TacticalGear.com posted this statement from their CEO, Chad Weinman, in response to the perception that statements from their company in the media might be construed as anti-Second Amendment. We are publishing this statement in its entirety in the hope that it reaches widest dissemination.
A STATEMENT REGARDING THE COLORADO SHOOTINGNews July 23 2012
— By Staff
A post from our CEO regarding the tragic shooting at an Aurora, Colorado movie theater.
On July 2, 2012 TacticalGear.com received an order from James Holmes, the alleged shooter in the Colorado theater massacre. His order included an urban assault vest, two magazine pouches and a tactical knife spending a total of $306.79. Mr. Holmes elected to pay an additional $15.63 for UPS 2nd Day Air to expedite his order. We processed this order as any other, and Mr. Holmes signed for the associated package on July 5 at 2:21 p.m. local time.
In the wake of the tragedy, we have done our best to cooperate with the media and law enforcement agencies by passing on any relevant information. We have since been inundated with countless phone calls, emails and interview requests. Much of this communication has been quite hostile and threatening in nature. We have been falsely accused of selling Mr. Holmes firearms and ammunition over the Internet illegally without conducting the mandated background checks. Some members of our customer relations team have been brought to tears by people insisting that we have “blood on our hands.”
In an effort to combat this falsehood, myself and our Chief Operating Officer conducted a series of interviews in an attempt to clear up any misconceptions. We reiterated that TacticalGear.com primarily serves the law enforcement community and that we are proud to supply these heroes with the tools they need to keep our communities safe. During the course of these interviews, we were repeatedly questioned about what steps we were taking to prevent the general public from acquiring tactical gear in the future. In response to this line of questioning, statements were made that some have perceived as anti-gun and anti-2nd amendment.
We want to set the record straight and publically state that we fully support the 2nd amendment. The spirit of what we were trying to communicate was that tactical clothing and equipment should not be put in the same category as firearms and ammunition. Firearms and ammunition are subject to considerable regulation, and the notion that tactical gear should be as well is outrageous. Unfortunately, in some instances our choice of words were poor and misguided. For this, we accept full responsibility and sincerely apologize to anyone that took offense to these comments.
I am very proud of TacticalGear.com. It is a great company with a great staff. Each day we wake up thinking about how we can better serve our customers the gear they need when they need it. We work tirelessly to achieve these goals, and we are passionate about what we do. Many of us are avid gun owners and enthusiasts. We frequently visit the local shooting range and keep firearms in the office. We wholeheartedly support the freedom Americans enjoy to legally purchase guns and ammunition. I personally believe that if some members of the audience had concealed carry weapons at hand that night perhaps less blood would have been shed. No amount of gun control is going to prevent a sociopath hell-bent on terrorism from hurting a large group of people.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families of this horrific event. If you have any questions or comments about this issue please direct them to us via email at pr@tacticalgear.com.
-Chad Weinman
CEO, TacticalGear.com
