Smith Enterprise Stands with Magpul, Stops Sales to Colorado Law Enforcement and State Agencies

 

Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper just signed 3 bills into law that place restrictions on the sales of firearms, magazines and ammunition. When Smith Enterprise received word of this, it was enough to make Ron Smith's blood boil.

 

Ron Smith, the President of Smith Enterprise is taking a stand against this legislation by suspending sales of his product to all state and local law enforcement agencies in the Centennial State, effective immediately. Ron Smith is also halting sales to Colorado law enforcement and state agencies in order to ensure the Colorado government practices what they preach.

 

Smith said today, “These politicians need to be held accountable for their actions and that rolls down to the people enforcing these laws. Our products will not be used against the law-abiding citizens of Colorado in the enforcement of these unjust laws which fly in the face of the US Constitution. Now let's hope that the good people of Colorado will punish Hickenlooper and other big government politicians who voted in favor of these measures at the ballot box and restore some sanity in their state.”

 

Hickenlooper’s office received some 3300 calls opposing these measures on Monday and Tuesday. The governor’s switchboard averaged one call every 18 seconds, but the voices of the law-abiding citizens of Colorado and pleas from numerous county sheriffs fell on deaf ears. Colorado, long known for its traditions of gun ownership and self-reliance, joined the ranks of New York, New Jersey, California, Massachusetts, Maryland and Illinois with their draconian laws.

 

One voice was a little louder than most, the voice of MagPul Industries, based in Erie, Colorado. The Veteran-owned business is known for producing top quality gear that works; from magazines to butt stocks to full-blown weapon systems. The laws, which take effect on July 1, would make MagPul’s P-Mags illegal to manufacture, let alone possess, in Colorado. Lawmakers offered a deal to include an exception for the company, but CEO Richard Fitzpatrick drew a line in the sand and turned it down. It was clearly an all or nothing gambit.

 

Fitzpatrick is planning on pulling up stakes and moving to greener pastures with his company, costing the State of Colorado 200 jobs and $10s of millions in tax revenue.

 

MagPul posted on the company’s Facebook page on Monday: “We will likely become a multi-state operation as a result of this move, and not all locations have been selected. We have made some initial contacts and evaluated a list of new potential locations for additional manufacturing and the new company headquarters, and we will begin talks with various state representatives in earnest. Although we are agile for a company of our size, it is still a significant footprint, and we will perform this move in a manner that is best for the company and our employees.”

 

Hinting at special interest groups from outside Colorado as being responsible for the legislation, MagPul wrote: “It is disappointing to us that money and a social agenda from outside the state have apparently penetrated the American West to control our legislature and Governor, but we feel confident that Colorado residents can still take the state back through recalls, ballot initiatives, and the 2014 election to undo these wrongs against responsible Citizens.”

 

MagPul’s first manufacturing effort outside of Colorado is planned to commence within a month with the company’s staple product: the P-Mag and they will be gone from Erie by year's end. In another bold move, MagPul has halted all sales to law enforcement agencies in states with prohibitive firearms laws. In a statement on the company's website Fitzpatrick wrote:

 

"With the fight in Colorado right now we do not have time to implement a new program, so I have suspended all LE sales to ban states until we can implement a system wherein any Law Enforcement Officer buying for duty use will have to promise to uphold their oath to the US Constitution - specifically the second and fourteenth amendments - as it applies to all citizens."

 

Last month Smith Enterprise halted sales of our products to law enforcement agencies based in New York State due to Governor Cuomo’s newest round of anti-gun legislation in the so-called "SAFE Act". Today we are taking that same stance alongside MagPul Industries and are, effective immediately, suspending sales of our products to all state and local law enforcement agencies in the state of Colorado.

 

When asked about Magpul, Ron Smith gave a call to action: “Magpul is on our team. It is us versus them (the gun grabbers). And Smith Enterprise doesn’t leave fallen comrades on the battlefield. We always pick up our wounded. We have Magpul’s back and hope Magpul finds a suitable place for their new operation. I hope more people support them by buying their products and making the politicians pay at the ballot box.”

 

It is in times like these when every manufacturer in the Industry has to take a stand for what is right in defiance of tyranny.

 

Smith Enterprise stands with MagPul and with the people of Colorado.