Optics Planet email

We’ve received the above copy of an email sent to anĀ OpticsPlanet customer. It informs the aspiring magazine buyer that the company will no longer sell ammunition magazines with greater than a 10-round capacity to the general public. We called OpticsPlanet . . .

and confirmed this new policy with a customer service rep.

An earlier version of this post suggested that the change in policy may have been related to the Parkland, Florida spree killing. The company has released an official statement denying that connection, laying the blame for the policy change at the doorstep of this law in Cook County, Illinois.

Here’s OpticsPlanet’s official statement:

When there’s smoke, there’s often fire. But sometimes – smoke is just smoke.

We fully understand how the email featured in the article on The Truth About Guns suggests that we may have made a decision to limit the sales of magazines over 10 roundsĀ due to the recent tragedy in Parkland, Florida. Before we go any further, we want to make it clear that our condolences go to the families of all of the victims, andĀ that our hearts go out to a community trying to recover after a senseless event.

At OpticsPlanet, we have never used the inflamed tensions and emotions of current events to drive decision making. Our support of the 2ndĀ amendment is made undeniably clear by the products we offer. We are one of the few online retailers who never stopped offering completely legal products such as bump stocks or binary triggers, when many did. We do not raise prices during frenzies. We do, however, follow the laws and make adjustments when legally required.

In this case, insufficient internalĀ communication led to a misread message.Ā We are not offering magazines with capacities greater than 10 rounds to the general publicĀ due to our location in Northbrook, Illinois, and local laws that limit our ability to sell these. Being an internet retailer serving fifty states can be complex at times, and frankly, our location in Illinois only adds to this complexity. We may not always like the law, but we need to follow it.

We own up to the fact that we did not explain this well internally, which led to an unclear message given to the customer, but we can completely repudiate any notion that this is a reaction to any recent event or the political climate. Unfortunately, our loyal customer base is best served by purchasing their magazines from retailers in “free” states. This issue is currently out of our hands. Weā€™re committed to working hard to retain your business for everything else you need.

It’s unfortunate that this issue has created so much confusion, and we apologize for not providing clearer messaging in the first place. We continue to support our passionate customer community as we have for the past eighteen years in every way we can.

 

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212 COMMENTS

      • Any CEO worth his/her salt would have seen the backlash in his crystal ball. Optiks Planet should have just listed all high >10 round mags as perpetually out of stock. Itā€™s not like mags are rare.

    • Optics Planet is in Northbrook Illinois. I fairly sure they are not under home rule for Cook County AWB. I have a feeling that one of Parwinkle’s little minions showed up. Any city inside of Cook county with a gun store has firearms laws on the books and thus are home rulled from the County law. As a side note Chicago is also home rule and has a 15 round limit on long guns where the County law is 10

      • On the other hand F.E.I. …Classic Firearms has KCI .40 sw Glock 50 round drums for $29 this week. Theres always someone that I can find to give money to for Hi-Cap mags without looking too hard (I ordered two), bye bye Optics Planet.

      • Damn, I wish these were available in 9mm at that price… I have no idea what I’d do with one seeing how I never even load up my 33rd mags but options are always nice

        • Git yerself a 9mm AR and 2 50-round drums!!!
          I have an AR9 with 33 round Glock mags and it’s GREAT FUN to shoot!!!

    • Like with 5 seconds of research you could figure out this was all not true. OP only ever offered std capacity mags for LE. They’ve never had civilian sales of 11+round mags. They could always build a warehouse in Indiana, but that would not be free.

    • Who goes to OpticsPlanet to buy extended magazines? That’s like me going to GunMagWarehouse to buy an EOCtech.

      At least they didn’t pull all of their sporting rifles off the shelves like Academy did.

    • Time to escape to Texas.
      I did last year and am so happy every day.
      We are not perfect but we keep trying.
      We have PRIDE in our state like no other in the union.

      • Escaped from the People’s Republic of California 9 years ago. We live in ugly desert but the Anglo’s are super 2A supporters.

    • Dumbasses. There are already a few business left who support us and you want kill off what is left by ganging up without reading the law?
      I am sure they have lawyers there to do business in IL and sell gun related stuff.
      Who are traitors? How many websites do you know that sell bump stocks that are not just fun but perfectly legal!! Stop this BS and help the lefts to kill what we have left.

    • That’s why they did it. Supporting anti gun laws will keep them alive a little longer.

      Generally pro gun people don’t stick to their word and they don’t affect change. That’s why they are NRA members.

      • Calling now to cancel a scope pre order I have with them. Bye bye 3k sale…
        Probably wonā€™t ever use them in the future and definitely wonā€™t as long as thatā€™s policy.

      • CZjay, I’m a NRA life member and have lots of friends who are NRA members and we all stick to our word. So you can GFY a$$hole! Viva LA NRA!!!

        • What do you think about giving up bump fire stocks for suppressors or national reciprocity? What did you do when the NRA said the ATF should “regulate” things like bump fire stocks? From your cold dead hands? How cold are your hands?

  3. Well, I have a special list I will be delighted to put them on. Right behind Springfield Armory and Rock River Arms.

    May they go commit an unsanitary act upon themselves.

    • Optics Planet has been on my shit list since December. You order from them and it takes months for them to ship and when you ask different customer service reps, you never get the same answer as to when your items will ship.

      They’re a shitty company already, add this to it and they can fug off.

      • I had a pretty good experience with them last fall and during Christmas, was thinking of making them my go-to folks, oh well…

    • For what it’s worth, Optics Planet is also from Illinois, just like those other two….

      Something in the water?

    • I just wanted to mention that RRA is NOT affiliated with Rock Island Armory/Armscor and is in fact a terrific company and strong 2A supporter. Their products are advertised as made in the Philippines but they’re actually made in Italy by Tanfogglio then shipped to be assembled.

      • I have an RIA GI .45. Fantastic 1911. $400 gun that goes bang and hits the target. Right up there with the $800 guns. Strangely enough it worked right out of the box, unlike some of those “high end” ones… just sayin.

    • Please edify me. Too busy shooting out here in Texas to know the controversies with some of the sellers mentioned. What did they do that was 2A unfriendly? What did Ruger do. What blows me away is that the makers like Aero in Seattle, Weatherby in CA, those folks in Connecticut and New York stay in those unfriendly environments. They should, and I would support them more, come out to 2A friendly states. Why give the Marxist liberal governments tax revenue to they can trash us.

      • Yep. Don’t forget LWRC in Maryland. Wanted a REPR, but some of the money from the sale would go that state from corporate taxes. Got the SIG DMR instead. Love it, and saved some bucks too.

        It is expensive to move a company, especially one requiring skilled employees, but at some point, one must say “enough” and stop cutting one’s own throat.

    • Why Cheaper Than Dirt? I put them on my crap list when they inflated ammo prices during a shortage. Is there more to their scummery?

      • Right after Sandyhook they cancelled all pending AR-15 orders and if people still wanted one they had to re-order at the new, markedly higher price. Dead to me since then.

  6. “We can no longer sell these….” WRONG!
    “We CHOOSE to no longer sell these….” is what they really mean.

  7. I quit using them when I found out that just because they take your money doesn’t mean there isn’t a 17 week wait for your purchase to come back in stock so it can be delivered.

    • I worry that this is the beginning of another round of panic buying. That’d be great for the manufactures and vendors, but kind of a pain for consumers for a few months. It’d also give the impression that the antis had momentum.

  9. Why do I feel like we’re on the Gun rights Titanic, sinking; Pro gun people are playing music on the deck while the rats flee?

    • Because these pro gun people are lazy and have no substance. They pay other people to do their work for them — people who don’t truly have their interest in mind. They think the 2nd Amendment is the roadblock to illegal laws against human rights. Words on a piece of paper do not stop people from breaking the rules. Look at Mexico, look at California.

      The NRA is one of the worst things to have happened to 2nd Amendment defenders. They took the fight out of human rights supporters and increased the motivation of the anti human rights mob.

      Men pass off their duty to money making organizations, then women rule over the passive men. There is no balance in American society. I wonder if the white man even knows how to accomplish anything more than what Europe has achieved.

        • Florida Republicans Caving on Gun Control

          President Trump Direct Justice Department to Ban Bump Fire Stocks

          That’s what I am saying.

          The NRA isn’t there to help you retain your human rights. They were created to help train white men how to fight for the U.S. government. Historically, they haven’t been pro gun like people think they are. They created, or helped, pass infringements on the human right to keep and bear arms. The NRA, and the Republicans, pretend to be for individual liberty until the check cashes.

          You can’t hand off your duty to the NRA or the Republicans. Women will lash out and control society with their emotions because their men have failed them. If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.

    • Because youā€™re and idiot or a spineless coward. If they try to pass something, itā€™s time to exercise that 2nd amendment veto. Not one step back.

      In any case, they donā€™t have the votes and they know they donā€™t have the votes. Given Trumpā€™s skyrocketing popularity, making gun control an election year issue will end the DNC and they know it.

      • Fresh new poll news, Trump is no longer negative on the mid-term House generic ballot.

        It seems his tax reform is proving *very* popular, and it has another 6 months get even more popular with the voters before November.

        Combine that with the *very* pro-republican chances in the Senate, we may have a *very* merry X-Mass and new year to celebrate, if we can get Trump to quit tweeting… šŸ˜‰

  10. F’ers. I’m sure there will be plenty of people to remind folks on the gun deal pages if someone is stupid enough to post optics planet deals.

  12. Where’s John Boch — isn’t he on the President’s gun panel? They should be convening right now.

    This is their hour, those folks need to step up and provide real leadership that actually STOPS school shootings (or at least stops the spree killer’s unresisted open field).

    This is no time to sit back and say “it’ll all blow over” — this is a time to win once and for all.

    • At the minimum there needs to be armed security in schools and churches. Some forward thinking institutions in Texas have already done that. And not one old timer with a six shot revolver, but uniformed police with high capacity pistols in multiples. They don’t carry ARs on them, but I’m sure they’re able to get to them quickly. It doesn’t take a genius to figure this out. All these schools have people sitting on their ass waiting for someone else to do something.

  13. Well, I donā€™t like doing business with them anyway. They have been known to list items as in stock that have to be ordered from a distributor or from the manufacturer. Other shoppers have complained that OpticsPlanet will sell an item, charge your card, and then order the item from their vendor.

    On the other hand, at least they are not charging in excess of a hundred dollars for a thirty round PMag. /sarc

    • Yep. Its called drop shipping. I’ve had the same experience with them. Tried to order some items but canceled them after the multi week wait, one time I called them and realized they are a drop shipper.

  14. OP’s stance makes my life simpler…one less email to read daily. There’s a sufficient number of alternative vendors to take care of our needs.

  15. If they want to loose business, so be it. I am sure that certain politician’s will praise this if it helps their agenda. There are plenty of other retailers who will be glad to accept their business to sell what is desired by customers.

    I personally view, 10 round magazines as “reduced capacity” magazines, especially if a weapon is designed and offered to LE/Govt with magazine capacities of 10+ rounds, I consider those to be “standard capacity”.

    The term “high capacity magazine” is, something I feel, that was coined by the media, like their use of “assault rifle”. Since 1994, they have conditioned the public to accept that 10 round magazines as “standard capacity” and anything more then 10 rounds as “high capacity”. And for states with state capacity limits of 10 rounds, their citizens consider 10 rounds to be normal.

    Yes, there are semi auto pistols that have less then 10 rounds, but they are usually designed to be easy to conceal. So a standard capacity of less then 10 is “normal”.

    • FWIW: “…Trump offered support for a limited strengthening of federal background checks on gun purchases…” Now WTF is “limited” if there is a system already in place and would not have prevented the kid’s purchase anyway?

      • The low-hanging fruit would be pushing certain states to come into compliance with the reporting requirements. NICS would be ‘strengthened’, and no new laws would be necessary.

        • F all dat.

          Upping the requirements to the “honor system” that is the Federal NICS check system doesn’t buy you any more honor. It’s like putting a bigger padlock on your shed door, when a theif could just peel the hasp off with a screw driver.

          It’s all gun control til they can do you control, and it won’t quit until you plant them all, which is never, cause satan nwill shit some more out in the meantime.

  17. Make no mistake…this is a self-inflicted, unforced error. There is NO law that required them to do something this stupid. The are pandering to and have joined ranks with the enemies of the 2nd amendment. I hope they have a very strong grip on the astronomer hobbyist community, because their gun optic sales just went up in smoke. I’ve purchased from them in the past and no more unless they flail themselves in public and beg for forgiveness (free optics for every gun owner might be a nice start).

  18. I’m worried, We as POTG may not give up our fight BUT the gun industry might sell us down the river. Example: you can’t have/own 30 round mags If no one sells them, same for bump stocks ar-15’s “green tip” ammo ect. we are being sold out one by one politicians, gun company’s, NRA Fudds. even trump is asking for advice from those rich moron fudds about gun control.

    • I wouldn’t worry about it…losing a nice chunk of your business because you put some SJWs into management is self-correcting. Either you somehow find a way to lure the lost customers back or you file chapter 11 or chapter 7. Either way, it’s hard to get customers you went out of your way to piss on back.

    • Then we will 3d print or learn to stamp and weld our own mags, if companies refuse to sell. And then start our own companies.

    • Obviously, there is a different Sheriff in town which doesn’t have the same “inevitable” feeling. My money we won’t see an EO or even anything seriously spent on the floor, but then again Eagles did win and at the most a bone (heavily defined bumpfire bill) will be tossed to the rabid left.

      • Have you seen the current Republican representatives? Well, you are likely not to because they will be gone very soon. So will Donald fake Republican/American Trump.

        • Then we should start loading mags right now, cause the alternative is going to look like armageddon.

          Were going to vote down some rinos, sure, but were not doing POS (D) rule on anything but Leavenworth cell block bitch queens for a F ing long time.

  21. I’ve never had a problem with OP in terms of items being listed “in stock” but not being in stock. When they did fuck up their customer service was top notch and all problems were made right immediately.

    However, this sort of voluntary capitulation isn’t something I’ll tolerate and it goes way farther than was RRA/SA did. Those companies plausibly had a reason (staying afloat in an unfriendly State) to do what they did. OP has NO reason to do this and I suspect it’s going to cost them very, very dearly.

    Personally, I won’t do business with them until they rescind this stupid policy and commit some major act of contrition. I’m not sure what the latter would be but it’s going to have to be BIG to get my business again.

  22. Well Optics planet is now in the no buy zone. That zone includes
    rock river arms
    springfield armory
    cheaper than dirt

  24. Here’s the only email I could find for them:
    [email protected]

    I just sent a simple email stating that I will gladly be taking my business elsewhere, due to their decision to restrict the sale of “high capacity” magazines. An act of betrayal based upon cowardliness and one that they know will have absolutely zero effect in addressing the real issue. I also asked if they’d like to disclose the number of “high capacity” magazines they’ve sold, along with their total profits from them.

  25. Founder and CEO of OpticsPlanet, Mark Levitin, came to the U.S. in 1989 from the Soviet Union, where he was born and educated. Do you think he shares our pro-2A values? People should buy from real American-owned and pro-2A companies.

    • Does anyone have anything against MidwayUSA? I met Larry Potterfield at the 2016 NRA Annual Meeting. Seems like an upstanding guy. Prices are slightly higher than some other sites.

      • FWIW I’ve always found them very easy to deal with. Don’t know of any reason not to buy from them except, as you say, sometimes their prices are a little higher. But getting free shipping isn’t that hard and when I can make a “one stop shopping” buy from them, I find the convenience is often worth it.

      • Midway is an outstanding company. Yeah, prices may be a tad higher that other places, but Midway also donates tons of money to shooting programs.

        Optics planet is definitely on my “never shop there again” list.

  26. Did they ever sell “high capacity” magazines? They sure haven’t for the past 18 months. I wasn’t paying attention to them before that.

    Why is everyone only upset now? It’s not like they had them yesterday and didn’t today.

    • Longer than that. I have been a customer for years and haven’t seen them on their site but sporadically. Even then, their prices were not the best. Botach has been my go-to. That or magazine warehouse.

      • I’ve been a little leery of GMW since their credit card breach; mine was one of the ones they lost and it took a while and some nuisance to get the charges reversed.

        It can happen, I get that, but I found out about the problem when the false charges appeared, and later read about it on a third party website. Not notifying their customers when they knew … not good.

        • Oh wow. Didn’t even know that happened as I haven’t used them in a good minute. Never good when a company plays dumb and/or delays informing their customers of a problem.

  27. they’re showing plenty of 30rd, 20rd 15rd etc mags on their site…

    anyway, this can’t be good press for them. it’s not going to end well

  29. “Itā€™s a worrying sign that the call for gun control triggered by the mass murder at Marjory Douglas Stoneman High School is gaining rather than losing strength.”

    Its an important election year, leftist activist groups are at each other’s throats, and vying for pole position in primaries. Much of the MSM drama is generated by astroturf, make no mistake. They were prepared to not let a crisis go to waste. And since all they have is emotional arguments, this is prime time for them.

  31. I just unsubscribed from all of their emails. I told them it was because of their policy to stop shipping standard capacity magazines.

    Ya’ll can do the same by clicking the “unsubscribe” at the bottom of one of their emails.

  32. This is pretty irresponsible “journalism” by RF.

    They’re located in Northbrook, IL. Northbrook is in Cook County. Guess what isn’t legal in Cook County? Magazines with a capacity >10 rounds…

    • Also, as I posed above they haven’t sold any Magpul AR-10, AR-15, or AK-47 magazine with >10 round capacity since Iā€™ve been aware of them (~18 months). They’ve only sold the 5 & 10rd ones.

      Did anyone confirm the start date of this “new” policy.

      Further, if they have local inventory and aren’t drop shipping from the wholesaler can they even posses >10 round magazines in Cook County, IL as business? Everything I found says >10 round magazines are not allowed there.

        • Honestly, if they canā€™t sell 30 rounders or other items legal in Freedom loving states then they need to abandon Illinois and take their tax dollar generating business to a state that will appreciate their business choosing to locate there. I wish we could save states like California and Illinois and New Jersey, New York etc, but we canā€™t so pick up and move your gun businesses out. Go where people want the jobs and the state want your business and tax revenue.

      • They are a drop shipper so they could probably figure out a way to sell mags if they really wanted to. Last time I checked probably half of their items listed were drop shipped.

        • Are you sure? The stuff I’ve gotten from them doesn’t seem to have been drop shipped. It comes in an Optics Planet box and everything.

        • I don’t believe that is too difficult to do, Many retailers do. The clothing industry’s grey-goods flip is pretty common example.

      • They are indeed not allowed to sell them, and I think that the idiots in Crook County would make a huge hurrah over it if they found them doing such. They may be able to drop ship (theoretically) but I’m not sure if Crook County would like that either. They need to move north, south or west. We’d welcome their income contributions in Will County and don’t have gun taxes, ammo taxes, Cook County ripoff taxes or AWB garbage. Then again out of state isn’t horrible either and likely yet cheaper.

        This seems to be a lot of hubub over not a lot. Yeah, it’s crappy that they don’t/can’t sell mags over 10 rounds, but it sounds like painting it as a reactionary to an event when in reality it’s likely a legality of their location that’s always existed is at face value absurd. I’m willing to pawn this one off as hype and fake news in the interim and feel like a clarification or correction should be issued.

        • I don’t think that’s going to happen. We’re going to find out a lot about the ethical make up of TTAG about this one. This is straight up fake news apparently posted to try to harm a business. It seems that from now on I have to view things posted on TTAG with the same skepticism as things reported by the MSM.

          Sad…

      • Your presuming that Cook County has similar laws to all those other places.

        Regardless, they didn’t sell “high capacity” magazines 1 week ago, 1 month ago, or 1 year ago. There is no sudden policy change. Clearly TTAG has the same level of journalistic standards as CNN, NYT, WAPO, and the rest of them.

  33. I checked with some people that I know within the company, and what is above is NOT true.
    there is some IL BS law because the company is 15 miles north of Chicago.
    They are scrambling with the official answer, etc but this has nothing to do with FL just bad timing for the post
    https://library.municode.com/il/cook_county/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=PTIGEOR_CH54LIPEMIBURE_ARTIIIDEWEDE_DIV4BLHOASWEBA_S54-212ASWELAPAMASAPREX

    hopefully we will know soon – no reason to freak out about this good vendor

    • How dare you attempt to bring facts into play. We’ve got to let our “feelz” rule the day and be like the knee-jerk lefties we complain about…

    • If that turns out to be the case, then this is not within their control and I (and probably most people here) won’t hold that against them. I guess we’ll know soon enough.

    • If it’s because of a local ordinance, there might be a Commerce Clause challenge because they buy Pmags from Colorado and ship them across the country.

      The note at the top of the article is supposedly from their “Risk Management” group. I read a book with advice for CEOs a long time ago and the one thing I remember was the recommendation that the CEO should receive advice from the corporate lawyers and bean counters but make all of the final decisions himself. It went on to say something to the effect of: If you let the lawyers and bean counters run your corporation, it will die a slow and painful death.

  34. Iā€™m done with them. We donā€™t need to financially support a company so willing to betray their customers. I was never a huge customer for them, but I did buy from them once or twice a year. Theyā€™ll never see another thin penny from me.

    • Well Toni Preckwinkle Cook County Board of Commissioners, gun grabber extreme, thanks you for your support

  35. Call me crazy but why could they not just fulfill the existing orders and take the mags off the site? I know it would be a cowardly move but still more professional than this. I hate ordering stuff that is not ready for sale. And if something is out of stock . . . THEN WHY SHOW IT IN THE FIRST PLACE. If it is on your site it should be for sale. And if you already ordered it then fulfill the order. This isn’t rocket science.

    • they can and I am sure they do sell the mags and another stuff to LEOs and Military.
      Chicago is in Cook County and so is OpticsPlanet.com
      they are just following the laws

    • Since they have never had an order, its easy to fulfill a not a thing. So they’ve delivered all of them they’ve sold.

  36. We need to inundate them with emails regarding this decision. Go to the bottom of their web page and use the ā€œcontact usā€ link and let them know NOT ANOTHER PENNY!

  37. Fake News. They never sold high cap mags, mag extensions or Ammo. Too many restrictions in the county they are in as well as the places they ship to.

    I would assume they decided the margins on those items simply arenā€™t worth the risk.

  38. I’ve purchased items from Optics Planet in the past. Never again, and ending my email subscription immediately. Great way to force yourself out of business Optics Planet. Not real smart.

  40. As a private business Optics Planet has the right to sell or not to sell whatever products they so choose. But as a second amendment supporter and activist I also have the right never to buy another damn thing from the sellout sumbitches. Opticsplanet I hope you choke and die on your decision to censor and regulate the Second Amendment when no one else is asking you to. This is the kind of crap the NRA did to get oh most of America hating their guts! So let me know how this works out for your business model, you bunch of sell-out punks.

  42. Optics Planet doesn’t sell a cotton pickin thing that other retailers don’t also sell. I purchased from them time to time, but this lame brain idea ends that. I will gladly take my business elsewhere. No problem. I can pretty much bet this would never happen at Magpul.

    • I’ve lost a bit of respect for TTAG the rabid posters here tonight with this one. This is a made up story with about as much accuracy as the crap that comes out of Mom’s Demand Action or Everytown.

      You and everyone else swearing them of probably never shopped there.

      • You are so correct.
        As a generation gun 2.0 person I have not shopped there. I am looking for deals information and quality service. And I know I will not be shopping at this company.

        They will not be getting this new gun owners money.

  44. This is an easy one. Cook county law is preempted by state law for pistols, which has no round count restrictions. you could make the case that they are only selling 30 round magazines for AR-pattern pistols and theoretically they’ll be fine. There is some debate on whether magazines are covered by this preemption, but it hasn’t been tested in court yet so we don’t know. Can’t blame OP for not wanting to be the test case.

    • How long has OP been selling 30 rd. mags for AR’s? Why now all of a sudden are they no longer going to?

      • I don’t think they ever sold 30 rnd mags . They could only sell 15’s since their warehouse was in a place that limits mags to 15 rnds. Cook County’s “assault weapon ban” limits all mags to 10 rounds.

        • Sorry, that makes no sense. Many firearms are produced in states where those firearms are illegal, but they can still be produced in that state. Why would magazines be any different?

        • Cook County’s “assault weapon” ban doesn’t mean jack shit as pistol magazines are specifically covered by IL CCW preemption law.

        • Get out of here with the facts! You’re interrupting the fake news and the baseless crusade Robert has started against a business that is operating according to the laws of the jurisdiction they reside in (with no policy change since the shooting in FL last week). I thought POTG and TTAG were better than this, but apparently not.

          Once trust is lost, it’s pretty hard to get back. And I’m not talking about Optics Planet.

        • Dude, they just threw all Illinois gun owners under the bus by claiming to be pressured by a non-existent law.

  45. Wow, the site must be getting hit hard (TTAG, not Optics Planet, obviously) since this article briefly disappeared. Thought for a second it was a memory-hole violation like what happens here occaisionally, but seeing it’s back up, I guess it’s for real

  46. OP just tried to post some bullshit about being bound by Cook County home rule laws… except that AR magazines, being pistol magazines, are specifically except from home rule provisions under the IL CCW law.

  47. As mentioned Cook county is a home rule place. In MY town south of Chiraq I can legally buy 30 round mags and ASSault rifles(SIC!) aplenty. And shoot them at Eagle Sports range-also in Cook co. Optics Planet was NOT on my radar so no big whoop. Toni Preckwinkee doesn’t have the authority to overrule home rule. PERIOD…

    • Except that “pistol” magazines are specifically covered by IL CCW preemption law. It’s why I can walk through downtown chiraq with a 21 round happy stick in my pocket and there is jack shit CPD can do about it.

        • Neither does IL law, that’s the problem with federalism, local jurisdictions have local jurisdiction as long as the supreme court agrees, get busted in Cook county and you’ll be in jail with all the gang bangers.

          Plus this whole issue is fake news, Optics Planet has been limited for years.

        • Holy fucking shit you’re retarded. It’s BLACK LETTER LAW. I LIVE right down the street from Cook Country. There’s a Cabelas that sells 100 round drums just fine in Hoffman Estates.

        • Hoffman Estates has a specific exception on the books but Cabella’s will not even ship to my house. No law against that.

      • If you actually tried to do this, you will go to jail in Cook Co. If you have lots of cash to pursue a supreme court challenge, good on you, but for the rest of us, that’s probably a terrible idea.

        • Whatever you say Leroy, Illinois CCW statute has black letter law preemption. Now go home and collect your Soros check you commie troll.

    • Highland Park is probably not home rule. You need to have firearms laws on the books. Home rule is very messy and the only time I begin to trust it is if the local city has your back (if you live in a town with a gun store)

  50. This law only applies to unincorporated areas of Cook County and I’m sticking with that. There was quite a bit of debate at IllinoisCarry for the last decade. Todd clarified several things. If a Municipality has their own firearm laws period, those laws have pre-emption over county laws.

    What kind of world do we live in where a city has to make a law saying what is allowed?

    See:
    Midwest Shooting Sports in Lyons, IL
    Point Blank Range and Gunshop in Hodgkins, IL
    Cabelas in Hoffman Estates
    Blackhawk in Alsip
    Freddy Bear Sports in Tinley
    Eagle Sports in Oak Forest

    All of these are in Cook County, they sell AR15s/AKs/Keltec Bullup/Tavors/Etc and various magazines in 30/40 round capacities.

    Also Article VII of the IL constitution.

  52. Don’t forget about all of Optics Planet’s other business names. Like dvor.com. going to be looking for all the others.

  53. Funny how they say the law in IL is driving this but they don’t actually give any references or details.

    They’re lying.

  54. I call BS. One of the biggest Cabela’s in the country is in Cook County. You know what they and every other gun shop in the county sells? ARs and pistols with tons and tons of standard capacity mags.

  55. Stuff like this annoys me about TTAG. Instead of just assuming a change in policy is a reaction to a mass shooting, how about picking up a phone and calling the company for a comment? Donā€™t think thatā€™s too unreasonable before you whip up the frenzied internet mob.

    • What? You want responsible journalism? Apparently you’re reading the wrong blog. I didn’t realize this was how TTAG operated. This certainly has been eye opening to me. Rush to publish a sensationalized story that’s incredibly inaccurate and hurts a business for what? Was LiesAboutGuns about to scoop them if they didn’t drop it first?

      I know I won’t be looking at any TTAG posts in the same way anymore. The same goes for the bandwagon hopping commenters who believe it all with no critical thinking and run straight for the pitchforks and torches…

  56. When I e-mailed them about this I got a response from them with in 7 hours that included a link to the Cook County law that was forcing their hand.

    shit reporting here Robert.

    • If they claim this Cook County law is “forcing their hands” they are full of shit. Cook County laws only apply to unincorporated Cook County.

      • For those who don’t know, in Illinois the laws of homerule cities (such as Northbrook) supercede any conflicting county laws. Northbrook specifically rejected passing an AWB or magazine law in 2013. Almost every municipality in Cook County is homerule. The only ones I can remember having AWBs on the books are Chicago and Oak Park. Hence the interpretation that the Cook County ban only applies to unincorporated areas.

        One of the most important things that happened when the state legislature passed the Concealed Carry Act was that they secured enough votes to ensure state preemption over the regulation of handguns, including magazine capacity. Most people of the gun and stores interpret this to mean that local jurisdictions cannot regulate AR or AK magazines (since there are pistol versions of both)

        • This dual use of mags is exactly the point I searched the comments for to see whether anyone else had already advanced it. It’s the single most important element to this topic.

          It’s similar to selling .22lr ammunition to 18-20 year olds, even though sale of handgun ammunition to them is illegal, because .22lr is also used in rifles, whose ammunition 18-20 year olds may purchase.

          Thanks for making this point.

        • You need to be home rule AND have firearm’s laws on the books. They don’t want to mess with magazine laws and I don’t blame them. I still can’t get “high” capacity handgun magazine from various re sellers. Buds was being a PITA about a pump shotgun. Cablea’s will not ship ammo to Illinois. LA Police gear just started selling some magazines and good luck with eBay.

  57. Timing is very suspect Optics Planet and this will be seen as a political statement, I’m done with you.

    • There is no “timing”. OP didn’t sell “high capacity” AR or AK magazines, 1 week ago, 1 month ago, or even 1 year ago. Only 5 and 10 rounds magazines. OP didn’t suddenly go pull them all after the shooting in FL like the article claims.

      Perhaps their explanation as to why they don’t sell “high capacity” magazines is not 100% legally correct as some commenters are claiming. The mix of Federal, IL, Cook County, and city laws sounds like a total minefield to try to navigate. However, it’s not any of the commenters butts on the line if OP falls afoul of them.

      The bottom line is that OP didn’t suddenly stop selling them in response to the school shooting in FL. The story is false. It’s pretty reckless reporting TTAG. Maybe TTAG wasn’t aware that that OP didn’t sell them before, but that doesn’t excuse the apparent attempt to incite the mob against OP.

      • You’re wrong. They used to sell up to 15 round mags. This changed only last week, which is what the email pictured refers to. It’s why the email says “our policy has recently changed.” As clearly mentioned in the article, Robert then called them up to see if it was true. They told him, “yes, correct, we just changed our policy and now only sell magazines of 10 round capacities or smaller.” He published this accurate information.

        As it turns out, this was not a reaction to FL but to Illinois law cracking down on them.

        All of your assertions that they never sold mags over 10 rounds and that TTAG did not verify this info are wrong. Simply reading the post would have made that clear. That info was always right there in it.

        • They never sold “high capacity” 30 round AR and AK magazines. A 15 round magazine is not “high capacity”. You’re trying to split hairs defending an unfair, highly inflammatory, and misleading story. TTAG pointlessly incited a mob and pointed them at Optics Planet.

        • You specifically said that they never sold magazines with more than 5- or 10-round capacities, and I replied specifically to that. The assertion you made is wrong. Optics Planet even says openly that you’re wrong on that. Additionally, Illinois does consider >10-round mags to be “high capacity,” as do a handful of other states like CA, NY, MA, NJ, HI, etc. It’s in quotes in the title because we consider them standard capacity. But it doesn’t matter at all whether either of us considers 15-round mags to be “high capacity” to make you completely wrong when you asserted that OP never ever sold >10-round mags. They did.

          In fact, you aren’t even correct about 30-round magazines! Here’s a 30-round mag example that’s still visible on their site: https://www.opticsplanet.com/gibbs-matra-ak-47-magazine-7-62×39-cal-30-rds-black.html

          For some reason you’ve been ignoring the screen shot e-mail, which clearly states that “our policy has recently changed” to where they have stopped selling magazines over 10 rounds in capacity. How could you assert that they never did so when even Optics Planet says they used to until just recently?

          Moan all you want, but the information in the post is accurate. They used to sell >10-round mags and they just stopped.

  58. Just read that the Dallas mayor Pro Tem asked the NRA to move their convention somewhere else. And you don’t think the anti-gun sentiment among the general public is starting to really take hold? As much as we like to think otherwise, there are many more of them than us, and once they become really aroused, watch out.

  59. The amount of shitstorm this BS article caused for a company operating in enemy territory is insane. I’ve seen this now on forums, reddit, etc. I don’t give a flying fuck what all the “legal scholars” who post on these message boards say, they gave an explanation and cited a law. It’s called risk tolerance for a business. Congratulations on turning your backs on good journalism and appealing to some mob mentality of morons.

    • Illinois is hardly “enemy territory”. We’re on the front line, but we’ve been winning steadily for the past decade.

      – State preemption of handgun laws.
      – Shall issue concealed carry.
      – Legal SBRs, AOWs, and non-explosive DDs.

      We’re actually a freer state than Colorado.

    • The irony here is palpable. TTAG and most of the commenters are doing exactly what they berate the Antis for doing. We’ve got the same sort of shoddy reporting, knee jerk reactions based on their “feelz”, and virtue signaling.

    • i agree, it is weird people are turning backs on the law-abiding businesses that clearly support 2A by selling the products we need!

  60. OpticsPlanets warehouse is located in Aurora, IL. Read into the laws as to the restrictions. They have never sold 30 round magazine, the closest thing is the hexmags with the 10 round limiters.

  63. This shows how terrified big retailers have become with regards to firearms. Ill bet Optics Planet is looking for a way out of this line of business. For me its simple. You are either with us all the way or you are not.

    Im sure they are worried about the liberals and snowflakes boycotting them but those people dont shop at Optics Planet anyways, nothing to lose except my business. Plenty of other people to sell me magazines and optics and other parts.

  64. Ship them disassembled. Subsection (a)(2)

    (a) It shall be unlawful for any person to manufacture, sell, offer or display for sale, give, lend, transfer ownership of, acquire, carry or possess any assault weapon or large capacity magazine in Cook County. This subsection shall not apply to:
    (2) Transportation of assault weapons or large capacity magazine if such weapons are broken down and in a nonfunctioning state and are not immediately accessible to any person.

  65. Meh, OpticsPlanet used to be great. Since mid 2016, it seems they have nothing in stock, charge you, backorder it and forget about you. They sell on eBay, Amazon and through their website and seem to promote DVOR or whatever it is, but they have literally failed to come though for me since mid-2016. I unsubscribed from their e-mail and blocked them a month or so ago.
    So my thoughts … boycott them and wait for their closure.

    • can you move hundreds of families that quickly? local laws change every day. I cannot imagine how difficult it is to run a gun-related business now regardless of the location or state.
      there are already so few good vendors left for the stuff we need. OP’s selection is huge. I just got my bump stock from them and an upper. how can you say they do not support 2A???

      also, interesting that why no one boycotts Amazon that does not sell shit or much more restrictive?

  67. Given the totality of the facts here, it looks like OP is taking the anti-gun owners side in this battle, because their magazine sales don’t merit a court fight or setting up a dedicated magazine warehouse across the street to escape the jurisdiction. (Northbrook, where OP operates, is literally on the northern edge of C(r)ook County.)

    Really, if the magazine sales were high enough and the money were worth moving, they’d move. After all, Magpul did.

    Rights are rights, but business is business? I get it, Optics Planet. You’re pro-2A when the dollars are big. You’re a summer retailer and sunshine merchant when the money is marginal.

    OP had become my favorite gun-related vendor over this past year. I’ve been eyeing their NV and IR scopes and monoculars, as I’m in the market and reading reviews to get educated on that product line. This mag nonsense just shut that down.

    I just two weeks ago received several hundred dollars worth cases/bags I’d bought from them to carry the half dozen guns I’ve bought over 2016/2017 that I didn’t have good transportation options for. Plus some routine accessories like ear plugs, some shooting gloves, etc.

    Here’s where we part ways, Optics Planet. It was nice knowing you.

  68. I’m going to stop clicking on links in TTAG’s email messages in order to protest the recent annoying full-page pop-up ads. You guys suck.

  69. OMG. What a bunch of gosiping grandmas here. Deleted my TTAG link for the irresponsible reporting and the bottom of the food chain followers when it comes to brains.

  71. Another jacked up Illinois gun company.

    This “explanation” is nothing but excuses. By remaining in a location where the laws oppress them, OP funds corrupt, anti-2A politicians. OP enables petty tyrants to violate our rights.

    The problem is easy to fix – move. Until then, OP joins the list with RRA, Springfield, and a few other quisling traitors.

    • They don’t even have to move. Illinois already has preemption laws on the books that cover this, they are either lying or got some shitty legal advice.

  72. BullSh_t the laws didn’t change overnight, they had them listed this weekend. I’m not buying their story.

    • Yes. It is clear that it is not some Florida or 2A thing. I just got the slide-fire from them as well.
      And they still sell them because they are legal for no.
      They are just following stupid IL laws to stay in business as any of us business owners do.
      No reason to bash them, instead we need to support them. We want at least a few vendors like that to stay afloat.

  74. Greetings from OpticsPlanet.com!

    Thank you for reaching out to us, and giving us a chance to respond. We’re aware of a recent rumor suggesting that we made decisions to restrict the sale of magazines with capacities greater than 10 rounds due to recent events.

    We want to assure you this is not the case. Insufficient internal communication led to a misread message. We are not offering magazines with capacities greater than 10 rounds to the general public due to our location in Northbrook, Illinois, and local laws that limit our ability to sell these. Being an internet retailer serving fifty states can be complex at times, and frankly, our location in Illinois only adds to this complexity. We may not always like the law, but we need to follow it.

    You can see the ordinance in question here:
    https://library.municode.com/il/cook_county/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=PTIGEOR_CH54LIPEMIBURE_ARTIIIDEWEDE_DIV4BLHOASWEBA_S54-212ASWELAPAMASAPREX
    At OpticsPlanet, we have never used the inflamed tensions and emotions of current events to drive decision making. Our support of the 2nd Amendment is made undeniably clear by the products we offer. We are one of the few online retailers who never stopped offering completely legal products based on public or political pressure. We do not raise prices during frenzies. We do, however, follow the laws and make adjustments when legally required.
    While we wish we could be your provider of these magazines, our hands are tied in this matter. We sincerely apologize for our role in creating any confusion, and hope you’ll continue to support us as many loyal customers have over the past 18 years.

    Best regards,

    Stefanie A | Customer Care Specialist
    OpticsPlanet, Inc. | Customer Care
    o: (847) 513-6201 | f: (847) 919-3003
    [email protected] | http://www.OpticsPlanet.com

  77. don’t you all feel like morons right now – you bashed OpticsPlanet.com last night and now going to OpticsPlanet to buy Slide Fire stocks before it is too late?
    you, morons, need to support the law-abiding pro-gun businesses instead of bashing them for following the law! Everyone here is a lawyer who well-versed in all of the intricacies of the local, municipal, state, and federal laws on interstate commerce related to the gun stuff. I cannot wait for you to open an online gun store and sell high capacity mags for 20 years and stay in business. especially now.
    I am clearly giving some money to OpticsPlanet.com after reading the news
    http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/02/20/trump-urges-ban-on-bump-stocks-other-gun-modifiers.html

  78. I’ve spent a lot of money with them over the years. Good thing I didn’t know they were in Illinois, or I would have spent my money elsewhere all along. Thanks for bringing this to my attention.

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