Red Zone Tactical

About Rich

Hi, I am Rich Dupre and I am the owner of Red Zone Tactical. My shop is located at 9 Brown Street, North Brookfield, MA 01535. If you come into the shop you’re guaranteed to find me. You might also find my wife, daughters, brothers, or parents behind the counter. We are a true family owned and operated company.

I have a BS in Criminal Justice from Westfield State College (recently named a University, I felt smarter the day that happened), with a minor in Military history. I proudly served as an officer in the United States Army from 1986-1991, and was with the 3rd Armored Division in Operation Desert Storm. I was a Fire Support Officer (FIST) providing call for fire support for Armor Company. Specialized military training in Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Weapons was my forte.
Along with my father and brother, I manage Dupre Metal Recycling, LLC, in the same location/building as Red Zone.

I get asked often, why a gun store in Massachusetts?

The answer is simple really. I love weapons of every type. This avenue affords me the opportunity to possess, shoot and show off weapons that are not MA compliant (and we all know that list is very large, and means MOST of the good ones), and the opportunity to sell compliant firearms to the growing gun community in Massachusetts. Other states are not as restrictive with firearms, magazine capacity, silencers, etc. as we are here in Massachusetts, but this puts all of us MA dealers on an equal footing. The MA compliant list has been increasing recently, and hopefully the firearm you covet soon appears on that list. When it does, I mean to provide it to you. We will tend to lean toward the black long gun market, with all the handguns we can carry in stock. Due to the large public demand of firearms recently, stocking a full shelf has been difficult. As we are a fairly new company, we do not offer much in the way of USED handguns. But we’re getting there. We will custom order (with advanced pay for all custom firearms or accessories), and we will offer seasonal shotguns during hunting season, but we will not be known as the hunting headquarters of the Northeast. We want to be known for tactical gear, and tactical weapons. Be it for professional day-to-day carry, concealed carry, or personal home defense.

We belong to GOAL (Gun Owners Action League) and highly recommend you do the same, the same goes for the NRA (National Rifle Association). Both of these, and other hard working groups fight the daily battle for the average Joe in Congress and on our capital hill. They are responsible for the changing of many laws, and will continue to do so, but it costs money, and that’s where your membership dues come into play. Stop whining about the fact that you can’t own a Taurus Judge, and help them make it so we can. I am not a very political person, but really look at your candidates during election time, and vote for those that are Pro-Gun, or keep the good ones that we have (Anne Gobi comes to mind, AAA+ GOAL rating for being a friend to the firearms community).

Everyone needs to understand that guns are not EVIL. People can be, and we will never be able to stop that, and we all need to know that if we ban guns, or severely limit them in your home, that people with bad intentions will always find a way to get them. I feel, and data confirms it, that a well-trained, licensed populace is the best deterrent against crime. With the current state of the economy, public departments, especially fire and police, have seen layoffs, or not filling to capacity. This will only increase crime, and the response time for the public safety. Law Enforcement cannot be everywhere, but a criminal will think twice about approaching you or your possessions if they think you can defend yourself. Why is it that the United States has never been invaded? Ask the Japanese, in WWII who thought about it, and said, no way. The citizens have more weapons than we do, and they number much larger than their own military. End of Sermon #1.

Look around us at not only at our own little slice of the earth, but the world as a whole. The economic downward spiral continues, food riots, severe weather patterns, and civil unrest threaten every way of life. Most of us sit back and say, “but that’s them, it can’t happen here.” (Yeah, tell that to Katrina victims). Well I hope to God that’s true. But have you ever really thought, but what if it isn’t? What if it happens here? Are you and your family prepared for any type of disaster? Drought, famine, EMP, swine flu, bird flu, economic collapse, food shortages, massive inflation, deflation.....These are all real possibilities. The experts (and I am not one of them) say its not if, but when. One or more of these could have a ripple effect, and create more on the same list. Drought in one region could lead to a food shortage, which in turn could lead to economic distress, which would lead to civil unrest. We would march on capital hill if McDonalds couldn’t get any burgers, or god forbid, Dunkins had no coffee! Case in point, just this week Australia was hit by a Category 5 tornado. Did you see that? Did it affect you? Maybe not yet, but in case you didn’t know this, its one of the worlds largest sugar producers, and sugar is already rising. Analysts predict 30-50% increase in prices in the coming weeks. That affects everything and everyone.

Survivalists and Preppers have a name for the scenarios above...TEOTWAKI (the end of the world as we know it). Notice it doesn’t say end of the world period. Big distinction. Even the biblical Armageddon, and the Mayan 2012 predictions do not say “GAME OVER”, they say end of life, as it currently is constituted. What they all say (yes, even the bible) is that everyone should be prepared for life’s unexpected surprises. We should all be able to be prepared to weather any type of natural or man made disaster for a minimum of 30 days. That starts with the preparation mind set, taking control of you and your family’s destiny. Recent government and independent statistics put forth an alarming statistic, that more than 1⁄2 the country is two (2) missed paychecks away from bankruptcy! That’s huge!

Now I am not going to get on a soapbox and preach to you what you should or should not do. That’s your personal choice, and as Americans its still within our rights to make choices, but I am going to ask you (if you’ve read this far the proverbial light bulb upstairs might be starting to glow) to look in the mirror and ask yourself if you could provide food, water, shelter and personal security/safety for you and your loved ones for 30 days right now. If the answer is yes, congratulations, now shoot for 90 days. If the answer is no, then it might be time to explore making it so. Think of it this way. Do you have car insurance? Yes, why? In case of fire, theft or accident, might never happen, but you pay it right? House insurance? Same thing. Think of this as Survival Insurance. Might never happen, but why chance it!

I am not going to publish checklists, bar graphs or the like to tell you what you should or should not have (I will tell you that the two items you never want to run out of are toilet paper and coffee...both make people miserable when they are without either, and heaven help you if your run out of both) I will direct you to look on your own at FEMA.org or my personal favorite survivalblog.com and get that information. I’m also not going to tell you the first thing to come in and buy is guns and ammo and then more guns and ammo. I am going to tell you my goal in running this business is to be a part of helping you and your family achieve a level of security you are comfortable with. That includes steering you in the right direction for training and skill sets you might want to acquire now and in the future.

With all that said, I would be remiss in not mentioning that charity and community are a large part of making this work, both for you and your neighbors. When you gather skill sets (first aid, CPR, gardening, canning, marksmanship, foraging, candle making, etc.) teach them to others. If you start growing your own food and become more self-sustaining, donate extra to your friends and neighbors, your senior centers, your food pantries.

And now that you know about me and the goals I have set for my family, my company, and myself come in and say HI. We don’t get angry or disappointed if you just come to browse, or ask questions. I learn more from what I don’t know every time I get asked something I don’t know. I look it up, I research it, I hate to not know everything (my wife would say “I think I do”), but I hate not learning it so next time you ask, I still don’t know, to me, that’s bad manners, and even worse business.

Si vis pacem, para/bellum
Vegetius, IIRC

If you want Peace, Prepare for WAR

Thank you,

Rich Dupre

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