Just say NO to Steyr

[Thin Black Line]

It looks like a boycot of their products here in the USA is now in order:


Fury over Austrian 'super' rifles for Iranians

By Thomas Harding Defence Correspondent
(Filed: 14/01/2006)

Britain and America are furious with Austria for exporting to Iran 800 sniper rifles that could be used against their troops in Iraq.

HS50 Steyr-Mannlicher .50 calibre rifles can pierce body armour from up to a mile, shoot down helicopters and penetrate Humvee troop carriers that have not been fully reinforced.

The weapons are highly accurate and fire a round called an armour-piercing incendiary, a bullet that the Iranians manufacture.

There are fears in the Pentagon that some will reach insurgents fighting allied forces in Iraq.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard is suspected of passing on bomb-making technology to Iraqi terrorists responsible for infra-red bombs that have killed 10 British soldiers.

A Foreign Office spokesman said there were "serious concerns" over the rifle sale and London had protested to Vienna.

"Although we did make our worries known, the sale has unfortunately gone ahead and these weapons could now fall into the wrong hands," he said.

Iran allegedly bought the rifles to combat drug smugglers pouring through the borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The order, worth an estimated £8 million, was placed with Steyr last year and the company was given government permission to export the weapons.

A spokesman for Austria's interior ministry said there was no reason to stop the deal.

Iran is said to be re-arming after a £455 million deal with Russia for missiles and radar to ward off any air strikes on its nuclear facilities.

 

[psyopspec]

Could you please post the source on this?

Edit: Found a thread from freerepublic.com dated Feb 05' and this THR thread from around the same time discussing this very topic. Looks like this one is old news, although the date on your story appears to be todays. Does anyone know if this is a second sale, or just recycled?

If you go to the thread I linked and do a little research, it appears that Steyr would be happy to respond to US pressure to cease the sales if our own country would lift restrictions that keep them from selling the weapons here. Quite a pro-RKBA stance to take, and very unique that they would apply more pressure to lift the import ban than we see from other companies, foreign or domestic. At the root of the issue, Steyr is a legit company that made a lawful sale. Forgive me for not being concerned.

 

[0luke1]

"Our" defense industry sold them F-14s and frigates. The Chinese sell them missiles. ETC., ETC., ETC.

 

[Kodiaz]

Expect to see a lot more or Iran in the news. The gov wants us to get riled up for another war

 

[Tom C.]

We sold them F-4s, F-14s and ships, but when the Shah was there in the '70's. Not a thing since Carter sent Komeni back to Iran from Paris. That "Man of Peace" killed thousands, and they are backing the "insergents" in Iraq.

 

[denfoote]

It appears the sales were ligit.
Steyr has a right to sell their products to whomever will buy them!!
Just because we don't happen to like their customer dosen't mean we can go and tell just who they can sell to and who they can't!!
I don't buy Steyr guns because I don't like the product, not because I don't like their politics!!

 

[progunner1957]

GFY, Steyer

There are fears in the Pentagon that some will reach insurgents fighting allied forces in Iraq.

Hmmm, now lessee here... America is "The Great Satan;" Iran, which is run by Muslim "clerics" (AKA religious nut-jobs) buys .50 cal. sniper rifles; next door in Iraq, "oppressed Muslim brothers" are fighting "The Great Satan."

OF COURSE the .50 cal. rifles that our "friends" in Austria sold to Iran will be used to kill American and British soldiers!!!! It would be against Iranian/Muslim law for them to not be used on us!!! It doesn't take a pair of Ph.D's in Islam and International Relations to figure that out!

Since "The Almighty Dollar" is Steyer's God and Steyer doesn't give a rat's sphincter about how many of our soldiers are killed as a result of their blood money, not only should we all boycott ANYTHING made in Austria, we should spend our vacation/tourist dollars in other nations that have some sembelence of honor and integrity.

The U.S. and British governments should also find ways to stab Steyer in the back, just like they did to U.S. and British troops.

 

[Deodanth]

Hmmm, now lessee here... America is "The Great Satan;" Iran, which is run by Muslim "clerics" (AKA religious nut-jobs) buys .50 cal. sniper rifles; next door in Iraq, "oppressed Muslim brothers" are fighting "The Great Satan."

OF COURSE the .50 cal. rifles that our "friends" in Austria sold to Iran will be used to kill American and British soldiers!!!! It would be against Iranian/Muslim law for them to not be used on us!!! It doesn't take a pair of Ph.D's in Islam and International Relations to figure that out!

Since "The Almighty Dollar" is Steyer's God and Steyer doesn't give a rat's sphincter about how many of our soldiers are killed as a result of their blood money, not only should we all boycott ANYTHING made in Austria, we should spend our vacation/tourist dollars in other nations that have some sembelence of honor and integrity.

The U.S. and British governments should also find ways to stab Steyer in the back, just like they did to U.S. and British troops.

 

[Lobotomy Boy]

OF COURSE the .50 cal. rifles that our "friends" in Austria sold to Iran will be used to kill American and British soldiers!!!! It would be against Iranian/Muslim law for them to not be used on us!!! It doesn't take a pair of Ph.D's in Islam and International Relations to figure that out!

Actually our relationship with the Shiites in Iraq has been relatively stable compared to our relationship with the Sunnis, and the Iranians are not supplying the Sunnis with weapons, so this is probably not happening with any regularity at this time. It didn't take any Ph.Ds to figure that one out either.

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

It appears the sales were ligit.

Not if Austria is a signatory to the weapons sanctions on Iran.

Steyr has a right to sell their products to whomever will buy them!!
Just because we don't happen to like their customer dosen't mean we can go and tell just who they can sell to and who they can't!!
I don't buy Steyr guns because I don't like the product, not because I don't like their politics!!

On the contrary, we have every right to tell Steyr that we will not buy their products or allow them to do business with us as long as they chose to sell to Iran.

 

[Chris Rhines]

On the contrary, we have every right to tell Steyr that we will not buy their products or allow them to do business with us as long as they chose to sell to Iran.

Bart, you've missed the point. The USG has no right to dictate to Steyr who Steyr may or may not sell their products to. If you have some problem with Steyr's business practices, you're free to boycott them, but I kind of doubt they'll notice. The USG may do the same, but again, I doubt that Steyr will care - they don't do a whole lot of business with the United States anyhow.

- Chris

 

[WillBrayJr]

Doesn't look like Glocks are going to be very popular anymore.

 

[Thain]

How can I boycott Steyr?!? The FedGov won't allow me to buy any of their products that I'd be interested in anyway!

The sovereign state of Iran bought legitimate military weapons from a private company in Austria. Although I would have prefered they bought them from, say, Barrett (Made in the USA ) I really don't see the issue.

Oh... Wait... We're not suppossed to like them because Bush called them evil doers.

 

[telomerase]

At least Steyr got paid

...the US government just gives billions of your dollars to dictators for free. I think we need to get our own government under control before we worry about foreign companies selling to foreign countries...

 

[biere]

This sale of rifles from steyr was discussed over on arfcom the other day.

Steyr was willing to not make the sale if the US government would let steyr import their guns and sell to citizens of the USA.

The government did not agree to this so steyr sold the 50s elsewhere.

I won't boycott them since the government of the USA could have made a deal to keep the sale from happening and yet they chose not to do so.

In essence you could start saying the US government should have bought those rifles so that they would not be used against our soldiers.

Personally I think letting the weapons be sold to citizens of the USA would have been simple and it would not have cost the government anything since people would use their own money to buy the stuff and even be paying sales tax for buying the stuff.

 

[Mizzle187]

I dont own any Steyr products but I figured I would get one fo their pistols one day but I wouldnt take one if someone tried to give it to me know! Are they gonna feel the affects of it probably not but that doesnt mean you shouldnt boycott them. To make it even worse they agreed not to make the sale if the US allowed these type items to be imported. Thats just funny! That used to be called something! Whats the word?

 

[johnster999]

I already boycott 'em for being so ugly.

999

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

Bart, you've missed the point. The USG has no right to dictate to Steyr who Steyr may or may not sell their products to.
- Chris

The USG isn't dictating anything to Steyr. It is applying sanctions to the company for selling arms to Iraq and protesting in Vienna. Both of these actions are within the rights of the U.S.

Steyr is entirely within their rights to sell the weapons to Iran (provided they aren't violating Austrian law by exporting the weapons to Iran); but that doesn't mean they don't have to accept the consequences of that action in the rest of the world.

Personally, I'd rather the U.S. allow us to purchase the rifles; but they did not.

 

[Hawk]

You can't boycot the AUG: this has already been done on your behalf.

IIRC, Steyr made rather of a point of that when we complained. Something about cutting off a large market from which they derived a portion of their survival.

One of the four rules:
Know your target.

I'll respect anyone who wants to jump on the boycot bandwagon but I'll sit this one out.

Edit to add: as usual, BR sums it up better than I do. Dang simultaneous posts, anyway.

 

[taliv]

i have an S9. it's excellent. i'm quite fond of it. i would love an AUG.

 

[striker3]

I can't see getting pissed about this. Steyr is a business, they have to make money just like any other business. I blame the US Government for assinine laws that artificially restrict legitimate trade.

Having said that I also have to state that I do not view Steyr as a victim. I am sure that they go into this deal with eyes wide open. I also could see American companies doing the exact same thing if it meant a large flow of cash. It is hard to hold to concepts of morality when your bottom line is aquiring as much money as possible.

 

[MTMilitiaman]

This sale of rifles from steyr was discussed over on arfcom the other day.

Steyr was willing to not make the sale if the US government would let steyr import their guns and sell to citizens of the USA.

The government did not agree to this so steyr sold the 50s elsewhere.

Do you have a source to confirm this? Cause if it is true, it is extremely disturbing. What kind of a government do we have that would rather have these weapons accessible to terrorists than trust them in the hands of its own law abiding citizenry? How did it get this way? The United States government equating the average United States citizen as being more dangerous or irresponsible than an Islamic terrorist? And what do we do about it? Do the Kennedies and Feinsteins in Washington really have the American people so confused that they could allow and essentially condone the sale of these weapons to a foreign and hostile power in a time of war rather than trusting them to the American people, and then accuse American gun manufactures of selling to terrorists? It makes so little sense that it could only come from Washington D.C, but even the implication that this could be true plain out pisses me off more than that words can describe. Heads should roll if this is true. Like literally. They should be tried for treason and publically executed by firing squad

 

[psyopspec]

I dont own any Steyr products but I figured I would get one fo their pistols one day but I wouldnt take one if someone tried to give it to me know!

For the record I'd be happy to recieve, free of charge, firearms from Steyr owners who feel shamed by this. I very much doubt the insurgents will enjoy the full capability of this rifle. 2000 yard hits don't score themselves, and still take a good shooter with quality ammo and lots of practice.

If anything, lugging around something that heavy will restrict their mobility long enough that a call for a fire can go out and carpet the area. Also, the rate of fire on .50 rifles is fairly slow.

Again, does anyone have a current source on this before anyone gets their undies so twisted that they suffocate?

 

[1 old 0311]

That comes out to about $16,000 per rifle. No wonder they wanted to make the sale.

Kevin

 

[beerslurpy]

I think that I will speak for american gun owners and steyr when I say the far greater crime is that WE cannot buy Steyr's products, thanks to our own government and its import bans. Boycott the US government if you boycott anyone.