A gun safe manufacturer received widespread criticism from conservatives on Wednesday after giving the FBI the access code to a customer’s safe.
Liberty Safe, the manufacturer, said in a statement that the company complied with the FBI’s request because the bureau had obtained a search warrant. The company assured customers that it remains devoted to protecting the Second Amendment rights of Liberty Safe owners and will only hand out personal information if law enforcement provides proper legal documentation.
“On August 30, 2023, Liberty Safe was contacted by the FBI requesting the access code to the safe of an individual for whom they had a warrant to search their property. Our company protocol is to provide access codes to law enforcement if a warrant grants them access to the property,” the statement read. “After receiving the request, we received proof of the valid warrant, and only then did we provide them with an access code. Liberty Safe had no knowledge of any of the details surrounding the investigation at the time.”
— Liberty Safe (@libertysafeinc) September 6, 2023
“Liberty Safe is devoted to protecting the personal property and 2nd amendment rights of our customers and has repeatedly denied requests for access codes without a warrant in the past,” the statement continued. “We do not give out combinations without personal legal documentation being provided by authorities.”
Conservatives on social media condemned the company’s move, accusing Liberty Safe of betraying its customer base the same way Bud Light did when the beer brand partnered with a transgender influencer.
“You guys are about to become really familiar with Bud Light,” wrote Chaya Raichik, who runs the Libs Of TikTok account.
You guys are about to become really familiar with Bud Light pic.twitter.com/jCayJuk32t
— Chaya Raichik (@ChayaRaichik10) September 6, 2023
“Oh man. You don’t know your customers at all, do you?” right-wing pundit Mike Cernovich tweeted.
Oh man. You don’t know your customers at all, do you?
— Cernovich (@Cernovich) September 6, 2023
“And you call yourself “Liberty”?? Bout to get the Bud Light treatment,” the conservative commentators known as the “Hodgetwins” posted.
And you call yourself “Liberty”?? Bout to get the Bud Light treatment
— Hodgetwins (@hodgetwins) September 6, 2023
“‘It’s not YOUR safe, it’s OUR safe’ – @libertysafeinc, probably,” wrote independent journalist Stephen Horn.
“It’s not YOUR safe, it’s OUR safe” – @libertysafeinc, probably
— Stephen Horn (@stephenehorn) September 6, 2023
“Having a safe with a master combination that the manufacturer’s employees know and are willing to hand out doesn’t sound very safe,” co-founder and CEO wrote Sean Davis, the co-founder and CEO of conservative outlet The Federalist. “And one more thing: absent a court order, you weren’t required to give them anything. You voluntarily gave out a combination over a warrant, per your own release, that didn’t apply to you or your property. Maybe start marketing your stuff as Bud Light storage.” (RELATED: Bud Light Sales In Free Fall, Report Finds)
And one more thing: absent a court order, you weren’t required to give them anything. You voluntarily gave out a combination over a warrant, per your own release, that didn’t apply to you or your property.
Maybe start marketing your stuff as Bud Light storage. https://t.co/6YN0BDEGZd
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) September 6, 2023
Liberty Safe = Bud light. https://t.co/okeXSRSFNP
— Catturd ™ (@catturd2) September 6, 2023
I just ordered a $7000 liberty safe on Saturday. A Lincoln 50 with all the fixings. I am making a call tomorrow to cancel.
— TheQuartering (@TheQuartering) September 6, 2023
Thanks for letting us know that your name is only for show.
— Martha Bueno (@BuenoForMiami) September 6, 2023
They know their customers but they also know their masters.
— MiddleMaga.com (@StucknDaMid) September 6, 2023
@libertysafeinc new spokesman pic.twitter.com/KtFn8qg546
— Vince Langman (@LangmanVince) September 6, 2023
After Bud Light sent a personalized can to trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney in April, the brand’s sales collapsed, costing Bud Light its status as America’s best-selling beer.