For what it's worth, the following is an E-mail I just received from Taurus' marketing department, in light of the S&W fiasco.
--------------------------------------------
The following is an e-mail sent by Bob Morrison, Executive Vice-President of
Taurus with regards to a Wall Street Journal article. Some of you may know
that Bob, a West Point grad who still takes seriously his oath to protect
and defend the Constitution, also spent a few years behind the counter of
his own gun shop before moving on in the industry and eventually running
Taurus. While I do not generally share such communications, I felt this one
is important enough to justify sharing with you, the men and women who
support our company. His message:
This morning I was quoted in the Wall Street Journal as saying "his company
also was considering imposing new curbs on dealers. This is 'one of the
options we are looking at, though we haven't figured out the details,' he
said."
This is a blatant untruth, not quoted out of context, because I would never
say anything remotely like this. You know me well enough to know I do not
make vague statements to anyone and certainly not to this reporter.
We are not considering anything of the sort. We certainly cannot conceive of
imposing any more burdensome standards on the retailers than those already
applied by their local, state and federal regulatory agencies. That their
customers are already the subject of the most invasive background checks
ever imposed on an American consumer gives us rest that if the regulatory
agencies do their assigned jobs, the dealers will pass any litmus test we
could imagine here at Taurus. Below is a copy of a Taurus Press Release we
are sending out today.
Best regards from the battle lines,
Bob
-----
The Wall Street Journal Got it Wrong!
A quote in the March 21, 2000 Wall Street Journal article attributed to
Robert G. Morrison, Executive vice-president and Chief Operating Officer of
Taurus International Manufacturing, Inc. erroneously indicates Taurus will
add restrictions to its sales of firearms at the consumer level.
This is simply incorrect.
Taurus sells only to federally licensed distributors, who sell only to
federally licensed dealers, who sell firearms only after completion of a
background check which includes approval of the purchase by the Federal
Bureau of Investigation. Taurus believes that when properly administered by
government regulators, this stringent system of licensing and pre-purchase
scrutiny by criminal investigators of law-abiding American consumers is more
than sufficient to prevent dealer sales of firearms to criminals or
children.
For up to the minute information about Taurus, http://www.taurususa.com
Sincerely
Gary G. Mehalik (marketing@taurususa.com)
Marketing Manager
Taurus International Manufacturing, Inc.
--------------------------------------------
Does this mean that Taurus isn't signing on to the Smith deal? If so, than it's now 3 for Gun Owners, 1 for Slick. Just curious, since Smith and Taurus are owned by the same British Firm, how come Smith signed the deal, but Taurus isn't? I guess time will tell.
David
--------------------------------------------
The following is an e-mail sent by Bob Morrison, Executive Vice-President of
Taurus with regards to a Wall Street Journal article. Some of you may know
that Bob, a West Point grad who still takes seriously his oath to protect
and defend the Constitution, also spent a few years behind the counter of
his own gun shop before moving on in the industry and eventually running
Taurus. While I do not generally share such communications, I felt this one
is important enough to justify sharing with you, the men and women who
support our company. His message:
This morning I was quoted in the Wall Street Journal as saying "his company
also was considering imposing new curbs on dealers. This is 'one of the
options we are looking at, though we haven't figured out the details,' he
said."
This is a blatant untruth, not quoted out of context, because I would never
say anything remotely like this. You know me well enough to know I do not
make vague statements to anyone and certainly not to this reporter.
We are not considering anything of the sort. We certainly cannot conceive of
imposing any more burdensome standards on the retailers than those already
applied by their local, state and federal regulatory agencies. That their
customers are already the subject of the most invasive background checks
ever imposed on an American consumer gives us rest that if the regulatory
agencies do their assigned jobs, the dealers will pass any litmus test we
could imagine here at Taurus. Below is a copy of a Taurus Press Release we
are sending out today.
Best regards from the battle lines,
Bob
-----
The Wall Street Journal Got it Wrong!
A quote in the March 21, 2000 Wall Street Journal article attributed to
Robert G. Morrison, Executive vice-president and Chief Operating Officer of
Taurus International Manufacturing, Inc. erroneously indicates Taurus will
add restrictions to its sales of firearms at the consumer level.
This is simply incorrect.
Taurus sells only to federally licensed distributors, who sell only to
federally licensed dealers, who sell firearms only after completion of a
background check which includes approval of the purchase by the Federal
Bureau of Investigation. Taurus believes that when properly administered by
government regulators, this stringent system of licensing and pre-purchase
scrutiny by criminal investigators of law-abiding American consumers is more
than sufficient to prevent dealer sales of firearms to criminals or
children.
For up to the minute information about Taurus, http://www.taurususa.com
Sincerely
Gary G. Mehalik (marketing@taurususa.com)
Marketing Manager
Taurus International Manufacturing, Inc.
--------------------------------------------
Does this mean that Taurus isn't signing on to the Smith deal? If so, than it's now 3 for Gun Owners, 1 for Slick. Just curious, since Smith and Taurus are owned by the same British Firm, how come Smith signed the deal, but Taurus isn't? I guess time will tell.
David
