email from JRH Enterprises
https://www.jrhenterprises.com/Setting things straight!!!
TRUTH and consequences....
I left the office Saturday morning to get on an airplane out to Vegas for Shot Show and another show. I am typing this from there in the wee hours of the morning from the hotel.
We started getting phone calls and emails about a supposed "night vision shortage" because of some completely made up story about the "Fbi confiscating" some night vision tubes.
Upon first hearing it, I asked one or two questions of the person that told me- who this story originated with, who was involved, etc. Upon hearing those answers I simply laughed and said "it's probably bull$shit given the source." Yes as most of you are aware, I'm known as a no BS straight to the point guy.
The problem was that this scare tactic story was picked up by two conspiracy minded news sites. Further complicating the situation was that it was the weekend before the big Lobby Day rally in Richmond, VA which I'm sure added to people's paranoia.
Our good friend David aka SouthernPrepper1 gave me a call while we were on the way to the airport. I told him the same thing, story is BS, we (JRH) are not having any problems with this nor has any party we know that is credible. But I said you know what, I'm headed to SHOT Show where all of the major players in the industry will be set up this next week and I will double check with all of them to confirm that this is BS.
Dave put out a video that afternoon about what I said and said he was trying to get more info. I sent Dave a detailed email yesterday afternoon after I talked with all the major tube suppliers and confirmed this story is a made up scare tactic.
So TO ABSOLUTELY CONFIRM-
* There was NEVER a "confiscation" of night vision tubes by the "FBI using emminent domain", this is a complete utter LIE.
* When you look back at the "news" article regarding this in context of what the person was saying, it's clear this was a scare tactic to drum up NV sales. To include the statement that "within hours the fbi claimed eminent domain over the tubes, effectively seizing them from....."
* This same person is trying to walk it back now and blame it on other parties but looking back at the quotes last night and the context- the ones supposedly "confiscated" and how he believes there is "only 200 left in the US", coupled with the statement
"I'm told that inventory units are flying off the shvles an will be gone everywhere in the next 1-2 business days. Yes their is a NV shortage in the US."
Reading that last statement should make it clear to any thinking person the INTENT of the story (to drum up sales).
It should be crystal clear to see that this was an unethical SCARE TACTIC designed to drum up sales.
That is despicable.....
Below is the same email info I sent Southernprepper1 updating him on the real NV situation yesterday after talking to all the major tube manufacturers yesterday-
David,
Back at my room taking a quick break at Shot Show.
Regarding the hoopla with the story about "night vision tubes being confiscated by the government via emminent domain" I confirmed what I mentioned to you the other day- this story is total and utter BS.
Night Vision Devices of whom we have worked with for about 15 years now confirmed the story about NV units being "confiscated" is totally untrue.
Talking with both Harris/L3 and Elbit Systems (the US tube manufacturers) they confirmed also that nothing like this was happening.
So hopefully we can totally shut down this crappola story about "emminent domain confiscation." It appears to be a scare tactic that has backfired.
I believe this story might have gotten a little play because of a couple things:
1. Flir (thermal) last week announced they would discontinue the production and sale of their PRO PTS line of thermal weapon sights. A lot of people assumed and incorrectly stated that this meant they were quote not selling to civilians unquote anymore. I do believe at some point in time FLIR May (read that again MAY) kill the whole commercial line of products as FLIR's financial statements indicate they are losing money on the OTS (commercial) market. Not because they "don't want civilians to have this" or any conspiracy non sense.
This is NOT the case. They just discontinued part of their product line. Hand held thermal imagers like the Scout series, the popular new Breach monocular, etc. ARE still being sold and shipped. I can verify this as being true as a shipment of Breach handheld units just arrived at our place while I was gone.
2. Their is a little bit of a backup currently with high specification White Phosphor NV tubes and BNVD dual tube systems. This is due to some crazy holiday sales the end of last year that made demand skyrocket. For us, with normally quick lead times, this slight backup is a big deal, in the greater Night vision world the short delay is nothing...
And the government is the biggest purchaser of night vision so when a large government order is placed it does take precedent over the commercial market. But that in NO WAY means that anything was "confiscated" or similar non sense.
All it means is that lead times are slightly higher right now. This is the #1 reason we don't charge a customers card until their order is ready to ship- so that the customer isn't out any money until their order ships.
Hope this helps clear up some non sense. If you have any other questions let me know.
Thanks again
Robert Henry
JRHEnterprises
So there it is- no tubes were "confiscated by the FBI under eminent domain" this story is 100% confirmed as being a made up scare tactic by an unscruptulous dealer. I'd love to tell you this is the first time this has happened or that it would be the last but the reality is this form of scare marketing has been used by unethical types in the survival market for decades. Can't tell you how many times I've heard people tell stories like "you can't get mt. house because the gubmint bought it all up!" to which I reply "that's BS." :)
The truth as reported from Shot Show in Las Vegas... Now back to work at the show!!! We will be back in the office normal hours next week.
Robert
robert@jrhenterprises.com--------------------------------------------------------------
Shot Show- We will be at Shot show January 20 through the 25th. We will be answering the phones for new orders during this time but we will not be able to handle any admin requests since we will not be in the office then.
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In this email blast I'm also leaving the notation about Flir dropping the PRO PTS line that I mentioned last week on the bottom of this email for clarity purposes.
FLIR THERMAL UNITS-
The industry got bad news from FLIR OTS (commercial sales) division this week. They are discontinuing the production and sale of all of the Thermosight PRO PTS line (233, 536, 736). We have NONE of these models available now nor will we have any more available after this.
BREACH Thermal hand held monoculars are FOR THE TIME BEING, still being manufactured and I highly suggest if you have been "researching" these for years and waiting to get one, that you pull the trigger on it SOON.
Updated 1/22 from Shot Show in Vegas- I can confirm FLIR is still shipping Breach handheld units as we received an order back at the shop while I was here in Vegas working at the shows.
Link below-
A few Breach units left
I believe there is a high probability that FLIR will shut down their (OTS) commercial line and ONLY sell to police and military soon. If this happens it will be more because their OTS commerical line has lost money the last few years, not because they "don't want to sell to civilians." In other words, a business decision based on sales numbers.
FLIR WILL CONTINUE TO HONOR WARRANTIES on all units.