Keith, thanks for posting that info. I will point out that it is only current as of 10 years ago and Kahr was a very young company at that time, not having realized nearly the growth that represents the current face of the company.
In reading that document and other info on the internet I can find, it appears that there is some confusion and contradictory information:
1. The lawsuit document states that as of 1999, Justin Moon owned 82% of the stock in Saeilo Inc., the other 18% being held by "Machine Industries, Inc.". But then in the very next item, it says that "On Up Enterprises, Inc.", listed as operating at the same premises as Machine Industries, is "a holding company for many of the Unification Church's businesses, including wholly owned subsidiaries Saeilo Inc...". So, how can Saeilo be at the same time wholly-owned by Machine Industries, Inc., who is claimed to be "a holding company for many of the Unification Church's businesses", and also have 82% of its stock held by an individual person, Justin Moon? This only makes sense if Saeilo, Inc. and One Up Industries, Inc. are actually the same company, but if this were true then Justin Moon would also be majority shareholder in One Up Industries.
2. They continually point out that the companies that own part or all of Kahr Arms or Saeilo (besides the private 82% ownership of Justin Moon) are "holding companies" for the "Unification Church". This clearly is done in order to establish the idea that these companies are tied to the church. But anyone who has worked at a church or other non-profit organization knows full well that you cannot operate a for-profit business such as manufacturing machined goods or guns under a non-profit organization such as a church. A church can create products related to the church that may see a profit (like selling CDs or books, for example), or they may realize gains from investment in property, but they can't just eliminate the tax liability associated with a profitable business by covering it up with their non-profit status. This is exactly why I find it very hard to believe that Kahr Arms is "owned by" the Unification Church, because if it was, it would be felony tax fraud.
3. It seems clear that at least some portion of Saeilo Inc. is owned by some organization that also holds other properties or businesses that are associated with the Unification Church, but whatever these holding companies are, they are not, in fact, the church itself. The "Rev." Sun Moon probably owns or has founded other companies that are not a part of the church, but which make a profit, and not limited only to the parent of Kahr Arms. In fact, at the time when the Washington Post was on crusade against Kahr and the Unification Church in their editorials, one of Sun Moon's holdings was none other than the Post's competitor, the Washington Times.
Now I am currently a part-time employee of a church. I am also an employee of a large multinational company. And I own my own business. Some of the profit from both my job at the company, and the profit from my own business, are donated to my church. In fact some of the money I make from my job at the church are given back to that church. That does not cause my company to be "owned by" the church of which I am a member. In fact my church has members who are mayors, senators, very prominent business owners and CEOs, etc. and there is no question that some of the money that is paid do these people as the fruit of their business finds its way back to my church. This is America, and we can spend our money however we like as long as it is legal, and it is perfectly legal for me to take 100% of the profit from my personal business and give it to a church if I see fit. The same goes for Justin Moon, and even Sun Moon even if he owns companies and gives that money directly to the church which he founded.
Likewise a few years ago I was a partner in a company that had both a for-profit business and we were in the process of beginning a non-profit leg of the business as well. This is, of course, perfectly legal and happens all the time. We fully intended to put money from the profit business into the non-profit. Non-profit organizations have to get money from somewhere.
Anyway, I know I have hijacked this thread bigtime but I agree with Keith, this is not a big deal to me about where the profits from Kahr are going. I know a great amount of the profit is going into the redevelopment of new guns and technology, paying staff, etc. A larger part is probably going to pay Justin Moon, who has earned it. What he does with that money is really none of my business. I don't see any evidence showing a
direct link between the profit at Kahr Arms and the Unification
Church. Such a direct link would likely be illegal and a much bigger issue than the 1999 wrongful death suit.
To bring this back on topic, By the way, I did seriously consider a PF9 and almost bought one. I may also eventually find myself owning a P11, PF9, P3AT or P32. I am impressed with all of the Kel-Tec pistols and wouldn't hesitate to buy one. I sold a piece of music equipment to finance my Kahr purchase, and if I had been unable to sell it then I would likely have wound up with a used PF9. I have nothing against Kel Tec but if you hold both of these guns in your hand it is hard to ignore the obvious difference in quality feel between a CW9 and a PF9. Even if the only difference was the trigger, it would be enough. I think it is worth the $40-50 price difference, especially considering the comparatively high failure rate of Kel-Tec pistols compared with Kahr. The CW9s are known to have issues with the magazine dropping when you fire the last round, which causes the slide to not lock open (mine did). CW9s are also known to have occasional light-strike issues (mine did), resulting from excessive buildup of metal filings in the striker channel during breakin. They are also known to require a protracted breakin period wherein they will have various niggles during the first 200-500 rounds. But the failures of Kel-Tec pistols are much more common and serious. I subscribed to the KTOG forums for a few months before making my choice and read all about the various PF9 issues, and you would be surprised at how many serious revisions the PF9s have gone through and they are still exhibiting issues in new pistols. Both companies are also very well regarded for customer service but of late, the rush on Kahr pistols due to the increase in CCW sales has made their CS lag, and their PM9s have had a barrel-peening issue that they seem to not be able to solve readily, but they just replace the barrels over and over for people with the issue. Kahr sent me a new magazine release to solve my mag drop problem and a detail-strip and cleaning of the upper fixed the light strikes for me.
If you are really considering a PF9 then I suggest going over to the KTOG and read that huge gigantic long thread about the history of the PF9
http://www.ktog.org/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB. ... 1173985819" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (I don't know if you have to be a member to read it or not). It is very informative. The exhaustive list of issues with a CW9 is light strikes and magazine drops, and the fix for light strikes ranges from cleaning to a whole new upper depending on the cause, and the fix for magazine drops ranges from replacing the magazine release all the way to replacing the entire lower and magazine. In either case those usually are one-time, permanent fixes that result in a 100% reliable pistol. I bet fewer than 1 in 1000 CW9s have any issues at all, but I bet 10% of the PF9s have issues right out of the box.
) in KT's favor.