It looks like starting in 2012, Benchmade increased political spending. They also ceased contributions to Conservative candidates and solely donated to Democrat candidates.
Benchmade donated to two primary state officials in 2017-2018.
The first is Rep. Kurt Schrader. He is the rep for Oregon’s 5th Congressional District. He is not a pro-2a official. In 2012 he was quoted by The Oregonian as saying:
“However, while the immediate focus will inevitably be to ban certain firearms and magazines, the problems we have are more deeply rooted in American society.”, after the Connecticut school shooting.
If that 2012 date looks familiar, that is where Benchmade’s political contributions switched from small donations to Conservative candidates, to more substantial contributions to Democratic candidates.
The second contribution is even more puzzling than the first. That donation was to Senator Martin Heinrich of NEW MEXICO. I scrubbed through all of Benchmade’s business listings and couldn’t find any business interests in that state.
Martin Heinrich is an interesting name. He is not well known, but he was one of the names in the hat for Hillary Clinton’s Vice-Presidential candidate for the 2016 election. This guy has MUCH scarier views on the Second Amendment.
In 2018 the Albuquerque Journal as saying:
“It doesn’t matter if you have a folding stock, it doesn’t matter if you have a pistol grip … but it does matter how the action cycles and how fast they (the weapons) can throw lead downrange, and how many times you can pull the trigger before you’re out of ammunition, Those are the functional things that are at the heart of what makes these (guns) so dangerous compared to other firearms.”
Yeah, this guy wants to forget targeting cosmetics and re-define language restricting firearms to function, capability and effectiveness.
Read the interview to grasp the full extent: https://www.abqjournal.com/1153462/heinrich-hopes-to-influence-gun-debate.html
So, now when we look at the totality of circumstances, we see that Benchmade changed politics back in 2012. They supported two leading candidates, both anti-2a Democrats, one of which isn’t even in their state.
Oregon passes controversial Red Flag confiscation laws, and these laws are a very hot button topic in the industry today. Then Benchmade’s local police department asks Benchmade for help in destroying confiscated firearms, and they happily comply.
