Sturm, Ruger
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Sturm, Ruger & Company NYSE: [RGR]
Sturm, Ruger & Company was founded by William B. Ruger and Alexander McCormick Sturm in 1949 in a small, rented machine shop in Southport, Connecticut. They initially produced a .22 caliber pistol (see Ruger MK II), which became so successful that it launched the entire company. Ruger Firearms is now the nation's largest firearms manufacturer, and the only one producing firearms in all four market segments: rifles, shotguns, pistols, and revolvers.
Ruger is a dominant player in the .22 rimfire rifle market in the U.S. with its Ruger 10/22, and has had that position for some years now which was assured by its inexpensiveness and high quality. It has produced a custom edition of it sold only by Wal-Mart.
Ruger similarly dominates the .22 rimfire semiauto pistol market with the Ruger MK II. Like the 10/22, the MkII is extremely well supported with a variety of good aftermarket accessories.
Ruger Casting has plants in New Hampshire and Arizona, making ferrous, ductile iron and commercial titanium castings. Ruger Golf makes steel and titanium castings for golf clubs made by a number of different brands.
Sturm, Ruger stock has been publicly traded since 1969, and became a New York Stock Exchange company in 1990 (NYSE:RGR). After Alex Sturm’s death in 1951, William B. Ruger continued to direct the company and until his death in 2002.
From 1949 through 2004, Ruger has built over 20 million firearms, and currently offers hundreds of models for hunters, target shooters, collectors, and law enforcement.
Controversy
After a spate of high profile shootings and incidences with the Ruger Mini 14 rifle, along with a number of unsavory associations the Mini 14 had gained with militias and extremist movements during the late 1970's and early 1980's, William Ruger expressed a highly unpopular position (amongst firearms owners, users and enthusiasts) by stating his personal views on the "sporting" nature of certain firearms.
In his letter to members of the House and Senate on 30 March 1989, Mr. Ruger stated in whats come to be known as "The Ruger Letter":
- The best way to address the firepower concern is therefore not to try to outlaw or license many millions of older and perfectly legitimate firearms (which would be a licensing effort of staggering proportions) but to prohibit the possession of high capacity magazines. By a simple, complete, and unequivocal ban on large capacity magazines, all the difficulty of defining "assault rifles" and "semi-automatic rifles" is eliminated. The large capacity magazine itself, separate or attached to the firearm, becomes the prohibited item. A single amendment to Federal firearms laws could prohibit their possession or sale and would effectively implement these objectives.
This position, coming from an important firearms manufacturer such as Mr. Ruger, caused outrage in the shooting sports community and led to a boycott of Ruger products that is still practiced by many firearms purchasers to this day. "The Ruger Letter" is widely accepted as being the genesis for those parts of legislation that were drafted 5 years later in the now defunct Assault Weapons Ban which prohibited the manufacture of any magazines holding over 10 rounds of ammunition for civilian sale.
While it is unknown what the true motives behind "The Ruger Letter" really were, it is widely speculated that his position on magazine capacity was more a matter of smart business than one of individual philosophy. Given the legislative climate regarding firearms during that time (the late 1980's/early 1990's), the prospect of an outright ban that may have impacted one of Rugers most popular and profitable models (the Mini 14) was a very real possibility.
By taking preemptive measures to shift the focus from the "guns" to the "magazine capacity", this would allow Sturm, Ruger Inc. to continue production with their Mini 14 line of firearms for civilian sale. Any legislation regarding magazines would have had zero impact on their bottom line, given that Ruger maintained a company policy refusing to sell Mini 14 magazines over 5 rounds (which wouldn't have been affected), even prior to the 1994 legislation mandating such.
Corporate governance
Current members of the board of directors of the company are: John Cosentino, Richard Cunniff, John Kingsley, William Ruger, Stephen Sanetti, James E. Service, and Joseph Strasser.Products
Centerfire Rifles- Number One
- Mini-14
- Mini-30
- Ruger Police Carbine
- M77 Mark II Assorted Models
- Ruger 10/22
- Ruger 77/22
- Ruger 77/17
- Ruger 96/22
- Ruger MK I (not currently in production)
- Ruger MK II
- Ruger MK III
- Ruger 22/45 MK III
- Vaquero
- Single Six
- Bearcat
- Blackhawk series
- GP-100
- SP-101
- Redhawk series
See also
External links
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