According to British-owned gun maker Smith & Wesson (S&W), the agreement it entered into with the Clinton-Gore Administration (see Special FAX Alert 3/20/00) is not what it seems. S&W has posted a "clarification" to its website, which claims, among other things, that none of the requirements outlined in the Clinton-Gore/S&W agreement will affect either gun shows where sales between non-licensed individuals take place, or licensed dealers and distributors that carry firearms manufactured by companies that refuse to follow S&W's capitulation to anti-gun extremists. But White House domestic policy advisor Bruce Reed stated he feels the terms of the agreement "are quite clear and we're confident that when the dust settles our interpretation will stand up." And NRA-ILA Executive Director James Jay Baker believes, "Smith & Wesson is trying to escape the clear terms of the document because they bit off more than they can chew," and that the company, "obviously signed off on a deal that it hadn't read or didn't understand." Meanwhile, Philadelphia has filed its own lawsuit against 14 lawful gun makers, including S&W, flying in the face of the State Legislature and Governor Tom Ridge (R). Ridge enacted a law last December that prohibits cities in Pennsylvania from filing such reckless lawsuits. Philadelphia's suit clearly shows that anti-gun extremists have no regard for the rule of law, and that no matter who is interpreting the Clinton-Gore/S&W agreement, it will not protect any lawful gun maker from litigation designed to drive them into bankruptcy. Feel free to call Philadelphia Mayor John Street (D) at (215) 686-2181 and urge him to stop wasting the tax payers' money.
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