What do you do when your business is about to be threatened due the passage of a stringent new state-wide firearm law? If you’re one company from Colorado, apparently the answer is to unload your inventory.
A new law in Colorado officially banned the sale of high-capacity
automatic weapon magazines starting this Monday, outlawing stores
from selling clips that can hold more than 15-rounds at a time.
That was about to leave Erie, Colorado’s Magpul Industries in a
peculiar situation, but they made the most of it by giving away
hundreds of soon-to-be-outlawed magazines during a weekend event
in the town of Glendale.
On the eve of the law’s first day on the books, Magpul airlifted
thousands of high-capacity magazines to Glendale’s “A Farewell to
Arms” gun show and literally handed out around 1,500 clips to
attendees only hours before the ban went into effect.
“You are in the Vatican of liberty, the Luxembourg of
freedom,” Glendale Mayor Mike Dunfon told the crowd at a
pro-gun rally that preceded the event, Matthew Patance wrote for
the Denver Post.
According to the Post, show goers formed a line over half-a-mile
long on Saturday with hopes of walking away with one Magpul’s
free 30-count magazines. When the complimentary clips were all
accounted for, the rest of Magpul’s loot that was soon to become
illegal was marketed at a discounted price of only $10 each and
sold to the masses.
The Post reported that Magpul donated in all roughly 20,000
magazines to the pre-show rally, which was hosted by the
nonprofit group Free Colorado that advocates for Second Amendment
protections. Proceeds from their sales went towards the
organization’s effort to recall two democratic members of the
State Senate.
“These magazines are largely used for target practice and
hunting and for self-defense,” Free Colorado spokeswoman
Kelly Maher told a local CBS affiliate. “For the government to
step in and restrict the rights and freedoms of people it’s
onerous, it’s ridiculous.”
Although the sale of high-capacity clips became illegal on
Monday, the law is not retroactive and older magazines can still
be used if they’ve been already been purchased. Lawmakers in
Colorado hope nonetheless that the ban will lessen the odds of
seeing another event like the Aurora, CO movie theatre massacre
that left dozens injured last year. Accused shooter James Holmes
was equipped with high-capacity magazines at the time of the
tragedy.
Magpul previously threatened to pull their company out of
Colorado if the law went into effect, leaving what The Blaze has
reported as roughly 200 local employees out of work and as much
as $85 million missing from state revenue
“I really applaud them for moving out because it’s really
going to affect state revenue,” Fred Bell, a 62-year-old
attendee at the gun show, told the Post.
In addition to the magazine ban, Colorado law now provides that
gun sellers due universal background checks. It has also struck
down a loophole that has previously allowed for residents to
prove they’re adequately trained to own a firearm through an
online course.
“We allow people to obtain full, four-year college degrees
online. Why wouldn’t you be allowed to obtain the training for a
concealed carry weapons permit completely online?” Republican
Sen. Greg Brophy told the Associated Press in opposition to the
law.
Republished with permission from:: RT