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NEWS
FEATURE
Ben Maynard, gunsmith with Montana Ri e Co. in Kalispell, works on the American Legends Ri e, which was recently named “NRA Gun of the Year” by Friends of NRA. GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
Critics Say Obama’s Proposed Gun Rules Will Have Little Impact President announces executive actions on gun control as local manufacturers continue to grow
IBY MOLLY PRIDDY OF THE BEACON
t’s a quiet, gray January day outside Montana Ri e Company, and inside the lobby it’s calm and well lit, with photos of hunters posing with fresh kills and their MRC ri es.
But any sense of tranquility disappears behind the doors leading to the rearms factory, where dozens of employees are working nearly on top of each other to craft, build, and perfect the ri es that have made this Kalispell company grow from a new operation in 2011 to winning the 2016 Friends of NRA Gun of the Year award.
In other words, business is booming.
“We’ve grown quite a bit,” Je Sipe, vice president of sales and marketing at the company, said. “In 2011, we had three employees. Today we’ve got 72, and I’m trying to ll 18 openings.”
Sales have also increased “dramatically” since they started the company, which prides itself on perfecting each individual ri e’s action and t before it lands in the hands of the customers.
In 2015, sales increased 320 percent over 2014, he said. A good chunk of their business still goes to selling ri e barrels to Remington companies, but Sipe said one
reason for their increased production is the return of popularity for hunting ri es. In the past few years, most gun purchases were centered on assault ri es and pis- tols, he said, but the hunting ri e is making a comeback.
Some increased sales can be attributed to the polit- ical climate around rearms, he said, especially if gun control is part of the conversation.
Last week, President Barack Obama announced new executive actions he said would reduce gun violence, such as improving and enforcing existing laws around background checks, adding money to the federal bud- get for more agents to track illegal rearm sales, mark- ing $500 million for better access to mental health care, and working with the federal Department of Health and Human Services to remove legal barriers that prevent states from reporting information about people prohib- ited from possessing a gun.
In the Montana Ri e Co. workshop, Sipe said there was little in the new executive actions that would a ect his business.
“All gun manufacturers and all gun stores follow those laws already,” Sipe said. “I still have faith in our country as a whole. I don’t believe that his executive actions are going to be everlasting.”
Firearms have a large role in Montana’s cultural makeup, from personal and property protection to hunting. It’s a state that enjoys bipartisan support of the Second Amendment, along with support from a majority of its residents. In the Flathead Valley, rearm manufac- turing stayed strong during the recession, with many in the industry reporting increased business in recent years.
Obama’s announcement came after a year in which mass shootings were center stage. In early December, 14 people were killed and 21 injured in San Bernadino, Cal- ifornia, in a shooting, just days after three were killed and nine injured in Colorado Springs, Colorado. On Oct. 1, a gunman shot and killed nine people in Roseburg, Oregon; in July, ve people were shot dead in Chatta- nooga, Tennessee. Nine people were killed in a shooting at a Charleston, South Carolina church in June, six peo- ple were shot to death in Isla Vista, California in May, and three people were killed in Ft. Hood, Texas in April.
In his speech announcing his executive actions, Obama invoked the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, during which 20 children and six adults died.
Critics, however, said that while emotional, Obama’s
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JANUARY 13, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM