WSJ says:
March 2, 1999
Gun-Industry Group Fires Head,
Clearing Way for a Tough Stand
By PAUL M. BARRETT and VANESSA O'CONNELL
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Hard-liners in the gun industry have just issued a battle cry.
Facing a new wave of litigation, more-militant elements within the industry
have orchestrated the ouster of trade-association executive Richard
Feldman, whom they viewed as too inclined toward compromise and too
quick to grandstand in the media.
Mr. Feldman's demise represents the triumph of
the industry's more rigid factions and advocacy
groups at a moment when it appeared that there
might be serious consideration given to finding
alternatives to a prolonged court fight with cities
seeking to recover the public costs of gun
violence. And it points to a period of all-out
defense against the growing wave of municipal
lawsuits, combined with a legislative drive to pass
state laws to block such litigation altogether.
On Saturday, representatives of the trade group
headed by Mr. Feldman, the American Shooting
Sports Council, announced at a private industry gathering in Phoenix that
he would turn in his resignation as soon as this week.
The abrupt ouster dooms quiet efforts by Mr. Feldman to open lines of
communication to representatives of cities such as New Orleans, which
have sued, and those such as Philadelphia, which are considering doing so.
Several major gun and ammunition manufacturers had made Mr.
Feldman's ouster a priority, but his fate was sealed when the politically
powerful National Rifle Association decided last week to get him fired,
according to some people familiar with the situation.
"The NRA has been gunning for him, and last week's headlines gave them
the ammunition to get it done," said a senior industry official, referring to
articles in The Wall Street Journal about preliminary contacts between Mr.
Feldman's organization and an attorney for New Orleans. Officials with
major gun manufacturers, including Colt's Manufacturing Co. and Sturm,
Ruger & Co., which believe they can beat the city suits one-by-one in
court, also backed Mr. Feldman's ouster.
Mr. Feldman has urged gun makers to mend
their traditionally fractious ways, hire more
high-powered lawyers who might be
better-equipped to forge a national settlement,
and develop a more sophisticated
public-relations pitch. But many of his clients,
who have successfully fended off
less-threatening lawsuits on their own for
years, aren't yet convinced that they need a new strategy. Some of the
leading defense litigators who have successfully represented the industry
likewise have urged that Mr. Feldman be stifled.
In December, in fact, rumors began swirling that Mr. Feldman was in
danger of being fired for his outspokenness, and he acknowledged at the
time that "the long knives are out."
Monday, some industry executives said that no official steps had been
taken. "To get rid of him would take some action from the board, and I
have received no notices of any impending meetings," said Michael
Saporito, senior vice president of RSR Group, a big gun distributor in
Winter Park, Fla., and a member of the American Shooting Sports
Council's board of directors. "This industry is rife with scuttlebutt."
But Mr. Feldman himself isn't denying the scuttlebutt. "I'm still executive
director" of the trade group, but "that is subject to change within the next
24 hours to 48 hours," he said from his Atlanta headquarters.
James Baker, the NRA's chief lobbyist and a leading anti-Feldman activist,
didn't return phone calls seeking comment.
Ironically, Mr. Feldman got the hook at an industry gathering devoted to
fostering the sort of solidarity he had long advocated. The NRA, which
represents gun owners, has dominated the gun debate for decades, but its
reputation for unswerving zealotry caused worry among manufacturers and
suppliers in the late 1980s. In 1989, the industry formed a separate trade
group, the American Shooting Sports Council, to represent its commercial
and political interests. Two years later, Mr. Feldman, a former NRA
staffer and veteran Republican political operative, was hired as the group's
executive director.
His stance has angered the NRA before. For example, Mr. Feldman's
opposition to the 1993 Brady gun-control law, which introduced a
five-day waiting period and, more recently, "instant checks" of gun buyers'
backgrounds, was less absolute than the NRA's.
In October 1997, he brokered a deal with the Clinton administration under
which most major handgun makers agreed to include child-safety locks
with their products. The NRA blasted participants in the deal for being
"conned into the notion of making your business 'acceptable' to a wider
non-gun-owning audience." Mr. Feldman's compromise, nevertheless,
ended efforts to legislate more aggressive safety measures at that time.
The fact that Mr. Feldman, 47 years old, was increasingly portrayed in the
media as a more moderate spokesman for the industry also angered senior
officials of the NRA and of some gun manufacturers, including Sturm
Ruger and Colt's. But Mr. Feldman, who jokes about his friendly
relationship with the press and occasionally refers disparagingly to industry
"dinosaurs," appeared to thrive on the controversy.
Once pro-gun-control himself, Mr. Feldman has said that he began shifting
his views while serving as a police officer in Cambridge, Mass., where he
saw law-abiding store keepers who wanted gun licenses for
self-protection. Today, he owns more than 100 firearms himself but says
he rarely goes hunting or target shooting.
Talking Quietly
His foes quickly grew impatient with Mr. Feldman's response to the
municipal litigation. He has been talking quietly for more than a year with
Philadelphia Mayor Edward Rendell, who first raised the prospect of a city
lawsuit in 1997. The two have discussed Mr. Rendell's ideas for greater
regulation of the industry, including advertising restrictions, mandated
safety technology and limits on the number of guns a consumer may buy
per month or year.
The talks haven't produced a compromise, but Philadelphia and a number
of other cities that Mr. Rendell has said could coordinate their efforts still
haven't sued the industry. Five municipalities have sued so far.
Mr. Feldman explored a number of ways that the industry might
short-circuit litigation. In late January, he ran into John Coale, a lawyer for
New Orleans, at a briefing on the gun litigation at the conservative
Washington Legal Foundation. According to an interview with Mr.
Feldman last week, that meeting prompted Mr. Coale to call and arrange a
meeting with Robert Ricker, the American Shooting Sports Council's chief
lobbyist in Washington.
At a half-hour meeting in mid-February between Messrs. Coale and
Ricker, "the sum and substance was: Would we consider and be interested
in having substantive discussion at some point in the future? The answer
was yes," Mr. Feldman said last week.
Sign of Weakness?
Although Mr. Feldman had received approval for this foray from some of
his board members, others in the industry and at the NRA exploded over
what they saw as a signal of weakness. Of particular concern to the NRA,
whose influence among gun buyers still commands tremendous industry
respect, was the potential that any settlement deal would include new
government controls on gun making or marketing.
"There will be no compromise" including such legislative restrictions, Mr.
Baker, the top NRA lobbyist, said last week.
Exacerbating anxiety, last month a Brooklyn, N.Y., federal court jury --
for the first time ever -- found in a lawsuit filed on behalf of the families of
seven shooting victims that 15 out of 25 gun manufacturers had distributed
guns negligently. "That should have helped make [Mr. Feldman's] point
that we need to have a more unified front, that more of the city suits were
coming, that it would be tough to fight them one-by-one," said an industry
official sympathetic to Mr. Feldman.
Instead, the Brooklyn verdict heightened tension and demands that Mr.
Feldman depart.
Industry representatives headed for Phoenix late last week for a meeting
aimed at creating a new umbrella organization that would emphasize links
to hunting and target shooting and administer a new joint industry fund for
legislative and legal costs. Each company is expected to contribute 1% of
its sales to the fund, which will be overseen by the Hunting & Shooting
Sports Heritage Foundation.
Another Agenda
But the NRA and certain gun-company representatives arrived in the
Arizona desert with another agenda: Mr. Feldman's removal. In the days
leading up to the meeting, he had received some support from
manufacturers that focus heavily on the law-enforcement market and
therefore are more inclined to maintain good relations with municipal
leaders, including the mayors of cities that have filed suit. These companies
include Glock Inc. and Smith & Wesson Corp.
In a flurry of conference calls last week, however, it gradually became
clear that companies urging a tougher line-encouraged by the NRA's Mr.
Baker-wouldn't back off. Without consulting Mr. Feldman, members of his
board decided to make a pre-emptive move.
Selecting as their spokesman Ray Oeltjen, an affable marketing vice
president with Leupold & Stevens Inc. of Beaverton, Ore., which
manufactures gun sights and other accoutrements, the American Shooting
Sports Council board members announced to others at the Phoenix
meeting Saturday that to avoid "counterproductive" feuding, Mr. Feldman
would be asked to step down. Mr. Oeltjen told the gathering that Mr.
Feldman, who wasn't at the meeting, had worked hard for the industry and
that his removal caused great regret.
March 2, 1999
Gun-Industry Group Fires Head,
Clearing Way for a Tough Stand
By PAUL M. BARRETT and VANESSA O'CONNELL
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Hard-liners in the gun industry have just issued a battle cry.
Facing a new wave of litigation, more-militant elements within the industry
have orchestrated the ouster of trade-association executive Richard
Feldman, whom they viewed as too inclined toward compromise and too
quick to grandstand in the media.
Mr. Feldman's demise represents the triumph of
the industry's more rigid factions and advocacy
groups at a moment when it appeared that there
might be serious consideration given to finding
alternatives to a prolonged court fight with cities
seeking to recover the public costs of gun
violence. And it points to a period of all-out
defense against the growing wave of municipal
lawsuits, combined with a legislative drive to pass
state laws to block such litigation altogether.
On Saturday, representatives of the trade group
headed by Mr. Feldman, the American Shooting
Sports Council, announced at a private industry gathering in Phoenix that
he would turn in his resignation as soon as this week.
The abrupt ouster dooms quiet efforts by Mr. Feldman to open lines of
communication to representatives of cities such as New Orleans, which
have sued, and those such as Philadelphia, which are considering doing so.
Several major gun and ammunition manufacturers had made Mr.
Feldman's ouster a priority, but his fate was sealed when the politically
powerful National Rifle Association decided last week to get him fired,
according to some people familiar with the situation.
"The NRA has been gunning for him, and last week's headlines gave them
the ammunition to get it done," said a senior industry official, referring to
articles in The Wall Street Journal about preliminary contacts between Mr.
Feldman's organization and an attorney for New Orleans. Officials with
major gun manufacturers, including Colt's Manufacturing Co. and Sturm,
Ruger & Co., which believe they can beat the city suits one-by-one in
court, also backed Mr. Feldman's ouster.
Mr. Feldman has urged gun makers to mend
their traditionally fractious ways, hire more
high-powered lawyers who might be
better-equipped to forge a national settlement,
and develop a more sophisticated
public-relations pitch. But many of his clients,
who have successfully fended off
less-threatening lawsuits on their own for
years, aren't yet convinced that they need a new strategy. Some of the
leading defense litigators who have successfully represented the industry
likewise have urged that Mr. Feldman be stifled.
In December, in fact, rumors began swirling that Mr. Feldman was in
danger of being fired for his outspokenness, and he acknowledged at the
time that "the long knives are out."
Monday, some industry executives said that no official steps had been
taken. "To get rid of him would take some action from the board, and I
have received no notices of any impending meetings," said Michael
Saporito, senior vice president of RSR Group, a big gun distributor in
Winter Park, Fla., and a member of the American Shooting Sports
Council's board of directors. "This industry is rife with scuttlebutt."
But Mr. Feldman himself isn't denying the scuttlebutt. "I'm still executive
director" of the trade group, but "that is subject to change within the next
24 hours to 48 hours," he said from his Atlanta headquarters.
James Baker, the NRA's chief lobbyist and a leading anti-Feldman activist,
didn't return phone calls seeking comment.
Ironically, Mr. Feldman got the hook at an industry gathering devoted to
fostering the sort of solidarity he had long advocated. The NRA, which
represents gun owners, has dominated the gun debate for decades, but its
reputation for unswerving zealotry caused worry among manufacturers and
suppliers in the late 1980s. In 1989, the industry formed a separate trade
group, the American Shooting Sports Council, to represent its commercial
and political interests. Two years later, Mr. Feldman, a former NRA
staffer and veteran Republican political operative, was hired as the group's
executive director.
His stance has angered the NRA before. For example, Mr. Feldman's
opposition to the 1993 Brady gun-control law, which introduced a
five-day waiting period and, more recently, "instant checks" of gun buyers'
backgrounds, was less absolute than the NRA's.
In October 1997, he brokered a deal with the Clinton administration under
which most major handgun makers agreed to include child-safety locks
with their products. The NRA blasted participants in the deal for being
"conned into the notion of making your business 'acceptable' to a wider
non-gun-owning audience." Mr. Feldman's compromise, nevertheless,
ended efforts to legislate more aggressive safety measures at that time.
The fact that Mr. Feldman, 47 years old, was increasingly portrayed in the
media as a more moderate spokesman for the industry also angered senior
officials of the NRA and of some gun manufacturers, including Sturm
Ruger and Colt's. But Mr. Feldman, who jokes about his friendly
relationship with the press and occasionally refers disparagingly to industry
"dinosaurs," appeared to thrive on the controversy.
Once pro-gun-control himself, Mr. Feldman has said that he began shifting
his views while serving as a police officer in Cambridge, Mass., where he
saw law-abiding store keepers who wanted gun licenses for
self-protection. Today, he owns more than 100 firearms himself but says
he rarely goes hunting or target shooting.
Talking Quietly
His foes quickly grew impatient with Mr. Feldman's response to the
municipal litigation. He has been talking quietly for more than a year with
Philadelphia Mayor Edward Rendell, who first raised the prospect of a city
lawsuit in 1997. The two have discussed Mr. Rendell's ideas for greater
regulation of the industry, including advertising restrictions, mandated
safety technology and limits on the number of guns a consumer may buy
per month or year.
The talks haven't produced a compromise, but Philadelphia and a number
of other cities that Mr. Rendell has said could coordinate their efforts still
haven't sued the industry. Five municipalities have sued so far.
Mr. Feldman explored a number of ways that the industry might
short-circuit litigation. In late January, he ran into John Coale, a lawyer for
New Orleans, at a briefing on the gun litigation at the conservative
Washington Legal Foundation. According to an interview with Mr.
Feldman last week, that meeting prompted Mr. Coale to call and arrange a
meeting with Robert Ricker, the American Shooting Sports Council's chief
lobbyist in Washington.
At a half-hour meeting in mid-February between Messrs. Coale and
Ricker, "the sum and substance was: Would we consider and be interested
in having substantive discussion at some point in the future? The answer
was yes," Mr. Feldman said last week.
Sign of Weakness?
Although Mr. Feldman had received approval for this foray from some of
his board members, others in the industry and at the NRA exploded over
what they saw as a signal of weakness. Of particular concern to the NRA,
whose influence among gun buyers still commands tremendous industry
respect, was the potential that any settlement deal would include new
government controls on gun making or marketing.
"There will be no compromise" including such legislative restrictions, Mr.
Baker, the top NRA lobbyist, said last week.
Exacerbating anxiety, last month a Brooklyn, N.Y., federal court jury --
for the first time ever -- found in a lawsuit filed on behalf of the families of
seven shooting victims that 15 out of 25 gun manufacturers had distributed
guns negligently. "That should have helped make [Mr. Feldman's] point
that we need to have a more unified front, that more of the city suits were
coming, that it would be tough to fight them one-by-one," said an industry
official sympathetic to Mr. Feldman.
Instead, the Brooklyn verdict heightened tension and demands that Mr.
Feldman depart.
Industry representatives headed for Phoenix late last week for a meeting
aimed at creating a new umbrella organization that would emphasize links
to hunting and target shooting and administer a new joint industry fund for
legislative and legal costs. Each company is expected to contribute 1% of
its sales to the fund, which will be overseen by the Hunting & Shooting
Sports Heritage Foundation.
Another Agenda
But the NRA and certain gun-company representatives arrived in the
Arizona desert with another agenda: Mr. Feldman's removal. In the days
leading up to the meeting, he had received some support from
manufacturers that focus heavily on the law-enforcement market and
therefore are more inclined to maintain good relations with municipal
leaders, including the mayors of cities that have filed suit. These companies
include Glock Inc. and Smith & Wesson Corp.
In a flurry of conference calls last week, however, it gradually became
clear that companies urging a tougher line-encouraged by the NRA's Mr.
Baker-wouldn't back off. Without consulting Mr. Feldman, members of his
board decided to make a pre-emptive move.
Selecting as their spokesman Ray Oeltjen, an affable marketing vice
president with Leupold & Stevens Inc. of Beaverton, Ore., which
manufactures gun sights and other accoutrements, the American Shooting
Sports Council board members announced to others at the Phoenix
meeting Saturday that to avoid "counterproductive" feuding, Mr. Feldman
would be asked to step down. Mr. Oeltjen told the gathering that Mr.
Feldman, who wasn't at the meeting, had worked hard for the industry and
that his removal caused great regret.
