Long range rifle forum SnipersHide.com and associates are being sued by TacticalRifles.net for criticizing the company and their products. One of the forum admin’s wrote …

We are going to fight the lawsuit filed by TacticalRifles.net out in Federal Court of Florida.

This Federal case was filed against Me, Sniper’s Hide & Marc Soulie, at present I have spoken to several lawyers on the matter and feel rather than try to settle it, we are gonna fight it and protect our ability to post the truth in any matter. We feel fighting this and winning will send a message to companies that were are here for a reason and do in fact provide a service to the members, not only what we can say, but how and where our money will be spent.

This fight is about you the end user, and the ability to talk about problems with a company’s product or service. Without defending this suit, a win tells all of you, if you voice a negative opinion or review of a product or service, you can and will be sued for Libel / Slander / Assault. They feel the negative reviews are an assault on their company and not a problem to be addressed and fixed.

Help us defend our freedoms by supporting the site in this effort. Our initial retainer will be $7500… that is just the first step. Marc will more than likely have to defend his efforts to correct the problems found with his clients rifle. I encourage you to support Marc Soulie as well.

Frank Galli of Sniper’s Hide, LLC told me that donations from forum users have already covered the lawyer’s retainer and they are no longer soliciting donations. I believe Sniper’s Hide will win this lawsuit, at a significant cost. I also believe TacticalRifles.net will lose what little reputation they still have left and deeply regret involving lawyers in an online dispute.

We are not immune to big egos threatening our unbiased reporting. TFB was once threatened with legal action over something I wrote. I had to consult an attorney. Earlier this year a prominent gun company banned TFB writers from their booth at SHOT Show. They did not like what we said about one of their guns last year. I am not yet ready to name (and shame) the company. I hold out hope they will see the error of their ways and apologize. Nobody can accuse me of having a short fuse. Eventually the truth will come out.

As a side note: The background image on TacticalRifles.net shows the Haley Strategic logo. I asked Haley Strategic if they are associated with the company and they told me other than the purchase of a rifle some time ago, they have no link with TacticalRifles.net.