Breaking News: Daniel Defense Terminates Agreement with Academy Sports
OutdoorHub Reporters 06.17.16
In a knee-jerk reaction to the massacre in Orlando at the LGBT nightclub Pulse, the retailer Academy Sports decided to remove all modern sporting rifles from its shelves.
Not surprisingly, this move by Academy isn’t sitting well with hunting and shooting enthusiasts or firearms manufacturers. In fact, one gun company, Daniel Defense, has drawn a clear line in the sand by immediately terminating its agreement to sell products to Academy.
Check out the letter below from the leadership team at Daniel Defense to its distributors.
“As you know we take our partnership with our stocking retailers very seriously. We are committed to serving and supplying them at the highest level and expect our retailers to have that same level of commitment to our brand and our industry. Unfortunately, Academy Sports has made a corporate decision, in the wake of the recent terrorist attack, to remove all MSRs from their website and in-store displays. Academy Sports has communicated that they intend to continue to sell the MSR category of firearms without displaying or advertising them publicly. As a prominent MSR brand, Daniel Defense cannot support decisions that are completely contrary to the values of our company and industry. Therefore, as of today, June 16th, I request that you place Academy Sports on a Do Not Sell list for all Daniel Defense products and terminate any shipments to their stores or distribution centers. It is unfortunate that we have to make this decision, but it is clearly the right thing to do for our brand, our industry and our constitutional right. Thank you for your support.
Bill Robinson, VP of Sales
Academy’s decision clearly segregates firearms by their appearance, which sends a dangerous message to our politicians that it’s acceptable to do so. We as an industry must stand and fight, together.
Marty Daniel, President and CEO
OutdoorHub salutes Daniel Defense for standing beside its customers and the Second Amendment.
For more on Daniel Defense, and an in-depth look into the life of Daniel Defense founder Marty Daniel, watch the video below. You’ll see how he built one of the top firearm manufacturers in the world from the ground up.
