Front Sight insider’s report, part 1 (March 14, 2022)

See Part 2 here.

As you can probably guess from my email address, my name is [redacted]. I’m one of the [redacted] responsible for [redacted] at Front Sight, but obviously using my personal email and not my official work email. This means I’m not contacting you as a representative of Front Sight.

Someone had sent me a link to your blog on Trigger Treat, and I was impressed with your level of vocabulary and critical thinking. Many of the contentions expressed by yourself are identical (or nearly so) to the problems pointed out by the staff. As you might imagine, discussions or questions relating to these topics are met with belligerence, and sometimes verbal hostility, to the extent of fabricating, by Brad Ackman (BA), unnecessary situations simply in order to fire an employee with cause. There is a lot to be said on that particular, and related, topics.

Far and away, the majority of the staff (myself included) were unaware of the progression in regard to the Dziubla lawsuit. The information you have presented puts some of my own into focus.

On the afternoon of January 21, 2022, there was a meeting. The purpose was to inform attendees of the contents of the restructuring email, the existence and formation of which were unknown to everyone except IP and BA. This meeting was the first discussion about restructuring that involved anyone besides IP and BA. It was more of a shut up and listen meeting.

That was when we found out the program guns department was being eliminated and no other positions would be found for those employees. This, due to BA telling them the week before that their continued employment was guaranteed, was a telling betrayal.

Other topics came and went, but a few were highly significant.

First, the questions about all ammo needing to be purchased at the Ammo Bunker. It’s an impossible task, due to the fact that most vendors have us blacklisted for non-payment, and the few who will do business either sell to us at or near retail while demanding payment in advance of shipping. The lack of concern was punctuated by the statement that they were expecting severely decreased class sizes.

This brings us to the monthly membership maintenance fees. Many of the attendees balked at this, but were told that it isn’t much different than country club dues. After predicting a large loss of members moving forward, the following numbers were given (approximately):

In short, IP and BA only expected to keep 10% of the members as paying customers.

In the first week, approximately 3,000 to 4,000 people paid the full $500 for the year. They went on a spree, paying off all of the vendors who were waiting on payment.

Needless to say, ammo and parts weren’t ordered at that time.

Then the refunds started. The amount of the refunds was unexpected. Plus, his feelings were hurt as he instructed the Concierge to go on a witch hunt for anyone talking about his dishonesty or lawsuits. This resulted in even more bans/PNGs. The icing on this cake? The payment records are incomplete before 2013, and anything before 2010 might not be recorded at all.

By the way, as a side note, when we confronted BA about the heavy tone of blaming the members for this inability to fund the companies liabilities, we received a genuinely surprised look and the statement, But he wasn’t blaming the members. We also hit him with the whiplash on the staff and students planning their schedules after axing classes (especially the kids class) and then reinstating later, he told us that we were overreacting.

And he’s been desperate to keep the money flowing. Once he started the Gold Status videos, we’ve seen another spike in sign-ups. Cynically, some of those people, and many others, have been doing so just to buy ammo, gear, mags, and parts far above the $50 to $500 that they spent. Some shipments sell out in a few days. We are perpetually short on some fairly common calibers and parts, having to re-direct folks to stores in Pahrump and Las Vegas.

There’s certainly more to be discussed. If you have any questions or points that need clarification, let me know. Also, I saw a post stating that the foreclosure is moving forward. If you can send a link to any legal document or proceeding verifying that information, it would be helpful. We’re under pressure to sign a new NDA / Non-compete / Non-disparagement paper. But I don’t want to be wrapped up in legal nonsense if the place is closing anyway.

Thanks for your time,

— [name withheld as requested]

Source: E-mail