Monkey Business and the SIG P320 Pistol

In 1987, Gary Hart was the presumptive pick to be the Democratic candidate for President, despite the fact he was rumored to be a “serial womanizer” by Washington insiders. That same rumor had dogged him before, including during the 1984 campaign.

When reporters asked Hart if he’d ever committed adultery, he not only denied it, he challenged them to prove it. “Follow me around,” he said. “I don’t care. I’m serious. If anybody wants to put a tail on me, go ahead. They’d be very bored.”

They did put a tail on him. They weren’t bored. And they were rewarded.

The Miami Herald reported on his womanizing and a now infamous photo of Hart wearing a shirt saying “Monkey Business Crew” with a smiling Donna Rice on his lap surfaced as evidence. Hart’s monkey business was exposed and his political career was over.

There’s an inherent risk involved in challenging the media and/or the general public to do – or not to do – almost anything. Especially in today’s world of near-instant communications and the insatiable hunger for meme-worthy content.

Last week, SIG SAUER issued a press release titled, “The Truth About the P320,” an in-your-face response to repeated allegations, lawsuits, and reports alleging that their immensely popular P320 pistols, primarily the early models, suffered “uncommanded discharges.” For a company that has for years been, at best, reluctant to even discuss the issue off the record, that was quite a declaration. The opening sentence paragraph set the tone:

The P320 CANNOT, under any circumstances, discharge without a trigger pull – that is a fact. The allegations against the P320 are nothing more than individuals seeking to profit or avoid personal responsibility.

From there, the statement went on to say that, “…anti-gun groups, members of the mainstream media, trial attorneys and other uninformed and agenda-driven parties (my italics) have launched attacks on one of SIG SAUER’s most trusted, most tested, most popular products – the P320 pistol.”

SIG’s statement went on to acknowledge that the rhetoric was high, but was driven “by clickbait farming, engagement having grifters” seeking to “hijack the truth for profit.”

The fiery declaration ended with an admonition to the gun industry . . .

Industry, take notice; what’s happening today to SIG SAUER with the anti-gun mob and their lawfare tactics will happen tomorrow at another firearms manufacturer, and then another. Today, for SIG SAUER – it ends.

Or maybe not. At least not if the goal of SIG’s statement was to quiet the whisperers.

Today, the whispers are more akin to shouts echoing through social media and the same alternative channels that have defended SIG, the P320 pistol, and the Second Amendment. Some, like the “body piercing” patch from Tactical Gear Junkie employ dark humor.

Others, like the “retraction demand” from a plaintiff attorney with a less than stellar courtroom record against SIG, have expressed outrage.

But a third, more concerning response looks at a larger single question, not just the concerns that have surrounded the performance of the P320 since its 2017 release. Without expressing an opinion either way, Open Source Defense wonders if overall confidence in SIG SAUER – the company – hasn’t been damaged by the persistent P320 question and SIG’s insistence that there isn’t, and has never been, a safety issue…despite the voluntary upgrade program that was emphatically described at the time as “not a recall.”

The real issue, OSD concludes, is “whether SIG can be taken at its word as a company.” That question should cause real concern inside SIG’s Newington, New Hampshire headquarters.

Every single day, SIG products are being carried by private citizens, police officers, and soldiers worldwide. SIG’s people have worked long and hard to get the company to where it is today. But being the top dog means more than becoming the de facto standard of excellence to gun owners. It also means becoming the “X-ring” for everyone who takes aim at the industry.

Tossing the gauntlet down and letting them know you’ll stay silent no more, seems like a proper course of action. But doing by describing some of your customers as “negligent” or “anti-gun” or “seeking to profit and avoid personal responsibility” or being part of an “anti-gun mob” engaging in “lawfare” means being willing to face scrutiny, ridicule, or possible rejection by the individuals and law enforcement agencies who helped make you the company you are today.

As Kelly said in 2004’s The Girl Next Door, “You wanna be president? Let me tell you the first rule of politics; Always know if the juice is worth the squeeze.”

We’ll keep you posted.