WHY "Made in the USA"

[earlthegoat2]

Im not a communist. I love this country as much as anyone. I am a proponent of Free Trade.

Im trying to get to the root of something that has been bugging me on here for awhile. Not everyone here is like this but I would call it the vocal minority.

Why do our guns have to made in the USA?

It helps the economy yes, but only to a point and only in the short term. If the world were ideal and every country did what they did best and traded for the rest then there would be maximum efficiency of resources and we would all be living happily with our foreign made junk. There would be no tariffs or excise taxes to artificially inflate the prices of anything.

You dont like the Croatian made pistols but if Springfield puts their name on them it is okay. If you only buy US then you dont necisarily buy the best, you buy the best this country has to offer. This country may produce the best football players and the best corn and they may even produce the best gun but I doubt they produce the best gun for all of us. You have the whole world at your fingertips but in your mind you force yourself to settle for the US.

Believe me if you buy a Glock pistol your brother who is an accountant is not going to lose his job because of it. He is going to lose his job because his company couldnt adapt with the times. Its a normal phase of a business environment for layoffs to occur.

Sure only buy US made guns. But why stop there because there are a lot of people losing their job in your state too. So only buy guns from your state. Unless you happen to live in Massachussetts you are going to be hard up for guns. Maybe your neighbor lost his job so you should only buy guns from your own town. I hope you live in Ithaca, New York. Your brother lost his job only buy guns from your own family members. Im no descendant of John Browning (whose guns are made in Japan, and were made in Belgium).

Buy what you think is best (to defend your life with) and forget the rest.

 

[Hoppy590]

Unless you happen to live in Massachusetts

WOO HOO! i do!

CT is pretty good. Colt, Mossberg, and lets not forget CMT

anyway. i will give PREFERENCE to American MNF ( and more specifically small business) but i wont ONLY buy American.

 

[jcwit]

Why Made in the U.S.A.? Guess you haven't lost your job from outsourcing. DAH

 

[earlthegoat2]

Try reading, DAH

 

[RKBABob]

This country may produce the best football players and the best corn and they may even produce the best gun but I doubt they produce the best gun for all of us.

So... You're going to buy a linebacker, and feed him corn? I suppose that's all your own business, and I'm sure he'll be great for self defense, but how on earth are you gonna find a holster to fit him? Personally, I think you should let the NFL keep the linebacker, and just get yourself a nice American-made Smith and Wesson revolver.

 

[catfish101]

I try to by American when I can no matter what it is. It isn't always the final reason for "do I buy or not" but I do take it into consideration.

Most of my guns are American made. I do have a Tauras 45Colt revolver. I like it real well but the rest are from the good ole USA.

 

[wheelgunslinger]

It's easy to speak in abstracts about the economy when you're perched in a position where you don't think you'll get any blood on you when things go badly for the poor folk, rather like a spectator at the coliseum in Rome.

 

[catfish101]

Another thing I forgot. I definitely try to by from my local small businesses. I needed some new winter cloths this year. I picked up some Carhartt items "made in the USA" cheaper from him then the "company store" down the road.

We really need to remember those small businesses.

 

[acdodd]

I buy as many used guns as I can, therefore where they were manufactured really isn't important.
My cash is going to an American.
If I buy new I tend to by US.
I am a fan of the USA so I try to support her.
Same deal with cars.

AC

 

[MikePGS]

For me I believe its a matter of quality. I find it hard to believe that after adding tariffs and shipping a gun from thousands of miles away that it will be of an equal quality to something produced within the same country. In general a lot of guns made in the U.S. (of course there are exceptions) have superior quality.

 

[Mossberg88]

I enjoy a multitude of firearms from all around the globe! DAH!

 

[Neo-Luddite]

It isn't just weapons---and I buy imported---but what I AVOID when I can----are things made by communists whenever possible.

Sorry--meant to say G-DLESS HEATHEN COMMUNISTS!

I buy quality products produced by our allies when no domestic source of simlilar quality is available at the price point I can afford. And yes, I buy Chi-com bargain bin items at the 'dollar' store when I need to----but then I feel bad for the poor wage slave who made the thing and likely eats poorly and lives in a soup of freely dumped toxic waste.

 

[KyJim]

Believe me if you buy a Glock pistol your brother who is an accountant is not going to lose his job because of it. He is going to lose his job because his company couldnt adapt with the times.

No, buying one Glock pistol won't cause the accountant brother to lose his job. What if you buy five firearms from Austria, Brazil, and Italy. Buy a suit made in China, a car made in Mexico, and a computer made in South Korea. These non-U.S. companies don't hire U.S. accountants. They hire accountants from their own country. Then a couple of U.S. companies decide to outsource some of their bookkeeping work to India because they can pay a fraction of the cost for these services. Now your brother is out of a job.

I'm a free enterprise type of guy. But, I said from the beginning that NAFTA was a giant fraud perpetrated on the citizens of this country. That's getting off-topic, so I'll stop there.

Now, I don't necessarily buy American guns but they are my preference. If you want to buy elsewhere, that's your business. But, as Josey Wales once said, "Just don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining."

 

[Majic]

Why Made in the U.S.A.? Guess you haven't lost your job from outsourcing. DAH

Lets put the shoe on the other foot. What if your job produced a product that was going overseas. Would you not want that job?

 

[Loomis]

Well, from a selfish and practical point of view, you might try to buy an american made gun that is constructed of all carbon steel and is a design that is well established. That way you know you can get parts, modifications, upgrades, accessories, and repairs easily. Also, when it comes time to sell it, you will have a larger market to sell to and your chances of finding a buyer quickly will be much better.

 

[Zoogster]

It is complex to explain in depth the economics behind why some nations live a better quality of life than others even when both have similar technology and citizens capable of the same jobs.

It gets very political and mentions things that people do not like to be reminded of.

I will however say that when you do not purchase American you bring the level of the American economy down from what many people try to accomplish. Things soldiers are out dying for to insure Americans have a higher quality of life than citizens in various other nations.
Many Americans fail to understand how thier actions contribute to the necessity of certain foriegn policies (to avoid an even faster drop in quality of life.)

I do not always purchase American when I like a foriegn product, but I try to when the same product is made in America to similar or better standards.


American labor costs more, so products cost more.
Increasing the economy of a foriegn nation while hurting your own economy to save a little money leads to a worse economy.


"Free trade" is not free. There is a high price. The price is the value of American labor is lower, and so fewer and fewer Americans are willing to do or train for those jobs. It leaves our nation quite vulnerable when much of the industrial base has been replaced with a service market. When more people make a living shuffling paperwork around in offices rather than actualy producing real goods like those they wish to purchase.
Our nation is far more dependent, and a lot of the dollars of our economy are sent abroad. A dependent nation is quicker to sell its values for short term benefits as well.

The opposite extreme is not good either. Labor valued too high also burdens the society excessively.
That is why tariffs have been used through most of American history. To increase foriegn goods to similar prices of American goods. To keep the American economy its own self reliant functioning economy. Tariffs can be abused as well by being too high, and labor unions and others will work towards that opposite extreme.
So the right balance must be met. We are not currently anywhere near that balance.


America is nowhere near self reliant anymore as a result. Our nation would grind to a halt if imports were stopped for a day.
Our nation cannot even survive from the goods it could produce itself anymore. The service industry has replaced too much the production and industrial base.

People like fewer blue color jobs. People would rather work in the white collar jobs or the service industry, and would rather purchase cheap goods made with practicly slave foriegn labor.

We may reap some of the rewards with cheap foriegn imports, but our nation is extremely vulnerable as a result.
The ability to shift our economy to accomplish something like was done in World War Two is not even there anymore. We simply are not a functioning unit anymore.

 

[Prepster]

earlthegoat2, I appreciate and support your point of view, as I'm a staunch free marketeer myself and will buy whatever is made best for a lower price. I don't mean any disrespect when I say this, but I feel that your examples do a poor job of illustrating why protectionism is bad for everyone but the select few. Choosing a product of any kind is frequently a decision made based on very strange factors that vary from person to person. If people wish to buy exclusively American made guns, that is a function of the free market. If some others choose to buy the latest wonder nine from Europe, same deal. There is no mandate nor imposed moral obligation. The simple act of perferring an American made product doesn't make one a close minded simpleton who doesn't understand basic economics.

 

[mnrivrat]

By using guns as an example. it does not make the subject here about guns, but about globel trade.

If we were all on the same playing field, that might be a welcome thing in my mind, but the facts are that we are not.

The few have benifited from our trade agreements, even some working class. The majority however have not, and I find it hard to believe that people can't see what is happening with our working class jobs headed off shore.

But hey ! It must be working great the way things are going right ?

 

[Fleetwood_Captain]

Well, why would you want to buy a gun made in a country where their citizens are not allowed to possess what they manufacture?

In comparison, there are some deaf people capable of writing good music. However, it isn't a very common trend.

 

[earlthegoat2]

I guess Miroku is the deaf child then because I dont hear Browning owners complaining about their Japanese guns.

Being from the greater Detroit area of Michigan I am well aware of the current state of american economics and the outsourcing of jobs to the lowest foreign bidder.

While I myself havent lost a job because of outsourcing I have found it difficult to get a job since my discharge from the military.

I would be lying if I said I didnt expect this kind of a response here. I could be called one who stirs the pot on occasion but maybe you need to once in a while to gain a different perspective.

I am however calling into question why when someone is looking for a good CCW gun or something they stipulate in their post that they want this and that and then they say it has to be American made. Well that just cuts out 3/4 of the potential guns you could use. Price of cheap imports aside here because most imported guns arent cheap even before tariffs. If its your life on the line you need to get the best there is for you.

Maybe it is all part of the CCW gun compromise. It is a compromise of size, weight, and power. Also it is a compromise of country of manufacture.

 

[JWarren]

Maybe it is all part of the CCW gun compromise. It is a compromise of size, weight, and power. Also it is a compromise of country of manufacture.

It is also a choice. Everyone has thier own priorities in making decisions.

I am a retired stockbroker. I understand the "Wealth Effect" of trade. I don't automatically disqualify an item due to country of origin. It just ain't that simple. I do all I can to support the US economy but I also do not limit myself completely on that level.

-- John

 

[armoredman]

I like CZ made products, everyone here knows that. But when I purchase them, I am also supporting the people who work here, at CZ-USA. Don't forget, how many companies here are owned by overseas concerns? Dan Wesson is CZ owned, Smith has been owned by a few foreign companies. Taurus has a plant in Florida that employs Americans, (I hope!), and doesn't HK also have a manufacturing site over here? I have only one American made firearm, and that was bequeathed to me. Doesn't mean I don't like American made firearms, but I got more bang for the buck getting the ones that I did purchase elsewhere.

 

[qajaq59]

WHY "Made in the USA"

Mainly because I want to buy "Made in the USA". And since I live in the USA, I'm free to buy whatever I please.

 

[alistaire]

If we had bought all of our weapons from Europe in 1940, where would we have been on December 8, 1941?

Answer: up the creek without engineers who could design weapons and without factories to build them.

 

[stevemis]

I don't care where my defensive tools are manufactured. I purchase the highest quality for the lowest price. If it ends up being an American company or an American made product, great. If not, oh well.

That being said, my most expensive and "best" pistol is a Dan Wesson Commander Bobtail. It was made in New York. Dan Wesson is owned by CZ-USA, which is owned in it's entirety by CZ-UB from the Czech Republic. Do I care? No.

Likewise, our Toyota pickup truck: Made in the US by a foreign-owned company. The truck we had before that, a Dodge, was made in Mexico by a US company. Again, do I care? No.

This, my friends, is what bailouts are for. It allows US-based companies to ignore consumers and the market, make fiscally unsound investments and decisions, and remain in business... all on our collective dime.