When a former Navy SEAL says every day is the best day to be a gun-owning, meat-eating, kickass American, it hits right at the heart of today’s fight over what this country stands for.
Story Snapshot
- Carl Higbie argues America’s strength comes from veterans, gun owners, and unapologetic patriots.
- He says gun bans and gun-free zones fail and that armed citizens are a key line of defense.
- Critics attack his message as “bizarre theatrics,” dodging his core claims instead of debating them.
- Life expectancy data show serious challenges, but not a clear refutation of his pro-freedom vision.
A Veteran’s Message: America Is Strong When Its Citizens Are Armed
Former United States Navy SEAL Carl Higbie has built his public voice on one core belief: America is strongest when its citizens are free, armed, and not afraid to live boldly. As a combat veteran who deployed twice to Iraq, he speaks from experience about the grit and skill of the people who wear the uniform. Higbie points to more than 20 million able-bodied veterans in this country as a quiet backbone of strength, ready and capable if our freedoms are ever threatened.
Higbie also argues that private gun ownership is central to that strength. He has stated that Americans own roughly half of the world’s firearms, and he treats that as proof that ordinary citizens still hold real power and responsibility. On his Newsmax program, he underscores that the United States is effectively the gun capital of the world, with hundreds of millions of firearms in civilian hands. For him, this is not a crisis; it is a safeguard that reminds government it serves the people, not the other way around.
Gun Bans, Gun-Free Zones, and the Fight Over Real Safety
Higbie’s most direct challenge to the Left is his claim that gun bans and gun-free zones simply do not work. In one video, he warns that stripping guns from citizens may remove liberty but will not remove tragedy, because evil people do not follow signs or paperwork. He links recent mass shootings to failed gun-control ideas, saying more trained and law-abiding gun owners would stop crime faster than another round of feel-good bans and restrictions. For him, a “gun-free” sign is a trap, not protection, because only rule-followers obey it.
At the same time, some of Higbie’s strongest lines are more moral than technical. When he says “we don’t live in fear,” he is making a statement about American character, not quoting a poll. His critics seize on this, arguing he offers passion more than hard statistics. But the holes in his data cut both ways. The same media and activists who dismiss his argument rarely respond with serious numbers comparing crime in gun-free zones to places where citizens can carry. They attack the tone, not the core question: do armed citizens stop crime or not?
Media Pushback and Attempts to Rewrite Patriotism
Higbie’s unapologetic style has made him a target for left-leaning outlets. One Substack piece labels his approach “bizarre theatrics of late-stage patriotism,” framing him as more performer than serious voice. Major networks such as Cable News Network (CNN) have also pushed back on his views on violence and self-defense, which he openly rejects as part of a broader narrative that blames guns instead of criminals. These attacks fit a familiar pattern: mocking pro-gun, America First arguments rather than engaging their underlying claims about freedom and responsibility.
Despite that pushback, Higbie has remained active in the conservative movement. He served as director of advocacy for America First Policies, an organization that promoted Donald Trump’s agenda and a renewed focus on national strength. Gun Owners of America has invited him to speak at its GOALS 2025 event, praising his “no compromise, no retreat” stance on the Second Amendment. For many on the Right, his life story as a veteran and his media role on Newsmax make him a symbol of everyday patriotism: rough around the edges, but squarely on the side of individual liberty and armed self-defense.
Do Health Numbers Undercut His Message of American Strength?
Critics of American exceptionalism point to health numbers instead of guns or veterans. They note that United States life expectancy recently reached about 79 years, which is nearly four years below the average in similar wealthy nations. They also highlight deep gaps between states, with places such as Mississippi at the low end and Hawaii near the top, showing serious inequality in outcomes. These are real concerns, and they reveal problems in health care, lifestyle, and local policy that need attention.
But those statistics do not directly answer Higbie’s central claim. He is not saying the United States is perfect in every metric; he is saying that the country’s unique mix of veterans, gun owners, and proud citizens gives it a kind of resilience that numbers on a chart cannot fully capture. So far, critics have not offered hard data to disprove his points about veteran strength or firearm ownership. Instead, they attack patriotism itself as outdated or theatrical, leaving many conservatives feeling that the real debate is over whether loving this country is now seen as a problem.
Sources:
youtube.com, en.wikipedia.org, facebook.com, tiktok.com, battleborne.substack.com
