Corey0372
AH fanatic
Ok then, I stand "partially" corrected. They are a still a FOREIGN company who COULD stop production of ammo and components if so desired given geopolitical events in the future. What happens if CSG in the future decides to sell out to China or some other dictatorship unfriendly to the US? These businesses will sell out to whomever gives them the highest price. We see it all the time. Vista Outdoors is a perfect example. They have NO morals and will sell to ANYBODY for the highest price. They've only owned Remington for a couple of years. Another example of leeches coming in to "save" a company (ies) only to sell them out to the highest bidder later. Think Sears and the hedge fund that ran it into the ground. Maybe we could have Norinco make our military small arms? In this case, to a foreign company who would have a huge footprint on the production of our military ammunition components. Turkey is a NATO member and under Erdogan they've moved further and further from the West. IMO, the breadth of CSG's acquisitions with Vista is a potential National Security risk.
I understand and share your concerns, except for Sears... I think the writing was on the wall for department stores years ago with the widespread adoption of online shopping. In my opinion one of the major reasons for the sale that can't be overlooked is that VSTO is a publicly traded company, so they have to worry about shareholders. With the constant threat of litigation against firearms (and potentially ammo companies) by the anti-gun lobby any time there is a shooting, you can see how they would want to get out of the business.
If I'm not mistaken, I'm pretty sure the Czech Republic has some of the most gun friendly laws in the EU. So it makes sense that they would be interested in acquiring the company, to both support recreational shooting and hunting as well as potentially cash in on production for European NATO members anticipated increase in ammo demands.
The list of vulnerabilities we have in regards to Chinese control over manufacturing is much longer than Vista being sold to a Czech company. Many people are perfectly fine with doing business with China, even if it directly funds and supports weapons development for the PLA. Ammo production is one area I'm confident the US could turn on pretty quickly should the need arise. Electronics at scale? Aluminum production? Heavy manufacturing? Mass production of FPV drones? Optical quality glass on a large scale? Those are areas I'm not so sure.
In the meantime... there are two US ammo companies that come to mind that seem to be very 2A focused that are probably worth supporting...
Fenix Ammunition
https://fenixammo.com/
Advanced Armament Company (Palmetto State Armory's new ammo branch)
https://palmettostatearmory.com/brands/advanced-armament/ammo-reloading/ammo.html
They aren't really putting out hunting ammunition right now, but I imagine with more support they would likely venture into that market.
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