Response From Ruger CEO
BY Herschel Smith
6 years, 6 months ago
This note was sent to me from the Ruger CEO upon sharing recent articles here at TCJ on Ruger and its future.
Mr. Smith – There will be No Changes to What Ruger Makes and Sells to Law Abiding Citizens, Despite Shareholder Proposal.
Please understand that Ruger was obligated by applicable law to include a shareholder’s activist resolution with its proxy materials for a shareholder vote. With its passage, the proposal requires Ruger to prepare a report. That’s it. A report. What the proposal does not do . . . and cannot do . . . is force us to change our business, which is lawful and constitutionally protected. What it does not do . . . and cannot do . . . is force us to adopt misguided principles created by groups who do not own guns, know nothing about our business, and frankly would rather see us out of business. As our I explained, “we are Americans who work together to produce rugged, reliable, innovative and affordable firearms for responsible citizens. We are staunch supporters of the Second Amendment not because we make firearms, but because we cherish the rights conferred by it. We understand the importance of those rights and, as importantly, recognize that allowing our constitutionally protected freedoms to be eroded for the sake of political expediency is the wrong approach for our Company, for our industry, for our customers, and for our country. We are arms makers for responsible citizens and I want to assure our long-term shareholders and loyal customers that we have no intention of changing that.”
Please see www.Ruger.com/Brand for a video that shows who we are and who we will continue to be.
Thank you for your support.
Chris Killoy
Ruger CEO
Thank you kindly for your quick response, Mr. Killoy. I wish you and Ruger well in these perilous times.
However, this seems like “boilerplate language” to me, motherhood and apple pie, and it seems to me that the shareholders can do a great many things, including making hiring and firing decisions, changing business models and plans, and other disruptive sorts of mischief.
You seem determined and I like determination, but unless you or the Ruger family or employees own a controlling interest in Ruger, this sort of thing can indeed happen.
All I’m recommending is that y’all carefully consider my wording and act accordingly. Controlling interest.
On May 17, 2018 at 8:56 am, Gryphon said:
Shareholders would have to have a pretty clear Majority to Force the Management to do these kind of things, and also, were Management to be Directed by a Majority of Stockholders to take Actions Detrimental to the Company (and its Stock Value) I’ll Bet there’s a Lawsuit to be had right there, by both Minority Stockholders, Management and Employees.
But You are Right, Every Company needs to Secure its Stock Ownership Poll from Hostile Takeovers.
On May 17, 2018 at 11:30 am, Hiram said:
So why do GUN CONTROL FREAKS own stock in companies like Ruger and gun owners do not? Ruger’s stock price as of this writing is $59.98. Ten shares would cost about $600. They have about 17 Million shares outstanding with over 95% held by institutions. BTW, institutions hold MOST of all stocks. Individual ownership is very low across the board. While it is not likely gun owners could own enough stock to have a real impact on any proxy vote, it would be interesting what kind of noise we could make if we tried. Also note Citibank is publicly traded. And further note, I happen to be one of those “lesser educated” rural white males.
On May 18, 2018 at 7:05 am, Shark said:
Hiram: “So why do GUN CONTROL FREAKS own stock in companies like Ruger and gun owners do not?”
Ruger’s three-year stock price is not favorable, and the general overall price trend is downward since 2014:
https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/rgr
…and the dividends?:
https://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/rgr/dividend-history
I can’t afford to own a stock for ideological reasons, although you can certainly make an argument for owning it on economic merits.
On May 18, 2018 at 10:42 am, Weredragon said:
Yes the 3 year is slightly down, the 10 year is up500%. Watch for a dip, like now, and buy. Then ride the rising tide.
On May 18, 2018 at 12:53 pm, Aesop said:
This was just left-wing nutbag activism, in this case, a bunch of nuns in effing Moonbat Central, Seattle WA, pulling this stunt.
Here’s the story link:
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/meet-the-seattle-nun-who-infiltrated-a-gun-company/
Such mischief works both ways.
Buy your own stock in Ruger, et al, and counter-act that agitprop crap.
Then do the same thingback in their faces, and start monkey-wrenching corporations like Goolag, Twaddle, ScrewYouTube, and ABCNNBCBS, and forcing the same sort of nonsense down their throat at every annual meeting.
It will lose its allure to the Leftards in short order, when you rub their noses in it good and hard.
On May 18, 2018 at 4:04 pm, larryw said:
The 10 year increase is over since the greatest gun salesman in history left the White House. Ruger’s stock is way overpriced with a PE at 24.
That said, a $2K stake in a $1B company doesn’t grant much sway. The nuns could be an issue if their stake in RGR grows over $500B (50% ownership, and also depending on the letters of incorporation/majority stakes/etc.), but until then, it’s just masturbatory noise that the lefties love putting on the front page.