Larry Vickers
{{Short description|American soldier, firearms instructor and author}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox military person
| name = Larry Vickers
| image =
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1963|06}}
| birth_place = Adams Mills, Ohio, United States
| allegiance = United States
| branch = United States Army
| rank = Master sergeant
| unit = 5th Special Forces Group
11th Special Forces Group
A Squadron, Delta Force
| battles = Operation Just Cause
| awards = Bronze Star Medal with V for Valor
}}
Larry Allen Vickers (born June 1963) is a retired soldier, former firearms instructor, and author. He is the founder of Vickers Tactical, and co-founder of the International Defensive Pistol Association and Firearms Training Association.{{Cite news |last1=Ismay |first1=John |date=10 April 2018 |title=Rhodesia's Dead — but White Supremacists Have Given It New Life Online |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/10/magazine/rhodesia-zimbabwe-white-supremacists.html |quote=A screen shot from Larry Vickers’s Instagram account shows an FAL rifle used by the Rhodesian Army with the caption "It's time to slot floppies. ... Slot means "shoot," and "floppies" is a racial slur. |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180410120711/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/10/magazine/rhodesia-zimbabwe-white-supremacists.html |archive-date=April 10, 2018}}
Early life
Vickers was born in Adams Mills, Ohio, in June 1963.{{Cite web|date=2020-08-24|title=The Making Of A Legend {{!}} Larry Vickers|url=https://americanshootingjournal.com/the-making-of-a-legend/amp/|access-date=2021-07-12|website=American Shooting Journal|language=en-US}} His father served in the North African and Italian campaign of World War II.{{cn|date=November 2024}}
When he was in middle school, Vickers decided that he wanted to join the United States Army Special Forces, and gained an interest in firearms during this period.{{Cite web|title="Ak is very easily given a facelift with what is available on the market can be brought up to be a very efficient weapon system": Larry Vickers interview pt. 2|url=https://en.kalashnikov.media/video/weapons/ak-do-sikh-por-sootvetstvuet-vsem-sovremennym-trebovaniyam-i|website=Kalashnikov Media}}{{Better source|date=August 2024}} Vickers entered into the Delayed Entry Program and graduated from Tri-Valley High School in 1981.{{cn|date=November 2024}}
Career
Vickers participated in Operation Desert Storm, and Operation Acid Gambit, for which he received the Bronze Star Medal. Vickers retired from Delta Force after 20 years of service, mostly due to injuries. Vickers formerly worked for Heckler & Koch, during which time he helped to develop the HK416{{Cite news |last=Rosenwald |first=Michael |date=2014-08-08 |title=Ernst Mauch: The man making guns smarter |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/ernst-mauch-man-making-guns-smarter-9655832.html |access-date=2021-07-12 |website=The Independent |language=en}} and HK45.{{Cite web |last=Mizokami |first=Kyle |date=2020-01-16 |title=This 1 Reason Shows Why the HK45 Pistol Is One of the Finest |url=https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/1-reason-shows-why-hk45-pistol-one-finest-114301 |access-date=2021-07-12 |website=The National Interest |language=en}}
Larry Vickers is the author of the "Vickers Guide", a series of reference books that launched in 2015, detailing firearms such as the Colt AR-15, M1911, and MP 40.{{Cite web |title=Book Review: Vickers Guide: World War II Germany, Vol. 1 |url=https://www.americanrifleman.org/content/book-review-vickers-guide-world-war-ii-germany-vol-1/ |website=American Rifleman |date=December 20, 2017}}
In 2009, the Vickers Tactical YouTube channel was created. By 2021, it reached upwards of 900,000 subscribers, and 200,000,000 views.{{Cite web|last=P|first=Will|date=2021-04-08|title=Larry Vickers Announces Porsche Dealer Sponsorship|url=https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2021/04/08/vickers-porsche-dealer-sponsorship/|access-date=2021-07-12|website=The Firearm Blog|language=en-US}}
Personal life
Vickers is a fan of the AK-47,{{Cite web |last=Ziyatdinova |first=Aygul |title=Retired US ASF Larry Vickers about the Kalashnikov rifle |url=https://realnoevremya.com/articles/3942-retired-us-asf-larry-vickers-about-the-kalashnikov-rifle |access-date=2021-07-12 |website=RealnoeVremya |date=November 11, 2019 |language=en}} and has an autograph from Mikhail Kalashnikov.{{Cite web|last=C|first=Nicholas|date=2015-04-29|title=Larry Vicker's Kalashnikov Autograph|url=https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2015/04/29/larry-vickers-kalashnikov-autograph/|access-date=2021-07-12|website=The Firearm Blog|language=en-US}} In 2021, Vickers was diagnosed with cancer.
Vickers has an affinity for Rhodesia, and in 2017 posted a photo of a Rhodesian FAL with the caption "It's time to slot floppies. ..." (floppies being a racial slur and slot being Rhodesian slang for shoot). He believes that the fall of Rhodesia was "the greatest tragedy of the post-World War II era."
Guilty plea on federal gun charges
On October 19, 2023, Larry Vickers pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to import and obtain machine guns and other restricted firearms and admitted that he received some of the imported machine guns and other weapons. As detailed in his plea agreement, from June 2018 to March 2021 Vickers, allegedly with cooperation from Sean Reidpath Sullivan and Matthew Jeremy Hall imported machine guns and other restricted firearms under ATF Form 6 by falsely representing them as items for police department demonstration use. At the time, Sullivan was the owner of Trident Rifles in Gambrills, Maryland and an intelligence analyst for the Department of Homeland Security, while Hall was chief of police in Coats, North Carolina.{{cite press release |author=U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Maryland |title=North Carolina and North Dakota Police Chiefs and Federal Firearms Licensees Indicted for Conspiracy to Illegally Acquire Machineguns and Other Firearms |date=2023-10-20 |url=https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/pr/north-carolina-and-north-dakota-police-chiefs-and-federal-firearms-licensees-indicted |access-date=2023-10-20}} Vickers retained machine guns and other restricted weapons in his personal collection, knowing the filed forms were fraudulent, and transferred other machine guns and restricted weapons to other FFLs and third parties.{{cn|date=November 2024}}
Vickers also pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to violate U.S. sanctions against JSC Kalashnikov Concern between July 2014 and March 2021, in the Southern District of Florida. From July 2015 Vickers allegedly provided promotional videography and marketing services valued between $10,000 and $200,000 to Kalashnikov Concern.{{cite news |first=Danielle E. |last=Gaines |title=Maryland's US attorney charges out-of-state police chiefs, firearms dealers with machine gun conspiracy |date=2023-10-20 |url=https://wtop.com/maryland/2023/10/marylands-us-attorney-charges-out-of-state-police-chiefs-firearms-dealers-with-machine-gun-conspiracy/ |access-date=2023-10-23 |work=WTOP-FM}}
Vickers faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for conspiracy to violate federal law regulating firearms and a maximum of 20 years in federal prison for conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. U.S. District Judge Julie R. Rubin had not scheduled sentencing for Vickers as of February 2024.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/larry-vickers-update-gun-youtube-sentence-guilty-plea-case-rcna138491|title=A gun influencer conspired to illegally import machine guns. He still has a home on YouTube.|date=February 18, 2024|website=NBC News}}{{needs update|date=April 2024}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.vickerstactical.com Official website]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vickers, Larry}}
Category:Educational and science YouTubers
Category:Members of the United States Army Special Forces
Category:Military personnel from Ohio