Go ahead, Democrats. Mess with the NRA.
The largest sports and outdoor show in the United States has been postponed indefinitely following severe backlash over a recently enacted policy banning the display and sale of “modern sporting rifles,” or semi-automatic rifles. The Harrisburg Eastern Sports and Outdoor Show was originally scheduled for Feb. 2-10 in Harrisburg, Pa.
To put it into perspective how quickly gun owners pushed back, consider that the new policy was implemented on Monday and just five days later, on Friday, the show was postponed indefinitely amid the outcry.
There’s a statement from the show’s foolish producers at the link. The show’s producers really do not understand or know their customers.
Ironically, there was probably little need to ban evil “modern sporting rifles,” since they have been selling so swiftly that they’re now scarce.
I don’t ever do business with anti-Second Amendment bigots.
I would do the same but most corporations are silent on this matter. Is there a list or some other way to smoke the anti-second amendment businesses out?
Depending on who your friends are, Facebook is a pretty good tool. I follow a number of firearms affinity small businesses – as well as the NRA page. Between them and my friends, you can pick up a great deal of information.
Some of my favorites are:
Anything About Guns
Cheaper than Dirt
Apex Archery
MyNortheastOutdoors
I’m done with Cheaper than Dirt. Anyone who can buy Mako AR-15 magazines from the company for less than $15/ea and then sell them on their website for the low, low price of $79.99 will never get another penny of my money.
And before anyone says it’s capitalism at its finest, consider these facts:
1) Mako has NOT increased their prices
2) Mako has stopped all other accessory production and directed their full efforts at magazine production…24/7 now, and they’re meeting demand
3) Customers can purchase directly from Mako at $17.99/ea, including shipping
What CTD did was remove over 5000 magazines from circulation in an effort to scalp people who aren’t aware they can purchase for a fraction of the price directly from the company. This isn’t capitalism, it’s profiteering, and it’s an affront at CTD’s loyal customer base. CTD also did this in the past, by jacking prices on ALL ammunition immediately after the 2008 election. After much grief, and the loss of quite a few commercial outlets, they publicly stated it was a bad idea, admitted their actions played a part in the run on ammunition, and agreed they actually caused harm to the shooting community.
They said they learned a lesson.
Looks like they lied.
At the very least, we know that Reed Exhibitions is anti-Second Amendment, and we know that they put on a LOT of exhibitions in this country. So…
http://www.reedexpo.com/en/Our-Events/events-list/?rpp=10&d=4|152_100097#
If that worked, it is their list of the exhibitions they run here. Someone may find some use for it. There are Second Amendment supporters in all fields.
And, from at least one report, one of the sponsors who stuck with them was Leftist Progressive Insurance. Which is not surprising, as they are still mourning the fall of the Soviet Union.
Subotai Bahadur
I did see two items today that you may find useful:
Over at Moonbattery, they have a copy of a letter from Geico cancelling an automobile policy because the owner is involved in a firearms related industry.
http://moonbattery.com/?p=24479
Over at Weasel Zippers, Rahm Emmanuel is pushing to get major banks to formalize policies on not doing business with anyone in the firearms industry. His first two targets are TD Bank and Bank of America. BofA is important because it’s the largest clearing house for bank card transactions.
http://weaselzippers.us/2013/01/25/rahm-emanuel-demands-banks-stop-doing-business-with-gun-manufacturers/
Their original plan/decison..or what ever they said in the statement leaves out that in November they advertised that a tactical wing was going to be part of the show. Then, they came out a few days ago and said tactical wasn’t going to be allowed. They informed impacted vendors. Not even a photo or brochure could be displayed!
Adding to it, they said that in the future they would allow any legal firearm. How do you trust this promise in the face of their new decision?
The sportsmen had enough. They began a grass roots boycott of Reed.
Heh. Good.
I stumbled on the EOSS Boycott information early Tuesday, I was truly impressed with the companies that got on board that wouldn’t have been directly affected. One of the archery companies correctly noted that if legislatures think modern AR rifles are “scary looking”, how long until they take a look at modern archery gear. From what I’ve read, Reed could be on the hook for reimbursing exhibitors and possible lost revenues. As a private business they are free to conduct their business the way they chose, and to suffer the consequences.
I think this is an excellent sign for Americans standing strong on this issue. Unlike elections, the 2nd Amendment crosses every demographic out there. I read today, that Dems are counting on scaring the Soccer Moms into supporting this agenda. They may be sadly surprised to learn that women make up the largest and fastest growth sector in all categories of hunting, competitive shooting and self defense… (both my mother (68) and my mother in law (78) just renewed their CCL’s with better scores than mine. Hunting and shooting sports also tends to be very family oriented and multi-generational.
No kidding. I was in Cabela’s some time back and happened to be in the bow hunting section. I think I’d rather be shot than hit by one of those arrows.
We had a few problems earlier this year when we added Archery to our youth shooting sports program. Our existing members are educated regarding the safe use and potential hazards of all firearms including bows. However, when word got out that we would be offering archery, we had several parents show up who were under the impression that Archery was “safe”. Thanks goodness we have a good set of slides from around the country that demonstrate that you can have accidents and misuse with archery gear just as easily as with firearms.
Because thousands of years of warfare conducted with bows wasn’t enough evidence that they can be dangerous?!
I simply do not get people.
Not the NRA, they pulled out later. The small vendors are the ones who pulled first at no small cost their bottom line due to booth fees. Then came Ruger and S&W, follwed by Cabellas (a sponsor) then it started snowballing.
it would be a terrible mistake to think blocking the NRA would have an effect. They are the face but they are driven by the grassroots. They can’t “compromise” because they to would be cancelled by the gun owners and 2nd amendment supporters.
“since they have been selling so swiftly that they’re now scarce”
No fricking kidding. I have a co-worker who was trying to find ammo for his guns. The shelves are bare. He was thinking about a new rifle – 30-06 caliber. Nothing except what would be considered “low end”. Glocks, forget it. Higher capacity magazines? Double the price. He was even thinking about reloading his own, but couldn’t find the right die.
Way to go you stupid Democrats, you created a sellers market for guns, ammo, etc. The law of unintended consequences.
Back in the early 1990′s I scratched Ruger from my wish list as Bill Ruger had conversed with the Clinton administration about supporting a ban on magazines having a capacity of over 10 rounds – which led directly to that approach being shoe horned into Clinton’s so-called “assault weapons ban”.
In short, the way I see it Bill Ruger provided aid and comfort to the enemies of those who cherish the Second Amendment.
As such, I promised myself it would be a cold day in hell before I purchased one of their products.
After seeing the company’s actions for the past year or so, AND seeing as how they were apparently the first big name manufacturer to pull out voluntarily after the show banned modern sporting rifles, I have to say I am changing my tune and it looks like they’ve learned from the mistakes of the past.
My daughter want’s a .22…..so I may just have to go get a nice little Ruger 10-22 for her to plink with.
I’d take a look at Reed’s statement–sounds to me like a company that expects to hold on and put the show on once the haters realize the errors of their ways, and if not, the company is on the right side of history anyway, and they will put the show on someday.
In other words, the Dixie Chicks scenario. They ain’t backing down, because it’s a holy righteous cause.
I suspect that the “postponement” is an attempt to cover their bank accounts. I’m sure we’ll hear more on it very soon, but it looks like Reed is going to be on the hook for reimbursing fees and probably some revenue losses. For certain they’re going to be on the hook for lost sales to the vendors who would have been offering “modern firearms”.