There's always the bad news, of course.
Security Industries, according to the insiders,
is dead. We knew that the plant
closed up a few months ago, right after
this column came out announcing that
company's planned move to Alabama, but
we were keeping our fingers crossed, even
though that padlock and the poster on the
door signed by the sheriff looked kind of
ominous.
Joe Lee, president of Security Industries,
has been unavailable for comment.
His fine little stainless-steel "J-frame" .38
and .357 snub nose guns were never famous
for great workmanship. But Lord,
they were slick. Trouble was, some production
runs would come through sparkling
and perking, and others would have a
high number of guns that were out of
time.
What went wrong? Probably a lot of
things, but one we can point to is cheap labor.
Joe never was able to get a good
skilled craftsman team together, and people
paid minimal wage or less produce
equivalent quality goods. Joe had hoped
to go someplace where labor was both
cheap and good, and apparently couldn't
hold out long enough to make the transition.
The death of a fine or potentially fine
handgun is sad news, and we go into it
only because there may be a few lessons to
those who follow. We hear through the
grapevine that an established firm had offered
to buy Joe out, not only keeping him
for life as a high-salaried management
employee, but offering permanent jobs to
his two capable sons. The price offered
was said to have been excellent in addition
to the sinecure jobs and perks. Joe turned
it down, probably out of pride; a company
you build from nothing is precious to you,
and you don't let somebody else adopt it,
even if they do promise to take better care
of it and still give you visitation rights.
Will the Security revolver be reborn?
,Some of us had hoped so, but it looks increasingly
doubtful. The auction of the
manufacturing layout should be over by
the time you read this, and the several industry
people I've talked to are convinced
that the Security production line will be
sold piecemeal to this firm that needs a
Bridgeport lathe or two, and that one that
could use a milling machine.
Ironically, a cabal of well-financed gun
buffs that wanted to try and buy Joe back
out of receivership and re-establish the
plant in northern New England, with him
still at the helm, wasn't able to get through
to him because he secluded himself when
the financial roof caved in. For consumers
the word is, it would be a good idea to
hold onto any Security Industries revolver
you have, because it will eventually be a
collector's item. A good one is an outstanding
"user's" gun as well. This writer
has three, and carries his Security Police
Pocket Magnum, a Chief-Special-size
357 in stainless, more often than his
model 60 or his Detective Special.
