Networks Ignore Gun Company Putting U.S. Troops First, Rejecting $15 Million Deal With Pakistan
A Utah-based gun manufacturer turned down a $15 million contract with Pakistan in the name of keeping weapons from falling into the hands of America's enemies. ABC, CBS and NBC, networks that routinely demonize the firearms industry and promote gun control, ignored this positive story. Only Fox News highlighted Desert Tech's decision to put the troops before profit.
Fox and Friends co-anchor Brian Kilmeade on Tuesday explained, "Fifteen million is a lot of money. But for this Utah gun manufacturing company, it represents more than a year of solid business." [MP3 audio here.] He added, "So, you think they would jump at the chance to make 15 million bucks in one day. But the guys at Desert Tech said no because the weapons were headed to Pakistan."
Sales manager Mike Davis asserted, "Basically it was just our company's stance and we were sticking with our founding principles and that was to keep the American troops safe."
He noted that the effort wasn't because they were "hoping to gain a whole bunch of media attention from it." Clearly, journalists haven't shown much interest the story. The network morning and evening programs have avoided it.
The Associated Press on Sunday reported the decision by Desert Tech, observing that the company's rifles "can change caliber within minutes and have the capacity to shoot as far as 3,000 yards."
On Fox and Friends, Davis related what the deal could have meant: "Of course it's a hard decision. I mean, $15 million, that's a lot of money. It could change a small company for a long time."
Host Kilmeade praised, "[Pakistan] is overrun with terror activities and they're not going to be using your guns to kill our guys thanks to your courageous decision."
Last year, Face the Nation anchor Bob Schieffer compared taking on the gun industry to fighting the Nazis:
"Surely, finding Osama bin Laden; surely passing civil rights legislation, as Lyndon Johnson was able to do; and before that, surely, defeating the Nazis, was a much more formidable task than taking on the gun lobby. This is a turning point in this country....Unless we figure out a way to make sure that something like Newtown never happens again, we’re not the country that we once were."
— CBS’s Bob Schieffer during live coverage of Obama’s gun control speech, Jan. 16, 2013.
MSNBC's Joe Scarborough trashed gun manufacterers as focusing on nothing but profit:
"Can we just break through the B.S. here? This is not, for the NRA, about Second Amendment rights....This is about gun manufacturers making millions and millions and millions of dollars. This is about retailers making millions and millions and millions of dollars. Do you know how much money these people have made over the slaughter of 20 innocents in Newtown? Do you know how much richer these rich gun manufacturers have gotten over the past month, and how the NRA uses that tragedy to gin up fears, and Web sites use that tragedy to gin up fears, that they’re coming to take your guns away?"
— Co-host Joe Scarborough on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, January 11, 2013.
(To see the liberal media's top 10 worst anti-gun moments of 2013, go here.)
Unsurprisingly, these journalists have not picked up on the Desert Tech decision to turn down a $15 million deal.
A transcript of the January 7 segment is below:
8:45am ET
BRIAN KILMEADE: Fifteen million is a lot of money. But for this Utah gun manufacturing company, it represents more than a year of solid business. So, you think they would jump at the chance to make 15 million bucks in one day. But the guys at Desert Tech said no because the weapons were headed to Pakistan. Why would they say no? Let's ask them themselves. Mike Davis is the sales manager for Desert Tech. Nick Young is the president. Nick, you've done deals with the government before. Why wouldn't you deal with Pakistan?
NICK YOUNG: Really it's just the conflict that's going on over there and the unrest. We have a lot of military employees and former military veterans working for us and they really just had a lot of concern that there is potential that our product would get in the wrong hands and be used against our troops.
BRIAN KILMEADE: So Mike, was that a hard decision?
MIKE DAVIS: Of course it's a hard decision. I mean, $15 million, that's a lot of money. It could change a small company for a long time. It was a hard decision, but we feel it was the right decision.
KILMEADE: The reaction from the government, Nick?
YOUNG: From the U.S. military, it's been pretty great. Lot of the guys are pretty excited and happy that we would remember them and want to help protect them over there.
KILMEADE: What about the other side of it? What about the other side of it, Mike? The client is Pakistan, were they ticked off?
DAVIS: Our agent that we were working with, yes, he's a little upset as far as the Pakistani government. We have not heard from them.
KILMEADE: And in your business as a gun manufacturer, you got to be concerned where the gun also end up. You still do business with Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Do you do others with the Middle East?
YOUNG: Really, that's the two main areas that we're working with right now. But we got some activity going on in other areas that we're going to be supplying service in the next future, this year.
KILMEADE: Interesting, 'cause we have these arms deals with Pakistan. Government to government. But when it comes to private industry, you can make your own decision. So what is the message that we should take from this when it comes to American industry and profit, what do you think, Mike?
DAVIS: The message is it simply was a company stance. We weren't trying for all this. We weren't hoping to gain a whole bunch of media attention from it. Basically it was just our company's stance and we were sticking with our founding principles and that was to keep the American troops safe. That's all the decision was about.
KILMEADE: Right. It's a country that is overrun with terror activities and they're not going to be using your guns to kill our guys thanks to your courageous decision. Nick young, Mike Davis, thanks so much.
— Scott Whitlock is Senior News Analyst at the Media Research Center. Follow Scott Whitlock on Twitter.
