In the United States, people are free to voice their opinions and vote for who they want, but they should do so with caution lest those opinions and votes run counter to the majority of people they count on for their livelihood, particularly in the gun industry.

Just ask Montana riflemaker Dan Cooper. Cooper, the CEO, founder and part owner of the company that bears his name, Cooper Firearms, was forced to resign late last week after a Tuesday article appeared in USA Today in which Cooper was quoted as saying he had contributed to and supports Barack Obama’s presidential bid.

In the article, Cooper, a self-described lifelong Republican and NRA supporter said he changed sides in the coming election “probably because of the war. And also because the Republican Party has moved so far right in recent years.”

The story said Cooper had contributed $3,300 to Obama’s campaign.

But the reaction from gunowners and pro-gun blogs and Web sites was fast and furious. People were outraged and when it became obvious that the anger would manifest itself in a potential blackballing of Cooper Firearms by consumers, the company took immediate action.

The company posted a statement Wednesday night on its Web site that read:

“The employees, shareholders and board of directors of Cooper Firearms of Montana do not share the personal political views of Dan Cooper. Although we all believe everyone has a right to vote and donate as they see fit, it has become apparent that the fallout may affect more than just Mr. Cooper. It may also affect the employees and the shareholders of Cooper Firearms. The board of directors has asked Mr. Cooper to resign as President.”

Cooper Firearms, which manufactures high-end, custom-style hunting rifles, employs 38 people. Cooper started the company with two partners in 1990.

In a statement Thursday to USA TODAY, Cooper said, “There is nothing on this earth I will not do for my employees … we have fought through 20 years of building what I believe to be the finest rifles built in America …When the internet anger turned on these innocent people, I felt it was important to distance myself from the company so as not to cause any further harm.”

The company told the paper that it had received more than 1,000 emails over the controversy.

When the furor first began, the USA Today story reports that “Cooper Firearms posted a statement saying that Dan Cooper had only given money to Obama in order to ‘to help defeat Hillary Clinton’ in the Democratic primaries and to protest the shifting of American jobs overseas. The statement said Cooper had then given money to the McCain and the Republican National Committee. Election records show no Cooper donations to McCain or the RNC, and the statement was later taken down.”

The entire incident was not unlike the now infamous reaction to famed outdoor writer Jim Zumbo’s blog comments a couple of years ago where he condemned the use of tactical rifles for hunting.

Zumbo declared ARs “terrorist guns” and called for “state game agencies to ban their use.” The shooting public was outraged and demanded his immediate ouster from anything and everything related to hunting and shooting in which he was involved. Within a day, Zumbo saw longtime supporters of his television show, Remington and Cabela’s, severe ties with him. Other sponsors followed suit and his television show, which appeared on the Outdoor Channel was taken off the air.

His blog, which appeared on Outdoor Life’s Web site, was immediately pulled and the magazine, for which he had written for nearly two decades, asked for and accepted his resignation. It appeared a career that had taken a lifetime to develop, was gone in a single blog post.

Zumbo has since recast himself as a pro-AR sportsman through the help of outspoken outdoorsman and rocker Ted Nugent as well as The Second Amendment Foundation. His show is back on the air, but his writings have yet to reappear in any large circulation magazines such as Outdoor Life.

The Cooper and Zumbo situations, like the case of the country group, the Dixie Chicks, where their condemnation of President George W. Bush in the earliest days of the Iraq invasion brought public scorn and a removal from radio play lists, underscore the fact that you do have the right to say what you think in this country—but so do the people who support you, and all to often, they speak with their wallets as well as their words.