It is apparent that the folks at Benchmade are completely tone deaf and don't appear to have a very good grasp on the similarities between the regulation of firearms and the regulation of cutlery in many municipalities. If Benchmade is willing to assist in the destruction of perfectly servicable firearms (that could easily be sold to law-abiding folks at a net profit to the community) the logical reason is because they also feel that firearms are "bad" and should be destroyed. It certainly conveys that message. However, Benchmade is apparently too clueless to see that their own products are viewed in exactly the same manner in many municipalities. Hell, in the UK a steak knife is viewed to be just as bad as an AK. The right of free, law-abiding folks to carry a firearm is the same as the right of free, law-abiding folks to carry a knife provided that both are possessed for lawful purpose.

The willful destruction of firearms with the same tooling used to manufacture knives is one of the most hypocritical actions that I can imagine. If the folks at Benchmade don't understand this then I'm sure that there are other knife manufacturers out there who do who will, subsequently, get my patronage. However, if it is proven to be true that Benchmade did in fact perform this act, that is sufficient to tell me that they have no understanding about the laws surrounding the use and possession of the knives that they make. I hope that they are happy limiting their market to only the military and police, because this civilian will not be purchasing their knives.

I can almost forgive the contributions to certain candidates as the cost of doing business in an area. But the willful destruction of firearms just shows how completely tone deaf they are. I don't fault them for wanting to help the local PD, but if my local PD.came to my business to use my furnace to burn books for some reason my answer would be "Sorry, guys. I'd love to help you out, but I don't believe in burning books because of the historical significance and the message that it conveys". Helping to destroy guns is no different, especially in light of their own product.