Found this press statement, dated 1/31/2000, on the NRA-ILA site. Obviously the rumors that "Rugers will no longer be sold at shows" are NOT TRUE.
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News Release
Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. Clarifies Position on Gun Shows
Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. issued the following news release last week to clarify the company's position on sales of its firearms at gun shows following news reports on that subject.
STURM, RUGER & Company, Inc.
Lacey Place
Southport, Connecticut 06490
January 27, 2000
CLARIFICATION OF RUGER SALES POLICY – GUN SHOWS
Background of Ruger Sales Policy – How Ruger Guns are sold
Sturm, Ruger does not sell its products directly to dealers or individuals; we only sell to a select group of independent wholesale firearms distributors. They, in turn, sell our products to independent licensed retail dealers, for resale to legally qualified individual purchasers.
We have always formulated our sales policies to support stocking retail gun dealers, thousands of whom sell our products nationwide. Since 1985, our “Distributor Terms and Conditions” provide that distributors of Ruger firearms purchase them from us with the condition that they will resell Ruger products only to legitimate, licensed retail dealers with a storefront business, a resale tax number, and who comply with all federal, state and local laws.
We feel that a true gun shop or sporting goods store is the best place for Ruger firearms to be promoted and sold, their operating features explained, and their safety features demonstrated. All this is very important, and our 15-year old policy has obviously been successful.
Why did we do this in 1985?
At that time, there was an increasing number of FFL holders who were not gun dealers. There was nothing intrinsically wrong with that, since all of them had to obey the thousands of firearms laws, and many law-abiding citizens had FFL’s. But from a commercial and safety standpoint, we thought it best that Ruger Distributors not sell Ruger guns to individuals just because they had an FFL. It’s not that individual FFL holders don’t have to obey the law – obviously, they do! We simply believe that the sales and promotion aspects, as well as the vitally important safety training aspect, of gun sales are best done by professional gun dealers who have a stake in running a business and staying in business.
Was our policy directed at gun shows?
No! It was directed at certain distributors and storefront dealers who advertised and occasionally sold Ruger firearms to individual FFL holders via mail order through certain trade publications. They said, “we do have a storefront, but we want to sell more Ruger firearms through these firearms publications.”
Such sales really were not in the spirit of what we intended. Obviously, a mail-order sale to a licensee can’t fully implement our policy of proper promotion, explanation, and safety instruction for our guns that can be done in a face-to-face, hands-on, storefront sale.
Therefore, in December of last year we clarified our 15-year old policy by adding one single word – we now say that we want retailers who purchase Ruger guns from distributors to sell Rugers “exclusively” from their retail stores, hoping to clarify this ambiguity. Gun show sales were not even considered when we formulated this policy last year.
So what has changed? Why the controversy?
Please don’t be misled by what ignorant or willfully biased anti-gun media may say. Gun shows were not mentioned in our sales policy.
In Denver, the gun show issue is very active, due to the Columbine tragedy. The governor and many other politicians are urging gun show restrictions due to media and political pressures. A Denver newspaper reporter investigating gun shows learned that a newly-appointed Ruger distributor read our terms and conditions and mistakenly interpreted them as prohibiting gun show sales. This distributor issued its own dealer flyer, which stated, “Ruger does not want its products displayed or sold at guns shows”. The reporter called us over the weekend while everyone was headed to Las Vegas for the SHOT show. With nobody available to clarify what we actually meant by our policy, he wrote the erroneous story about a “new Ruger policy regarding gun shows,” causing this non-issue to receive widespread publicity.
So what is Ruger’s policy on gun shows?
First of all, a licensed FFL dealership (which is the only entity that can purchase a new Ruger firearm from a Ruger distributor) has to obey exactly the same laws whether the sale is made at a gun show or his retail storefront gun store. Gun shows are not law-free zones. All the many federal, state, and local laws must be complied with by the dealer, including the NICS instant point-of-sale background check, for all firearm sales, even if the dealer’s sale takes place at a gun show.
Therefore, our policy is that a legitimate storefront retail licensed FFL dealer may exhibit Ruger guns at gun shows. If the dealer makes a sale at a gun show, of course he must comply with all the laws, just as if he was selling from his store. We would prefer that he actually consummate the sale at his gun store (which is the law in some states), because we think it’s a better place for the sale to occur than in the hurried, public atmosphere of a gun show, where boxes, instruction manuals, locks, lock boxes, etc. are more likely to be misplaced or forgotten, and where proper demonstrations and instructions are less likely to be complete. However, we have no objection to Ruger firearms being sold by a duly licensed stocking retail firearms dealer at a gun show to properly licensed or otherwise law-abiding citizens who have passed the required FBI background check, and who comply with all other local requirements for such a firearms purchase.
The main reason for our long-standing policy is to support the true retail gun dealer and help him promote and explain our products to customers in the best and safest possible way, for the protection of everyone.
Gun shows are not the evil entities portrayed in the media
You can’t find a barrel band for an 1861 Springfield musket at your local gun store. For that matter, you probably can’t even find the old Springfield at your gun store. However, at collector gun shows you can find hundreds of fellow collectors, guns, parts, accessories, etc. They are one of few places where specialized gun sales take place between collectors sharing a mutual interest in particular types of firearms.
Shows also offer in one location a much wider opportunity to view, compare, and evaluate a greater variety of firearms than is possible in a single gun store. Many people in rural areas travel great distances to attend gun shows, due to the lack of retail gun stores in their area. While in point of fact few Rugers are sold new at gun shows, shows occupy a special and legitimate niche in the lawful enjoyment of firearms. It was never our intention to imply otherwise, and we welcome the opportunity to clarify our position.
Thank You,
STURM, RUGER & COMPANY, INC.
“Arms Makers For Responsible Citizens”
Posted: 2000-01-31
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