S. Army and Marine Corps, Harrell launched his channel in 2012 on “GunTube,” the nickname for gun-related content on the platform, with a focus on firearms, gun rights, gun safety and responsible firearm use, according to an obituary posted on legacy.com.

Harrell thanked his followers and subscribers in his farewell video and even apologized, saying he “let everyone down” by not being able to continue his videos in death.

“My goal in doing all this was, yes, to have fun, to do fun things, but more importantly to put out useful information. Or if not useful, at least interesting information,” he said. “And what I really hope is that when you looked at me, you saw things that made you say, ‘Oh, I get it, OK.’”

“My sincerest apologies,” he added. “I had hoped to continue in this format for the next 10 or even 15 years. And even after I was diagnosed, I had hoped that we would be here for another two or three years, but it turned out to be just a few more months. And I apologize for that. I really feel like I let everyone down.”

“I think the last sentence, I haven’t really rehearsed this, is that I’m really glad I had the opportunity to do everything we did,” he said in an emotional conclusion. “I really hope it was helpful to you and I really appreciate you watching and commenting and participating, and I probably have very few regrets about what we did here.”

Harrell’s brother Roy then appears in the clip to indicate that Paul is, in fact, dead, adding that he is “heartbroken” by the news.

“He wanted me to continue his legacy through this,” Roy said. “He will remain an inspiration to us all.”

Nelson, Harrell’s manager, then appears to share that Harrell’s legacy will continue as they continue to post on the channel and share free gun safety information.

“He was a very generous and kind man who told the best stories around a campfire,” Nelson tells his fans.

In addition to his brother, Harell is survived by his wife, Mary Harrell. Tributes to Harrell have been posted on X (formerly Twitter) since news of his death spread online, with fans writing that “we have lost a legend” and that he “will live on forever through his contributions to our nation.”