About 60 mayors are planning to exercise their authority over city spending on gun and ammunition purchases by demanding that any gun makers who want to bid for their contracts start supporting gun control efforts. Their argument is that they control tax dollars, so tax dollars should only go to companies that embrace their political agenda. Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak said, “We all ought to have a conversation as taxpayers about whether our dollars should be used for people who are not working to reduce gun violence.”
Meanwhile, Smith & Wesson today posted on Facebook to promote their tool to contact lawmakers to stand up for Second Amendment rights.
So this will mean fewer guns and diminished selection, but for the cops. Unintended consequences.
I believe the manufacturers should reciprocate and boycott the cities. I have a hunch I know who would blink first.
I was thinking the same. It would be a long shot to get them all to do it, but the irony would be delicious indeed.
I was going to post the same thoughts too.
If ALL firearm and ammo manufacturers refused to sell to any govt agency that promoted or supported infringement on 2nd amendment rights I think they would be more likely to see things our way as well.
Wow, way to go S&W.
(Really learned their lesson, no?)
Can we see any company with a big US presence playing ball? Civilian business is very big, these cities in aggregate can’t be that large of a fraction of government business.
And as noted in the article, there are procurement rules and laws they might be breaking if they try this.
What happens when the cities cannot buy any guns and ammunition because the firearms companies aren’t willing to sacrifice a much larger market for a few cities?
The private gun industry should cut off the anti-gun, statist mayors who want to strangle the private gun industry for selling to private citizens who pay the taxes that the anti-gun, statist mayors use to buy their guns.
It would be really interesting for the firearms companies to break down the numbers to show the mayors just how wide a margin public/private sales are.
I wrote that idiot mayor and thanked him for giving his suppliers good reason to cancel their orders and sell the ammo to the public. Not like we wouldn’t snap it up.
Ronnie Barrett, please call your office.
Huh. If I were Uberti, I might give them a call. Can’t stop producing what you already don’t make. Would be interesting to see cops in old west holsters.
My first thought is to refuse to sell to those cities police departments.
My first thought is that these “politicians” need to be taught a hard lesson about misusing public funds.
I would tell the mfg’ers to only sell cops 7 round mags and lever action carbines. Why is it that POlice need “weapons of war”?
Any word on who the other 59 mayors are?
Look at the MAIG list. Choose the 59 of the biggest cities.
There are 3/4 of a million LEOs of varying types in the US. At a new gun every 5 years, that’s 150K guns per year in sales. How many NICS checks were there last month???? Oh yeah, 1.7 million…
Bring it…
The mayors are morons because they don’t understand that their buying power is backwards. Gun companies want city business for the cachet of selling to civilians guns that are like police officer’s guns, because the civilian market is many times larger.
Not the other way ’round.
Fine, let them buy handguns are full retail MSRP rather than the special deals…
Can you picture a line of cops at a gunstore waiting to get a new gun? Or to buy ammo?
And everyone Laughing at them!