Gun Makers Break Off Settlement Talks -Report
May 4, 2000 3:56 am EST
http://www.iwon.com/home/news/news_article/0,11746,28964|top|05-04-2000::06:59|reuters,00.html
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. gun companies, hoping that Republicans will win in November, have broken off talks toward a settlement in liability lawsuits filed against them by city and county governments around the country, The New York Times reported in its online edition on Thursday.
The report, citing people on both sides of the litigation, said the gun companies are suspending settlement talks at least until they see if Texas Gov. George W. Bush wins the presidency and the Republicans keep control of Congress in the November elections.
The companies hope that Bush, who has been a defender of the gun industry, will help dampen growing public sentiment for gun control or even push through Congress a bill outlawing municipal suits against gun companies, the Times reported.
Gun maker Glock Inc. executive Paul Januzzo told the newspaper that settlement talks have been halted and that the industry was hoping for a Bush administration sympathetic to its cause.
Bush has been noncommittal about whether he would support the kind of legislation the gun makers want.
A group of gun makers last week filed suit against federal, state and local officials, charging that efforts to impose safety measures were an illegal conspiracy that violated free trade guarantees.
Smith & Wesson, the largest U.S. handgun maker, became the first and only one to adopt the new safety standards March 17 in a deal with the Clinton administration and state and local officials.
The Clinton administration has pressed for new gun control measures in the wake of last year's massacre at Columbine High School in Colorado and other shootings. Thirty U.S. cities and counties have sued gun manufacturers to recover costs related to gun violence, and Clinton has said the U.S. government might join that effort if no settlement can be reached.
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Son
1911 Addiction
"Rangers Lead the Way!"
May 4, 2000 3:56 am EST
http://www.iwon.com/home/news/news_article/0,11746,28964|top|05-04-2000::06:59|reuters,00.html
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. gun companies, hoping that Republicans will win in November, have broken off talks toward a settlement in liability lawsuits filed against them by city and county governments around the country, The New York Times reported in its online edition on Thursday.
The report, citing people on both sides of the litigation, said the gun companies are suspending settlement talks at least until they see if Texas Gov. George W. Bush wins the presidency and the Republicans keep control of Congress in the November elections.
The companies hope that Bush, who has been a defender of the gun industry, will help dampen growing public sentiment for gun control or even push through Congress a bill outlawing municipal suits against gun companies, the Times reported.
Gun maker Glock Inc. executive Paul Januzzo told the newspaper that settlement talks have been halted and that the industry was hoping for a Bush administration sympathetic to its cause.
Bush has been noncommittal about whether he would support the kind of legislation the gun makers want.
A group of gun makers last week filed suit against federal, state and local officials, charging that efforts to impose safety measures were an illegal conspiracy that violated free trade guarantees.
Smith & Wesson, the largest U.S. handgun maker, became the first and only one to adopt the new safety standards March 17 in a deal with the Clinton administration and state and local officials.
The Clinton administration has pressed for new gun control measures in the wake of last year's massacre at Columbine High School in Colorado and other shootings. Thirty U.S. cities and counties have sued gun manufacturers to recover costs related to gun violence, and Clinton has said the U.S. government might join that effort if no settlement can be reached.
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Son
1911 Addiction
"Rangers Lead the Way!"