The quality of comments on TFB has been declining. Almost every single post we get a someone shouting “TFB WAS PAID TO DO THIS REVIEW”. I have said it before and I am going to say it again in the most unambiguous way possible:

TFB  and its writers have never been paid to write or publish a review or a blog post.

If I caught a writer doing this, they would be fired immediately. I have full confidence in my writers. This has been my policy since I founded TFB seven years ago.

On a side note: I don’t even have a list of our advertisers. I go out of my way to have nothing to do with advertising. I even refuse to discuss it when gun companies ask me about it. I instead pass on the name of the person who handles all of TFB advertisements. I only know who some of our advertisers because, like you, I also browse TFB on a daily basis. This gives me editorial freedom. I cannot be influenced, even subconsciously, by knowledge I don’t have.

If you don’t like the subject of a writer’s post, then blame me not the writer. I am responsible and almost all the blog posts published on TFB were assigned to writers by me.

Sometimes I get it wrong and something that genuinely was not newsworthy gets published. But that does not mean it is OK to abuse my staff.

If you don’t agree with them, say it in a respectful way. I am very proud of my team. They are the most diverse group of writers, with such a large breadth of experience, ever to be part of a single gun publication in history. That also means that some of them will have different opinions from you, and that is ok.

TFB has been covering the same type of content for seven years. Yes, seven years ago I occasionally blogged about knives. No, we are not turning into a Knife Blog because we post one knife-related post each month. No, quality is not declining because I post about a gun-shaped gardening tool, I also wrote about gun-related ‘cultural’ objects seven years ago.

Ultimately, if you don’t like a subject, don’t click on a link.

I spent each and every day trying to make TFB better. To improve our coverage. To ensure you, my valued readers, have a better experience.

I need you all to help me improve TFB. Instead of posting a comment saying “This gun sucks” or “been done before”, say how it can be improved, or don’t say anything at all. You might not, for example, be interested in 20 gauge shotguns for girls, but some of our readers who have young daughters will be.

Lets work together to celebrate guns and gun culture, not to descend into the cynicism and hate that permeates so much of the internet today.

I am also looking for some respectable moderators from the community. I need people who can be trusted to be professional, is broad minded and who can show restraint, self-control and flexibility when required. Being active on TFB for at least three years is a requirement. At this point I am only looking to appoint two mods. If you want to become a mod, email me.

UPDATE: Some good folks have volunteered to be mods. They will be joining the team sometime in the next few weeks. At this time we are not able to take on any more moderators.