During a recent not-so-hostile takeover, Hodge Defense Systems became Marisol Defense. Already, logo items are starting to show up. Oddly enough, everyone now wants a ‘Marisol’ as demand for Hodge guns wanes.
More details soon.
Archive for the ‘Industry’ Category
Hodge Defense Becomes Marisol Defense
Friday, April 1st, 2016Vuurwaapen Blog Launches GoFundMe Page To Raise Funds For Legal Defense
Thursday, March 31st, 2016 
Not long after our story on the Fireclean suit against bloggers Andrew Tuohy and Everett Baker, Vuurwaapen blog launched a fundraising page for their legal defense on the GoFundMe platform. The odd thing about this is that I’ve read the complaint and Fireclean isn’t suing for assault.
Those interested in donating should visit www.gofundme.com/spwt9qss.
Fireclean LLC Sues Andrew Tuohy and Everett Baker for Defamation in Federal Court
Thursday, March 31st, 2016Last September, social media was ablaze with multiple versions of a common theme, “Fireclean lubricant is Crisco”. The source of this buzz was an article on Vuurwapen blog by Andrew Tuohy, entitled “INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY OF FIRECLEAN AND CRISCO OILS” where he claimed to have had samples of Fireclean tested in order to determine if it was Crisco. At the time of the article, I was publicly critical of Tuohy’s methodology, relying on anonymous sources for lab tests.
The content was so popular it even spawned a second round of articles by Tuohy as well as blogger Everett Baker who claims to have conducted testing of his own that verified Tuohy’s assertions. To double down, Tuohy wrote an article where he claimed that a demonstration video of Fireclean by tactical trainer Larry Vickers was fraudulent. Interestingly, Tuohy initially published this article as “WHERE THERE’S SMOKE, THERE’S LIAR” but later changed it to “SEVERE PROBLEMS WITH VICKERS TACTICAL FIRECLEAN VIDEO”.
At the time, lots of people were quite entertained by the shenanigans. But not everyone was laughing. While most have moved on from the incident, Fireclean has not. In fact, last week they filed the first, in what we understand will be series of federal lawsuits, against Andrew Tuohy and Everett Baker. Suits against others are said to follow. According to this suit, Fireclean has suffered losses of $25,000 per month in sales since the round of articles. Seeing how they are in Northern Virginia, Fireclean has turned to Federal Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, the original ‘Rocket Docket’, for relief. Andrew Tuohy hails from Arizona and Everett Baker is from New Hampshire, according to his blog but Fireclean makes their case early on in the suit for a Virginia venue.
At the heart of this issue is whether the bloggers’ posts are protected by the First Amendment or if their actions were intentionally misleading. Fireclean alleges multiple counts of defamation against Tuohy and a single count against Baker as well as violation of the Virginia Business Conspiracy Act and Common Law Conspiracy. They are demanding a jury trial and compensatory damages, presumed damages for defamation, punitive damages in addition to court costs and attorney’s fees.
You can read the entire, 209 page suit here: Fireclean LLC v Tuohy and Baker. It’s quite extensive and in the document you can see that Fireclean does exactly what Tuohy and Baker didn’t, which was use a well known laboratory to analyze the product. Rather than rely on anonymous testing or tests performed by a college student, Fireclean obtained the services of Petro-Lubricant Testing Laboratories. Their testing is part of the suit, in exhibit R.
Whichever way this suit goes, it is one to watch because it is not only an attempt to hold firearms bloggers responsible for their content, but that it could have far reaching effects for blogging writ large as well as other social media content.
In closing, I would like to disclose that Vickers Tactical, who is not a party to this suit, but is mentioned, is an advertiser on SSD. While, Larry Vickers has endorsed Fireclean in the past, Fireclean is in no way associated with SSD.
Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against L3 Communications for EOTech Sight Issues
Thursday, March 24th, 2016It was just a matter of time before it happened. Apparently, getting a full refund for the purchase price of a EOTech Holographic Weapon Sight, without having to show a receipt wasn’t enough. Clay Pittman individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, have filed a class action lawsuit against L3 Communications and their EOTech business unit.
This class action hopes to represent anyone who purchased an EOTech HWS from 2007 until now because, the suit claims “for nearly a decade, Defendants sold holographic weapons sights to consumers throughout the United States that Defendants knew were materially defective.”
Pittman has not specified a monetary amount for the damages in his suit. Rather, he asks the court to:
-Issue an order finding in favor of Plaintiff and the Class on liability;
-Award damages, including compensatory, statutory, incidental, consequential, actual, and, as applicable, punitive and/or exemplary damages, and statutory penalties to Plaintiff and Class Members in an amount to be determined at trial;
-Grant injunctive and equitable relief to Plaintiff and Class Members including, but not limited to, disgorgement, restitution ;
-Award Plaintiff and Class Members their expenses and costs of the suit, pre-judgment interest, post-judgment interest, and reasonable attorneys’ fees;
But, the most important petition to the court is to establish this case as the class action meaning any other cases would have to join this one.
Plaintiff Pittman is a Texan and is represented by The Miller Lawfirm PC of Rochester, Michigan. This is a different firm than Douglas, Haun & Heidemann PC which we wrote about in the past and uses the website EOTechlawsuit.com.
The plaintiff goes into a great deal of detail in the complaint so it’s definitely worth a read.
Magpul Industries Corporation Becomes July 8 Pole Day Sponsor at Kentucky Speedway
Wednesday, March 23rd, 2016
SPARTA, Ky. –Magpul Industries Corp., is expanding its partnership with Kentucky Speedway by becoming the official Pole Day sponsor for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR XFINITY Series Friday, July 8.
”Magpul is thrilled to be expanding our third year of partnership at Kentucky Speedway with the Pole Day Sponsorship,” said Magpul director Troy McMullen. “It’s a perfect way to share our love for motorsports, freedom and individual responsibility with the race fans of Kentucky and the surrounding region.”
The Magpul partnership has given the brand numerous signage opportunities throughout the race weekends. In addition, Magpul is a proud sponsor of Kentucky Speedway’s annual Top Cop Challenge program where police officers from regional jurisdictions compete in NASCAR stock cars to identify the fastest officer. This year’s Top Cop Challenge will be held in September.
“The Magpul brand is a perfect fit for Kentucky Speedway, combining quality and innovation with an aggressive growth strategy,” said general manager of Kentucky Speedway, Mark Simendinger. “Magpul’s support of local law enforcement is much appreciated and serves as a model of how a sponsor can benefit the entire community.”
Kentucky Speedway’s 2016 season begins in July with the return of a NASCAR tripleheader weekend anchored by the July 9 Sprint Cup Series Quaker State 400 presented by Advance Auto Parts. The Camping World Truck Series starts the weekend with the Buckle Up in Your Truck 225 Thursday, July 7 and the XFINITY Series Alsco 300 Friday, July 8.
The General Tire Super Weekend at Kentucky Speedway is highlighted by the return of the XFINITY Series on Saturday, September 24 for the VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300 and the ARCA Racing Series’ 23rd track appearance Friday, September 23 for the Crosley 150.
Fans may purchase season tickets and camping, July weekend packages or individual race tickets now by calling (859) 578-2300, at www.kentuckyspeedway.com, or by visiting the Kentucky Speedway ticket office at 1 Speedway Drive, Sparta, Ky., 41086 just off Interstate 71 Exit 57 and Ky. Hwy. 35 North. Ticket office hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
DIRECT ACTION Announces European Commercial Release
Wednesday, March 23rd, 2016DIRECT ACTION® announces the long-awaited European commercial release of the DIRECT ACTION® advanced tactical gear product portfolio.
Launched during the IWA 2016 trade fair, the DIRECT ACTION® on-line store gives end-users the opportunity to purchase – directly from the manufacturer – the same advanced, Made-in-Poland, tactical nylon gear that is already in operational use with Polish and other special operations forces.
At the current time, production and stocking are ongoing and DIRECT ACTION® expects to have all products available on the webstore within the next 3-4 weeks. If you don’t see the item you need listed as in-stock, check back again later – as products are being added constantly. You can also learn all about the products by downloading a PDF copy of the DIRECT ACTION® 2016 catalog, or by requesting a hard-copy of the catalog.
DIRECT ACTION® plans to offer both a Made-in-Poland and a Made-in-the-USA product option for the American market – and the release of their full line of gear through Direct Action USA is expected to GO LOUD after SOFIC in May. DIRECT ACTION® will be exhibiting at SOFIC in Tampa and the crew looks forward to meeting interested end-users and purchasers there as well.
In the meantime, check their website for further product info:
Virginia Beach Defense Contractor ADS, Inc. Awarded $975 Million Contract To Support DOD Counter Narcotics And Global Threats Operations
Sunday, March 20th, 2016VIRGINIA BEACH, VA. March 18, 2016 – ADS, Inc., the Virginia Beach based defense contractor, has received a Multiple Award Indefinite Delivery / Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract with the Department of Defense Counter Narcotics and Global Threats Division (CN>) of the U. S. Air Force Air Combat Command Acquisition Management and Integration Center (AMIC). The 3-year base contract includes two 2-year extensions for a total of 7 years with a total not-to-exceed value of $975 million.
Under this contract, ADS will provide services, equipment, material and perform minor construction to support U.S. Government and partner nation operations and logistics efforts to detect, deter, disrupt, degrade and defeat national security threats posed by illegal drugs, trafficking, piracy and transnational organized crime within the continental U.S. and abroad.
ADS has a long-standing relationship and proven past performance supporting the CN> Division. In 2014, the company stood up a team specifically dedicated to expanding its capabilities in an effort to earn the position of prime supplier with the division and provide even more value for their critical mission. After investing the resources to build the necessary capabilities and obtain the requisite certifications, ADS was awarded the contract in February.
“We are thrilled with this opportunity to continue to support DOD CN> efforts,” said Karan Rai, ADS President and Chief Financial Officer. “This is the culmination of many months of work on the part of many ADS team members. This contract has a lot of moving parts and our team looks forward to supporting our customers with the equipment and services they need to complete their mission while expanding our role in the defense of the U.S. and our allies.”
