Gunmakers MKS and Mossberg have stopped doing business with Dick’s Sporting Goods and its subsidiary, Field & Stream, after the company put restrictions on firearms sales and hired gun control lobbyists.
“In recent months, Dick’s Sporting Goods and its subsidiary, Field & Stream, have shown themselves, in our opinion, to be no friend of Americans’ Second Amendment,” said MKS President Charles Brown, MKS president, Guns.com recently reported. “We believe that refusing to sell long guns to adults under age 21, while many young adults in our military are not similarly restricted, is wrong. We believe that villainizing modern sporting rifles in response to pressure from uninformed, anti-gun voices is wrong. We believe that hiring lobbyists to oppose American citizens’ freedoms secured by the Second Amendment is wrong.”
More gun makers break ties with Dick’s Sporting Goods https://t.co/oLV2CszZ19 pic.twitter.com/bNEQWunHnl
— Guns.com (@Guns_com) May 9, 2018
Mossberg released a statement on Wednesday.
“It has come to our attention that Dick’s Sporting Goods recently hired lobbyists on Capitol Hill to promote additional gun control,” said CEO Iver Mossberg. “Make no mistake, Mossberg is a staunch supporter of the U.S. Constitution and our Second Amendment rights, and we fully disagree with Dick’s Sporting Goods’ recent anti-Second Amendment actions.”
Here is our official statement regarding Dick’s Sporting Goods. https://t.co/GC6ALPUmtk pic.twitter.com/vfkeKr5xs4
— Mossberg (@MossbergCorp) May 9, 2018
Conflict arose between MKS and the sporting goods store after Dick’s employed a government affairs group to head its gun control lobbying, as well as the company’s decisions to abolish existing inventory of AR-15s and deny firearm sales to those under 21.
The move from MKS comes not long after Illinois-based Springfield Armory and the National Shooting Sports Foundation terminated relationships with Dick’s.
Thank you Springfield Armory and MKS for supporting the 2nd amendment community.
Mossberg Discontinues Sales To Dick’s Sporting Goods: https://t.co/xa1o0osgd4— Scott A Kimble (@DailyRantToday) May 10, 2018
“We are proud of our products, we are proud of our customers, and we are especially proud of the freedoms secured by our great U.S. Constitution. We are committed to all three,” Brown said.
The MKS product line includes Hi-Point Firearms and Inland M1911s.
The move by MKS is a substantial hit to Dick’s, as MKS is one of the largest gunmakers in the country by volume.
Ohio production partners for MKS include Haskell Manufacturing, Iberia Firearms and Strassells Machine, who manufactured 147,400 handguns and 58,600 rifles in 2016.
