We’ve received the above copy of an email sent to an OpticsPlanet customer. It informs the aspiring magazine buyer that the company will no longer sell ammunition magazines with greater than a 10-round capacity to the general public. We called OpticsPlanet . . .
and confirmed this new policy with a customer service rep.
An earlier version of this post suggested that the change in policy may have been related to the Parkland, Florida spree killing. The company has released an official statement denying that connection, laying the blame for the policy change at the doorstep of this law in Cook County, Illinois.
Here’s OpticsPlanet’s official statement:
When there’s smoke, there’s often fire. But sometimes – smoke is just smoke.
We fully understand how the email featured in the article on The Truth About Guns suggests that we may have made a decision to limit the sales of magazines over 10 rounds due to the recent tragedy in Parkland, Florida. Before we go any further, we want to make it clear that our condolences go to the families of all of the victims, and that our hearts go out to a community trying to recover after a senseless event.
At OpticsPlanet, we have never used the inflamed tensions and emotions of current events to drive decision making. Our support of the 2nd amendment is made undeniably clear by the products we offer. We are one of the few online retailers who never stopped offering completely legal products such as bump stocks or binary triggers, when many did. We do not raise prices during frenzies. We do, however, follow the laws and make adjustments when legally required.
In this case, insufficient internal communication led to a misread message. We are not offering magazines with capacities greater than 10 rounds to the general public due to our location in Northbrook, Illinois, and local laws that limit our ability to sell these. Being an internet retailer serving fifty states can be complex at times, and frankly, our location in Illinois only adds to this complexity. We may not always like the law, but we need to follow it.
We own up to the fact that we did not explain this well internally, which led to an unclear message given to the customer, but we can completely repudiate any notion that this is a reaction to any recent event or the political climate. Unfortunately, our loyal customer base is best served by purchasing their magazines from retailers in “free” states. This issue is currently out of our hands. We’re committed to working hard to retain your business for everything else you need.
It’s unfortunate that this issue has created so much confusion, and we apologize for not providing clearer messaging in the first place. We continue to support our passionate customer community as we have for the past eighteen years in every way we can.