Alien gear boycott

[Dddrees]

Their customer base, or loudmouths who weren't customers anyway and are trying to ruin a business because some employee dare ask a question?

Yeah amazing how once you put something like this out there the kind of response it can attract. That's why more savvy individuals don't even go there. Hey, I don't wish them harm, I don't even have any experience with them.

 

[gglass]

• Should the Alien Gear employee have asked the question regarding this 2-year old video? Probably not, since that was not within her assigned duties for her position.
• Would she be correct in asking such a question in her personal time? Sure! Just look at the lively debate in this thread between those who stand with the LEOs in the video and those who are critical of the LEOs. (There are even LEO vs LEO debates right here on INGO)
• Should the gun community as a whole come down on Alien Gear like a ton of bricks for the actions of one employee? In my estimation no. She did need better training and boundaries to be set, but she really did nothing more than ask a sensitive question in an open forum environment. That does not make her question or opinions those of the company that employs her, and the CEO of Alien Gear has said just that.
• Will the LEO community stop buying Alien Gear Holsters? No, because you can't stop what you never started. LEO agencies DO NOT buy Alien Gear holsters, since they do not make a model with a retention mechanism.

I very much agree with many of the boycotts that have been launched within the firearms community, but this does not even come close to boycott levels outrage. I also believe that there is a bit of "piling on" occurring here from folks who have never been fans of Alien Gear products. Shame on anyone who would be that petty, just to do harm to an otherwise great supporter of the Second Amendment and the firearms community as a whole... Sad.

 

[Joniki]

Once that POS got out of his car and started firing at the LEO's, he gave up any rights to a low round count.

I am impressed with the high percentage of hits from the distance they fired from.

 

[rhino]

I have to confess that I have used Alien Gear holsters one time. I didn't have any issues, they were really comfortable, and even people who knew I was carrying and were looking didn't notice them on me (a pair of Glock 19s tucked behind a dress shirt). Given that, not being able to get them vertical on the belt is a deal breaker for me, even if they were well made and sturdy.

 

[SheepDog4Life]

You know what you have that these Officers didn't have???

Safety, the safety of sitting in your house watching it on your computer, the ability to stop the video and dissect it play by play as you have done, all the time in the world, no person walking directly toward you shooting and attempting to end your life.

You have all the time in a world to decide how you would have best handled it and how you would have done this and that differently. And that you know you would have stopped shooting after your well placed "double taps"

The man still has a gun in his hand and is moving. He is conscious enough that with his non gun hand he is flipping the bird to police while laying on the ground being shot.

It's easy to judge a situation after the fact. One thing I will agree with you on was their aim especially at the end. But to that note. They were just involved in a high speed pursuit and had bullets flying at them. Their stress levels were off the charts. The department if it hasn't already should implement more stressors during their training especially on the range.

I cannot say that I disagree with anything you said, but I will say that my opinion was formed watching the video (admittedly in safety) the first time through in real time, especially the first 7 rounds from cop #1. (i did have to go back to count them and was surprised it was 7)

I also cannot say that if it had been me, that I wouldn't have been trying to keep pulling the trigger on an open/locked slide with an empty mag and a need for clean underwear. No one can say that for certain unless they have been in such a situation.

What I do know is that for myself while carrying in public and at home in self defense, the last thing I want is for an errant round of mine to wound or kill an innocent or loved one. It is something that I think about repeatedly and is a top priority in training: all rounds into center of mass whether it's close enough for a point-and-shoot or requires acquiring the front sight for aimed double taps or singles. Ditto my HD shotgun, pattern tight enough that all pellets stay on target at HD ranges.

Cooper's rule #4 is just as important as 1-3.

Whether cop #1's training broke down or was negligently absent, he panicked and sent 7 unaimed rounds down "main street" in the middle of the day. He doesn't have what it takes to be a cop, Maybe the nicest person, ever, but he panicked and could have wounded or killed multiple innocents with his actions, only luck prevented it. His trigger, his finger, his (moral) responsibility.

 

[SheepDog4Life]

• Should the Alien Gear employee have asked the question regarding this 2-year old video? Probably not, since that was not within her assigned duties for her position,

Just a nit, but an important one. The shooting occurred in 2014, but

The police dashcam video was only released 3 days ago... it was withheld from the public for 3 years and only released under court order.

 

[Dddrees]

I cannot say that I disagree with anything you said, but I will say that my opinion was formed watching the video (admittedly in safety) the first time through in real time, especially the first 7 rounds from cop #1. (i did have to go back to count them and was surprised it was 7)

I also cannot say that if it had been me, that I wouldn't have been trying to keep pulling the trigger on an open/locked slide with an empty mag and a need for clean underwear. No one can say that for certain unless they have been in such a situation.

What I do know is that for myself while carrying in public and at home in self defense, the last thing I want is for an errant round of mine to wound or kill an innocent or loved one. It is something that I think about repeatedly and is a top priority in training: all rounds into center of mass whether it's close enough for a point-and-shoot or requires acquiring the front sight for aimed double taps or singles. Ditto my HD shotgun, pattern tight enough that all pellets stay on target at HD ranges.

Cooper's rule #4 is just as important as 1-3.

Whether cop #1's training broke down or was negligently absent, he panicked and sent 7 unaimed rounds down "main street" in the middle of the day. He doesn't have what it takes to be a cop, Maybe the nicest person, ever, but he panicked and could have wounded or killed multiple innocents with his actions, only luck prevented it. His trigger, his finger, his (moral) responsibility.

The thing is I don't think we've got to the point where we've determined what type of mistakes are acceptable and which are not. In all professions people make mistakes. The level of acceptability is usually determined by their boss and in some cases their customer.

In this case I think the public should be able to weigh in because of yet does it really appear the police have done a good job of policing this on their own?

 

[russc2542]

This is why you don't give the newest employee the password to the company twitter account. That's the corporate mistake I see. And yes, costing the company a lot more than your salary in PR/damage control is a fire-able offense. (I don't wish the person to be fired, I do have a little faith in people that they can learn from a mistake but I wouldn't bat an eye if they were.)

 

[sheepdog697]

This might be a misunderstanding. However, as far as im concerned. There are many other holster companies out there. Probably making a better product, and not posting this bull****. I have never bought and alien wear, and now i never will. Bye Felicia. Thanks for narrowing the choices for us.

 

[BE Mike]

Too many thin skinned folks around. Buck up! The CEO gave a full explanation and made an apology. He clarified his position in regards to the police and spoke about their policy of speedier shipping to officers. I have one of their holsters and it is of very good quality and is an innovative design. Their holster shell exchange program is neat. They have terrific customer service. If you don't like their holsters, fine, shop somewhere else. There are plenty of holster companies, but if your reason is to boycott, then get over yourself.

 

[HoughMade]

Too many thin skinned folks around. Buck up! The CEO gave a full explanation and made an apology. He clarified his position in regards to the police and spoke about their policy of speedier shipping to officers. I have one of their holsters and it is of very good quality and is an innovative design. There holster shell exchange program is neat. They have terrific customer service. If you don't like their holsters, fine, shop somewhere else. There are plenty of holster companies, but if your reason is to boycott, then get over yourself.

That's it. I'm boycotting you.

 

[genXer]

I didn't really take the post as anti-cop. It's more like. Damn, how many rounds does it take? If it was 36, I would have made a Clerks joke and chimed in 37 rounds

In a row??

 

[shootersix]

I didn't really take the post as anti-cop. It's more like. Damn, how many rounds does it take? If it was 36, I would have made a Clerks joke and chimed in 37 rounds

In a row??

"try not to shoot anybody on the way through the parking lot!"

 

[DeadeyeChrista'sdad]

Meh, point a gun at the police (or anybody), I really don't care how many rounds they put in the BG. The easy way to avoid being shot 45 times? Don't point your gun at somebody.

Unusually enough, Kut and I agree.
I have zero criticism for the cops, and the CEO''s explanation satisfied me.
I have zero experience with Aliengear holsters, so I have no opinion to offer on them.
Crazy, I know.

 

[Osprey]

I have Alien Gear. I don't think they're junk. They work and they are comfortable. I also like their exchange program. There are too many people that love to boycott or seem to be overly sensitive.

 

[LarryC]

I have had to deal with disgruntled customers when I was employed as a Engineer / QS9000 management quality representative after one of our employees made some stupid comment to the customer. Remember every employee does not always represent the views of their employer! I would bet that employee has been disciplined, (if still employed). I am sure the comment was not approved by upper management before being posted. I read the apology from the CEO and it appeared adequate to me. I am sure he was not aware of it until the situation was noted by an upper management employee and brought to his attention. I haven't used Alien Gear holsters, (I like Galco), but would not hesitate to purchase one due to this event!

 

[SheepDog4Life]

Once that POS got out of his car and started firing at the LEO's, he gave up any rights to a low round count.

I won't disagree with you there...

but what about the 5 innocent people visible less than a block behind the perp, in the tour bus, and the others in the stores behind those panes of glass? THe ones more than a block away... this was the heart of Atlantic City.

How about the first cop in the video who is shooting behind him while running in the opposite direction?

 

[jbombelli]

I've never used their holsters and never planned on it anyway. So.... Whatever.

Galco and Kramer leather only for me.

 

[x10]

I will continue to support Alien Gear and the idiotic Social media stuff needs to be tempered with common sense. Why do people get so caught up over a 1 sentence post on some silly website or other type of unregulated media.

I think I'm going to print something stupid out on a piece of paper and pin it to the cork board and see if everyone goes nuts. Since when did a sentence somewhere mean more than the actions of a person or company over years of life or service.

 

[OakRiver]

In the interests of disclosure I have an Alien Gear holster and mag carrier. The holster I like, the mag carrier I replaced with one from Foxx. With that out of the way here are my 2 cents.

The only fault that I have with Alien Gear is that someone was given access to their Twitter account without proper training and supervision. It is a mistake that I doubt they will repeat given the negative publicity that this incident has generated. I think that, at face value at least, the CEO's apology is sincere and is an actual apology in which there were admissions of mistakes being made by the company. I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and say that deleting the offending Tweet and replacing it with a bland Tweet was intended to give them time to investigate what happened and draft their statement. I don't see any reason to crucify Alien Gear over this, unless we later discover that this is the start of a pattern of conduct.