Armalite in the news

[No_0ne]

Anybody keeping up with the chatter on Armalite's response to people demanding they stop selling in ban states?  Saw this thread at Arfcom http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_2_27/232662_ARMALITE_S_PRESIDENT_S_RESPONSE_.html&page=1

 

A quote from the thread:

 

"Thanks for posting this email. I just received a concerned telephone
call about it, an email from the staffer who stimulated the mail.

I think a bit of clarification is in order.

The root of the matter is a HUGE series of inquiries by both email
and telephone asking ArmaLite to cut off sales to New York and other
states which deny its citizens the right to own our rifles, as several
other firms have done. Some of the contacts have been duplicates of
others and some were so redundant that they appeared to be spam. Many
of them have been rude and I'm afraid one of my staffers thought that he
was responding to a spammer and was more terse than he should have
been. Once he realized what happened he came to me and apologized.

My purpose here is to pass on his apology from the corporate level
and to answer the initial question: What is ArmaLite going to do?

ArmaLite is continuing a policy put into place when California first banned our rifles. That policy remains:

1. We will not sell to those states which deny it's honorable citizens the right to own ArmaLite's.

2. We do not halt sales to individual officers even in problematic
states. I am a former Police Officer myself, and the staffer who
stimulated the recent anger is a currently serving one. We are well
familiar with the fact that most rifles serving Police Officers are
purchased by the officers themselves, and that they shouldn't be
punished for the actions of their political elite.

We consider sales to those sate subdivisions which are not engaged
or potentially engaged with disarming its citizens. DNR and Forestry
Departments, for instance, sometimes serve in remote areas that conceal
drug farms and their officers deserve good hardware.

3. We will not sell to those lower political subdivisions that deny
their honorable citizens the right to own ArmaLite's. Chicago, for
instance, prohibits its citizens from owning ArmaLite's within the city
limits so we make no effort to sell into that city. We have many
friends on the Chicago Police Department and have continued to sell to
them individually.

Our observation is that most County Sheriffs disagree with banning
sales of our rifles and many publicly refuse to enforce such laws. We
sell to those departments and to their Deputies, but will not sell to
those County departments headed by Sheriffs who would deny their
citizens the same rights.

In short, Americans need not worry that ArmaLite is selling to those who betray them.

As you can see by reading posts on the topic, some readers have been
harsh with their criticism of ArmaLite. It was in response to this
atmosphere that my staffer reacted harshly. He's come to me and
apologized and I personally am passing my own apology along with his.

But don't be mistaken, ArmaLite is strongly involved with both
personal, corporate, and political efforts at the State, National, and
International level to protect our civil rights. And we'll continue to
support your shooting needs as the situation moves forward.

Respectfully,

Mark Westrom
President,
ArmaLite Inc."

[TripleDigitRide]

Weak. I doubt there's any way they could possibly know the gun-rights stance of more than a handful of jurisdictions. And there are plenty of LEOs who believe private citizens should not own "assualt-weapons" and / or high-capacity magazines.

[No_0ne]

There are threads all over the internet regarding how unhappy folks are with their stance.  Arfcom had to lock 2 threads, and I just read that Armalite took down their Facebook page over the negative comments they were getting

[Fourtyfive]

+1000 on the weak comment , I will not be buying one , nor do I need another.

[Hozzie]

They are getting hammered and rightly so.  Cowards even took down their facebook page.

[Monkeyman2500]

At a time like this they need to make a stronger stance like others are doing. These company's are taking big risks for our rights. Armalite should be ashamed, just afraid to lose a buck.

[Moped]

Agreed.  Very weak stance.  I don't disagree that LEOs everywhere deserve good equipment.  Unfortunately, the ones in anti-2nd amendment states are paying the price for the stance of the ones above them and their politicians.  Hopefully, they will start voting these individuals out of office and right things for all citizens, not just the few.  Armalite seems more interested in making a buck, than they do in the future of their company.  Let them choke on the dollars from the states of California, New york and Massachusetts.

[Guest 6.8 AR]

Not to be called offensive or cop hating, but why do they deserve any better than us? Supposedly, we are both law abiding,

aren't we?

[Guest ThePunisher]

Not to be called offensive or cop hating, but why do they deserve any better than us? Supposedly, we are both law abiding,
aren't we?

Not according to these dumba** commies.

[Wingshooter]

Well, I guess I'll take an Olympic over an armalite now.

No doubt LEOs deserve good hardware, but If they stop selling to the LEOs in the state, the LEOs will make noise to lawmakers. The lawmakers can't have all the LEOs quitting due to lack of good hardware, and positive change will happen. Armalite is playing their game.

[1gewehr]

I told Mark twenty years ago that his most foolish act was setting up in Illinois.  I like his products, and I like his company.  They need to move out of Illinois and quit selling to stupid people.  He could drop his prices 10% or more if he moved to a business-friendly, gun-friendly state.  Tennessee has no state income tax on wages, hard-working folks, and lots of good land for shooting ranges.

[Punisher84]

Weak sauce.

[npgunner]

I never have, and now, never will own anything Armalite.

 

[Guest Pineapple Devil]

yeah they are wanting to be in the middle of the road and try to play both sides. i say screw them. there are a lot of guys saying, "good luck finding parts and guns then". well last time i checked, larue makes a nice rifle. armalite isn't the only game in town.

 

would it suck if they were to stop selling to leo's in ban states? sure it would, but those officers are no better than us non-leo and they should be held to the same standard.

Edited February 19, 2013 by Pineapple Devil