WASHINGTON, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- Michigan defense contractor Trijicon Inc. said Thursday it will no longer stamp Bible verse references on gun sights it supplies the U.S. military.
Trijicon, a maker of high-powered rifle scopes, said in a statement it will provide the Pentagon with 100 kits, free of charge, to remove existing biblical citations from gun sights already in service. The move came in response to concerns that the references could allow the U.S. military presence in Muslim countries to be portrayed as a crusade.
"Trijicon has proudly served the U.S. military for more than two decades, and our decision to offer to voluntarily remove these references is both prudent and appropriate," Trijicon President Stephen Bindon said.
The company will distribute modification kits "as quickly as possible," Bindon said.
If any foreign military customers have the same concerns, Trijicon said it will offer the same remedies, the announcement said.
U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, who heads U.S. Central Command, which includes Iraq and Afghanistan, said Thursday he was very concerned about the issue.
"The codes on the scopes are contrary to U.S. Central Command guidance," Petraeus said in a statement on the command's Web site. "Our mission is to protect the population we're serving and establish conditions for security, stability, and development, and we strive to do that while remaining sensitive to the cultural and religious norms of the populace we are supporting. We deeply respect the cultures of the host nations and our coalition partners in the Central Command area of responsibility."
He said the references were easy to miss as they were added to the end of a line of code on the sights.
The Army and U.S. Marines raised the matter with the company before it made its announcement.
Trijicon has a $660,000, multiyear contract to supply 800,000 sights to the Marines. It also supplies sights to the U.S. Army, and to New Zealand and Australia.
New Zealand's military command ordered the biblical references removed from its sights.
