Renowned pistol and rifle maker Springfield Armory is cutting ties with Dick’s Sporting Goods following news of Dick’s lobbying efforts for gun control.
On May 2 Breitbart News reported that Dick’s had hired lobbyists to work with Congress for gun control. The Federalist uncovered the matter via disclosure forms regarding the hiring of the lobbyists and ascertained that Dick’s “gun control lobbying effort began official on April 27, 2018.”
Now Springfield Armory is cutting ties with the sporting goods chain.
They made the announcement on their Facebook page, saying:
Springfield Armory is severing ties with Dick’s Sporting Goods and its subsidiary, Field & Stream, in response to their hiring a group for anti-Second Amendment lobbying.
This latest action follows Dick’s Sporting Goods’ decision to remove and destroy all modern sporting rifles (MSR) from their inventory. In addition, they have denied Second Amendment rights to Americans under the age of 21. We at Springfield Armory believe that all law abiding American citizens of adult age are guaranteed this sacred right under our Constitution.
It is clear where Dick’s Sporting Goods and its subsidiary, Field & Stream, stand on the Second Amendment, and we want to be clear about our message in response. Their position runs counter to what we stand for as a company. At Springfield Armory, we believe in the rights and principles fought for and secured by American patriots and our founding forefathers, without question. We will not accept Dick’s Sporting Goods’ continued attempts to deny Second Amendment freedoms to our fellow Americans.
Two weeks after the Parkland school shooting Dick’s announced they would cease selling “assault rifles.” They made a similar announcement after Adam Lanza used stolen guns to attack Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012.
Dick’s also made clear they would no longer sell “high capacity” magazines and they adopted a policy of not selling long guns to citizens under the age of 21, although federal law allows the sale of long guns to persons 18 and older.
On April 17, 2018, Breitbart News reported that Dick’s was destroying their unsold “assault rifles,” rather than sending them back to their respective manufacturers. Dick’s also chose to destroy their unsold “high capacity” magazines.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets with AWR Hawkins, and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.