COVID-19 | A Small Business Response To The Pandemic

• March 31, 2020
• By tatargets

We are all now well aware of the issues we are facing as a nation and globally. Quite literally every person is affected in some way, shape, or form. Nobody is immune (pun intended…I guess?) to the ramifications of a global virus spreading like wildfire. Regardless of where you stand, whether you’re a skeptic, a believer in the officials that the day of doom is coming, or somewhere in the middle, we need reasonable voices speaking truth in times of need.

My mission for our company is simple: Provide steel targets (training tools) that will aid people in becoming better protectors of human life. Our targets are secondary to a gun. They are secondary to ammunition. It is a simple fact: without firearms and ammunition, there isn’t much of a point purchasing a high performance target system. Unless you like them as decorations, which is cool, but definitely not the intended purpose. We are feeling the pain of having a secondary product at this moment.

With that being said, I see our products as vital for the modern defender. I see my journey as mission critical: Bringing steel targets to the market that will last people their lifetime, encouraging people to invest in high quality modern arms, teach people about our products and their rights, encourage them to exercise them daily. We want to see a birthing of modern warriors ready to defend life and liberty. Not soldiers or police (although those are important as well), I am talking about citizens who are armed with modern fighting rifles and pistols, armor, night vision, and kit ready to stand up when they are needed.

And they are needed now as much as they have ever been.

Now, this is not a call to arms. What I am saying is we need these defenders, these protectors, these people of reason and logic to be standing and speaking to those who surround them. We need voices of leadership spreading across our world, not from the government, but from our people.

The human condition is one that has been plagued with trials since the first days of time and through these trials we emerge triumphant each and every time. This is no different than all the plagues and trials, wars and famines of our past. Although we may not have personally lived through them, our ancestors did and they pushed onward.

I just sat here, took a deep breath, calmed my thoughts, said a prayer, and took a clear look at the situation. Here is where I am at:

1. We have a situation that is outside of our control. No one action will “solve” this crisis.
2. A government will not fix this problem by legislation or action.
3. We have a very real threat to our security.
4. Our comfort may change. We are VERY comfortable in the United States.
5. Our humanity and love for others will be tested.
6. We will get through this together.
7. Many things will never be the same. Good and bad, many changes are coming.

Now, I am not really a warm, fuzzy motivational speaker kind of guy. I am more of a realist. I look at the world and accept that there will be trials. There will always be suffering. But without suffering, there will be no growth. Without tests, we will not learn how to be better people.

I ask you: Are you now a better person?

For those of us who are now home more with our families: Are we the Fathers, Mothers, Sons, Daughters that we want to be? Are we focused on those we love, or consumed with turmoil and fear?

Who truly controls your emotional response to this pandemic? You do. You have the ability to step back, analyze, take a breath, and forge forward. Why am I confident that you can do this? Because you HAVE to. Your family needs you. Your community needs you. WE need you to forge forward alongside of us.

I remember about 3 years ago my daughter contracted RSV which was a truly terrifying experience for my wife and I. Breathing was incredibly difficult for her as she was a newborn and I remember being terrified going to bed because my little girl laid there barely able to breathe. Breath is so precious, life is so fragile. Perspective comes when we are tried and, friends, we are being tried as we speak.

So how will you react? What will YOU do today that makes tomorrow better? How will your family THRIVE through trial?

I have some thoughts. We will stand strong as people. We will fight for what is right. We will take care of those who cannot take care of themselves. We will stand on principle and never stray from truth.

You are a modern warrior who has the power to speak reason to those around you. YOU have the power to provide. In your soul beats a heart of a warrior who is ready to do what it takes to provide for your family and community.

As a company we are navigating this day by day. We are learning right alongside you. We are an extremely small business (although people think we are big!) and when this pandemic blew up, we IMMEDIATELY felt the financial toll of this. Many businesses like ours are going to be hurting for some time. Some will die and turn to ashes. I do not believe that is the case with us here at TA, I believe our mission is much larger than where we are now and I believe we are being called to patiently wait, to trust, to believe that through this we will emerge stronger than before.

Just as my daughter pulled through that nasty respiratory virus, so we will come out of this experience triumphant IF we maintain our humanity. We MUST be human. We must love others. We must stand on truth.

I encourage you to push onward and never stop. I also want to leave you with this:

We can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.
― C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain

We are now going through a trial that CAN make us better, if we listen, act, and stand on principle. I have faith in us as people. But we need to act and be voices of reason in a crazy world.

I am truly honored to be leading our team, and I am honored to have you all as friends and to serve you as best as we humanly can.

We will get through this together. Thank you all and God Bless.