http://www.enterstageright.com/0400sw.htm
By Charles Bloomer
web posted April 3, 2000
Smith & Wesson, America’s largest gunmaker, has become the latest casualty of
government tyranny. S&W has agreed to an oppressive set of conditions
in return for a promise not to be sued by the US Department of Housing and
Urban Development (HUD), New York and Connecticut Attorneys General
and some cities.
The capitulation of S&W is the result of the government plan to drive gun
manufacturers into bankruptcy. S&W had two choices, neither of them pleasant
– either cave in to the government’s demands or continue trying to defend
itself in a massive lawsuit. The reward, such as it was, removed Smith and
Wesson from the federal suit against gunmakers, and included a promise
to encourage states and cities to give preference to S&W guns for their police
departments.
CATO Institute's Robert A. Levy says S&W had no alternative because of
pending government litigation. "The real goal of the litigation was to bypass the
legislative process," he says, and "that's no better than blackmail masquerading as law."
The deal S&W made is imperfect and will require S&W to continue to
spend money defending itself. Not all the parties to the suit have joined in the
federal government’s deal. At least 12 of the cities and municipalities
involved in the lawsuit have decided not to accept S&W’s surrender and will
continue pursuing the destruction of the gun industry. In addition, the
agreement effectively put control of S&W operations into the hands of an oversight
board of five appointed members, only one of which is appointed by
the manufacturer, providing a 4-1 anti-gun majority.
Other gunmakers have decided to continue the fight. Some thought to
join S&W in its capitulation, but changed their minds when they saw the immediate,
overwhelming backlash from gun owners, dealers and distributors.
Gun Owners of America and other pro-gun, pro-Second Amendment groups have
called for a boycott of S&W weapons, and of dealers who continue to sell S&W guns.
The responses of the other gunmakers, distributors, and dealers has
irritated anti-gun advocates and government agencies. Three states, New York,
Connecticut, and Maryland are threatening to punish by bringing
anti-trust actions against the gunmakers that have indicated they will not cave in to
government extortion, and against distributors and dealers that do not
want to agree to the conditions that would be forced upon them by the S&W
agreement.
No matter how the government agencies try to sweeten it, no matter how
many times they repeat their feel-good buzzwords (common sense, reasonable,
sensible), the lawsuits brought by HUD, states and cities are pure tyranny.
Unable to get Congress to violate the Constitution with more infringements on
the right to keep and bear arms, the Clinton administration has decided to take
Congress completely out of the loop. The president and his minions will do
whatever it takes to get guns out of the hands of law-abiding citizens, including
ignoring the Constitution, arrogantly bypassing Congress, abusing the
courts, and flagrantly violating the rights of American citizens and legitimate
businesses.
So far, Congress has sat on its collective hands and watched this abuse of
presidential power. Rather than face up to the disrespect the president has shown
by ignoring and bypassing Congress, the House and Senate have been using
their time to debate and vote on a losing proposition to ban flag burning.
Where are the leaders of Congress who care that they are being bypassed
in the “legislation by litigation” power grab? As Charlton Heston has pointed
out, if the Executive Branch and the Judicial Branch of the federal government
are successful in making the laws, what need is there for a Legislative
Branch? Where is the balance of powers in such an arrangement?
There is no such thing as a “voluntary” agreement with the government.
The analogy is to call an armed robbery a “voluntary forfeiture” by the victim.
In reality, a voluntary agreement to do the government’s bidding is capitulation
and surrender by the victim and tyranny, extortion, and blackmail by the
government.
A tyrannical government will use any means to further its quest for power
and control. Freedom, liberty, the legislative process are nuisances that must be
quashed by whatever method that works. Concepts such as democracy and
documents such as constitutions mean nothing.
In totalitarian dictatorships, tyranny is easy and straight-forward. The
word of a dictator is law. Tyranny in a liberal democracy is not as simple and
requires more creativity. The journey toward total power and control in a
liberal democracy requires patience and the willingness to accept a slow,
sometimes erratic, pace. Tenacity, perseverance and an irrepressible desire
for control are necessary traits. The ability to twist the language and press
emotional buttons are also useful in the pursuit of tyranny.
The open, in-your-face, blatant abuse of power by the anti-gun administration
should set off alarms in every American. If the government succeeds in
destroying or severely limiting the supply of guns to the citizenry; if the
government succeeds in taking privately owned guns; if the government succeeds
in criminalizing gun ownership; if the government disarms the people despite
Constitutional guarantees, there will be no limit to the tyranny the
government can accomplish. Every totalitarian regime, every tyrannical
dictator, every murderous despot disarmed the population. Estimates put the
number of deaths caused by tyrants, dictators, and despots at 100 million
in the last century alone.
Contrary to the emotional rhetoric spouted by the gun-grabbing elite, guns
are not the problem. If the presence of guns were a problem, Switzerland would
be devoid of people and overrun by criminals. Contrary to the lies repeated
by the anti-gun propaganda groups, guns are not the cause of crime.
Washington, DC has the strictest gun laws in the country, yet our nation’s
capital is a crime-infested, shameful disaster. The criminals in Washington do
not respect the gun laws any more than they respect the laws regarding murder,
robbery, or drugs. The people who respect the laws have been disarmed
and left hostage to the criminal class.
Smith & Wesson may be the latest casualty in the war against tyranny,
but unless the American people stand up and demand an end to the ongoing abuses
of power, We the People will be the ultimate losers. If the Clinton administration
and its gun-grabbing allies have their way, all the American people will be
disarmed and held hostage by a criminal, tyrannical government.
A society without the means to protect itself against the egregious tyranny
perpetrated by an abusive government is called slavery.
© 2000 Charles Bloomer
By Charles Bloomer
web posted April 3, 2000
Smith & Wesson, America’s largest gunmaker, has become the latest casualty of
government tyranny. S&W has agreed to an oppressive set of conditions
in return for a promise not to be sued by the US Department of Housing and
Urban Development (HUD), New York and Connecticut Attorneys General
and some cities.
The capitulation of S&W is the result of the government plan to drive gun
manufacturers into bankruptcy. S&W had two choices, neither of them pleasant
– either cave in to the government’s demands or continue trying to defend
itself in a massive lawsuit. The reward, such as it was, removed Smith and
Wesson from the federal suit against gunmakers, and included a promise
to encourage states and cities to give preference to S&W guns for their police
departments.
CATO Institute's Robert A. Levy says S&W had no alternative because of
pending government litigation. "The real goal of the litigation was to bypass the
legislative process," he says, and "that's no better than blackmail masquerading as law."
The deal S&W made is imperfect and will require S&W to continue to
spend money defending itself. Not all the parties to the suit have joined in the
federal government’s deal. At least 12 of the cities and municipalities
involved in the lawsuit have decided not to accept S&W’s surrender and will
continue pursuing the destruction of the gun industry. In addition, the
agreement effectively put control of S&W operations into the hands of an oversight
board of five appointed members, only one of which is appointed by
the manufacturer, providing a 4-1 anti-gun majority.
Other gunmakers have decided to continue the fight. Some thought to
join S&W in its capitulation, but changed their minds when they saw the immediate,
overwhelming backlash from gun owners, dealers and distributors.
Gun Owners of America and other pro-gun, pro-Second Amendment groups have
called for a boycott of S&W weapons, and of dealers who continue to sell S&W guns.
The responses of the other gunmakers, distributors, and dealers has
irritated anti-gun advocates and government agencies. Three states, New York,
Connecticut, and Maryland are threatening to punish by bringing
anti-trust actions against the gunmakers that have indicated they will not cave in to
government extortion, and against distributors and dealers that do not
want to agree to the conditions that would be forced upon them by the S&W
agreement.
No matter how the government agencies try to sweeten it, no matter how
many times they repeat their feel-good buzzwords (common sense, reasonable,
sensible), the lawsuits brought by HUD, states and cities are pure tyranny.
Unable to get Congress to violate the Constitution with more infringements on
the right to keep and bear arms, the Clinton administration has decided to take
Congress completely out of the loop. The president and his minions will do
whatever it takes to get guns out of the hands of law-abiding citizens, including
ignoring the Constitution, arrogantly bypassing Congress, abusing the
courts, and flagrantly violating the rights of American citizens and legitimate
businesses.
So far, Congress has sat on its collective hands and watched this abuse of
presidential power. Rather than face up to the disrespect the president has shown
by ignoring and bypassing Congress, the House and Senate have been using
their time to debate and vote on a losing proposition to ban flag burning.
Where are the leaders of Congress who care that they are being bypassed
in the “legislation by litigation” power grab? As Charlton Heston has pointed
out, if the Executive Branch and the Judicial Branch of the federal government
are successful in making the laws, what need is there for a Legislative
Branch? Where is the balance of powers in such an arrangement?
There is no such thing as a “voluntary” agreement with the government.
The analogy is to call an armed robbery a “voluntary forfeiture” by the victim.
In reality, a voluntary agreement to do the government’s bidding is capitulation
and surrender by the victim and tyranny, extortion, and blackmail by the
government.
A tyrannical government will use any means to further its quest for power
and control. Freedom, liberty, the legislative process are nuisances that must be
quashed by whatever method that works. Concepts such as democracy and
documents such as constitutions mean nothing.
In totalitarian dictatorships, tyranny is easy and straight-forward. The
word of a dictator is law. Tyranny in a liberal democracy is not as simple and
requires more creativity. The journey toward total power and control in a
liberal democracy requires patience and the willingness to accept a slow,
sometimes erratic, pace. Tenacity, perseverance and an irrepressible desire
for control are necessary traits. The ability to twist the language and press
emotional buttons are also useful in the pursuit of tyranny.
The open, in-your-face, blatant abuse of power by the anti-gun administration
should set off alarms in every American. If the government succeeds in
destroying or severely limiting the supply of guns to the citizenry; if the
government succeeds in taking privately owned guns; if the government succeeds
in criminalizing gun ownership; if the government disarms the people despite
Constitutional guarantees, there will be no limit to the tyranny the
government can accomplish. Every totalitarian regime, every tyrannical
dictator, every murderous despot disarmed the population. Estimates put the
number of deaths caused by tyrants, dictators, and despots at 100 million
in the last century alone.
Contrary to the emotional rhetoric spouted by the gun-grabbing elite, guns
are not the problem. If the presence of guns were a problem, Switzerland would
be devoid of people and overrun by criminals. Contrary to the lies repeated
by the anti-gun propaganda groups, guns are not the cause of crime.
Washington, DC has the strictest gun laws in the country, yet our nation’s
capital is a crime-infested, shameful disaster. The criminals in Washington do
not respect the gun laws any more than they respect the laws regarding murder,
robbery, or drugs. The people who respect the laws have been disarmed
and left hostage to the criminal class.
Smith & Wesson may be the latest casualty in the war against tyranny,
but unless the American people stand up and demand an end to the ongoing abuses
of power, We the People will be the ultimate losers. If the Clinton administration
and its gun-grabbing allies have their way, all the American people will be
disarmed and held hostage by a criminal, tyrannical government.
A society without the means to protect itself against the egregious tyranny
perpetrated by an abusive government is called slavery.
© 2000 Charles Bloomer