Former Kalispell firearm executive tackles industry in new book

Ryan Busse was prepared for a slew of negative responses to his book “Gunfight: My Battle Against the Industry that Radicalized America.”

While he has seen some “ugly” responses, instead the former firearm industry executive says feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and largely comprised of moderate gun owners who share his concerns.

The cover of “Gunfight: My Battle Against the Industry that Radicalized America” ​​by Ryan Busse.

“I’m getting like every day, I guess what you’d think of as centrist Montana gun owners, like ‘I can’t take it anymore, I’ve been a gun owner my whole life, this is off the rails, these radicals scare me,’ that sort of thing. … It’s really been overwhelming and I really did not see that coming.”

Busse lives with his family in Kalispell, spending his career as a sales executive at firearm manufacturer Kimber. There he worked to grow the business and says he remains proud of the company and the work he did.

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But from the inside Busse became increasingly concerned with what he saw as a shift in the industry. Firearm manufacturers that had historically emphasized responsibility and safety, naming guns with innocuous model numbers, began aggressive marketing campaigns that catered to extreme views, he says. Busse cites names of civilian firearms such as the “Ultimate Arms Warmonger,” and advertising proclaiming “Consider Your Man Card Reissued” for the AR-15 model rifle used in the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut as examples of pushing ideology over responsibility .

The marketing strategy worked, and was embraced by right wing politics, Busse contends, pointing to similar messaging strategies of fear and divisiveness. Firearms that were once tools of protection are now employed as images of intimidation, he believes, pointing to rallies where individuals are often seen open carrying long rifles.

When he left Kimber and decided to write “Gunfight,” Busse set out to write a memoir of his life as a lifelong gun owner and industry insider. He offers his experiences with an eye toward the wider lens of what has happened in the country based on the thesis that the firearm industry “perfected the politics of radicalization” that has divided the nation.

“Even up until the very last days I was still proud of the company I helped build and proud of the product,” Busse said. “I’m not anti-gun, it’s not an anti-gun book, it’s a long ways from it. … It’s basically arguing for decency and responsibility to be balanced with freedoms and I think what I saw is a time in our history when that balance has become way out of whack.”

The book quickly gained attention nationally. In recent months Busse was featured on the front page of the New York Times, appeared on the Daily Show with Trevor Noah, gave a TED Talk and has appeared on more than 30 podcasts.

Busse understands he is open to accusations of hypocrisy and the book will be seen through a political lens — he has worked with Democrats including as an advisor to former Arizona Rep. Gabby Giffords, who was shot in the head, and the campaign of President Joe biden Although the industry has been largely silent on the book, Donald Trump Jr. called Busse a “useful idiot” that had been co-opted by the left.

“I’ve decided that I’m done living under the labels that are formed by the entities that are trying to divide us,” he said. “When I first started writing the book I guess what I believed is that in order for us to get out of what I think is a really radicalized, divisive, ugly political situation down to the level of families and workplaces and everything else, but I believe in order for us to get out of that we have to know how we got into it.”

When asked if he is optimistic that “Gunfight” will effect change, Busse paused for a moment before offering a two-part answer.

“I just feel like responsible good people have just freaking had it. It’s not that they want to give up their guns, that’s not it, but they’re done with the radicalized politics of it all. So I am optimistic from that standpoint,” he said. “I am not optimistic from an industry/immediate politics standpoint because I think they’re now one of the same. Because I think the incentives that’ve been built in the system only reward those who make it worse.”

Tom Kuglin is the deputy editor for the Lee Newspapers State Bureau. His coverage focuses on outdoors, recreation and natural resources.

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