Benchmade

ExAgoradzo said:

I know I am supposed to hate Benchmade because they melted confiscated firearms

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Maybe them firearms needed to be melted?
I passed on Benchmade recently over QC issues wound up with something else.

joneb said:

Maybe them firearms needed to be melted?
I passed on Benchmade recently over QC issues wound up with something else.

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They didn't melt guns down, they allowed the local PD to use their equipment to cut up some firearms, and took pictures showing what great good they were doing for the community.

ExAgoradzo said:

I know I am supposed to hate Benchmade because they melted confiscated firearms...

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MosinT53Hunter said:

They didn't melt guns down, they allowed the local PD to use their equipment to cut up some firearms, and took pictures showing what great good they were doing for the community.

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This could have just as easily been done by a private party without the need to use a knife makers company, which sometimes goes hand in hand with firearms. The fact that Benchmade chose this route is just a plain poor business choice on thier end.

MosinT53Hunter said:

They didn't melt guns down, they allowed the local PD to use their equipment to cut up some firearms

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Destroyed none the less. For good or bad we may never be the wiser. I can not fault Benchmade for this action as I don't have all of the details.
I would appreciate more details about this.
Thanks.

Benchmade can kiss my wrinkled posterior.

Benchmade makes good stuff. I have several of them and will buy more. The deal about destroying guns was taken out of context and shouldn't be an issue at all. It's not like the guns were legally owned guns taken from law abiding citizens.

When firearms are used in crimes and are taken in as evidence LE will run the numbers through the stolen gun data base. If the gun was stolen, and reported, then the original owner is contacted and offered the opportunity to come in and get their gun back. They will not ship the gun back to you, you have to show up in person. Often they decline. I had a gun stolen just over a year ago that was recovered in Baltimore MD a few months ago. It was a Ruger LC9 that would sell for under $200 used. I'm not driving 14 hours one way to pick it up, they can keep it.

In cases like that, or if the original owner cannot be located judges order them destroyed. In very rare cases LE is able to sell them to dealers at auction, but that almost never happens anywhere anymore.

This was the deal with Benchmade. Local LE had guns that a judge ordered destroyed and Benchmade allowed their machinery to be used. This sort of thing happens all the time in almost every community in the country. Different LE agencies use different methods to destroy the guns. This was a community service done to aid local LE with a job they didn't have the equipment to do. Good for Benchmade for helping out LE.

I have 2 that were issued to me years ago- an automatic that has been retired, and a lock-blade. I use the lock-blade as a range knife. Eventually it will be lost, which is fine. At that point it will probably be replaced by a Buck.

Benchmade supported government waste, those firearms should have been sold to legal gun owners to recoup costs associated with community affairs. In their compliance they supported the idea that taking firearms off the streets permanently at tax payers expense as opposed to supporting law abiding citizens rights to purchase said firearms.

Soon if we continue down this path we may be destroying Benchmade knives for the “greater good.”

I’m not going to hold it against anyone that owns or continues to buy a Benchmade but I’ll gladly shop elsewhere myself.

And the whole idea that Benchmade had the equipment to destroy the guns therefore it makes sense is stupid. Because a $50 cutoff saw at harbor freight is some unicorn piece of equipment.

I wonder what percentage of Benchmade sales were to firearm owners in the past? My customers would have been in the forefront of my mind when confronted with the task by the police. What that says to me is that Benchmade supports destroying inanimate objects caught up in a crime stopped by police paid by tax payers, ajudicated by a tax payer funded courtroom rather than recoup money and place blame on the perpetrator rather than a object.

Benchmade certainly won’t get any attaboys from me for their customer service.

They destroyed weapons used in crimes, could have possibly been used in crimes, or were taken from criminals. Why is this a huge issue? None of us were entitled to be able to buy or own the property taken from/belonging to criminals, and there are plenty of firearms in the U.S. for us to buy. It's not like there we are living in a antigun country were there's only a finite number of firearms left, and Benchmade helped destroy what little was left...

Seems like people are being overly sensitive nowadays. The firearms were taken from and were the property of criminals, and were mandated to be destroyed by law enforcement. Wanting to help law enforcement, Benchmade lent their equipment... So what... If you feel the need to be offended and outraged, you should be mad at the criminal who had the gun illegal in the first place, the police department, and your state's Representatives. I never seen the purpose of spending hundreds on a freaking knife, but listen to people knock the company over something, IMHO, that is so silly makes me want to go out and buy one of their knifes just to support them... It's getting to the point that it'll be easier to list companies that are okay to do business with vs listing companies we're supposed to boycott... I'll save the boycotting for companies that want to take and destroy MY property. I could not care if they choose to destroy their own or the property of thugs, gangbangers, murders, etc...

Had no idea this occurred, as I've really only started paying attention to the knife world recently. Don't own a Benchmade, but have been thinking about one.

I'll have to give this some thought.

Firearms confiscated by police departments... something I know a bit about since I ran the property room for a hundred man department years ago for several years - and actually destroyed two big garbage cans worth of weapons on one occasion.. First off, yes a department could sell the weapons (but not much money to be gained against the very real risk that a year or two later one of them gets used illegally and then is traced back to the agency that sold it...). Nothing, repeat nothing, threatens a police chief's employment like mis-handling seized property (or even the hint that something like that occurred..). Down here in south Florida I've never heard of any departments selling anything other than surplus issued weapons - and those only to a well established auction site or similar operation... Of course places in middle America (with a lot less lawyers...) might get away with selling confiscated arms - but if asked by any police executive - I'd definitely advise against it....

Recovered stolen or seized weapons with an identified owner and not required to be held for any pending or future court action... If the owner of record was known - every one of them got a postcard notifying them that their firearms could be recovered.. then we waited at least six months for a response before certifying them for destruction if no owner responded- and all of the paperwork for each weapon became part of the recorded data on whatever we did with it afterwards (and the records were never gotten rid of that I know of..). In a few cases my agency (like others) would convert particular weapons for City use... instead of destruction - but that was only in the case of quality gear that met the standards of what our officers were issued and already carried.... Towards the end of my career (early nineties) we ended that practice since to meet CALEA standards for national accreditation we had specific needs in weaponry (all of our uniform officers were issued and required to carry Sig Sauer 229's ... our SRT was equipped with MP5's
etc). When that occurred I was required to turn in my old Beretta 92 (european model with the mag release at the bottom) - a sidearm that I was particularly fond of since I scored higher with it than any other sidearm I'd ever had.... Yes, it was a confiscated weapon that had been converted to City use -then issued out to me....

The means of destruction that I chose - when it was my responsibility... was to simply run offshore into over 200 feet of ocean then dump the weapons (with a witness) one at a time while we were moving offshore... Did Benchmade screw up in what they did - from a customer standpoint - absolutely (bet they'll never do that again... )? Are potential customers right in not doing business with them because of it? That's up to each individual... My take... they make good quality knives for the money and provide good customer service in my experience - so I'm still a buyer... Of course in my case I'm much more likely to buy used than new...

While I'm on this topic - are folks overly sensitive these days about this or that? You betcha....

joneb said:

I would appreciate more details about this.

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460Shooter said:

Had no idea this occurred ... I'll have to give this some thought.

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Styx said:

They destroyed weapons used in crimes, could have possibly been used in crimes, or were taken from criminals. Why is this a huge issue?

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Their sin is more than just cutting up guns like contributions to anti gun politicians.

Benchmade is dead to me. I decided to support other knife makers instead.

LiveLife said:

Their sin is more than just cutting up guns like contributions to anti gun politicians.

Benchmade is dead to me. I decided to support Cold Steel or other knife makers instead.

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They answered to that. Here's their response:

Benchmade said:

Oregon is a hotbed of knife makers, but also is a heavily Democrat-leaning state making most of the politicians with an interest in introducing legislation that is pro-knife often Democratic. When the donations were made to pro-knife politicians, it was about knife rights.

Gun owners are protected when traveling through states by the Firearm Owners Protection act; knife owners don’t enjoy that kind of protection. The Interstate Transport Act was a very important piece of legislation that Benchmade has been working to get passed for over five years, alongside the American Knife and Tool Institute.

This bill had co-sponsors from both sides of the aisle. The effort requires bi-partisan support and we need to ensure we are reaching across the aisle and bringing both parties to the table. I don’t think most people are aware of how serious the penalties can be for certain types of knives in certain states, though less now than in the past, and it is the knife companies that have to carry the torch, as these issues generally have very low visibility.

https://www.recoilweb.com/benchmade-anti-gun-we-ask-them-to-explain-147462.html

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So they had a choice between a pro-knife rights Democrat and an anti-knife Democrats, and they're donation and support was related to pushing helping further knife rights and legislation that was bring pushed through... It had nothing to be with firearms, bring antigun, or politics period which makes perfect sense.

It's like if I lived in NYC and had to choose between a Democrat who was pro-gun and a Democrat who was antigun. I donated to and voted for the pro-gun Democrat, and then I'm accused of supporting Abortion, higher taxes, and any and every other issue both of my options ever supported...

Styx said:

They answered to that. Here's their response:

So they had a choice between a pro-knife rights Democrat and an anti-knife Democrats, and they're donation and support was related to pushing helping further knife rights and legislation that was bring pushed through... It had nothing to be with firearms, bring antigun, or politics period which makes perfect sense.

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While Benchmade claimed they donated millions to 2A causes but evidence to support that claim has not surfaced. And to me, actions speak louder than words (True words anyways). I understand Benchmade conducts business in Oregon and most law makers are Democrat (And there are pro 2A Democrats), BUT then how does Benchmade explain donating to anti 2A law makers in other states? If a company makes donations mostly to anti 2A law makers, perhaps company should not make claims they support 2A.

LiveLife said:

While Benchmade claimed they donated millions to 2A causes but evidence to support that claim has not surfaced. And to me, actions speak louder than words (True words anyways). I understand Benchmade conducts business in Oregon and most law makers are Democrat (And there are pro 2A Democrats), BUT then how does Benchmade explain donating to anti 2A law makers in other states? If a company makes donations mostly to anti 2A law makers, perhaps company should not make claims they support 2A.

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What other states and what are the details surrounding it? I take claims like this with a grain of salt now days people on both sides take partial facts and create their own narrative.

Citation please to the full story.

I'll just leave some information here, as a neighbor to Oregon, I know full well where the Democrats in Oregon stand on gun rights. It was only after a Republican walkout in Oregon did the Democrats have to scrap some anti-2a legislation. (https://bearingarms.com/tom-k/2019/05/14/oregon-dems-drop-gun-control-bill-gop-walkout/) It seems if Benchmade is pro-2a they aren't reading the newspapers or their own "Benchmade Charitable Contribution Requirement" list on their website either:





Excerpt below from: https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/does-benchmade-knives-support-second-amendment-rights/
Here are Benchmade’s top contribution recipients:

Chamber Member Amount
Senate Ron Wyden (D-OR) $12,900
House Kurt Schrader, (D-OR) $11,900
Senate Mark Udall (D-CO) $5,200
Senate Martin Heinrich (D-NM) $2,700
Senate Scott Brown (R-MA) $1,000
House Robert Cornilles (R-OR) $1,000
House Greg Walden (R-OR) $1,000
Kurt Schrader has a decent record on guns. He voted yes on national reciprocity in 2017. The other major recipients of Benchmade’s contributions, however, are more troubling.

Martin Heinrich (D-NM), is unquestionably anti-gun. He, along with Mark Udall, sponsored the federal universal background check bill in the Senate. Ron Wyden (D-OR) isn’t any better on the Second Amendment. He’s supported UBCs and magazine capacity limits, as well as allowing lawsuits against firearm makers when guns that had been sold legally are later used in crimes.

LiveLife said:

Their sin is more than just cutting up guns like contributions to anti gun politicians.

Benchmade is dead to me. I decided to support other knife makers instead.

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Thanks for posting that. I don't particularly care for any of the info shared in that video, and it really paints a picture of Benchmade as anti 2A.

I'm going to do some more reading/watching before taking a stance on that company, but based on this video I doubt I'll do business with them.

I recently bought a Hogue knife and I'm glad I did. I can see I need to educate myself further on which knife companies are pro 2A though, before making another purchase of any kind.

<*(((>< said:

I'll just leave some information here, as a neighbor to Oregon, I know full well where the Democrats in Oregon stand on gun rights. It was only after a Republican walkout in Oregon did the Democrats have to scrap some anti-2a legislation. (https://bearingarms.com/tom-k/2019/05/14/oregon-dems-drop-gun-control-bill-gop-walkout/) It seems if Benchmade is pro-2a they aren't reading the newspapers or their own "Benchmade Charitable Contribution Requirement" list on their website either:

View attachment 877540

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Excerpt below from: https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/does-benchmade-knives-support-second-amendment-rights/
Here are Benchmade’s top contribution recipients:

Chamber Member Amount
Senate Ron Wyden (D-OR) $12,900
House Kurt Schrader, (D-OR) $11,900
Senate Mark Udall (D-CO) $5,200
Senate Martin Heinrich (D-NM) $2,700
Senate Scott Brown (R-MA) $1,000
House Robert Cornilles (R-OR) $1,000
House Greg Walden (R-OR) $1,000
Kurt Schrader has a decent record on guns. He voted yes on national reciprocity in 2017. The other major recipients of Benchmade’s contributions, however, are more troubling.

Martin Heinrich (D-NM), is unquestionably anti-gun. He, along with Mark Udall, sponsored the federal universal background check bill in the Senate. Ron Wyden (D-OR) isn’t any better on the Second Amendment. He’s supported UBCs and magazine capacity limits, as well as allowing lawsuits against firearm makers when guns that had been sold legally are later used in crimes.

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The question is were these contribution made because the politicians were antigun, or were they made because the politician was pro-knife and Benchmade wanted to further pro-knife rights as they claimed. If they supported a candidate to further knife rights, then the donations do not make them antigun nor does it mean the company supports each and every other position the politician stands for. On the other hand, if there's any evidence that they supported these politicians because they're antigun, then I'd have a problem with them. Is there any proof that any of the Dems they supported weren't pro-knife or didn't support any knife rights legislation that came before them?

Also, I went to the opensecret website that the the article cites. Benchmade just about always donated to the incumbents. That is, according to another graph on the opensecret site, the incumbents in 99% of the case was a Democrat.

Opensecret also list what Benchmade lobbied for which was

Issues Lobbied By Benchmade Knife Co,
Issue Specific Issues
Defense 1
Law Enforcement & Crime 1
Small Business 1
Trade

https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/clients/issues?cycle=2018&id=D000047693

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Tom Gresham ... talks with Matt Elliott, Director of Marketing for Benchmade Knife Company - https://www.alloutdoor.com/2019/03/04/benchmade-attempts-damage-control-gun-talk-radio/

• Benchmade says they contribute to Democrats because Democrats get elected in Oregon, and apparently these donations are intended to help pass a law to protect interstate travel for people transporting certain knives.
• Tom Gresham thinks that law is terrible and says, “I hope it never passes and I think you guys are wrong, to an incredible extent, to be pushing that.” He adds the new law “will only get people arrested.”
• After Tom says, “It’s even so bad that Dianne Feinstein supports it,” he’s met with dead air from Benchmade’s PR man.
• The lobbying group hired by Benchmade is ultra-liberal and one of their biggest clients is Planned Parenthood.

Styx said:

The question is were these contribution made because the politicians were antigun, or were they made because the politician was pro-knife and Benchmade wanted to further pro-knife rights as they claimed. If they supported a candidate to further knife rights, then the donations do not make them antigun nor does it mean the company supports each and every other position the politician stands for. On the other hand, if there's any evidence that they supported these politicians because they're antigun, then I'd have a problem with them. Is there any proof that any of the Dems they supported weren't pro-knife or didn't support any knife rights legislation that came before them?

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With my Pro-2A hat on I look for money being spent on Anti-2A politicians, I don't need to go further than that. It is not my responsibility to understand Benchmade's reasoning for donating to anti-2a politicians. They stepped in IT, they can explain it. I have other non-negotiables (abortion and religious freedoms, etc) that are off topic of this forum with my voting and support of companies other than the 2A as well, and if a company cannot meet my thoughts on non-negotiables then they will not get one red cent from me, I would hope that IF a company is going to contribute to a political organization they do their due diligence as to where the individual/platform stands on major issues that face their customers. If Benchmade thinks their customers only care about knife rights; well, I guess we shall see if they are sadly mistaken or not.

You put the ownership on me to understand Benchmade's reasoning behind their support, that is a non starter. It is not my responsibility to ferret out their reasoning, they cannot even follow their own guidelines on their website for requirements for charitable contributions. They looked past those guidelines when they supported anti-2a politicians, interesting isn't it.

Again, I'm not going to speak against those that buy or continue to use Benchmade items, but for sure I'm going to provide facts for people to make their own conclusions. I'll be happy to consider any Pro-2A information you have in regards to Benchmade to weigh in the balance.

<*(((>< said:

With my Pro-2A hat on I look for money being spent on Anti-2A politicians, I don't need to go further than that. It is not my responsibility to understand Benchmade's reasoning for donating to anti-2a politicians. They stepped in IT, they can explain it. I have other non-negotiables (abortion and religious freedoms, etc) that are off topic of this forum with my voting and support of companies other than the 2A as well, and if a company cannot meet my thoughts on non-negotiables then the will not get one red cent from me, I would hope that IF a company is going to contribute to a political organization they do their due diligence as to where the individual/platform stands on major issues that face their customers. If Benchmade thinks their customers only care about knife rights; well, I guess we shall see if they are sadly mistaken or not.

You put the ownership on me to understand Benchmade's reasoning behind their support, that is a non starter. It is not my responsibility to ferret out their reasoning, they cannot even follow their own guidelines on their website for requirements for charitable contributions. They looked past those guidelines when they supported anti-2a politicians, interesting isn't it.

Again, I'm not going to speak against those that buy or continue to use Benchmade items, but for sure I'm going to provide facts for people to make their own conclusions. I'll be happy to consider any Pro-2A information you have in regards to Benchmade to weigh in the balance.

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You're free to support and buy what you want. I'm a bit more realistic. If I'm a business and I'm in the business of selling particular product, I'm lobbying and I'm supporting canidates that help my business niche. If I'm a farmer and run a company that is sells produce and meat, I'm supporting and lobbying politicians that that are pro what I'm selling. That's what most businesses do.

It appears from published information about what Benchmade was lobbying for, they were not lobbying for or supporting gun control. They were trying to support knife rights. It's one thing to not want to support them because, as a side effect and a round about way, they where supporting an antigun candidate while doing so, but that's a far, far cry and a huge leap to accuse them of being in support of more gun control and being antigun themselves.

I mean with my property rights hat on, I guess I can use the same logic to accuse every gun owner and manufacturer who supported Trump for 2A reasons as being pro eminent domain. I mean because of their support, donation, and vote, they support a candidate who in turn supports eminent domain, so "logically" they too must support eminent domain.

Styx said:

You're free to support and buy what you want. I'm a bit more realistic. If I'm a business and I'm in the business of selling particular product, I'm lobbying and I'm supporting canidates that help my business niche. If I'm a farmer and run a company that is sells produce and meat, I'm supporting and lobbying politicians that that are pro what I'm selling. That's what most businesses do.

It appears from published information about what Benchmade was lobbying for, they were not lobbying for or supporting gun control. They were trying to support knife rights. It's one thing to not want to support them because, as a side effect and a round about way, they where supporting an antigun candidate while doing but, but that's a far, far cry and a huge leap to accuse them of being in support of more gun control and being antigun themselves.

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Just for the record I've never said that Benchmade is anti-2A, but they are defacto supporting more gun control by supporting monetarily (against their own charitable guidelines, I'll mention again) anti-gun politicians.

Supporting lobbyists cuts both ways. Maybe Benchmade better take better stock as to the culture of beliefs that their customers have. It would be my assumption that many Benchmade knife owners are Pro-2A.

ExAgoradzo said:

Wow.

I guess this is a bigger issue than I thought.

Hmmm...

Greg

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I hope you didn't take my thoughts on this matter as attacking you. Just was replying with my thoughts. I think it's good for information to be out there for people to make their own decisions.