On July 17 The New York Times reported on the Obama administration’s failure to get any significant gun control passed in Congress by suggesting there is still one avenue open–using federal contracts as a means to backdoor controls on gun manufacturers.
The original NYT article is here: "Here's a Way to Control Guns"
7 comments:
Didn't Colt give a big fat middle finger to the private market in favor of the government market?
And isn't Colt bankrupt in the middle of a bull market for firearms?
@ FedUp:
Colt is in financial trouble for rather different reasons than that. They've changed management at least once since that notable period.
Nowadays, you can buy a Colt "M4gery" (6920) of various configurations at Wal-Mart for around $900, ready-to-go.
And they've introduced their "OEM" versions this year, the basic 6920 "M4gery" minus the chintzy standard furniture that lots of folks immediately bin anyway. Those MSRP for even less, and I've seen the street price mentioned at around $750 or so.
That's not half-bad, for a carbine made fully to the demands of the military TDP.
And it's hardly a company that's "give[n] a big[,] fat middle finger to the private market," no matter how you look at it.
No, Colt's major financial troubles come from being looted by the investment company types who actually own it. Every time they've borrowed, the money hasn't gone into the company so much as into the "owners'" pockets, to the point that they now have leveraged all their assets, trademarks, and copyrights as loan collateral.
Add in that they're stuck with an all-UAW workforce and in the gun-hostile land of Connecticut,
Hognose over at WeaponsMan.com has been keeping a pretty keen eye on things over at Colt.
Here is the most recent post I found on the subject. Worth reading back through his older commentary, too.
Yeh! Colt is bankrupt!
Also, the law of un-intended consequences would likely kick in with many gun manufacturers telling the government to go buy your guns some place else. The civilian market is many more times as lucrative and profitable than selling to the government.
Anonymous FedUp said...
Didn't Colt give a big fat middle finger to the private market in favor of the government market?
And isn't Colt bankrupt in the middle of a bull market for firearms?
Yes they did and yes they are. It serves them right for taking a big steaming dump on the private market. Just how many M16's do they think the government is going to buy? At some point, you reach saturation and it will take years to wear out the originals plus all the replacements they bought.
I understand about the labor cost on their revolvers, but quality is worth a little more. If I want cheap, there's always Hi-Point.
There are literally thousand if not tens of thousands of small contractors making parts and sub assemblies for the AR15 platform alone. With the cost of CAD/CAM systems and 3D printing continuing to decline you're going to see more diversification in the supply chain, not less. Many of them have graduated from making most of a rifle to making the whole thing in house. Darn few of them do any business with any government entity. The New York Times is only showing their disconnect from reality again.
How are those Barrett .50 cals working for ya?
Robert Fowler - my thoughts exactly; the civilian market is way bigger than the federal market specifically and the LEO market in general, so if rules like this came out for federal contracts, at least some companies would choose to forego federal contracts to keep civilian business. Beretta is moving from Maryland in part because many of their weapons would be illegal for their employees to own there; it wouldn't look good for them to then cave to federal restrictions.
This also shows an lack of understanding of the firearm distribution system; how many of the big companies deal directly with local gun shops? Many sales come through distributors and other other dealers.
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