Daniel Defense DDM4 rifles was a strong-selling product line for Academy Sports. The sporting good chain literally couldn’t keep the premium AR-style rifles on the shelves in the chain’s firearms departments.
Now they’ve lost the right to try, after the chain disgracefully pulled all their AR-15s off of public display in the wake of the deadliest Islamic terrorist attack since 9/11 by an American-borne supporter of ISIS, but still sold the most popular kind of rifle in the nation from behind the counter, as if they were adult magazines.
Upon hearing of Academy’s behavior late yesterday, Daniel Defense immediately terminated their relationship with the chain, which had been rumored to have carried out similarly weaselly actions before.
Today, they issued this release to the public.
Daniel Defense Terminates Relationship with Academy Sports
Black Creek, GA- June 16, 2016. Daniel Defense—engineer and manufacture of the world’s finest firearms, precision rail systems, and accessories— Has announced it will no longer sell firearms to Academy Sports due to their decision to remove MSR’s from their website and in-store displays.
Letter to all Daniel Defense Distributors:
“As you know we take our partnership with our stocking retailers very seriously. We are committed to serving and supplying them at the highest level and expect our retailers to have that same level of commitment to our brand and our industry. Unfortunately, Academy Sports has made a corporate decision, in the wake of the recent terrorist attack, to remove all MSRs from their website and in-store displays. Academy Sports has communicated that they intend to continue to sell the MSR category of firearms without displaying or advertising them publicly. As a prominent MSR brand, Daniel Defense cannot support decisions that are completely contrary to the values of our company and industry. Therefore, as of today, June 16th, I request that you place Academy Sports on a Do Not Sell list for all Daniel Defense products and terminate any shipments to their stores or distribution centers. It is unfortunate that we have to make this decision, but it is clearly the right thing to do for our brand, our industry and our constitutional right. Thank you for your support.”
Bill Robinson, VP of Sales
“Academy’s decision clearly segregates firearms by their appearance, which sends a dangerous message to our politicians that it’s acceptable to do so. We as an industry must stand and fight, together.”
Marty Daniel, President and CEO
Daniel Defense clearly is going to lose money by pulling their product line from a store that had more than 200 locations in 15 states, but their decision was clearly the right one.
It seems probable that other firearms will follow Daniel Defense’s lead and terminate their relationship with Academy Sports. No one likes being associated with fairweather friends and sunshine patriots.
