Nearly two dozen gun companies tell New York to pound sand… and then there’s Armalite… (update)

Earlier, we reported on firearm and firearm accessory manufacturers who have publicly announced they will not sell to law enforcement and government agencies in New York after that state recently stripped its residents of the ability to own modern self-defense firearms.

Those companies include:

Well, reports have been coming in about additional companies who are joining the bandwagon against government and law enforcement sales in states that have chosen to deny their residents their Constitutionally-protected right to keep and bear arms.

Credit where credit is due: NC Gun Blog is keeping a master list and has had a few that we missed. Good work to him!

If you know of additional companies holding law enforcement and government agencies to the same standards as civilians, please make a note of it in the comment section and we’ll link to them.

And then there’s our former friends at Armalite here in Geneseo, Illinois, a half-tank of gas from Guns Save Life’s headquarters.

Armalite, when contacted to urge them to decline law-enforcement and government sales to states with tyrannical laws against guns sent this charming reply from a sales rep at Armalite:

Dear concerned gun owner,

First of all I would like to say thank you for filling my email with all this spam email.

Second, I am not sure where you got this blanket email from to send out as spam, but please stop it.

Third, The manufacture is not the one you need to convince.

You need to convince the law enforcement agencies and the common people about their mistake in electing these officials and have them removed. Again NOT the manufacture.

AR Stands for ArmaLite…

Respectfully,

Pat Raley
raleyp@armalite.com
Master Armorer / Sales Rep.
ArmaLite, Inc.
P.O. Box 299
Geneseo, IL. 61254

Not only that, but their president released an “explanation” in which he refused to join the boycott, instead saying police officers’ lives are worth more than us lowly regular, everyday Americans. As such, Armalite will continue to supply their product to law enforcement officers who will enforce the ban on civilians owning America’s favorite rifle and hundreds of other modern firearms popular with the public for self-defense use.

One reader at The Truth About Guns, Kevin F., drafted a particularly well-written letter to Armalite’s president. Here’s the best part:

…I must agree with the message, if not the tone, of the private community. The only way to drag some change out of the LEO’s communities that are banned from possessing your products is too put them on equal footing. It’s all well and good to say you believe everyone should be able to own your rifles and that you sell to LEOs who believe the same, as they are fantastic products at a competitive price, but when that same LEO can still buy that rifle but the citizen he says should also be able to buy it cannot he essentially has no skin the fight. He can say, sincerely even, that he believes in the people’s right to own that firearm but at the end of the day he has no personal stake in the fight.. he already has his gun, he’s not denied his gun, it’s not his right’s he’s fighting for and that ultimately makes it not his fight, as sincerely as he might believe in the cause at the end of the day he has his gun, it’s not denied to him.

I understand that it is a dramatic move, that it will shift business and that it could potentially risk the life of an LEO by denying him or her a rifle. I completely understand that. But that is, sadly, the point we are at. Officers who believe in the Second Amendment need skin in the game, real teeth. If they can go to their superiors, elected officials and say “Look, your stupid political game is putting MY life in danger for no gain what so ever” then something will have to give.

Maybe you are already face to face with a great many of the departments, maybe you already sell only to staunchly pro 2A officers, but the civilian community you sell to wants their LEO brothers with some skin in this fight too. It isn’t easy, it could be painful, but we as lawful citizens should be on equal footing. That is the message we want to see as a community, all of us with skin in the game, because your profession does not define what rights you receive or to what degree you can have them, they are rights.

I hope this has been a calmer voice with the same message, I work in areas where it never pays to become angry, you get visibly angry you lose the argument.

Here is our argument, at least what I perceive as our true argument.

Thank you for your time and consideration, you have responded personally in the past and for that I thank you as well

Keith F

We at Guns Save Life are awaiting further clarification from Armalite.

In the meantime, we guarantee you that Guns Save Life will not be buying an Armalite product for the Great Guns V drawing later this year.