SIG Sauer (weapons manufacturer)

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SIG Sauer

logo
legal form GmbH & Co. KG
Seat Eckernförde , Schleswig-Holstein , GermanyGermanyGermany 
Number of employees 150
Branch weapons
Website www.sigsauer.de
Status: 2016

Factory premises of SIG Sauer GmbH & Co KG, previously JP Sauer & Sohn AG in the Wilhelmstal district of Eckernförde

The SIG Sauer GmbH & Co. KG is a German weapons manufacturer based in Eckernförde . The company produces handguns and long guns for private, police and military use. It also manufactures optics for hunting and air guns for sport shooters.

background

The company is part of the SIG Sauer Group led by L & O Holding . The direct partner of the company is SIG Sauer Verwaltungs GmbH , based in Emsdetten. Tim Castagne is the managing director.

The largest part of the group's European portfolio comes from Eckernförde / Germany. In addition to the complete P220 and P226 X series, this includes the P210 series, various classic P226 / P229, as well as the SSG 3000 and STR rifle lines.

history

SIG Sauer GmbH & Co. KG is a sister company of JP Sauer & Sohn GmbH , which goes back to the arms manufacturer Lorenz Sauer founded in 1751 in Suhl . JP Sauer & Sohn Aktiengesellschaft was founded in Eckernförde in 1951 and moved to Isny im Allgäu in 2009 as the newly founded JP Sauer & Sohn GmbH . The company has been part of L & O Holding since 2000 . The SIG part of the name comes from the fact that the company belonged to SIG (Swiss Industrial Society) from the 1970s to 2000 . Around 450 people were employed up until 2009. After the company was not awarded a major order, the size of the company was reduced to 300 employees in 2009. In the following years the number of employees fell to 140. According to information from the Schleswig-Holstein newspaper publisher , the US sister company SIG Sauer Inc. decided in 2014 to manufacture all pistols itself from 2015, which resulted in a reduction in the workforce in Eckernförde from 140 to 80 employees and the number of weapons produced per day went from 50 to 25. More than half of the proceeds of the Eckernförder work was by this time generated by the orders of SIG Sauer Inc., the weapons produced in Eckernförde in the United States have been exported (USA) and sold there. According to Panorama reports by a former employee, the number of guns delivered to SIG Sauer Inc. was up to 20,000 per year. In August 2014 it was reported that the company had introduced short-time working , which should last until January 31, 2015. According to information from the Kieler Nachrichten , up to 80 jobs should be cut. At the end of October 2014, IG Metall confirmed to the NDR that 85 out of 134 positions should be deleted. The closure of the Eckernförde site was also on the agenda. The works council considered this unlikely. At the end of February 2015 it was announced that 73 employees were to be made redundant, 55 of whom were to move to a transfer company and 18 wanted to sue the dismissal.

According to a documentary on illegal arms exports produced by Daniel Harrich with the SWR and published in April 2020, the US subsidiary SIG Sauer USA Incorporated advanced to become the largest small arms exporter in the United States by exporting arms to third countries .

After the company initially wanted to limit itself to the production of sport pistols and rifles at the Eckernförde location, the complete cessation of production and the closure of the factory in Eckernförde are now planned by the end of 2020. On June 4, 2020, the works council and the workforce were informed by the management of this decision by L & O Holding.

Illegal arms exports

Kazakhstan

According to information from NDR , WDR and Süddeutsche Zeitung , business premises were searched in January 2014 on behalf of the Kiel Public Prosecutor's office on suspicion of violating the Foreign Trade and Arms Act . The background to this is the delivery of 70 SIG Sauer P226 and SIG Sauer P228 pistols to the Kazakh Presidential Guard in 2009 and 2010 . After SIG Sauer did not receive a permit, an employee allegedly offered the recipient the option of handling the delivery via the United States. The NDR reports that the investigators assume that the business was carried out via the United States in 2010 and that the end customer was the American civilian market.

Colombia

Also according to information from NDR, WDR and Süddeutscher Zeitung, the Kiel public prosecutor's office investigated in a similar case due to the delivery of thousands of SIG SP 2022 pistols in the years 2009 to 2011 or 2012 via the United States to Colombia . The Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA) did not have a permit for export to Colombia . Since the US State Department assured that the weapons would remain in the United States ( end-use certificate ), export to the United States was approved. According to BAFA, the United States did not have a permit for re-export . Nevertheless, the delivery of 100,000 SIG SP 2022 pistols to Colombia by the US Army is said to have included not only pistols produced by SIG Sauer USA Inc. in the United States, but also pistols made in Germany. According to Spiegel , the Colombian State Department has confirmed the receipt of approximately 65,000 SP 2022 pistols from 2006, valued at $ 28.6 million from the US Department of Defense. The Kiel public prosecutor's office, which had been investigating the case since the beginning of July 2014, brought charges against five Sig Sauer managers in April 2018 and sentenced three of them for the unapproved d. H. illegal arms trade of 38,000 pistols to Colombia, as SIG Sauer arms also produced in the USA require an export license from the German federal government to third countries. According to research by the SWR published in April 2020, documents from the US Department of Commerce show that SIG Sauer USA Inc. still delivered around 10,000 pistols to Colombia after the verdict was announced, without going into detail on whether export permits from the German government were available.

In addition, Der Spiegel reported that 500 SSG 3000 sniper rifles had been delivered to the United States and possibly on to Colombia from there. The NDR and the Süddeutsche Zeitung assume that at least 20 of these rifles have reached Colombia.

Company opinion

In a news release dated July 3, 2014, the company stated that it had supplied SIG SP 2022 pistols and pistol parts to SIG Sauer, Inc. in the United States with the approval of BAFA . The management could not identify any misconduct on his part and declared that it wanted to cooperate with the investigative authorities. The export documents are said to have stated that the pistols were intended for the civilian market in the USA and should remain there. Internal company documents should prove that internally the onward delivery to Colombia was known and only a report by the export control officer of SIG Sauer resulted in a delivery stop.

Iraq

On September 9, 2014, the Süddeutsche Zeitung reported on further alleged misconduct in the export of weapons. It is believed that SIG Sauer Inc. in the United States exported around 5,000 pistols worth 1.76 million US dollars to Iraq without the company having previously obtained an export permit from the federal government. According to the newspaper, weapons also came into the possession of the PKK, which is classified as a terrorist organization .

Mexico

In April 2020, further research by the SWR was published, according to which SIG Sauer, in particular its US subsidiary SIG Sauer USA Incorporated , had been granted export licenses for handguns by the US State Department worth up to 266 million to Mexico, which was shaken by the drug war , for which, according to the German legal opinion, had required approval from the German federal government , which however did not issue it in full.

consequences

According to the Tagesschau, the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control stated that all application procedures for arms exports by SIG Sauer GmbH & Co. KG have been suspended.

It is also possible that the United States, as the recipient country, will in principle be excluded from delivery of further (...) armaments [due to] violations of the end-use declarations issued until these circumstances have been remedied . In the 38th session on June 4, 2014, the German Bundestag dealt with the allegations. Brigitte Zypries said the allegation is serious, but not all arms exports to the United States should be suspended until the allegations are cleared up.

According to the Spiegel, the private houses of Michael Lüke and Thomas Ortmeier were searched on July 14, 2014. Lüke is not only one of the managing directors of SIG Sauer GmbH, but together with Ortmeier the owner of L & O Holding .

According to information, the lack of export permits is one of the reasons for losses in operational business, which in turn are supposed to trigger the aforementioned downsizing.

In April 2018, the Kiel public prosecutor brought charges against five SIG Sauer employees for violating the Foreign Trade Act . In addition, the public prosecutor applied for a fine of twelve million euros to confiscate the sales proceeds for 36,628 pistols. On April 3, 2019, the Kiel Regional Court sentenced three former employees to suspended sentences and payments as conditions for violating the Foreign Trade Act. In addition, 11.1 million euros were collected as part of the profit skimming.

Major order for the US armed forces in 2017

On January 21, 2017 it was announced that SIG Sauer had won a long-term selection process for a new generation of pistols for the US armed forces with the SIG Sauer P320 ; production will take place in the Rockingham County , New Hampshire plant for the next 10 years . So far, the US armed forces have been equipped with the M9 (Beretta 92) from the Italian arms factory Beretta , in future the P320 will become the standard weapon of the American army. In total, the order includes around 280,000 units for the US Army alone and a further 212,000 units for the other branches of the armed forces worth around 580.2 million US dollars including ammunition and accessories.

Products

Pistols

  • SIG Sauer X-Series

Repeater

Self-loading rifles

Machine gun

  • SIG MG338
  • SIG MG-6.8

reception

Documentation

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Günter Koch: What cannot be measured can still be managed1 . In: Enabling Innovation . Springer Berlin Heidelberg, Berlin, Heidelberg 2011, ISBN 978-3-642-24298-4 , pp. 375-379 , doi : 10.1007 / 978-3-642-24299-1_35 .
  2. ↑ a b c Arms company is said to have deceived the authorities. Panorama , July 3, 2014, accessed July 18, 2014 .
  3. ↑ About SWISS ARMS. Retrieved February 28, 2018 .
  4. ↑ SIG Sauer: Still a future in Eckernförde? NDR , August 20, 2014, archived from the original on August 21, 2014 ; accessed on August 23, 2014 .
  5. ↑ Sig Sauer continues to shrink: 73 employees have to leave. Schleswig-Holsteinischer Zeitungsverlag , February 22, 2015, accessed on July 18, 2014 .
  6. ^ Illegal arms deliveries to Colombia. Panorama , May 27, 2014, accessed July 18, 2014 .
  7. ↑ Short-time work approved at SIG Sauer. NDR , August 18, 2014, accessed on August 19, 2014 .
  8. ↑ a b c SIG-Sauer employees threatened with job loss. NDR , August 8, 2014, accessed on August 17, 2014 .
  9. ↑ Sig Sauer introduces short-time work. Süddeutsche Zeitung , August 13, 2014, accessed on August 17, 2014 .
  10. ↑ Great fear of end. Kieler Nachrichten , August 1, 2014, accessed on August 17, 2014 .
  11. ↑ NDR ( Memento from November 3, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  12. ↑ Short-time work for SIG-Sauer employees. NDR , August 12, 2014, accessed on August 17, 2014 .
  13. ↑ a b c Sig Sauer continues to shrink: 73 employees have to leave. Eckernförder Zeitung , February 25, 2015, accessed on February 25, 2015 .
  14. ↑ a b c d theme evening arms trade - deadly exports: armaments managers in court. Retrieved April 3, 2020 .
  15. ↑ a b Süddeutsche Zeitung: Kiel Public Prosecutor is examining new allegations against Sig Sauer. Retrieved April 3, 2020 .
  16. ↑ Arno Frank, DER SPIEGEL: "Master of Death 2": documentary film about the business of Heckler & Koch - DER SPIEGEL - culture. Retrieved April 3, 2020 .
  17. ^ A b c Wolf-Dieter Vogel: Arms exports to Mexico: Prohibited business . In: The daily newspaper: taz . April 1, 2020, ISSN  0931-9085 ( taz.de [accessed April 3, 2020]).
  18. ↑ Gun manufacturer is broke: Sig Sauer gives in Germany on report of the news television station n-tv on June 4, 2020, accessed on June 4, 2020
  19. ↑ Sig Sauer closes Eckernförde on ndr.de
  20. ↑ a b c Raid at Eckernförde weapons manufacturer. NDR , January 29, 2014, accessed on July 18, 2014 .
  21. ↑ a b New trouble for SIG Sauer. tagesschau.de , July 18, 2014, archived from the original on April 5, 2015 ; accessed on February 23, 2016 .
  22. ↑ a b c Export stop for SIG Sauer weapons. tagesschau.de , July 13, 2014, archived from the original on July 15, 2014 ; Retrieved July 18, 2014 .
  23. ↑ a b c d German weapons illegal in Colombia. tagesschau.de , May 27, 2014, archived from the original on May 27, 2014 ; Retrieved July 18, 2014 .
  24. ^ Raid at SIG Sauer. tagesschau.de , July 3, 2014, archived from the original on April 5, 2015 ; Retrieved July 18, 2014 .
  25. ↑ Arms trade: Colombia confirms purchase of Sig Sauer pistols. Der Spiegel , July 9, 2014, accessed on July 19, 2014 .
  26. ↑ Germany checks exports from Sig Sauer. Handelsblatt , July 13, 2014, accessed on July 19, 2014 .
  27. ↑ Sig Sauer: Public prosecutor's office charges managers with gun delivery. Der Spiegel , April 12, 2018, accessed April 12, 2018 .
  28. ↑ DER SPIEGEL: Sig Sauer: Suspected sentences for managers for arms trade - DER SPIEGEL - Wirtschaft. Retrieved April 3, 2020 .
  29. ↑ tagesschau.de: Despite the export ban: German weapons in the drug war. Retrieved April 3, 2020 .
  30. ↑ Süddeutsche Zeitung: Kiel public prosecutor's office is examining new allegations against Sig Sauer. Retrieved April 3, 2020 .
  31. ↑ Illegal arms export: Sig Sauer is said to have also delivered rifles to Colombia. Der Spiegel , July 20, 2014, accessed on August 17, 2014 .
  32. ↑ Sniper rifles for civil war countries. Süddeutsche Zeitung , August 9, 2014, accessed on August 17, 2014 .
  33. ^ Declaration by SIG Sauer GmbH & Co KG. (PDF) (No longer available online.) SIG Sauer GmbH & Co. KG, July 3, 2014, archived from the original on February 25, 2015 ; Retrieved July 18, 2014 .
  34. ↑ a b Deceiving, tricking, delivering weapons. tagesschau.de , July 2, 2014, archived from the original on July 6, 2014 ; Retrieved July 18, 2014 .
  35. ^ Article in the Süddeutsche Zeitung of September 9, 2014. Süddeutsche Zeitung, September 9, 2014, accessed on September 9, 2014 .
  36. ↑ Point IV) 4. of the Federal Government's Political Principles for the Export of War Weapons and Other Armaments (PDF)
  37. ^ Stenographic report, 38th session. (PDF) German Bundestag , July 4, 2014, accessed on July 29, 2014 .
  38. ↑ Arms trade: Police search the private houses of the Sig-Sauer owners. Der Spiegel , July 15, 2014, accessed on July 19, 2014 .
  39. ↑ Ani Dießelmann : German weapons manufacturer accused of delivery to Colombia amerika21.de, April 14, 2018, accessed on October 14, 2018.
  40. ^ Indictment against Sig-Manager dpa / Badische Zeitung, May 14, 2018, accessed on October 19, 2018.
  41. ↑ Gun shoving: suspended sentences for Sig-Sauer-Manager Spiegel Online, April 3, 2019, accessed on April 30, 2019.
  42. ↑ US soldiers are given German plastic pistols. (No longer available online.) Welt Online , January 21, 2017, archived from the original on February 2, 2017 ; accessed on January 22, 2017 .
  43. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Price list for end customers. (PDF) (No longer available online.) Sig Sauer, archived from the original on February 25, 2015 ; accessed on September 10, 2014 .