Buy American?

[WinThePennant]

My experience with guns (primarily handguns) stretches back into the late 80's / early 90's. In those days, quite frankly, there were really only two gun manufacturers that made out-of-the-box 100% (okay, maybe 99.99%) reliable semi-automatic handguns: Sig Sauer and Glock. Despite anecdotal evidence, the statistical weighted averages suggest that this is true.

Because of that, I always preferred either Glock or Sig. I didn't want to buy a problem gun that was effectively a 30 ounce paperweight.

Old habits die hard, and I never really changed my views. Well, I've done a real double-take. Mostly because of the current state of the economy. So many Americans out-of-work should, IMHO, make all of us re-evaluate our buying habits and priorities.

Upon review, there are a lot of outstanding guns being made by American companies -- HERE, in America. I gave the S&W M&P line and the Ruger SR line a serious look. Folks, those guns are in almost every important way just as good as Glock and Sig. And, the prices are very good, especially for Ruger.

When it comes right down to it, wouldn't it be better for the economy and the American gun market to buy American?

Personally, I think the M&P line is every bit as good as Glock or Sig. The Ruger SR line has a couple strange things, but all-in-all they are very good guns. I'm not crazy about the exterior manual safety. I'm also not crazy about the fact that the take-down lever must be removed from the gun. Other than that, the Ruger SR line is really fantastic.

So - What do you say? Buy American?

 

[Hanzo581]

I buy whatever suits my needs the best. There are some things American companies do best, and there are some things they don't. If I am looking at two firearms similar in features and price, one American made and one not, then certainly I would choose the American made one.

 

[ny32182]

The economy is global. Many "foreign" companies, making guns or otherwise, have factories here and vice versa. Determining whether you are "keeping the money and jobs at home" or not would require a lot more research than simply picking out a marque that was originally born in the US. I'd buy whatever product suits my needs the best.

FWIW I have Glocks and an M&P (far more trigger time on the former thusfar) I believe they are extremely similiar for 99+% of all users, intents, and purposes.

 

[hso]

"buy American" isn't limited these days the way many folks think. "European" firearms manufacturers have plants right here employing American workers.

 

[Panzercat]

I'll buy american when I can. HiPoint and Keltec. Say what you want about them, but they are examples of premium customer service made in America. I would not hesitate to buy another product from either of the above assuming the mission needs allow for it.

There are other companies that I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole, conversely. I don't reward fail no matter who makes it, so yes, I'll skip over an American brand if they don't deserve my dollars. When certain firearm companies lobby against the shooters rights, they automatically forfeit my dollar in favor of another manufacturer.

 

[youngda9]

I try and buy American whenever I can. I want to support the American worker and I want the profits of my purchase to go to an American company wherever possible. I will not buy a foreign car. I try to purchase all american firearms as well. I am partial to S&W and Remington.

 

[JustinJ]

I'll buy the best gun i can afford. Sure, if all else is equal i'd probably buy american but all companies, american included, need incentive to make good products. If a company can get away with selling crap to make more money they will.

 

[Alex23]

I buy American. My Nissans were built in Canton, MS. I think the Glocks are made in Georgia. And the Sigs are made somewhere up north. Presumably by Americans.

 

[henschman]

I buy from whoever gives me the greatest benefit for the lowest price. If you're not buying for these reasons, then you are just giving out charity. I don't think it really helps our country's economy to keep inefficient and low-quality producers in business just because you feel sorry for them. If we want a strong economy, we should let our citizens' products compete head-to-head with all other products in the world. The ones who are able will rise to the occasion and compete. The ones who are less able will fall away and die, and their assets will be bought by someone who can hopefully put them to a more efficient use. If a company is subsidized (either by government or by loyal customers who buy their products even if they suck), it makes the company lazy and complacent, and they become less competitive on a world scale. If foreign companies are able to produce similar quality products at a lower price, then it still helps our economy by allowing people to have more disposable income (and therefore a higher standard of living). Do you know how much lower our standard of living would be in this country if cheap products from China were not available?

 

[HGUNHNTR]

^Glocks are not made in GA, but imported to Smyrna Georgia, just up the road. In a global economy you really can't buy American, and all the better. Protectionism is a dead horse.

I buy from whoever gives me the greatest benefit for the lowest price.

This can also be a huge problem. There are times when low cost comes at the cost of human slavery, sweat shops, and other inhumane working conditions. Price is not as important to me as supporting a company that takes care of it's workers. I would not call making an decision based on ethics and not personal economics "charity". Capitalism does lend itself to taking advantage of classes of people as cheap labor to get cheap goods intot he hands of those clamoring for them. The true cost of discount, shadily manufactured goods is very hard to assess, and thus many only look at a price tag.

Do you know how much lower our standard of living would be in this country if cheap products from China were not available?

Do you know how much lower THEIR standard of living is because of our insatiable appetite for cheap Chinese crap? I'm not sure loading up our carts with more superfluous crap is raising our standard of living. Just look at the obesity stats in the US.

 

[X-Rap]

I like to view my purchases in terms of what the country of origins human rights, environmental, and political positions are. This eliminates China but sadly there are now some things that just can't be had from anyone else.
I don't think its protectionist or isolationist to expect the US to trade on an open and level field if not then we should have fees that compensate for what we loose due to our competators lack of regulation and labor laws.

 

[Acera]

What exactly is an "American" gun or company? The SUV I drive was made in San Antonio but has a Japanese name. My buddies Chevy pick up was made in Mexico, and his wife's BMW came from South Carolina.

The Browning rifle I hunt deer with was made by FN overseas.
The SO's Taurus was made in Miami I think.
The Springfield Armory XD in the glove box was made in Croatia, and I think my M1A was put together in south America somewhere.

Does it really matter what name is on the company? It's owned by the shareholders and they probably live all over the world.

Not buying American got the car industry turned around. Remember the crap they were selling us in the 70's??

I believe in buying the best that fits your needs, if it's not made in the US, maybe it will get enough of a following that they will start building them here.

 

[Oxide]

The OP forgot HK. Boooo.

 

[HGUNHNTR]

^Excellent points and positions XRap and Acera.

 

[mgmorden]

I don't pay much head to the country of origin on the stuff I buy.

When I bought my last pistol (an M&P) I bought it only because I wanted a striker fired gun with a 5" or longer barrel and with no external safeties. Country of original was immaterial. Glock and M&P were the only serious contenders there (being a Ruger fan I really WANTED the SR series on my short list, but for my purposes - USPSA Production gun - the sight radius was too short and the thumb safety/mag disconnect would have just been annoyances).

I got the M&P because Glocks are all too common and I didn't want the same gun as everyone else had.

FWIW, my M&P has been the most problematic handgun I've ever purchased. I THINK it should be good to go now, but its taken some parts and tuning to get it working right. Still wish Ruger would have had an appropriate SR9 variant available. If they come out with one I'll likely still switch.

I think if I count up my handguns the countries line up as:

USA - 6 guns
Germany - 2 guns
Russia - 2 guns
Yugoslavia - 1 gun
Czech Republic - 2 guns
Italy - 1 gun

So I have more from the US than any other country, but if you break it into non-US vs. US, then I do own more foreign guns.

 

[22-rimfire]

If you buy used guns, they're all American.

 

[cjanak]

Global Welfare Perspective

Many very good points made by y’all. I tend to buy the product that represents the best combination of price and quality for me. Country of origin hardly factors into my calculation. I believe, as has been noted by others, that they best thing for our long run domestic economy is to let it face global competition.

As many have noted, it can be pretty hard these days to determine country of origin. Are we talking about where the firearm was designed, where the parent company is located, where it is manufactured, where the parts come from, etc?

Let’s just say, for example's sake, that we have two firearms that are identical in every way except for place of manufacture. In this case, it really depends. If the choice were between an American and a Swiss made weapon, well I’d probably pick the American weapon, out of allegiance to my countrymen.

However, what if the choice was between an American made weapon and one made in a developing country? Remember, I’m assuming the firearms are the same in every respect, except country of origin. Obviously, the US is much, much richer than most countries in the world. This excellent chart shows that the poorest 5 percent of the Americans are still richer than 68 percent of the world’s inhabitants!

Given this, I’d probably be doing a good deed by purchasing a firearm made in a developing country. In general, what most American’s consider “sweat shops” are considered “great jobs” in developing countries (there are exceptions to this, of course). I believe that people all over this world are valuable and important, so in cases like this I’m happy to steer a bit of money their way. I want to help Americans, but it my judgment, the average Thai, Turk or Chinese is so much worse off than us that buying from them is the right thing to do from a global welfare standpoint.

That being said, this is a complex issues and many, many subjective decisions go into this so I want to make clear that smart, thoughtful, moral people might come up with very different conclusions than I. I don’t want my post to sound like I’m claiming only one right answer. This is what’s right for me, but I respect your differing opinion.

 

[Ringolevio]

An American Chauvinist

I noticed several names mentioned as examples of American gun manufacturers, but the one that was conspicuous in its absence was Colt; whatsamatta, is Colt a four-letter word?

You can call me jingoistic, but I prefer American iron in my garage and in my holster. If you're gonna be American you should make every effort to buy American.

I'm aware of all the rationalizations for buying foreign-branded stuff ("they have factories here" etc.). But as a lifelong American and a lifelong believer that America still is the greatest country ever (and feeling not one iota of shame over that), I get great satisfaction out of owning American-made products even if a foreign-branded product is ostensibly superior, or cheaper.

And anyway, price is only one component of value.

"American-made" is always my first choice. After that comes stuff made in countries that are America's allies or are at least friendly to us. That puts anything made in Red China (Yes, I still call it Red China because it's still run by the ChiComs) 'way down the list.

And I don't care how cheap, practical or efficient an AK-47 is, I will never own one. Countries and entities that are hostile to the U.S. and its values put the AK-47 on their flags, for Pete's sake!

 

[plexreticle]

To each is own but, US Automakers were some of the first to sell out on american values. GM is particularly bad.

Some of the stunts pulled by both S&W and Ruger in the past I'm slow to forgive.

Chances are the computer you are reading this on is "ChiCom" made.

I'll buy something made by a foreign company in the US before I buy something made by a US company overseas.

Try to buy a pair of shoes made in the US for under $100?

 

[ColtPythonElite]

I just buy whatever I want. Someone in American is getting a buck put in their pocket everytime I buy an item, regardless of where it was made.

 

[Panzercat]

And down the rabbit hole we go...

 

[TennJed]

We can all be thankful that the 2 best gun makers are Ruger and Kel Tec (value for $ spent) and they are American. So at least the choice is easy.

We can all agree that Ruger and Kel Tec are the best right

 

[Acera]

To each is own but, US Automakers were some of the first to sell out on american values. GM is particularly bad.

Some of the stunts pulled by both S&W and Ruger in the past I'm slow to forgive.

Chances are the computer you are reading this on is "ChiCom" made.

I'll buy something made by a foreign company in the US before I buy something made by a US company overseas.

Try to buy a pair of shoes made in the US for under $100?

I agree.

But to let you know about the shoe thing, New Balance is all American made. They are also the exclusive supplier of fitness footwear for the U.S. Military.

 

[Viper]

Glad to hear that because NB is my favorite sports shoe, even if a bit more expensive.

 

[Carter]

I've bought american, czech, and chinese. Just depends on what I'm looking for.

I have no allegiance when it comes to purchasing.