Benchmade Knife Company worked with the Oregon City Police Department to destroy firearms.

In a social media post that has since been removed, the Oregon City Police wrote, “Thank you Benchmade Knife Company for assisting us today by cutting up guns that are ready to be destroyed.”

The backlash against Benchmade’s willingness to cut up firearms was intense, and the Oregon City Police used a Facebook post to try to quell the public’s outrage:

We understand some of our followers are upset with Benchmade knives because of a recent post we put out. The post did not give everyone the full story on why the guns were required to be destroyed. We receive guns that are turned in from community members that they no longer want the guns and want them destroyed. We also have guns that are evidence and when a case is adjudicated the guns are ordered by the court to be destroyed. These guns were required to be destroyed. We reached out to Benchmade to do us a favor at our request. Benchmade is a strong supporter of law enforcement and the Oregon City community. We were present when the guns were cut and we took them for final destruction.

Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) is requesting that the Oregon City Police turn over “records about the destruction of firearms” from July 1, 2018, to the present. FPC is also requesting the police department turn over “all records that are, relate, or refer to communications with, to, or from Benchmade” for the same period.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.