Golden Knights Sending Cease-and-Desist Letter to Las Vegas Gun Store for Using VGK Logo and Mark on Glock
By ALAN SNEL
LVSportsBiz.com
Vegas Golden Knights officials say they are contacting a Las Vegas gun and ammo shop for what the NHL team says is an unauthorized use of its logo and mark on a Glock firearm.
The Golden Knights learned about the use of their logo and team name on the firearm from a photo posted on social media Monday, team spokesman Eric Tosi said.
Golden Knights President Kerry Bubolz said the team will contact the store, Spartan Arms, about the use of the VGK logo and mark.
The Las Vegas store can expect a cease-and-desist letter, Bubolz told LVSportsBiz.com in an interview after an announcement ceremony at the team’s Summerlin training center on The D Las Vegas hotel-casino paying the costs for a Lil Knights youth hockey program for the next five years.
“As soon as we get the letter together, we’ll get it out,” Bubolz said. “It’s a priority.”
Tosi noted, “The company can expect to hear about this unauthorized use of our logos immediately.”
LVSportsBiz.com called the store after Bubolz’s comments and shop manager Brandon Burns said the store used a laser engraver to apply the Golden Knights logo and mark to the firearm in response to a customer’s request.
Burns said the store uses the laser engraver for customers who want the logo of their favorite sports team, movie character or military emblem on firearms purchased at the shop.
Burns said the store is not selling guns with the Golden Knights logo already on them. He stressed the VGK logo and mark are applied to the firearm at a customer’s request.
In light of the Oct. 1 mass shooting massacre on the Strip and the role the Golden Knights played in the city’s healing afterwards, the placement of the team’s logo and mark on a weapon takes on extra meaning, Tosi said.
“It’s not a T-shirt. It’s another level of sensitivity,” Tosi said.
Typically, the NHL and its clubs monitor unauthorized use of team logos on gear and clothing and contact the product’s owner when they see the mark being used without permission.
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Most times, it has to do with team logos and marks on caps and shirts or businesses that will use the logo on items as a way to support the team, Tosi said. For example, the Golden Knights contacted more than a few product sellers who did not have the authority to use the Golden Knights logo during the Stanley Cup playoffs.
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