July 6, 2015

It is with heavy hearts in Ares Armor Inc. that we announce the forced termination of Founder Dimitri Karras for breach of duty as an employee of this firm.

Mr. Karras had been on paid administrative leave since March 2015 for highly unprofessional behavior against members of the management team, staff, and others. Most recently, he launched a series of disruptive and disrespectful public attacks against the CEO, and the company. Furthermore, the uncovering of serious financial discrepancies connected to his selling the company only served to complicate matters.

Mr. Karras repeatedly took advantage of the incredible patience and generosity of new owner and CEO, Bryce Stirlen. “We as an organization simply cannot allow him to continue this type of behavior against the company and people who supported him,” said Stirlen. “Mr. Karras has a very well-documented history. As one the of the company directors said in a management conference call, ‘sometimes to grow a bigger and better garden you just have to root out the weeds.’ Regardless, we still wish Dimitri the best of luck in his future endeavors.”

We admit it. We’re doing our own Obama Countdown at Ares Armor. But it’s not what you think. Sure, we are well aware there are 571 days until the next U.S. Presidential Election on November 8, 2016. We also know there are 644 days until President Barack Obama’s last day in office on January 20, 2017.

This Obama Countdown is different. It impacts you much sooner.

It’s time to say “Bye Bye Barack” to our products named after the president. They are being discontinued by Ares Armor. You have until April 30, 2015 to order your “Obama’s Blaster.” All orders placed by midnight on this date will be honored.

The “Yes We Can Build a Firearm” product was the brainchild of Ares Armor Founder, Dimitrios Karras, a U.S. Marine who bravely served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Launched in September 2014, the Obama’s Blaster exercised the strength of Freedom of Speech in America. Boldly, it came just six months after the ATF Raid of Ares Armor property in Oceanside, California.

The AR–15 Upper Receiver named, “Obama’s Blaster,” created a nationwide controversy. At the time, Dimitri told the media, it was “obviously a joke” and not meant to suggestion action vs. any political figure. He called it, “A commemorative AR-15 part honoring President Obama’s role as the most distinguished firearm salesman of all-time.”

Today, Dimitrios Karras says his point has clearly been made. “The reality is we never intended it to last this long,” Karras said. “However, because of the widespread anti-Obama sentiment, we have had to keep up with demand from the public for this product.”

Silver Linings Playbook

The title of the hit movie sums up the difficult strategic decision, Ares Armor CEO, Bryce Stirlen, had to make. It is a necessary play for the company in taking aim at its business targets on the next level of growth. “There really a silver lining for our customers and supporters,” says Stirlen. “We are just wrapping up production on a new and improved product. We’ll be announcing the news about this in the very near future.”

For obvious reasons, this is all we can say now about this Obama Countdown. However, we want you to know this friends…

No matter what else changes…no matter what you may hear or think…take it from us at the source…the core of this U.S. Veteran driven company is still supporting 2A all the way.

Adds Stirlen, “We know what we’re doing. We know where we’re going. We will continue to expand our business and build our product line. With any makeover, you look different on the outside. But rest assured, we have the same values on the inside. Our company remains 100% committed to supporting the Second Amendment, gun rights, and delivering the highest quality arms and tactical products proudly made in the U.S.A.”

So let the clock on this Obama Countdown begin. There are 14 days until the Obama’s Blaster becomes a blast from the past. It’s available now through midnight, April 30, 2015. Order yours now.

Unplugged: Former ATF Agent Daniel O’Kelly

(Part 3 of 3-Part Series. Click Here for Part 1. Click Here for Part 2.)

#FightAmmoBan

Having fun or fighting, time flies. It was one year ago the ATF executed a search warrant, and a raid on Ares Armor locations. Their claim was an investigation into federal firearm violations.

To Ares Armor Founder, Dimitrios Karras, the agents in San Diego County looked similar to scenes from his 8 years as a member of the U.S. Marine Corps. “They came into our manufacturing facility with their guns up like they were invading Iraq,” he said at the time.

The March 2014 ATF raid confiscated computers, massive customer lists, and 80% polymer lower receivers. The battle between Ares Armor and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives included shots heard across the country. The legal case landed in U.S. District Court in the Southern District in California.

Daniel O’Kelly, former ATF Agent and world-recognized firearm and ammunition expert, followed the story from his International Firearm Specialist Academy office near Dallas, Texas. He never thought the fight would come to his door.

“I saw what was happening,” said O’Kelly, who spent 23 years in the ATF as an Agent and supervisor. “I said to myself it was just another guy going through the legal system.”

6 Months later, the court-certified expert witness of 25 years, got a call from attorney Scott McMillan. He was asked to render an expert opinion for a case as to whether an item would hold up in court as a firearm. Little did O’Kelly know it involved Ares Armor.

In November 2014, the former ATF Agent submitted a written declaration to Judge, Honorable Janis L. Sammartino. In it, Daniel O’Kelly took a stand for the truth, the 2nd Amendment, and Ares Armor, and against his former employer:

I have arrived at the following opinions summarized as follows:

 

1. The 5804 items at issue are not “firearms” as defined in 18 U.S. C. Section 921 (a) (3).

1. The 5804 items at issue are not a “firearm frame or receiver” as defined in 27 CFR subsection 478.11, which defines a “frame or receiver” as “that part of a firearm which provides housing for the hammer, bolt or breechblock and firing mechanism, and which is usually threaded at its forward portion to receive the barrel.” Assuming for the sake of discussion, even if that unfinished lower receiver had been finished to the state known in the Firearms Industry as a “stripped AR-15 receiver”, that “finished” receiver still would not satisfy the elements of a “receiver” as defined in 27 CFR subsection 478.11, which defines a “frame or receiver” as “that part of a firearm which provides housing for the hammer, bolt or breechblock, and firing mechanism, and which is usually threaded at its forward portion to receive the barrel.”

1. The 5804 items at issue are not “a frame or receiver,” even without reference to that definition of a receiver set forth in 27 CFR subsection 478.11, and wholly relying on the standards which the ATF has published in prior determination letters, the subject unfinished receiver is an “unfinished” blank based on the criteria relied upon in prior determinations.

1. The 5804 items at issue are not contraband.

“What they took are known in the industry as 80% blanks”, said O’Kelly. “By the way, the 80% figure is never used by ATF. Unfinished receivers always decided on a case by case basis. The Ares Armor blanks absolutely do not hold up to ATF’s own definition of a firearm receiver. They also don’t hold up for other reasons, such as the “indexing” issue. The so-called “biscuit” area on the inside which they called indexing, is not the right size, and indexing was not the purpose for making it. Also, the indexing issue was also already shot down by the Judge in a federal court. As a matter of fact, the definition of a receiver requires an item to have at least three features. Those being, a housing for the hammer, a housing for the bolt or breechblock, and a housing for the firing mechanism. Even a complete AR15 frame doesn’t have all three.”

Today, Daniel O’Kelly holds the courage and integrity to stand with the law and the truth against ATF members like one in the Ares Armor case. “A particular agent said in his affidavit that AR-15 receivers are the same thing as M-16 machine gun receivers,” said O’Kelly. “That is not true. Even if the receiver blanks at issue were completely finished, there’s a difference both legally and physically, between AR15 receivers and M-16 receivers.”

No one at Ares Armor is celebrating the first anniversary of the ATF raid. But because of it, and the currently proposed ammo ban, it seemed timely to share how even a former ATF insider is calling out the bureau’s bad practices.

All of us, Mr. O’Kelly, certain law enforcement leaders, (and ultimately the federal courts) will shoot down the stretching of firearm and ammunition definitions and facts, for exactly what it is…wrong, illegal, and unconstitutional.

Even some bad apples in the ATF, can’t overcome the core of the truth on “armor-piercing ammunition”:

By definition, the M855 bullet, and even its core, is NOT “constructed entirely from one or a combination of tungsten alloys, steel, iron, brass, bronze, beryllium copper, or depleted uranium;”

The M855 bullet and its core, are only partially made of steel. Therefore, calling it “armor-piercing ammunition” does not apply.

Share your voice using this hashtag in social media:

#FightAmmoBan