I Have a Shotgun, Haha, Let Me Prove It

About

I Have a Shotgun, Haha, Let Me Prove It refers to a viral video of YouTuber hickok45 stating that he has a shotgun and then shooting the gun at a bottle filled with liquid. The clip has been used as material for video and GIF caption memes due to its humorously intimidating dialogue and has also inspired fan animations in which the video is recreated with other characters.

Origin

On May 18th, 2021, firearms YouTuber^[1] hickok45 posted a video titled "Armed in 1887" in which he shoots several weapons popular in the late 19th century. The video opens with hickok47 naming the year and saying that he has a shotgun, proceeding to aim and shoot it at a plastic bottle filled with liquid. The video (shown below, left) received over 2.8 million views in two years.

On July 22nd, YouTube^[2] user Robert Downey Pooper posted the opening clip to YouTube, with the clip accumulating over 524,000 views in three years (shown below, right).

Hickok45 here, and the year is 1887. And I have a shotgun, Haha, let me prove it. How's that for proof?

On October 18th, 2021, iFunny^[3] user Erby posted the earliest discovered meme based on the clip, captioning it with a joke about bringing a gun to a fistfight. The video caption meme (shown below) was featured on the platform and received over 35,000 smiles in two years.

Spread

The iFunny post saw viral spread in the following years. For example, on December 19th, 2021, an unknown Redditor posted it to the /r/whenthe^[4] subreddit, where it garnered over 12,800 upvotes in two years. Additionally, the video achieved brief popularity as source material for caption memes on iFunny.^[5][6]

Starting in 2022, more memes based on the video, including edits and fan animations, were posted online, primarily on YouTube. For example, on March 27th, 2022, YouTube^[7] user ItuAkuBro posted an edit in which Touhou Project character Suika Ibuki performing a dance from the Japanese Goblin music video was edited in. The video (shown below, left) garnered over 146,000 views in two years.

On January 13th, 2024, YouTube^[8] user Dustyoo10 posted a Source Filmmaker fan animation that received over 49,000 views in one month (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References