CapArms Question of the Day: Would You Buy a Gun From A Company That Cut A Deal with Anti-Gun Pols?

Most American gun owners expect firearms manufacturers to support their right to keep and bear arms. If nothing else, the greater the restrictions on firearms freedoms, the fewer guns they’ll sell. And the fewer RKBA restrictions, the more guns they’ll sell. But it’s also a political thing: a statement that company and customer are on the same side. And woe betide a gunmaker who betrays that trust!

Remember what happened to Ruger when Bill Ruger supported the Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act (a.k.a, Federal Assault Weapons Ban)? Or to Smith & Wesson when they cut a deal with the Clinton administration to end federal and state lawsuits against the company? The consumer backlash severely dented Ruger’s bottom line and almost put Smith out of business.

Given that history and the current firearms market, I was more than a little surprised to learn that one or more firearms manufacturers might drop their opposition to a despicable piece of Illinois gun control legislation in exchange for an exemption from the law’s restrictions. If they do, if a gunmaker negotiates a carve-out for itself with anti-gun pols to save their own skin, would you boycott their products? If so, for how long?