Police seize weapons at gun shop where Kyle Rittenhouse works

A firearm shop in the Panhandle that boasted last month about hiring 22-year-old gun rights figure Kyle Rittenhouse is seeing some of its inventory seized by local law enforcement.

Deputies from the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office (SRSO) executed a court order at Gulf Coast Gun in Milton, confiscating portions of business’ inventory as part of a legal matter between the shop’s owner and another company.

Court records show that Circuit Judge James Duncan ordered inventory from the shop to be seized as collateral for a loan Gulf Coast Gun owner Chris Smith took out in May 2021 from Lakeland West Capital 48, a limited liability company that registered with the state of Texas in April 2024 but has affiliate companies registered in Florida.

The value of the inventory totals between $600,000 and $1.2 million.

A Tuesday statement from the SRSO said officers were merely following through on a court order and, beyond that, “has no further involvement” in the matter.

Rittenhouse began to be regularly featured on Gulf Coast Gun’s Facebook page in late January, when the business posted a photo of the young man behind its store counter to promote the company’s 10th anniversary sale.

“Buy any firearm between now and Saturday February 1 and get a signed copy of Kyle’s book Acquitted for free,” the Jan. 24 post said.

Rittenhouse — whom the Gulf Coast Gun has referred to as the “Kenosha Kid,” a reference to Rittenhouse’s fatal shooting of two men and wounding of a third during an August 2020 protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin — was included or mentioned in online promotions of the store at least 10 times since.

On Feb. 5, Gulf Coast Gun announced on Facebook Rittenhouse had become a full-time employee, inviting followers to come in and welcome him to the team.

“Kyle will even ring you up,” the post said.

Rittenhouse responded on X, saying he was “Excited to apart (sic) of the team!”

That evening, Smith posted a 25-second video addressing the criticism his business had received for associating itself with Rittenhouse. He suggested anyone who has a problem with Rittenhouse’s employment there are pedophiles.

“I just want to take a quick minute to thank all the people that are mad that we’ve hired Kyle Rittenhouse at our store, for commenting on our post,” he said. “Now we know where all the pedos are.”

Smith then suggestively noted an ongoing sale of thermal optics.

“They’re great for night hunting,” he said.

Martin is hardly alone in being a big fan of Rittenhouse. In 2021, ahead of a jury’s “not guilty” verdict in a trial over the Kenosha shootings, Gov. Ron DeSantis came to Rittenhouse’s defense.

“The whole Kenosha episode has been a tragic farce built upon a foundation of corporate media lies,” he said in campaign fundraising emails.

The Governor urged Rittenhouse to sue media outlets “who smeared him into oblivion.’

DeSantis’ then-Press Secretary, Christina Pushaw, welcomed Rittenhouse and his family to Florida in a photo posted to X in November 2021.

That came shortly after former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz suggested he might hire Rittenhouse, whom he said “would probably make a pretty good congressional intern.”