Viral Second Amendment Air Force Vet Returns to Take Shot at the Media -- And Might You See Him Run for Public Office?

Tully stands in front of a WW2-era photo of his father, Cpl. John Tully, USAAC. (Photo courtesy Kevin Tully)

Last week TheBlaze brought you the story of Kevin Tully, an Air Force veteran who stood up at a Chicago forum on gun control and gave a rousing defense of the Second Amendment. Today he's back with another lesson involving the media and is hinting at a possible run for public office.

“The problem with this country right now is, ‘it’s us and it’s f***ing them,’” he declared in the video that made him a viral sensation. “We need to stop this crap.”

In his subsequent interview with TheBlaze, Tully doubled down both on his assertion that the country needs to stop dividing along partisan lines, and that tyranny is as threatening today as it was in the 1700's.

"[Tyranny is] not a wolf that dies," he explained last week.  "It’s a wolf that breeds, and it may not always be in your backyard, but it’s always looming on the horizon.  It’s always looming on the horizon..."

TheBlaze's two stories on Tully were both top stories of the week, garnering more than 25,000 Facebook "likes" so far.  And that's only a fraction of the people who have read the story both on TheBlaze and elsewhere.

So what does Tully have to say in the aftermath of his sudden shot to fame?  What fresh perspective has he acquired?

Suffice it to say he's not pleased with the media and its "7-second attention span" largely dictated by government actions.

After noting how many commenters praised the impact a common man can make just by standing up, Tully continued:

I got phone calls from lots of places wanting to interview me or have me on their television program, and that was great.  I thought, wow, here I don’t necessarily think I’m really the type of person that people are going to rally behind-- I don't think anybody really considers themselves to be that guy-- but I thought we could actually get some things going here.  Maybe we could get people to rally together and find their voice, and come together as one voice.

Now it’s a week and a half later, and all of the places that called me have come back with, 'Well, we’re not interested anymore.'  ​[Emphasis added]

While it may have seemed like thousands were starting to find their voice last week, we've already moved on to immigration and a thousand other topics, he said.

"I understand it from a business perspective, [the media has] to stay ahead of or at least on the wave.  But when you have an important issue, I think it’s important that you stay with that issue and cut your own path, and not follow what the mob is doing...Somebody has to make the decision to [say] ‘No, we’re not going to do that this time. We’re going to stick with this issue.'  And if any particular person does end up being the one that others rally behind, we need to stick with that."

Not only that, he said, but if a story is spreading like wildfire, that's the public ​telling​ the media they want to see more of it.  And if interest dies down, you don't "beat a dead horse," but it was worth slowing down and spending some time on.

But Tully added that he's "certainly not looking for fame" on a personal level.

"I think it’s more important that if I do have the ability to be that guy for others-- so they take heart and start standing up for themselves, and having a voice that the country is hearing-- I’m happy to be that person," he explained.

So what's the Air Force veteran planning next?  He wasn't ready to commit to any specific path, but said he'd be open to anything from expanding his Facebook group to running for public office.

"It's like all the guys going to these rallies, they're doing what they can," he began.  "[But] if you have an organizational-oriented mind or the ability to speak to people, I think going further than just attending the rallies is the way you should do it...I think it's your duty to do that."

However, Tully said he would only run for office if he could sufficiently educate himself on the specifics of the job, giving him both the knowledge and the ability to implement the change he's looking for.

"I would be happy to [run].  My concern would be whether I could do a good job at that, having no knowledge of what it entails to be in any kind of public office," he said.  "Everybody kind of knows what the mayor of the town does, but I'm sure it's 1,000 times more complicated than what the normal citizen knows...Just like everything else, [I'd] want to educate myself on what that entails down to the nth degree."

He concluded: "I would be happy to do something like that if it helps the cause-- helps secure our constitutional rights and put this country on the right track-- but I would want to make damn sure I know what I'm doing before I jumped in that lake."

--

Related:

• Listen to This Veteran’s Epic Defense of the Second Amendment at Chicago Anti-Gun Forum: ‘I Went to War for My Country’
• ‘[Tyranny Is] Not a Wolf That Dies’: Our Exclusive Interview With the Air Force Vet Behind That Viral 2nd Amendment Defense