In the 44 years that GT Distributors has been outfitting law enforcement and military agencies with the latest and best tactical gear, the company has had to adapt to social changes and new laws, owner Jim Orr said.
“The biggest change for us in the past year or so is from law enforcement itself demanding a higher level of body armor—it’s been in the news a lot here in Austin with Austin Police Department—armor that protects against rifles,” he said. “Active-shooter training has also been a huge thing for us.”
GT Distributors also provides tactical gear, training equipment, clothing, guns, ammunition, gun safes, high-end flashlights and uniforms for law enforcement agencies, private companies, the military and civilians.
Orr’s father, Bill, started the company in 1972 in Rossville, Georgia, after seeing a need to provide law enforcement agencies with supplies manufactured by Smith & Wesson. The manufacturer asked GT Distributors to expand into Texas, and in 1985, Orr opened the Austin location, which is now the company’s headquarters.
“The economy out here was a lot stronger, and the job market as far as availability of quality people was a lot better here,” Orr said.
The bulk of its business is through governmental contracts, but GT Distributors opened to the public in 2005 and now has four retail locations.
“The law enforcement and military market, they demand a very tough, reliable product, and the civilian market sees that as a benefit to them,” Orr said.
Its customers include the Austin Police Department and Travis County.
“We carry a lot of specialized gear bags, very high-end products for holsters and gear for concealed carry,” he said. “We carry a lot of really high-end flashlights that you can’t go to Wal-Mart or Target and see.”
Orr said in the past few years GT Distributors has seen increased sales for concealed carry products, such as backpacks, holsters, belts and clothing.
“All law enforcement officers carry off duty and they carry in plain clothes, so we were already carrying the gear that a concealed carry person would need, and they became an instant customer when that market took off in the late ’90s,” he said.
Supporting the fallen
Shortly after the July killings of police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, owner Jim Orr hosted a two-day fundraiser in which 100 percent of proceeds from sales at all four retail locations and online benefited several nonprofits. GT Distributors raised $78,000 for several organizations, including The 100 Club of Central Texas, which supports families of first responders who died in the line of duty.
“They’re our clientele,” he said. “We’re giving back to the community we service. Our main function is selling to governmental entities and the first responders.”
Other groups that received donations were Dallas-based Russ Martin Show Listeners’ Foundation, Assist the Officer Dallas, the Guns and Hoses Foundation of North Texas, national organization Concerns of Police Survivors, and funds set up for the families of officers who died in Baton Rouge.
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