WASHINGTON, Jan 6: A US gun manufacturer said on Monday it had opted out of a $15 million bid to sell precision rifles to Pakistan because of concerns the weapons would be used against American soldiers.

On Sunday, the US media quoted senior officials of the Desert Tech company as saying that they had turned a deal to sell weapons to Pakistan.

But when contacted by Dawn on Monday, company officials said they there never was a deal.

“We did not have a contract to sell guns to Pakistan. We had been approached (along with other companies) to participate in a solicitation for a large contract to supply Pakistan with precision rifles,” Desert Tech’s Marketing Manager Seth Ercanbrack told Dawn. “We came to a personal decision as a company that we would not continue to pursue the contract.”

Desert Tech’s earlier claim that it had turned a multi-million dollar arms deal with Pakistan brought immediate publicity for the company. The report was carried by all major US media outlets, including the official Voice of America radio and television.

Desert Tech is based in a Salt Lake City suburb and was founded in 2007 to “protect the freedom of the United States of America, our allies and people by providing the most compact, accurate, and reliable precision weapon systems in the world”, says a message posted on its website.

But its founder, Nick Young, said “our greatest fear (in selling weapons to Pakistan) was that our equipment might be used against US troops.”

The US media often run stories which claim that weapons made in or sold to Pakistan reach militants fighting American soldiers in Afghanistan.

On Jan 2, Mr Young posted a message on his Facebook page, saying that in 2013 he faced a moral dilemma that he wanted to get some opinions on.

Mr Young said that the Obama administration was sponsoring FMS arms sales to Pakistani forces under the Foreign Military Sales scheme and in 2013, the company was approached with a multi-million dollar opportunity to legally supply sniper systems to Pakistan.

“I was never in the armed services but we employ several military veterans. I started this company to protect Americans not endanger them,” he wrote.

“In consulting with other arms companies the general responses I got was, if they don't buy it from you, then they will get it somewhere else, or money is money,” he said. “After much internal review, we elected not to sell to Pakistan.”

Mr Young said that he “wanted to throw this out to our military friends to see if our concern was legitimate and hear your thoughts on it.”

On Jan 4, company officials told media outlets in Utah that they have turned down an offer to sell rifles to Pakistan.

The company’s sales manager Mike Davis told local media that with the unrest in Pakistan, the company "just ended up not feeling right", about selling arms to that country. He told the Deseret News that "at the end of the day, we felt our ethics are worth more than the bottom line."

The rifles Desert Tech would have sold to Pakistan have the ability to change calibre within minutes and the capacity to shoot as far as 2,700 metres.

Mr Young received 1,668 responses to his Facebook post while 1,555 people shared his message. Most of them appreciated his decision.

“Thank you. You will be rewarded for doing the right thing,” said Gary Epstein of Potomac, Maryland.

“I have a son in the US Army who is currently in deployed in Afghanistan. I am glad and proud to see a company that will put the safety of our troops ahead of profits. You are true patriots,” said Dan Henry of the Northeast Missouri State University.

“As a US Naval officer, I can't thank you enough for your decision,” said Mike Augustine of William and Mary, Virginia.