German gun manufacturer Heckler & Koch vowed to stop selling weapons to “crisis regions of this world,” ending the sale of their weapons in several countries in Africa and the Middle East —including Israel.
The gun manufacturer, which builds some of the most renowned firearms on the planet, quietly made the move as a way to rehab the brand and steer it in a more “ethical direction,” Fox News reported.
“We are the Porsche of weapons on that market,” Andreas Heeschen, Heckler & Koch’s owner said.
However, the firearms have come under scrutiny for also being named “Germany’s deadliest company” by gun activists. The company’s weapons have reportedly been used in the killing of more than 2 million people since the guns began being constructed in 1949. In August during the company’s annual meeting, Heckler & Koch confirmed it had “withdrawn from the crisis regions of this world.” The company never formally announced the decision but included the plan in its financial design released in March.
The report said: “We are not seeking to take part in new tenders in non-green countries.”
Under that strategy, the gun manufacturer pledges to compromise with NATO countries, “NATO-equivalent” countries —New Zealand, Japan, Australia and New Zealand— and “countries with passing marks on Transparency International’s corruption index and the Economist Intelligence Unit’s democracy test,” The Washington Post reported.
Heckler & Koch promised to stop business in every nation in Africa, Mexico, India, Turkey, Egypt, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Israel.
