Earlier this week CheaperThanDirt!, one of the larger firearms accessories and ammunition retailers, suspended its sales of all firearms following the Connecticut shooting. The move prompted a MASSIVE internet backlash, with the number of “likes” of their Facebook page plummeting and groups springing up to promote a boycott of a “fair weather gun dealer.” It was seen as a sign that the firearms-related retailer was not as staunch a supporter of the Second Amendment as they appear to be and led to some serious hate in the comments of their Facebook posts. It now appears that they’ve decided to re-start firearms sales, most likely in an attempt to regain some of the 2A cred that they lost in the last few days. CTD employees were still unavailable for comment at time of publication.

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106 COMMENTS

    • I tell you, the TTAG reader demanded boycott list over the past year is massive. BOYCOTT EVERYBODY WHO DOESN’T AGREE WITH ME!!!!

      • I can understand that people were angry when CTD stopped selling guns, because it looked like they gave in to media and political pressure and stopped supporting the 2A cause. I suspect that they didn’t want any attention in case a copycat shooter turned up with a gun from CTD. They probably were going to resume sales later anyway. I could be wrong here, but whatever the reasoning behind this whole mess, I understand the outrage on this issue.

        What I don’t get is the boycott over price increases in a free-market economy. Nobody is forced to buy anything from them, so who cares if they charge more? Don’t buy there if you don’t want to.

  3. CTD has never gotten my business in the first place. They don’t live up to their name. Not even close. I’ve had nothing but good dealings with Ammo to Go out of Texas. I order bulk in the calibers that are hard to find and expensive at my LGS.

      • Ammoman has weird selection, but I’ve had good luck with them.. Plus, shipping is included, and that can get spendy when you buy by the case.,

    • Me too, I compared their prices many times and they never had the best price, so I never bought anything from them. Boy do I feel good about that now!

      Now I never will buy from them no matter how low their prices may be.

    • I usually go with Ammo to go, or Midwayusa. Living in MO its basically like getting second day shipping for free when you order from Midway.

      • Both Midway and Brownells are apparently sold out or have pulled their uppers and lowers. Anybody know anything? Is this just part of the panic buying? Btw, went by my LGS yesterday and there were 50+ ahead of me in line.

  4. Like I posted before. They showed how their colors run when it’s tough going. They have a lot of stones. They made a bunch of money from the sales we made with them, and when we needed all the support we could get all they were concerned with was covering their a$$e$ and to hell with us. Done With Them.

    • When they resuming firearms, they will sell like hotcakes, just like every other gun source in America.

  5. Ive purchased several thousand dollars worth of ammo and accessories from them in the past. Never again. I suggest others do the same. No room for fair weather friends in this day and hour.

  7. What are the chances the firearms will be the same price they were on Monday?
    From the purveyors of $60 pmags and $900 cases of 5.56, I’m not holding my breath.

  9. This is serious business, as serious as there has been since GCA 68, and there are no second chances for anyone. Once you cave in, you can’t dig out and call it a gold mine.

  10. LOL, good luck with that cheaperthandirt. I see bankruptcy in your future. Nobody I know will buy from you again.

    • Worse. Recoil was a relatively new gun rag. This was a (once) respected purveyor of all things gun. This one stings more than Recoil ever will. Pun sorta intended.

    • I had the same thought. It got hot and they flinched – everyone noticed. Now they are trying to play it off as some policy review. You would think they would have stated that up front. Too late now. There are plenty of other retailers to choose from.

      • Yes Their “policy review” stated purpose was to cut down on delivery times which are going higher than 72 hours. I ordered a Ruger 556sc on the 16th, so clearly I’m being sent way the hell over 72 hours as a result of their moratorium and “policy review” (which, I should point out, has no specific date to begin shipping again) Who knows if I will see my rifle or money; their phones gave a busy signal all day and they haven’t responded to my email.

    • And those pols that have to sign off on a new AWB are going to feel even more heat from we People of the Gun than CTD or Recoil. Maybe it’s wishful thinking on my part but the federal courts have been in our favor of late and maybe this new legislation will simply loose steam. I mean, they handed it off to Biden after all.

        • Very true, Josh. I will continue to openly support and work for 2a rights. I’m not letting my guard down. But I can be hopefull as well.

    • Times are too serious for a wishy-washy company like CTD. We need friends that will stand with us. There is no place for them now. FOAD CTD.

  14. I say permanent boycott, accessories and everything. What they did is unforgivable. They absolutely deserve to go out of business. They are traitors in our midst.

  15. I usually do my business with Brownells. They were selling Pmags in 10 packs for $125. Looked today and they are sold out. I only got one 10 pack 🙁 I wish I hadnt bought my AR so late in the game. Oh well, the prices havnt changed, yet. At least some folks believe in INTEGRITY still.

  16. CTD stated earlier on their website today that they were looking into and doing double checking of the operations they ship guns too, to ensure something about the FFL regulations being clean (I’m really paraphrasing whatever they had written). Regardless of what is true or not about this case, their communications with their customers has stunk. Their business model is built on selling to the tactical community so this could have been the case. I’ve worked big ticket retail and for manufacturers making end-user products and my gut is telling me that it is possible they were doing an FFL cleanup to cover their azz with the government.

  17. Screw ’em. They were never actually “cheap”, and their shipping “policies” and customer service sucked. After this price gouging episode and reactionary response to the media clowns’ circle jerk , they’ll never get another dime from me.

  18. **** CTD.

    There are plenty of truly pro-2nd businesses that I’ll buy from instead. Their shipping prices sucked anyway.

  20. Too little too late. Shut down shop, change your name and hope no one catches on, or go bankrupt. You’ve lost our trust

  21. I’m a staunch supporter of the 2nd amendment but I don’t see how a company saying “let’s just step back and cool off for a couple of days” is such a bad thing. I usually try to hit the range once a week but as a Connecticut resident I felt that engaging in recreational shooting would have been in poor taste. I’m certain that many others felt or feel differently, but that was my choice. And I can understand how people who run a shooting supply company can feel the same way, if that was their motivation. Honestly folks I think it would do some of us good to step back from the guns and gun issues for a day or two. I know a couple of guys that are all consumed by guns. It’s all they talk about, military type weapons in particular. Their first thoughts were not My God this is horrific, but Oh great, here comes another AWB…and I am sorry but I was disgusted..26 families were destroyed and these guys (neither of whom ever served in the military) were more upset that they may not be able to purchase yet more military style weapons to use in whatever future battles they seem to envision. No I DO NOT SUPPORT AN AWB. But you can bet it’s coming. Maybe it’s time to tone down the “tactical” crap a bit anyways because honestly it’s gotten ridiculous and theres been times I have actually felt embarrassed for some of the guys I hear talking in the gun shops. If I was a first time buyer I’d probably be repulsed by some of the things I have heard. I can understand why folks buy “assault weapons” and I fully support our rights to own them, but they are ALWAYS going to have a bad image with the generally uneducated anti gun people. Theres the biggest problem right there, and IMO nothing is ever going to change. I dont own an AR or AK or any other military long gun. Not that I dont like ’em, just got no use for one and I dont have enough of a gun budget to spend money on a firearm I have no practical use for. My needs are best served by hunting arms and concealable handguns, which, IMO, would better serve most people anyways. I dont see how vilifying a company for wanting to step back and and take a break for a couple of days suddenly makes them one of the bad guys. I think it might do everybody a little good.

    • The real problems I have with CTD is their lack of support and the obvious price gouging that they were doing just to make an extra dollar.
      Our local gun shop has been selling 3 packs of the P Mags in black for $45 every day. They had one pack left today and 3 people wanted it, 1 guy offered double the price even and the owner said no. Someone else had already asked for it and it was theirs and not for sale.
      The M1 I have on layaway there has been asked for 6 or 7 times this week and he keeps telling everyone that those guns in that rack are already spoken for and not for sale. A guy today got mad when the owner, while I was there, told him it was mine an not for sale. He tried to buy it from me and I refused even at a $150 profit. When he started bitching the owner told him to leave and that he would never be welcome there again.
      Do a fair and equal business with everyone and you will always have business even when others don’t!!!

    • “Maybe it’s time to tone down the “tactical” crap a bit anyways because honestly it’s gotten ridiculous and theres been times I have actually felt embarrassed for some of the guys I hear talking in the gun shops. If I was a first time buyer I’d probably be repulsed by some of the things I have heard.”

      First off, knuckleheads have the right to to be an idiot. this is America. We are a melting pot of every type know to man. It is what it is.

      As for CTD, they sent the message that the antis are preaching. IT THE GUNS!!! OMG.
      This is why they are in the mess they are in. They did the politically correct thing. They picked the wrong side.
      To win a righteous fight of this magnitude you must stand strong about the truth and don’t waver in what you believe. We all know why the killings happened and guns are not the cause. they were only the tools used. The kids would still be dead if that piece of crap would have used a 5 gallon can of gas.

    • If you are ashamed of the product you are selling you shouldn’t be in the business at all. CTD are nothing but opportunists, I’ve seen them gouge on ammo prices in ’08, right after the election, and the same thing now. And now they want to back off and let things cool for a couple of days? What does going to the range have to do with being in poor taste? Are you ashamed to be a shooter? I never was a “tactical” type anyway, but damn if I’m going to be ashamed of owning and using my guns in the lawful way that I always have.

    • See my post below:

      It is understandable that they might suspend their AR sales for a bit while things get sorted out as a PR decision but they didn’t stop there. They shut down their sales of all firearms even low powered rim fires. That’s a paniced management team running away from their customers. Now their customers will run away from them.

  22. Well, I have to say I’ve had no problems with them, and after this incident, I will give them the benefit of the doubt, after all, they do have $2 G3 mags. Their reduced customer base and the public outcry I hope should have shown them the error of their ways. I am not going to screw a company for this. After what we did to Recoil I don’t want to put CTD out for this. We can’t afford to put every business that supplies us out. They thought they had a good idea, we said “NO” loud and clear. They heard. We should let this go, for now…

  23. I’ve unsubscribed to their newsletter…I never bought any ammo from them, mainly because the seperate shipping from seperate warehouses. Good riddance, there are too many local sources and honest internet dealers to ever give them money again.

  25. I was one of the ones sending them Facebook messages and information to their PR department – basically calling them cowards. I told them that I would take my business elsewhere, and I did. I’ve already spent almost two grand between online and local shops, so that’s money that CTD won’t get. As to the future, I’ll wait and see. The gun owner front has memories like elephants, but I understand that people make mistakes. Ruger made mistakes and I forgave them after they came out with the SR-556.

  28. Too late CTD.
    You can only blame yourselves when you go out of business.
    Well I hate to see people out of work anyone still working for
    a company that Crayfished should be looking for another job ASAP.

  29. I’ve been a loyal customer of CTD for years and I’ve never had a problem with them until now. They’ll never see another penny from me.

  30. I never enter a business with a ” no guns allowed ” sign displayed.
    Not because of concern for the law or fear of “being made”.
    Because I refuse to give even one (1) cent to those who don’t want our business.
    In the past I have used CTD from time to time and have been satisfied with there service. I ‘m more concerned with who has what I want in stock when I want it than with price.
    But as of yesterday there is a huge” no guns allowed ” sign across CTD’s site.

  31. These clowns jacked up prices like nobody else in 2008. Four years later and they’re still playing games. Quit buying from CTD! Let them crash and burn!

  37. Yes, boycott Cheaper than Dirt but also be sure to boycott any future business with the same address. If I were the owner and did this, I would instantly go and re-brand immediately to start building the business. It would take a little more because of the ATF but they will probably do that. So if you really want to boycott them, pay attention to their re-branding. That business needs to die and stay dead the cowards.

  38. I spoke with an Elmer Fudd tonight – he had the same opinion that CTD put in to practice – that is “if the loudest liberal whines the most then we will give into what they want.”

    This turn around (capitalism at its PEAK) shows that even though we might be the minority we still hold the majority in our pocket book.

    Keep up the pressure – we must not allow the 2nd Amendment be politicized.

  39. OK boys and girls

    I bring you the gun store report from north dallas

    From my house it is a 20 minute drive to cabelas, CTD and 30 minutes to bass pro. In the last few days i have been to all three,

    1. Cabelas: no 223 ammo. no AR mags, wait I am wrong. they still have cases of overpriced 223. cases and single boxes of 7.62×39 available in cheapo brands. the wait time to purchase a firearm: 1.5-3 hours.

    2. CTD: cases of .223 sitting out. 223 20 rd boxes on the shelf. .9,19 per box. still have AR’s but there are bare spots on the walls. 7.62×39 ammo in abundance. wait time purchase firearm: .5-1.5 hours.

    3. bass pro: could not find a single box of .223 or 7.62 in the place. wait time is for firearms purchase seemed normal but it was a madhouse in general.

    none of the three places has AK or AR mags that were not 5-10 shot mags…. CTD has a few 20 rd tapco in dark earth.

    This is for you general info and seems that CTD is not doing the same business it was before turning its back on us.

  40. If I had done business with them in the past they would really rue their decision now. I,m with you guys, I can’t say never again, just NEVER, Randy

  41. I am very disappointed in CTD. They are cowards. I’m done with them. I was giving them about 2K a month in business.

    I am waiting to see what the NRA has to say. I hope the NRA does not sell us out too.

  42. I’m really tickled at the fact that the email made it try to sound like this was some sort of planned downtime to review their policies and procedures. When I visited the site not long after they took the gun sales down, I didn’t see jack about “policies and procedures.” I just saw “suspending sales of firearms,” period.

    Here’s an example: http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/product/2-ADARA-16-M-B-556. Note the line where the price would normally be: “CheaperThanDirt.com does not sell firearms.”

    I’ve only bought a couple things from them in the past, because they don’t live up to their name. It’s not hard to find the same merchandise for less, especially when you factor in their handling and shipping charges. So I guess in reality, they’ve not lost much money from me, because I likely wouldn’t have spent there anyway. Still, the hell with these guys.

  44. Good for them. Their prices used to be very reasonable, but they are participating in price gouging for sure. They had an FDE pmag for like $56! Since they have gone way down, but still like 26 bucks. I got two from Quantico Tactical for just over $10 a peice.

  45. Honestly? Meh. Their actions didn’t bother me that much, and frankly, the downside for them if they sold a firearm to a copycat killer in the aftermath of Newtown would be HUGE.

    Seriously, people, it’s not like they made any statements supporting the antis or disavowing their support of shooting sports. Not that it makes it right, but every other online retailer with AR magazines in stock has been charging a premium as well.

    Now can we go back to complaining about how they ship from multiple warehouses, then mocking the complainers for not noticing that every item is now tagged with the warehouse it ships from?

  46. Screw those guys. They gave up on California years ago, so most of California gave up on them. Want to buy a carry handle for an AR pattern rifle, sorry, they won’t ship that to California. They won’t ship ammo to certain areas of CA even though there is no ordinance against it. Want to know about them, go to calguns.net and just look at the laundry list they’ve generated over there. They’ve lost a ton of business from legal gun owners.

    • I would say California gave up on California. I am but one man and I avoid that state like the plague due to the stupidity involved there. I can only imagine it would be exponentially more of a pain to deal with as an Interwebz buisness selling firearms related goods to people in that cesspool.

  47. Screw ’em.

    What little business I gave them, is gone.

    Ammunition to go is a great site (They just need to expand, and become the amazon.com of ammo, and I’ll be set!)

    Exilemachine is another great smaller site that needs your support.

    44mag.com is another top site, once they can get their mag inventory back in stock that is…

    Avoid CTD like the plague.

  48. Expect to see many many more weak-willed fair weather friends to the 2A in the coming weeks and months as the last of what’s good about this country is destroyed by the tyrants in charge.

    • “So it sounds like the best way to tick off people who own guns is to price gouge them and stab them in the back”

      Fixed it for ya. 🙂

    • What do you suppose they were thinking?

      “Gee, someone shot up some kids, let’s make ourselves look sympathetic to the anti-gun lobby by not selling guns while we “review” whether or not we will start selling them again.”

      What on earth could have been going through their minds that could possibly be in line with the 2nd Amendment?

      And they think they can call themselves a “supporter of the 2nd Amendment”?

      Do you think they behave like a supporter of the 2nd Amendment?

    • They weren’t taking a moment of silence. They dropped the sales of guns until the backlash and then backpedaled to the current position. They plainly stated that they NO LONGER SOLD GUNS. That is not a “moment of silence” which is an absurd statement anyway.

  50. I have found their prices to be pretty low. I bought my Winchester Model 70 300 win mag and my XD 45 from CTD because they had the lowest price I could find.
    I sent them a polite E-mail telling them why it was mistake to act as they did and said I’m not buying from them anymore. What really pissed me off was that they took down all their firearms. I understand the desire to get some good PR over ARs, but come on, nobody is calling for a ban on “traditional” hunting rifles [yet].
    I have never purchased ammo from them. Ammo to Go is my mail order source.

  51. Is anyone able to get to gunbroker.com? I have been unable to access that site since last night… overload? hacker attack? Or did Charter Communications start censoring gun websites?

      • Just typed in their URL and instantly had their site up. Might have been a temporary glitch. I see them all the time. Of course during the current political climate I get a little nervous when a gun site doesn’t respond.

  52. If all they did was suspend firearms sales and say they were swamped, kind of like what AmmoMan did, I say ok. But to jack the prices and then call it a glitch? F that.

  54. Too little, too late. I don’t think I ever saw a company commit economic suicide quite so definitively as this.

  55. www()cheaperthandirt()com/product/69670

    They can say what they want. Replace the parenthesis with dots and look at their site. They haven’t changed the firearm pages, they just took down the hyperlinks. It says in bold red type:

    “cheaperthandirt()com does not sell firearms.”

    They can try to spin it all they want, but the fact of the matter is that they went all weak-kneed like a 7th grade girl at her first dance. They can p1ss off!

  57. What amuses me about this is how many of those outraged by CTD’s action still promote & patronize Ruger despite their involvement in the first ‘high-capacity’ mag ban &, last I heard, their refusal to admit that it was ethically wrong to do so. And yes, I know that Colt & S&W also drank the Kool-Aid but from what I understand S&W at least fessed up & did a 180 that’s lasted to date while Colt didn’t but instead doubled down (Remember Colt’s ‘Smart Gun’ attempt to curry favor w/ the anti-2A cult?) & so become a relative non-entity to gun folk. If the pro-2A community’s going to avoid hypocrisy, purchasing new Ruger products must also be boycotted using the same rationale as that for CTD.

    Cassandra (of Troy)

  58. I live a few miles from their McKinney store. I would say that I’d stop shopping there, but I quit CTD about a year ago. Everyone has cheaper ammo other than a range. The only time I go there is when I meet someone in the parking lot to buy/sell guns.

  59. Lol ctd has record sales since obama opened his mouth. They are over loaded with orders and unable to keep up. What does that say about all you DA who are boycotting them? I bought some of their mags for $30 and sold them online used for $100.00 keep boycotting ill take advantage while I can

    • It says we believe what we say.
      It says we believe in honor and loyalty.
      It says we stand togeather and support one another even when besieged by the corrupt, and their ignorant, foolish followers.
      It’s says we won’t support someone or something that does not support us , and runs at the first sign of trouble.

      “I bought some of their mags for $30 and sold them online used for $100.00 keep boycotting ill take advantage while I can.”
      What does that say about you?
      Never mind, we all know.
      If there are more people like you than people like us it won’t be long before there are no magazines or gun related items for you to sell. Or guns to use them with.
      But don’t worry, I’m sure you will find many more ways to screw your neighbors.
      Thanks for calling me a DA. In the world of the gready, back stabbing asshole, honor and loyalty are characteristics of the DA.
      By the way, this DA says fu.

      I noticed you used a lower case i when refering to yourself with the word “ill”.
      Normally this would be considered a mistake, but in your case it is appropriate.

  60. I sir am a capitalist and u sir are a communist. If you don’t want to buy then don’t I don’t care. But don’t tell me I am wrong for selling to people that want a product I have and nobody else does. If people are willing to pay more they want it more that is how the economy works. It’s not my fault you are a broke baby. I am making money and laughing at you because you are too dumb to realize the market has changed and it’s not my fault it’s your communist buddy. Why not boycott the manufactures for not producing enough for all you communist to get an equal share that you can afford. Maybe you could get the government involved to make things equal for you. Until then the market dictates the price this is called supply and demand. Price adjusts according to demand. I gave people what they wanted at a price they were willing to pay. Who are you to tell me I am not free to sell to them without your blessing. They work hard and they deserve it more than you so I am happy not selling to you but to them. The market will change again but what direction we don’t know until then I am going to load up and do what I can to keep my guns and bible and sell to others not to be equal but to make money.

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