| NRA-ILA FAX ALERT |
| (800) 392-8683 |
Fax: (703) 267-3918 |
groots@nra.org |
| Special |
11250 Waples Mill Road, Fairfax, VA 22030 |
3/20/2000 |
|
SMITH & WESSON BETRAYAL RUNS DEEP |
|
|
"...the [S&W/Clinton] agreement dispenses with only a third of the
municipal lawsuits, and binds only two federal agencies and two state
attorneys general from filing future suits... other state and federal agencies can continue to threaten the industry, including S&W..." |
New friends, at the
expense of others |
On March 17, British-owned Smith & Wesson, Inc. (S&W), became the first gun
maker to run up the white flag of surrender and duck behind the Clinton-Gore
lines, blindsiding other members the U.S. firearms industry, and leaving them to
stand with lawful gun owners and carry on the fight for the Second Amendment.
Of
course, there is no Second Amendment in Britain, where subjects are barred from
owning handguns and many rifles and shotguns, and S&W's parent company appears
poised to sell it to anyone willing to invest in a company fast becoming
considered a pariah within its own industry.
S&W says the agreement with the
Departments of the Treasury and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is intended
to exempt the company from non-existent federal government suits, and to ensure
that it would be dropped as a defendant in a handful of reckless lawsuits filed
by municipalities. Yet the agreement dispenses with only a third of the
municipal lawsuits, and binds only two federal agencies and two state attorneys
general from filing future suits. The remaining city suits are unaffected, and
other state and federal agencies can continue to threaten the industry,
including S&W.
The day following the announcement, HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo
and the mayors of Atlanta, Detroit and Miami moved to support S&W by insuring
that their law enforcement agencies would purchase only the company's guns,
making the agreement what appears to be an odd mix of extortion and bribe.
Distributors and dealers who want to continue to sell S&W products will be
forced to agree to a wish list of gun-prohibitionist demands, and will also have
to choose between selling S&W handguns, or selling makes of firearms and
accessories from those manufacturers who are not willing to cave in to anti-gun
threats of suits or promises of financial reward. "I'm not willing to be a pawn
in a political chess game," S&W CEO Ed Schultz is quoted in the March 27, 2000,
edition of Newsweek. Yet by signing this sweeping agreement, Schultz has become
exactly that, manipulated by the Administration into executing a "settlement"
that is widely portrayed as a political victory for the White House.
The agreement...
- prohibits consumers from purchasing more than one handgun in a
14-day period,
- would require passing an unspecified safety test,
- sets arbitrary
accuracy standards for handguns (thus limiting access to some self-defense
handguns), and
- would prohibit anyone under the age of 18 from even walking into
the firearms section of a sporting goods store unless accompanied by an adult.
Dealers who wish to sell S&W handguns...
- would not be allowed to also sell certain
legal semi-automatic rifles, commonplace magazines, and firearms that do not
meet the difficult standards set in the agreement,
- would not be allowed to sell
firearms at any gun show where any legal private sales are conducted,
- would be
required to distribute anti-gun propaganda with every firearm sold,
- would
require the dealer to carry $1 million in liability insurance, and
- would require
the dealer to perform tasks that should be handled by law-enforcement (once
again exposing the Clinton-Gore Administrations refusal to enforce existing
laws).
And any manufacturers that agree with S&W's capitulation...
- would be
prohibited from marketing firearms in a way that appeals to young shooters and
hunters,
- would be required to commit 1% of annual firearm revenues to an
anti-gun propaganda campaign,
- must support legislative efforts to develop
"smart" gun technology,
- would be required to "ballistically fingerprint" every
firearm (setting the stage for national firearms registration), and
- would have
to meet certain unproven and undefined design standards for handguns sold to
civilians -- guns sold to the military and police would be exempted, thereby
showing the intent is not to make firearms safer or better, but to impose
standards that will ultimately eliminate sales to private citizens.
While the media has tried to portray the S&W/Clinton-Gore agreement as one
that allows S&W to get out from under the threat of reckless litigation by
agreeing to adopt certain "safety" measures, it is actually much more
far-reaching.
The true intent of this agreement is to force down the throats of
an entire lawful industry anti-gun polices rejected by the Congress, rejected by
legislatures across America, and rejected by the judges who have dismissed their
lawsuits in whole or in part nearly without exception. According to USA Today,
other members of the gun industry were blindsided by Friday's action, and while
many gun makers know that a strategy of appeasement is doomed to failure, some
are under great pressure to join Smith & Wesson's capitulation. You can contact
S&W to voice your concerns regarding its actions at:
Smith & Wesson
C/O Ed Schultz, CEO & President
2100 Roosevelt Ave.
Springfield, MA 01102
Phone: (413) 781-8300
Fax: (413) 731-8980 |
Gun owners may also wish to contact the companies interviewed by USA Today and urge them to hold firm:
Glock, Inc.
6000 Highlands Parkway
Smyrna, GA 30082
Phone: (770) 432-1202
Fax: (770) 433-8719 |
|
Browning
One Browning Place
Morgan, UT 84050
Phone: (515) 623-5401
Fax: (515) 623-3896 |
=+=+=+=+
This information is provided as a service of the National Rifle
Association Institute for Legislative Action, Fairfax, VA.
This and other information on the Second Amendment and the NRA is
available at: http://WWW.NRA.Org
