I’m not sure whether to be scared of what he is doing or impressed with his ingenuity.
Remember, flamethrowers are not regulated regardless if home made or from the factory. While the gun prohibitionists are getting their panties in a wad over personally made firearms, something shooting out flames would get my attention a lot quicker.
The parent company of Ontario Knives, Servotronics, Inc., has sold the company, its inventory, intellectual property, and good will to Marion, Virginia based Blue Ridge Knives. The purchase price for Ontario Knives was a reported $2.1 million. If you go to the OKC website, they say the company is in transition and not taking any orders. The closing of the sale was announced on August 3rd.
Ontario Knives or OKC makes bayonets and strap cutters for the military, the Old Hickory line of cooking knives, originally made all the RAT knives, many types of survival knives, machetes, and a full line of other tactical and sporting cutlery. OKC was founded in 1889 in Ontario County, New York and moved to Franklinville in 1902. Franklinville, population 1,650 +/-, is located midway between Buffalo and Olean.
While many of their knives were made in Franklinville, other like my RAT Model 1 folder shown below were made in Taiwan.
According to the Buffalo News, the plant in Franklinville employs 35. While some will be offered jobs with Servotronics, most will be laid off with severance packages. Servotronics’ CEO William Farrell’s rationale for selling OKC was financial.
Servotronics’ consumer products group, which consists of Ontario Knife’s operations, generated $8.6 million in sales last year — a 3% drop from 2021. By comparison, Servotronics’ advanced technology group generated $35 million in sales, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
In the first quarter of this year, the consumer products group reported an operating loss of $720,000.The cutlery business had operating losses of $21,000 last year and $1.6 million in 2021.
The Olean Times Herald is reporting that a group is seeking to buy some of the equipment and potentially the plant.
Corey Wiktor, executive director of the Cattaraugus County Industrial Development Agency, said:
Servotronics said the equipment in the Ontario Knife plant will be auctioned off in September.
Wiktor said efforts are underway to help Dave Fenske, a Franklinville resident with decades of experience in the cutlery field, put together a bid for the knife plant that could be partially leased to Servotronics to maintain their presence there.
Fenske is also interested in bidding on some of the Ontario Knife equipment in hopes of opening a small cutlery there, Wiktor said.
It should be noted that Blue Ridge Knives is a wholesaler and distributor. They are not a manufacturer of knives.
Blue Ridge Knives CEO Phil Martin said about the acquisition:
“We are excited to add the longstanding heritage and brands of Ontario Knife Company to the BRK portfolio. The combination of OKC and our extensive dealer network provides considerable opportunities to grow our business and enhance our position in the tactical, outdoor and hunting markets.”
Given that Blue Ridge Knives is a wholesaler and not a manufacturer, this leads to some interesting questions.
First, given that the bayonets, machetes, and strap cutters purchased by the Department of Defense are required to be US made, will Blue Ridge be getting into the manufacturing side of the business?
Second, if Blue Ridge will not be going into manufacturing, to whom will they subcontract the products that must be US made?
Third, beyond the military cutlery and tools, which of the current US made products such as the Old Hickory kitchen knives will remain as US made?
Fourth, what percentage of their entire line of cutlery is currently being made overseas such as the RAT Model 1 made in Taiwan?
I spoke with my friend Tim of Old Grouch Military Surplus this afternoon. He noted that Blue Ridge Knives had recently moved into a much larger facility in Marion that had been a manufacturing plant at one time. Perhaps they will be getting into the manufacturing side of things though it appears it would be with new equipment as the tooling was not included in the sale. He also noted that Blue Ridge Knives had been buying the seconds of Ontario and Old Hickory Knives for some time. Thus, there was a strong pre-existing relationship between OKC and Blue Ridge.
One last note – I always enjoyed speaking with the booth reps from OKC while at the SHOT Show. They were uniformly friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable. I wish them the best in whatever the future holds for them.
UPDATED: I had reached out to Blue Ridge Knives with questions about whether they intended to begin manufacturing given that some of the Ontario products (bayonets, etc) must be produced in the United States.
After thanking me for reaching out to them, they wrote:
We only purchased OKC last week and are still working on the details. We should know more in the upcoming weeks.
Americans, for the most part, don’t like to be controlled. It is part of our collective DNA and has been from the time the first English settlers arrived in Jamestown, continuing on through the westward expansion, and through to today. That is why the gun prohibitionists have begun to couch their aims behind innocuous buzzwords.
First it was “gun safety”. I attribute that to Mayor Bloomberg and his PR flacks including the Demanding Mom herself Shannon Watts. They understood that if they couched their desire for control behind the concept of “safety” then there would be less objection. The mainstream media has bought into the terminology wholeheartedly.
Of course, if Bloomberg, Watts, the Biden Administration, and the rest of the gun control industry were truly serious about “gun safety”, they would be insisting upon classes like hunter safety and the NRA’s Eddie Eagle program be taught in every school in America. As it is the Biden Administration through the US Department of Education is withholding funding to schools for archery and hunter safety programs. They are using the so-called Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022 as their excuse. So in their pursuit of “gun safety” and “safer communities” they will defund the exact types of programs that actually work for safety.
Now it appears that the successor word to “gun safety” will be “gun responsibility”. This comes from Hollywood actor Matthew McConaughey. He, of course, is using the tragedy in his hometown of Uvalde, Texas as the pretense to urge for “gun responsibility.”
McConaughey says there is a difference between control and responsibility in his op-ed in the Austin American-Statesman.
There is a difference between control and responsibility. The first is a mandate that can infringe on our right; the second is a duty that will preserve it. There is no constitutional barrier to gun responsibility. Keeping firearms out of the hands of dangerous people is not only the responsible thing to do, it is the best way to protect the Second Amendment. We can do both.
That all sounds nice but it is sophistry. As Bishop Robert Barron noted in his commencement address at Hillsdale College:
Their concern is not being truthful or just but rather speaking in such a way that they appear truthful or just and hence become convincing to others. Such sophists were, obviously enough, enormously useful to prospective lawyers and politicians in ancient Greece, and it should be equally obvious that their intellectual descendants are rather thick on the ground today.
McConaughey enumerates four key points for “gun responsibility” in his op-ed.
So in the end, what McConaughey calls “gun responsibility” is just a rehash of many prior “gun control” proposals. They are all, as the gun control industry has said for decades, a “good first step.” A good first step to even more onerous control upon an enumerated right.
The gun control industry and their fellow travelers have to rely upon sophistry and buzzwords. Otherwise they have nothing.
I received an email a few minutes ago from the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) saying that Andrew Gottlieb had been appointed their new Managing Director. Andrew is a friend and I am extremely happy for him to get this new opportunity.
From the release, in part:
For the past eight years, he has served as director of outreach and development for CCRKBA’s sister organization, the Second Amendment Foundation. Gottlieb, son of CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb, stepped into his new post Tuesday.
In his new position, Gottlieb will focus on fund raising growth and membership expansion, and raising CCRKBA’s profile as a direct and grassroots lobbying organization.
“I am excited about my new role for the Citizens Committee,” Gottlieb said. “We’re seeing more efforts by anti-gunners to erode our firearms rights, and it is time for the CCRKBA to take on a much larger role in this battle.”
Andrew says he plans to grow the organization and to expand their projects. He notes that we as a community need to meet the challenge from the gun prohibitionists and the political allies head-on. He is absolutely correct on that.
Again, I want to congratulate my friend Andrew on this new position and wish him tremendous success in that role. His success will be a win for everyone in the Second Amendment community.
Former NRA 1st VP Willes Lee put up a tweet expressing dismay on the lack of info about the NRA’s sealed lawsuit against AckMac, Mercury Group, and Tony Makris.
Multiple reports of another NRA lawsuit (related to Ackerman-McQueen or Under Wild Skies?). Sealed so we don’t know why/what.
— Willes Lee (@WillesLee) July 31, 2023
Good: we didn’t yet lose again.
Sucky when #NRA Board relies on The Trace & a couple blogs for info.
Hope to hear from NRA bosses as members are asking. pic.twitter.com/rpHkDGJONA
I have to say it made my day.
First, I am happy to see Willes calling out the powers that be about keeping this sealed.
Second, I am happy that Willes acknowledged even indirectly that I helped get the news out.
Third, I am happy to be a source of information for the Directors of the NRA. I love the NRA and what it has stood for but I won’t sugarcoat its issues.
Finally, if any member of the Board (or NRA employee) wants to contact me with information on this or other issues, I promise that I don’t reveal confidential sources.
Judge Joel Cohen ordered all the defendants and the New York AG’s Office to give a response on the matter of how the trial should be held. That is, should it be a jury trial or not? The responses from both sides were received this past Friday (July 28th).
Surprisingly, the NRA is sticking to their demands for a jury trial. I am in agreement with NRA In Danger that this is insane. A jury trial for the NRA in Manhattan is the equivalent of a jury trial for Donald Trump in DC meaning a totally unbiased jury pool is virtually impossible to find.
According to the response embedded below, the NRA is asking that a jury trial be held to determine the facts on all the causes of action against the NRA. These would include improper administration of assets, waste, and fiduciary failures. They are claiming they are entitled to this by right. Then, after the jury has determined the facts, the NRA says they would be amenable to having Judge Cohen determine equitable relief. In other words, they want a bifurcated trial with the jury portion coming first.
This is also the position of the attorneys for Wayne LaPierre, Woody Phillips, and John Frazer.
The Attorney General’s Office agrees in part and disagrees in part with the call for a jury trial. Whereas the defendants are saying all the facts should be determined by a jury trial, the Attorney General agrees that should be only for causes of action 2 to 5 and 10 to 14. They contend on the first cause of action as well as causes of action 6 through 9 that they are not triable by a jury under New York law. They present a chart breaking this down found here in the appendix starting on page 9. So in one sense, all involved agree that a bifurcated trial – part by judge and part by jury – is called for. The difference is that the defendants want a jury trial to determine the facts in all the causes of action.
You will notice that the discussion above omits Josh Powell. That is because the attorneys for Powell filed a motion on July 13th to withdraw as counsel. Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP has represented Powell since the beginning of the proceedings. Powell in a separate filing gave his consent to this. A few days later Akin Gump filed motions to keep parts of the reasons for withdrawal under seal or non-public. Judge Cohen has temporarily put these under seal until a hearing can be held on August 7th.
On July 25th, the AG’s office filed a response to Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP’s withdrawal as counsel for Josh Powell. They took no position on Akin Gump’s withdrawal, insisted that Powell get a new attorney sooner than later, and that Judge Cohen should deny the motion to keep keep the reasons for withdrawal under seal. They assert that Akin Gump has not met it burden for sealing their submissions.
Reading closely, the reason Akin Gump and Powell are going separate ways is financial. The AG’s response said, “Powell’s Defense Counsel moved to be relieved, citing Powell’s inability to pay its legal fees.” Now that is interesting.
They also say that Powell should have only 14 days to retain a new attorney given how close the case is to going to trial. If he cannot, they say Powell should act as his own attorney or pro se in legal terms.
So to conclude, the NRA et all insist on a jury trial on all facts, the AG says only on some parts, and Josh Powell seems to have run out of money to pay his legal bills.
The tweet of the day comes from my friend Tony Simon who is doing missionary work for the Second Amendment in New Jersey with his 2A for Everyone organization.
His tweet was in response to Brady Campaign gibberish about AR-15s.
“Assault weapons”? You mean the firearms in every police car/station in America? Politicians have no logic, no empathy, no class and no morals. They have agendas. Trust no one attempting to convince you to give away your rights. They only offer the illusion of safety.
This picture accompanied the tweet:
Tony is absolutely correct.
If you and I own one of these firearms, the gun prohibitionists and the media will call it an “assault weapon”. However, if it is in a cop car or even in a safe within a school for the school resource officer, why then it is a patrol rifle or carbine and a good thing.
The NRA filed a lawsuit against Ackerman McQueen, Mercury Group, and Tony Makris in the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas. According to the case’s docket number, it was filed sometime in 2022 and it was assigned to Senior Judge A. Joe Fish. The other known facts about the case are that they subpoenaed Tony Makris’ wife Elicia Warner Loughlin for documents and the case is being handled as you’d expect by Brewer, Attorneys and Counselors.
And that concludes what is public knowledge about the case because it appears to be under seal.
Knowledge that the case even existed is due to an article in The Trace by Will Van Zant posted on Thursday. You may not like that he reports for The Trace but he does get his facts correct. He discovered the case when he stumbled across a motion to quash the subpoena to Makris’ wife. That motion was filed in US District Court in South Carolina. Even knowing this, it took me several tries before I could find the motion.
According to the motion to quash the subpoena, it is contended that the subpoena is burdensome because it is overbroad and it asks for information of which she has no knowledge. Her attorney also contends that the subpoena’s secondary purpose is to annoy, embarrass, and harass Ms. Loughlin merely because Tony Makris is her husband. The motion notes that much of the information requested had already been provided to the NRA in their suit against Under Wild Skies in Virginia state court. It should be noted that the NRA lost that case and had to pay a little over a half million in damages to Under Wild Skies. In addition to what was previously provided to the NRA, Brewer is now demanding Ms. Loughlin’s personal and business tax returns for the years 2009-2018.
Ms. Loughlin is also asking for a protective order. As her attorney notes:
UWS is not a party to the above captioned litigation. Mrs. Loughlin is not affiliated with any of the Defendants, except for being married to Mr. Makris. The NRA is going to have to state with some clarity how seeking nine (9) years of tax returns from Mrs. Loughlin and her unaffiliated business entity is in any way related to the sealed action pending in Texas. The same would need to apply to the request for her deposition as she has already sat for a deposition at the request of this same party, the NRA. Quite frankly
nothing has changed since the first time she sat other than the fact that we have a new lawsuit in a different jurisdiction.
At this point it should be pointed out that not only did the NRA lose to Under Wild Skies in state court but ended up settling with AckMac to the tune of $12 million in their previous Federal lawsuit against them.
In his article about the current lawsuit, Van Zant reached out to Judge Phil Journey for comment. Phil said it seemed crazy to him and that if the facts aren’t on your side, you resort to BS.
An expert on sealed cases, Prof. Jane Kirtley of the University of Minnesota said there were usually only three reasons for a case to be sealed: to protect personal privacy, national security, or trade secrets. Prior to coming to the University of MN, Kirtley was the Executive Director of The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
Van Zant quotes her as saying:
Simply wanting to avoid attention is not a valid basis, she said. “People that have disputes don’t have to use courts to settle them, they have other options,” Kirtley said. “The price of admission ought to be that the filing of a lawsuit is a matter of public record, and that if elements of a case are sealed, it’s only for legitimate reasons.”
Kirtley added:
Although judges are not supposed to seal cases merely because the parties would prefer anonymity, Kirtley said that too often they do. “Judges concentrate on the parties before them,” Kirtley said, “and if the parties are content with or agitating for secrecy, some courts don’t care and just go along to get along. But that ignores the fact that the public has an interest in open courts, in how cases proceed, in whether one party gets a break and another does not.”
Having searched for the case under its docket number (3:22-CY-1944-G) as well as a search by name in Pacer, I can confirm what Van Zant has said. No public record of this case can be found. Like him, I found that incredibly strange.
So to conclude, I have a handful of questions.
What is the purpose of this lawsuit by the NRA?
How much is Brewer making as a result of bringing another case against his late father-in-law’s company?
Why is it sealed?
And most importantly, is anyone on the Board of Directors even aware that the NRA is suing Ackerman McQueen again?
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives was successful in getting an administrative stay in VanDerStok v. Garland from the Supreme Court. Judge Reed O’Connor had granted a nationwide injunction against the implementation of the ATF’s frame or receiver rule. He had determined it was in “excess of their statutory jurisdiction”.
As might be expected, ATF and the Department of Justice appealed to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals which refused to grant a stay of Judge O’Connor’s order. The 5th Circuit said the ATF had not “demonstrated a strong likelihood of success on the merits, nor irreparable harm in the absence of a stay.” The 5th Circuit still will be hearing ATF’s appeal of Judge O’Connor’s final order.
Yesterday, the ATF and DOJ filed an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court to receive a stay while the case is under appeal. This would mean the Final Rule would still remain in effect while it was being appealed.
Today, Justice Alito granted an administrative stay until August 4th at 5pm.
UPON CONSIDERATION of the application of counsel for the applicants,
IT IS ORDERED that the June 30, 2023 order and July 5, 2023 final judgment of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, case No. 4:22-cv-691, are hereby administratively stayed until 5 p.m. (EDT) on Friday, August 4, 2023. It is further ordered that any response to the application be filed on or before Wednesday, August 2, 2023, by 5 p.m. (EDT)
Well, crap!
I am sure the attorneys for the Firearms Policy Coalition as well as DOJ are working hard to craft their responses as I write.
UPDATE: Attorney and law professor Mark Smith of The Four Boxes Diner has an explanation of what happened yesterday. The administrative stay was requested by the Solicitor General and the SCOTUS usually grants these without question. Bottom line is that we shouldn’t panic.
I learned this morning from his wife that Dr. Bill Chachkes had passed away yesterday. He had been in ill health for a number of years.
Bill was a gun rights advocate, a podcaster, a retired teacher from the NYC schools, a sports journalist, and a Blackhawk helicopter pilot for the Army’s Special Operations Command. His podcast, Firearms Chat, was part of the Self Defense Radio Network. You can hear how he and the late Greg Hutton started their podcast here.
I first met Bill at the 2018 SHOT Show. He had reserved a room to record podcast episodes. I was invited to join Bill and Greg for an interview on Firearms Chat. We talked about a lot of things and, to be honest, I can’t remember exactly what. I do know that the Complementary Spouse and I saw him again many times that week. He was having some issues with his leg due to diabetes and she took a look at it for him.
I next met Bill along with his wife Annrose at AMM-Con and the 2019 Gun Rights Policy Conference held in Phoenix. I had been a guest on his show a couple of times by then. Being a guest on his show was always a fun thing.
You may remember the issues that I had with Google and their Blogger platform in 2019. When I switched to my own domain and WordPress, it was thanks to Bill that I was hooked up with Patriot Hosting. He introduced me to Kyle and the rest is history. I will be forever grateful that he stepped up and made that introduction.
Bill was a mensch to use a Yiddish word in honor of his Jewish heritage. He was a man of honor and integrity, he was a patriot both in and out of uniform, and he stood up for what was right and opposed that which was wrong.
I am proud to be able to have called him a friend and I shall miss him.
Note: I don’t know whether there will be a memorial service or funeral. If I hear anything, I will post it as an update here.
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