Hogue just became the latest company to sever its relationship with Dick’s Sporting Goods and its Field & Stream subsidiary over the retailer’s anti-gun tactics.
What tactics, you ask? Well, first Dick’s announced, post-Parkland, that it would stop selling “assault rifles” in its 35 Field & Stream locations. Then it raised the minimum age for firearm and ammo buys to 21. Next, it destroyed its remaining inventory of “assault rifles,” rather than send them back to manufacturers. Lastly, the company decided to hire lobbyists to lobby Congress for more gun control laws.
As a result of these actions, Springfield Armory, Hi-Point and Inland Distributor MKS Supply, and Mossberg have all ended their business relationships with Dick’s Sporting Goods. The NSSF also expelled Dick’s from membership. Hogue has now joined that growing list. Here’s Hogue’s official statement below.
Hogue Statement On Dick’s Sporting Goods
Hogue Inc. stands with its industry partners and has removed Dick’s Sporting Goods and their subsidiary Field & Stream as an authorized dealer of Hogue Inc. products. Dick’s Sporting Goods recently made the decision to halt sales of and destroy their inventory of modern sporting rifles. They no longer offer standard capacity magazines, and now restrict the minimum age of rifle buyers to 21, contradicting the Federal law age of 18. Additionally, they’ve hired lobbyists to argue further gun law restrictions which will directly impact law abiding citizens’ 2nd Amendment rights.
“Hogue has a long standing tradition of supporting American enthusiasts with top quality firearm accessories and refuses to work with any organization who supports restricting the rights our Founders fought to provide and protect. We are happy to stand alongside our friends in the industry, such as Springfield Armory, who no longer work with Dick’s,” Owner Neil Hogue said in an interview.
Consumers are encouraged to seek alternative brick and mortar retailers for their next sporting goods purchase. Your local Hogue Inc. dealer can be found at www.HogueInc.com.
Smooth Sailing For Dick’s
The controversy from Dick’s’ actions hasn’t significantly impacted its bottom line. As Reuters reports, the retailer recently topped estimates for first-quarter results and raised its profit forecast. This increased shares by 28 percent, sending the stock on its way to its best day since the company went public in 2002. In addition, Forbes says Dick’s’ e-commerce sales were up 24 percent in Q1 of FY 2018.
During a conference call with investors, Dick’s CEO Ed Stack said his company’s policies have hurt its hunting business.
“As expected, our firearms policy changes impacted our hunt business, which saw an accelerated decline in an already challenged category,” Stack said.
Stack also fielded a question about the company’s anti-gun stance.
“Well there has, there’s been a number of people who have started shopping us or so they’re going to shop us more because of the policy,” Stack replied. “So I guess overall there’s definitely been some benefit of people who have joined us, so to speak, because of the policy.”
In addition, Stack discussed firearms manufacturers and the NSSF cutting ties with his company.
“Well, we don’t have the best relationship with the firearms manufacturers right now. And Mossberg did indicate that they weren’t going to sell us on a direct basis,” Stack said. “If we want, we can still buy that product from a distributor to have that in the assortment, if products that they sell fit into our assortment. We’re not sure we’re going to do that but we have the ability to do that. As far as the National Shooting Sports Federation expelling us, we didn’t have a whole lot to do with them. They primarily run the shot show. We would go to the shot show. So we don’t go to the shot show now. It’s really not that big of a deal.”
