T-Shirts and the 2A: A Lament and a Way Forward

The world of “clever” meme t-shirts is an over-saturated market, filled with with numerous businesses attempting to set themselves apart from the crowd with the same gimmick of being veteran-owned. Usually these shirts are one step away from the kind of shit you would expect to see some boot wearing in the mall at Jacksonville while shopping for his Tap-Out branded gear before taking the bus back to his sad existence being hazed by the disgruntled LCpls at his unit. In other words, they’re the polar opposite of what would be fashionable.

Still not as cringy as GruntStyle, although we all know Raphi is best girl.

As the self-appointed TKB arbiter of fashion, all these shirts do is label you as a tool. While there is a time for an “ in your face” over-the-top approach to fashion, a t-shirt is supposed to be casual wear with a somewhat more subtle message. In the days of red-flag laws and people being put away for making too many jokes about the Big-UwU it pays to put a bit more thought into how you present yourself to the world.

DARE to wear a t-shirt without those try-hard sleeve logos.

Even with other pro-gun individuals there is bound to be enough people there with enough taste to be put off by tasteless skulls and thin-blue lines. Thankfully the distaste for these displays goes beyond the occasional oddball wasting their benefits on Fashion degrees and is becoming a more driving force in the firearms community.

Despite the label, still not as big of a tool as most “Patriotic” shirt aficionados

That’s where FOCO apparel comes in, filling the gap in the market for those who want to show their support for the Second Amendment without looking like they need a bottle of Jack and a raw steak to cope with the fact that their 3 years in the Air Force is the most bad-ass they’ll ever be. While no one expects a firearm-themed shirt to be fit for a runway show the designs used by FOCO would not look out of place on the street, and you can easily wear them without needing to make sure the Coyote brown of your shirt matches the subdued flag color on your contractor cap.

Far better than any Punisher Skull

Overall their selection is fairly decent, although their womens wear could use a bit more variety. Knowing the extremes other t-shirt companies go with their products this would likely be for the best, although I would have some faith that they could come up with clever designs to expand into this market with no trouble. Their M16 design in my personal opinion would be one of their more aesthetic shirts, though I’m also drawn to their “I’m a Tool” shirt with its tongue and cheek humor. While I don’t care too much for the Pro-2A t-shirt company market, FOCO gives me hope that we can move away from the chuuni sheep-dog phase that so many seem to identify with.

You can find their T-shirts here.

Lily P.

Collector, history buff, cosplayer, and former Marine who wasted their GI Bill on a useless degree, and is compounding the issue by going to grad school for an even less useful degree.

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