[1][4][5][6] Founding member Dave Strano was previously part of the Kansas Mutual Aid Network which was involved in organizing protests against the Republican National Convention in 2004, in relation to which he and others began to train with firearms and engage in Second Amendment advocacy.

[8] The John Brown Gun Club sought to "demystify" firearms and to distinguish their commitment to community self-defense from clandestine groups that advocated guerrilla warfare.

[9] Following a hiatus, the group was re-formed as a national organization in summer 2016,[5][6] using both the Redneck Revolt and John Brown Gun Club names,[4] with the intention of responding to the growth of right-wing populism, particularly among rural, working-class white people.

[12] A member has said that the group tries "to acknowledge the ways we've made mistakes and bought into white supremacy and capitalism, but also give ourselves an environment in which it's OK to celebrate redneck culture".

[1] The group's website includes statements in opposition to capitalism, the nation state, white supremacy and "the wars of the rich" and advocates a "right of militant resistance".

[1] A spokesperson for the Phoenix, Arizona John Brown Gun Club said in April 2017 that the group includes anarchists, communists, libertarians and Republicans.

[4] The increased visibility of Redneck Revolt in 2017 has sparked debate among activists over the effects of armed protest and the possibility that the use of guns may lead to heightened violence.

[7][11] Van Sant wrote in March 2018 that "[t]hrough patient dialogue and popular education, several Redneck Revolt chapters have been able to challenge the white nationalist ideologies of these right-wing libertarian militias and flip them away from anti-immigrant and pro-capitalist positions".

While we've been living in tenements and slums for centuries, we've also been used by the rich to attack our neighbors, coworkers, and friends of different colors, religions and nationalities.Redneck Revolt is a national network.

[22] Speaking to Mark Bray, author of Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook, one of Redneck Revolt's co-founders said the group's membership includes veterans, former Republicans and former members of the 3 Percenters.

[23] Redneck Revolt is active in spaces in which white supremacist groups also often recruit, including country music concerts, flea markets, gun shows, NASCAR events, rodeos and state fairs.

[8][17][24][9][22] Chapters provide firearms and first aid training,[27] food and clothing programs[17] and community gardens[15][17][27] and host needle exchanges,[17] potlucks[15] and educational events.

[16] In April 2017, members attended a counter-protest against groups including the League of the South, the Traditionalist Worker Party and the National Socialist Movement in Pikeville, Kentucky.

[1] Silver Valley Redneck Revolt, a local chapter, organized a counter-demonstration against a Ku Klux Klan rally in Asheboro, North Carolina, in May 2017.

[29] On June 23, armed members of Redneck Revolt attended a protest in Kalkaska, Michigan, in response to anti-Muslim comments made by Jeff Sieting, the village president.

[36] At the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, on August 11–12, 2017, several Redneck Revolt chapters provided armed security and medical assistance for counter-protesters.

[42][43] In October 2017, Redneck Revolt was one of a number of groups named as a defendant in a lawsuit filed on behalf of the city of Charlottesville and several Charlottesville-based businesses and neighborhood associations which sought to prohibit militia and paramilitary activity in Virginia.

[7][44][45][46][47] The groups and individuals named as defendants which also included the white supremacist activist Jason Kessler were accused of unlawful paramilitary activity, falsely assuming the role of law enforcement officers and being a public nuisance.

[48] Redneck Revolt and Kessler signed consent decrees to end paramilitary activity in Charlottesville to resolve the lawsuit when they were left as the only defendants in early July 2018.

[3][49] The consent decree prohibits members from returning to Charlottesville "as part of a unit of two or more persons acting in concert while armed with a firearm, weapon, shield or any item whose purpose is to inflict bodily harm, at any demonstration, rally, protest or march".

[8] In 2019 the sociologist Teal Rothschild wrote that "Redneck Revolt brings venerable activist traditions to bear on very contemporary issues, including 21st century identity politics.