Levi Strauss & Co. CEO and president Chip Bergh has jumped with both feet into the debate over the Second Amendment and Americans’ rights to armed self-defense. And he’s come down squarely on the side of those who advocated civilian disarmament.

In 2016, Levi Strauss asked gun owners not to bring guns to their stores. They claimed they weren’t against gun owners, they just didn’t like people exercising their Second Amendment rights in their stores.

From splinternews.com:

Citing a recent incident in which a customer was injured after the gun they were carrying was accidentally fired in a Levi’s store, Bergh concluded that, “while we understand the heartfelt and strongly-held opinions on both sides of the gun debate, it is with the safety and security of our employees and customers in mind that we respectfully ask people not to bring firearms into our stores, offices or facilities, even in states where it’s permitted by law.”

Now, in concert with the Democrat party ramp-up supporting gun control for the 2018 midterms, Bergh has announced full support for political groups pushing for more restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms.

Bergh uses the current language and phrasing approved by the Civilian Disarmament Industrial Complex when advocating more “common-sense” gun control laws. In concert with the progressive left, he dutifully employs the focus-grouped, re-branded euphemism “gun safety.” The anti-gun left has learned the hard way that “gun control” has become unpopular and electorally toxic. Same policies, different label.

From fortune.com:

So today, on top of our previous actions, Levi Strauss & Co. is lending its support for gun violence prevention in three new areas.

First, we have established the Safer Tomorrow Fund, which will direct more than $1 million in philanthropic grants from Levi Strauss & Co. over the next four years to fuel the work of nonprofits and youth activists who are working to end gun violence in America.

Second, I’m proud to announce that Levi Strauss & Co. is partnering with Everytown for Gun Safety and executives including Michael Bloomberg to form Everytown Business Leaders for Gun Safety, a coalition of business leaders who believe, as we do, that business has a critical role to play in and a moral obligation to do something about the gun violence epidemic in this country. I encourage every CEO and business leader reading this to consider the impact we could make if we stood together alongside the broad coalition of concerned parents, youth, elders, veterans, and community and faith leaders who are committed to shaping a safer path forward.

Bergh spouts the talking point that, “On an average day, 96 Americans are killed by guns.”

That is factually false. People are not killed by guns. People are killed with guns. That’s a distinction with a very real difference. To say that people are killed by guns is to impart cognition and volition on inanimate objects.

Levi Strauss Gun Corporate Control Everytown for Gun Safety

Bergh also notes that two-thirds of the people who are killed with guns kill themselves. But none of the current restrictions on the lawful ownership or use of firearms proposed by the corporate or political left would make any significant reduction in those suicides totals.

It’s a bad idea for a company to insert itself into a contentious political question. They’re bound to offend a sizable group of their current and potential customers.

But progressive businessmen often put their pet political agendas ahead of corporate profits and the best interests of their stockholders.

It seldom works out well. There are a lot of manufacturers of clothes on the market. It isn’t hard for the more than 100 million gun owners in the United States to chose different brands that don’t oppose the exercise of their rights. Leftist virtue signaling has its consequences.

 

©2018 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch

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148 COMMENTS

    • Yeah, disarm America… That makes US easier to control for the “New World Order”. You know, where America goes under total control. Yep, they want everything Electricity… cars, homes, Everything. There goal is to get rid of all fossil fuels, gas of any kind. Also, the “New World Order” requires 190,000 people Maximum for Maximum control. Anybody ever wonder what the FEMA Camps were refurbished for?.. and the why acres upon acres of muti-bodied for during Hussein Obama’s Rein?

    • Please don’t rush out with your cameras and record yourself burning your Levi’s, as many are doing with their Nikes. If you want to get rid of them please find a homeless Veteran and give them to him or her and record that. Thanks

      • Remove the labels first! It’s nothing but a waste to burn or destroy something you already purchased considering that you already funded the company. By simply refusing to purchase anything else from them and letting your friends know to do the same, will the company see the effects of consumer dissatisfaction!

        All of the scarecrows on my farm now wear my levis. Let the crows shit on them and the sun rot them!

  2. I quit Levi years ago when they started this nonsense. I can’t take any more business away from them.

    • Piss off Levi Strauss.

      Take a picture of an NAA mini-revolve resting comfortably in the watch-pocket of a pair of Levis and post it far and wide…

      *snicker* 😉

    • To Rusty Chains………….. Thanks for leaving LEVI…… But you say that you cant take any more business away from them…. YES YOU CAN. Make sure this article is spread far and wide to every person out there. The more people that know about this the more sales will drop. IF that company starts losing 100 Million Dollars a year from just gun owners, then they will have a real hard time funding their One Million dollar program to fight us………………. Let everyone know. Even non gun owners need to know. Companies like this can take away other rights we have not just guns. We have to stop them before they get momentom…………………… Boy Cott Levi Everyone. Protect your rights now.

  3. They have been involved in the anti movement for quite some time,I haven’t need a single thing they produce in the last thirty years and still don’t,won’t .

    • Yep, Levi’s has been publicly anti-gun for at least as long as Bill Clinton has had “President” in front of his name.

    • Yes but now they have a c3 so you, and I, and all other taxpayers, are now paying half of Levi’s “charitable” donations to this clearly political cause. If they give $2 million to Everytown C3 arm and the other c3 in the gun control side, they get a $1 million deduction.

      The modern gun control lobby is a mechanism to inject tax deductible money into politics at a unprecedented scale. It is essentially and vest pocket DNC shadow campaign op, even with some of the same personnel

  5. I knew already that they were anti-gun and haven’t bought anything from LS for years and years, and now I never will.

    • The comments in this article are the first that I have ever heard of Levi Strauss advocating for civilian disarmament. We need to make sure EVERYONE knows about this.

      I purchased some Levi jeans a couple years ago. No more.

  6. I don’t wear Levi Strauss , never will. Why don’t they donate that money to help all the mentally ill in this country ? After all the mentally ill . unstable people in the US are the problem. Not the guns they obtain to shoot people with. Oh wait , the mentall health issue is a non issue . I guess it may be due to the fact that they don’t vote. Whatever. Levi’s are Dick’s , that’s the truth !!

  7. Won’t be wearing Levies and Nikes from Dick’s any more. From now on it’s Wranglers and New Balance from Cabela’s.

    • Been wearing Made In USA New Balance for over ten years now.
      Unfortunately, Made in USA are getting harder to find, unless you want to pay the big bucks for 990s or 993s.

  8. There are only NINE Denim Manufacturers that make Jeans in the United States! Unfortunately Wrangler, Lee, Levi’s, Carhart and Dickies aren’t amongst the Nine, they outsource their manufacture out to the People’s Republic of China…

  9. Levi is based in San Francisco, no surprise. They have a nice campus on the Embarcadero where you can escape from the city and just relax. You can walk the steps from Coit Tower down to it via a beautiful path between backyards.

    • That’s how Levi Strauss made his Fortune, selling Denim Jeans and General Supplies to the California Gold Rush. And San Francisco was Ground Zero for the Gold Rush. Virtually every Miner came through San Francisco to seek their fortunes, and bought their Supplies and Jean’s from places all over San Francisco. and Levi Strauss was just one of them…

  10. Do not recall the last time I bought a Levi product.
    Gotta be decades ago.
    They won’t get another dime from me. But they will get me to spread the oft-used-by-the-SJWs-boycott news.
    I will make sure I tell every 2A friend I have to invest in Wrangler or Lee jeans instead of Lev.

    LoL. Alynski’s Rules: #4 Use their tactics against them; Hold them to their own rules. (paraphrased).
    #6 “A good tactic is one your people enjoy.”

  11. I haven’t worn jeans in over a decade… 5.11 cargo pants are more comfortable and they have some styles that can even pass for business casual when a full suit is not required. Plus, as somebody who occasionally has to dive into a machine to figure out what’s not working, I appreciate the extra pockets and tear/stain resistance.

      • Good to know… I just like the pants. My first year in this job, I tore up three pairs of $80 dress pants. At that point, I was looking for the most durable thing I could get away with that would withstand the abuse I put them through.

    • Same, when im not in uniform its either 5.11 Apex pants, or Vertx. Super comfy, durable, nice looking, and the pockets are a huge plus.
      And the one suit i own for nice occasions lol.

    • Was hoping you’d attempt to explain some of the recent ridiculous-false statements you’ve made, but you were busy making wardrobe posts. More your speed it seems.

  12. Chip Bergh has always been partisan Demcorat.

    The Democrats are marketing Evertyown donations as in kind but TAX DEDUCTABLE donations.

    What Levis gives to the DNC is not tax deductiable but what they give to the “Everytown” nd hte gun contorl “coalition” is tax deducatable, even though both are the same ends. Everytown and virtually all the gun ocntorl groups are effectively charitable shadow campaigns for demcorats.

    so this is not surprising. 501c3s that are overtly partisan and political constitute more money into campaigns and politics process than Citizens united. money to these c3s gets the donor as much access and influence — and half of every dollar is not paid by the giver but by the taxpayer since most corprate donations to c3 are a hage effective deduction.

    Everytown even has an associated groups (“gunsdownamerica”) whose ONLY activity is to threaten corporations that don’t pay to play, as well as this also being a big part of “march for our lives”scheme

  13. In other news:

    “Shares of Nike Inc fell 3 percent on Tuesday as calls for a boycott of the sportswear giant gained traction on social media following its choice of Colin Kaepernick as a face for the 30th anniversary of its “Just Do It” slogan. Over 30,000 people were tweeting with the hashtag #NikeBoycott on Tuesday morning U.S. eastern time, making it among the top trending topics on Twitter. Some posted images of themselves burning and ripping their Nike shoes and apparel…”

    • I love how readily the left will forget all about decades of sweatshop abuses for the chance to virtue signal for Kapernick. After the lefty lovefest warhawk bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran McCain got last week I shouldn’t be surprised.

      • Forgive my ignorance, but is there some problem with bombing Iran? 20/20 hindsight tells us that bombing Iran in 1979 would have been MOST efficacious in the prompt return of American hostages, and appropriate and timely bombings subsequently would certainly have pre-empted their ability to produce nuclear materials and ballistic missiles.
        It is also quite possible that immediate massive bombings in 1979 would have NEGATED the need for any future bombings–bombings that, sadly, have been neglected, thus resulting in the current belligerent attitude of Iran.
        There is no human problem, large or small, that cannot be handled with a judicious application of high explosives.

    • Keep in mind the entire sector fell about the same amount. Adidas and Asics stock also fell today. This is mostly to do with Trump forcing China to end it absurdly unfair trade practices against the US which all those companies profit from.
      so it is too early to tell if Nike will be hurt long term

  16. Haven’t bought retail jeans in this millennium. So much brand new stuff in thrift stores it’s mind boggling…even when I was heavy into weightlifting and bodybuilding Levi’s crap never fit. Boycott them and the low quality from Nike-just do it😄😎😏

    • Right on! Haven’t bought or worn Levi’s since the ’70’s. I’m not starting now either. Hope all the virtue signalers; Nike, Levi’s and all the others fire their CEO’s for being stupid and running down their stock. Then I hope those CEO’s all go bankrupt when their golden parachutes fail to open in a timely manner.

    • Nike shoes suck. Overpriced, blindingly ugly, and the fit is poor. I wouldn’t be surprised if all these celebrity athlete endorsers pay someone else to break in their $300 signature shoes.

      The most painfully uncomfortable shoes I’ve ever had in my life were Nike. They felt great in the store, but caused crippling pain after a few hours wearing them on the job. Haven’t worn any since, and my feet and my bank account are better for it.

    • So much brand new stuff in thrift stores it’s mind boggling…my wife gets my jeans for me at the Free Store for nothing. I just got a bunch of new brand name shirts there as well.

  17. Hey Chipster, Go sashay around your sanctuary city one night in your jeans.
    Then tell us how you feel being un-protected.
    Ohhhhh…. you live in a gates community?
    Well now, isn’t that convenient!
    Hypocrite prick.

  19. 5.11s are far more comfy and utilitarian than the 501s I had in college and in the years after.

    Haven’t bought a pair of Levi’s in at least 15 years and it looks like that won’t change in the next 15.

    What kind of business owner intentionally pisses off half his customers?

    Answer: one that wants to go out of business.

    John

    • I haven’t bought a pair of jeans in 20 years either. I don’t understand why anyone would want denim pants, old cloth technology from at least 200 years ago, when there are so many great modern textiles and styles to choose from.

      Like John, I prefer 5.11, though I have my favorite styles and there are some less expensive alternatives.

      Dump the Levi Denim jean habit!

  20. Wrangler and others should welcome the new business. I guess they don’t the financial papers to see what has happened to Dick’s. You can only see some many jeans to leftist simps because they aren’t physically active enough to wear them out like sportspersons.

    • Sorta-You can’t be prosecuted anyway if you’re successful,but if your suicide FAILS they CAN arrest you and prosecute.

  26. this tweet killed it

    Scott Erskine
    ‏ @scott090278

    @LEVIS I found that the feminine cut of your mens jeans dont support the bearing of a gun anyway. So no loss for me.

  28. That decision has not worked so well For Dick’s Sporting Goods! Just another company i will not patronize!
    Hope Mr. Bergh is not a hypocrite and gets rid of his armed security!

  29. Rural King jeans work just fine for me. Why pay more than $7 or $8 bucks for a set of jeans you are going to work in and destroy?

  31. Why, Levi, WHY?! I loved your products! Why would you stab me and every gun owner in the back like this?!

    Oh well… Luckily, there are other companies. Liberty Blues comes to mind. They don’t last as long, but if Levi has tossed their lot in with the anti-gun crowd, I’ll just learn to sew and darn things. I get them off http://www.kingsizedirect.com which has plenty of other good products and good customer service.

  32. Levi’s haven’t fix me properly for a long time. While I generally don’t wear Jean’s, if I do they’re Cinch (made in Colorado) or Buckle.

  33. Monday thru Thursday, I wear dress pants and shirts. But comes Friday, I can get away with jeans. I was wearing Levi’s but then I discovered Wrangler’s flex jeans. The best thing is that I can carry IWB and they are comfortable. And did I mention, way less expensive.

  34. When do we say enough is enough? Perhaps we can create a database of businesses that align with our beliefs here, and patronize them accordingly. We can use TTAG as to gathering place, a place where we have actionable information, and go after what we stand for, supporting our words with our wallets.

  35. Old clothes branding: I’m wearing this because I’m cool.

    New: I’m wearing this because you suck.

    I wonder which sells better?

  36. i grew up in roebucks tuffskins. we used to call them crunchers since they were so stiff new.
    true value locally used cotter distributing, and i worked in the yamaha section of a family hardware store. this meant we had access to cowden jeans, u.s. made, i think they still sell for like nine bucks.
    the 34/ 34 in the foto would fit me fine (unless i’m in heels), but i haven’t worn anything but six pocket cargos since my need for fr arose.
    maybe they can get a sound bite of copernicus saying, “republican’s buy sneakers, too.” although i doubt if jordan ever said it. i would wear that on a shirt.

  38. Well looks like thetes one more product that I will not buy EVER AGAIN!! BESIDES once you Bastards up the price to 40,50+ $ a pair I just started patching my 501s now 32 yrs I’ve literally applied so many patches the most and only reconizable LEVIS part is the buttons. I will give them the send off they deserve. Ill pitch them in my wood stove in a few weeks. So long Levis….

  39. I am wearing Levi’s, guess no more for me. Wranglers do not fit me. I am a former sewing machine operator and inspector with 20 years working for the parent company Blue Bell which went south when the clintons started all the nafta nonsense. Many jobs left this country then. VF the was main company name at that time which had many brands under them; Garanimals, Lee, Wrangler, Jantzen, Vanity Fair, Red Kap to name some that I remember. They threw us under the bus when they got a chance to leave the US for cheaper sources. Took all their basic machinery and headed south. For months our last work was redoing the shoddy stuff they were getting back from south america because it was not fit to sell, but when they were trained enough the US plants closed.

  40. Everytown Business Leaders for Gun Safety- one stop for your boycotting needs. Please prominently post your membership.

  41. Making fun of Levi Strauss is almost as bad as making fun of Sears. They’re laying down in the same grave. Almost like kicking a dog. Let them fade into communist oblivion like everyone else.

  43. This same company took there manufacturing overseas several years ago. Hope the new tarrliffs cause them to go out of business.

  44. Nationalize Levi Strauss and issue their stuff free to all of us comrades. Send the rich owners to re-education gulags in northern Alaska.

  45. I’ll still buy them. I’ll still go into their stores to do so. But I’m taking my GUN! I’ll wear them like I am today, with my SIG tucked inside!

  46. No Levi products are made in the USA, so he certainly doesn’t have to worry about me being in his stores. I buy my jeans now from All American Clothing Company. They are made here all the way down to the cotton! So, Levi, maybe you can sell your foreign clothes to foreigners or maybe they can’t afford them on the pathetic wages you pay!

  48. I will never buy another Levi Strauss product. I have not bought any in years finding Wrangler and Duluth Brand superior products. Love Duluth’s Fire Hose Canvas Jeans. Any Levis I found in my closet were sold at the resale store that buys Levis and I bought more ammunition with the proceeds. Any of you with Levis in your closet find a place that buys them, use the money to buy ammo or put it toward a new gun and let everyone know. But most of all boycott Levi Products and their off shoot companies.

  49. Guess I’ll have to hang my gun off the side of different denims. Been hanging it off Levi’s for 60 years. Levi Strauss followed the trend of large corporations ” stepping on their collective dicks “, never realized their legs were that short.

  50. “You are not losing your civil rights when multi billion dollar companies donate money to groups that are working to take away your constitutional rights.”
    So say the Libertarians, Liberals and the Left.

    “Only the government can take away your civil rights” Says a proud Libertarian.

    Several years ago I watched the CEO of Levi say he moved all his manufacturing out of the USA. To save money.

  51. Levi’s garbage has not been worth purchasing for decades anyhow. Lee’s are a better pair of pants, period. Now I’ve reason to check logo’s on other items than jeans alone. shirts, jackets, and clothing accessories I will boycott ad encourage others to boycott.

  52. So, I’m adding Levi to the list of companies I will NEVER do business with. The list already had Bank of America, Citicorp, Walmart, and Dick’s Sporting Goods.

    • Don’t forget Denny’s Restaurants and Starbucks Coffee-they don’t allow guns,open OR Concealed Carry. They’re “TARGET RICH ZONES”!!

  54. No more Levi’s for me and I’ll get rid of the ones I have!!!! Just like I have stopped shopping at Dick’s Sporting Goods as well…

  55. So when every gun is removed from the face of the earth do all humans become non-violent? Man has been killing man with everything from rocks to nuclear bombs for millennia, removing one weapon will change that how?

  57. on average, 2,000 Americans are killed by abortion each and every day, and NONE of these are suicides.

    but anti-gunners do not care that 50 times more people are murdered in the womb than outside the womb (20 times more abortions than gun murders and suicides combined), because abortions are done with forceps, knives, and vacuums instead of guns.

    • Over 77million abortions since 1973 Roe vs Wade. Have you ever wondered why the Black population haven’t risen past 13% since 1973? That’s also known as genocide.

  58. Well, another company who I will not buy from again. Personal opinion does not supersede the Constitution of the United States. Bergh said that an average of 96 people are killed by guns. He needs to open his eyes and ears. PEOPLE kill people. Guns are inanimate objects and will not do anything unless used by PEOPLE.

  60. I admit that I must stand behind common sense gun law. It is called the Second Amendment. I especially like the common sense clause, “shall not be infringed.”

  62. Funny, I’ve never even been a specific Livi Strauss store. Most I shop at usually carry Lee and Levi togather and other assorted lessor brands such as Wrangler etc. At any rate, I usually walk right past the Levi’s anyway because They’re way overpriced, Two pairs of plain old blue Levi’s will cost the same as 3 pairs of Lee’s and the Lee’s are of the same quality as the Levis. As a matter of fact, the Lee’s are of a thicker denim material and will wear much longer than that thin stuff Levis call denim. I stopped buying Levis more than 20 years ago when I found out they were farming out 99% of manufacturing to foreign countries. The dudes a sellout.

  64. Wranglers jeans are better, levis just lurches along on name not quality or wearability.
    Levis better watch their social justice virtue signalling kids are wearing a lot of brands now levis? Not so much.
    I wear Wranglers or some version of tactical khaki.

  65. No Surprise! Yet Another Skinny, Pale, Effeminate Sissyfag from San Franshitsco. The ONLY Gun this guy likes is the one His Lover puts in his Mouth to Suck On!

  67. They are free to have their opinion just as I am to have mine and to spend my money as I please no more Levis or Nikes I am tried of companies trying to tell me what is best for me .

  68. There are lots of denim jeans that are equal or better than Levi, cheaper too. I hear-by quit buying or wearing Levi jeans from henceforth!

  69. I just bought 8 pair of 501’s because I’ve always worn ’em,they’re what feels comfortable to me. I’m returning them for a full refund. If I can’t get my money back,I’ll burn ’em in the parking lot in front of the store. Costco has better pants for 1/4 the price,and I’m sure someone will begin offering some form of button fly jeans,which I’ll gladly buy. If you’re against the Second Amendment,you’re against AMERICA!!
    Levi Strauss-Burn in Hell!

  70. I don’t know if I can kick the “Button Fly” habit!! Does ANYONE know of an American maker of Jeans that are available with a button fly? I’ve always hated zippers,I’ve NEVER had to replace a pair of 501’s because the buttons broke….

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