Milspin is a small family run manufacturing business located in Columbus, OH. They pride themselves on providing a highly crafted product made right here in the US. The two brothers who run the place, Chet and Dane Peters, are both US military veterans, and served as Recon Marines. Most of the products they make celebrate America and the freedoms we enjoy here, and as such, many are gun related. In addition to being very pro-gun, pro-America, they are also very pro-First Responder.
The Milspin website has an entire section devoted the Thin Blue Line items. In addition to supporting law enforcement, they offer a number of Thin Red Line items in support of firefighters.
Yesterday, via their Facebook page, they shared an email exchange they had with a customer for whom they refused to customize an item for because of what the customer had requested. The customer had requested that a slide end plate for a Glock pistol be engraved with “F–k the police,” only spelled out fully, not censored like it is here.
Because they support law enforcement, they chose not to make the product, refunded the customer and informed him why the would not be making it, specifically saying
“Milspin supports the Law Enforcement community and will not fill orders such as these.”
Sean did not take the news well and accused Milspin of violating his “firsts (sic) amendment” rights, and claimed he will give the company negative reviews any chance he gets.
Clearly Sean did not do well in civics class as the First Amendment prevents the government from interfering with an individuals right to free speech, and has nothing to do with a privately owned company refusing to engrave gun parts with anything the customer chooses.
The response Milspin sent Sean in response is what made their Facebook post explode. Not only were they absolutely unapologetic for canceling the order, but they more than doubled down on their support for law enforcement. Not to mention the fact that they were quite humorous all at the same time.
As I cannot repeat their reply verbatim because of the language used* I will instead include a screen grab of the reply so you can get the uncensored message.
(* Due to all sorts of reasons that affect distribution of articles, we will not cuss in print here on this website It is not because none of us cuss. Sadly, if a career in law enforcement does nothing else it will turn you into a real gutter mouth, just like me.)
It should come as no surprise to you, but as their Facebook post made its way around the internet, supporters of Law Enforcement were very pleased by the response. As the post got more and more shares, those who hate law enforcement also became aware of it, an the internet trolls went about attacking the company by posting negative reviews on their Facebook page, and by attacking them and their supporters in the Facebook comments.
Today, I got the opportunity to ask Chet a few questions. What follows are those questions and the answers Chet gave.
Q – I see both you and your brother Dane are military vets. Do either of you have any experience in law enforcement, or is there any family history in law enforcement?
A – Our grandfather, Edward Grieger, was a Lieutenant with Cleveland PD. He was in the last graduating class to be signed off by Eliot Ness which we always thought was cool. I still have his badge. He passed many years ago.
Q – If no personal ties to law enforcement, why are you so supportive of the profession? Did something happen to cause that support?
A- Actually we were troublemakers when we were kids haha. The Marines fixed that quick! We served as Recon Marines. I was with 3rd Recon Battalion (2006-2010)and Dane was with 2nd Recon Battalion (2008-2012). Being Recon doesn’t give you a whole lot of knowledge that transitions to the civilian world. A huge number of the guys we served with got out and went into law enforcement. Dane and I went another route and started from scratch by going to engineering school. That is how we got into manufacturing technology. But the support for cops is all rooted in us supporting our friends from our time in the Marines.
Q – Has a customer ever requested something similar in the past, or was this a first?
A – Yes, a few of them. No one has ever responded like this guy though. When he threatened to leave us bad reviews, it was game on.
Q – Since your Facebook post went live, has the response been predominantly good or bad?
A – 50/50. It’s interesting… the haters are commenting mostly during working hours, then after 5/6pm after the people that have jobs join the conversation, we see overwhelming support.
Q – Were you surprised by the number of negative replies, or the level of trolling attacks by cop haters?
A – We had no idea that there were this many cop hating trolls in our country. No idea. It is absolutely astounding to us how ignorant people can be, and how little they have to do with their free time lol
Q- In your reply to Sean, you said “No cops are coming for your guns.” As a very pro-2A cop, I see many people, most who don’t personally know any cops, express concern that cops are going to blindly follow orders to start rounding up citizen’s guns. Is that a concern you see expressed by a number of gun owners, or was that just a jab at him?
A – We are a pro-law enforcement company that sells gun parts. That is ironic to a lot of the trolls apparently. Yes, it is a common comment that we see on our thin blue line product advertisements. That they think police are coming for their guns.
Q – I see your recent followup Facebook post to this whole incident. Would I be safe in assuming you have no regrets in expressing your support for Law Enforcement?
A – It’s been a lot of fun, and it has generated a lot of business and exposure for us. These trolls don’t understand how social media algorithms work… the more they comment, whether it’s good or bad, the more people will see the original post. It’s reached a half million people so far. That’s at least 250,000 avid police supporters that are ready and willing to support our business. It’s been amazing actually. We are working with Columbus, Ohio FOP Lodge #9 right now to take the profits from this viral post and host all of the police in the city for a big catered lunch. We think it would be really ironic to monetize cop haters and then treat a bunch of cops to lunch lol.
Well, I can honestly say that Milspin has won a new customer in me. I love being able to support an American company, owned and operated by veterans, who strongly supports my former profession. Not much more a guy like me can ask for.
And if you are wondering what their follow up post was that I mentioned above, look no further.
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