A dealer friend called RSR to see if there were any 629 V-Comps still in the pipeline. RSR said they wouldn't distribute another S&W and had sent every one they had in stock back to S&W. I think it might have been somebody on these boards that said RSR distributed about 25% of S&W's guns, including many of the Performance Center models. If Lew Horton follows suit, that might be the end of the Performance Center.
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RSR quits S&W
- Thread starter Byron
- Start date
RSR announced their boycott of S&W last week. I e-mailed them my thanks, and they sent me their standard reply.
WHAT I DID NOT KNOW WAS THAT THEY SENT THEIR SMITH & WESSONS BACK TO THE FACTORY. Wow! Again, thanks to RSR. THANKS to you for the information.
The 3 other major distributors are Camfour, Sports South, and Lew Horton. I've e-mailed them also but have not heard from them. All these distributors are linked at the S&W homepage, use it to go to each distributor's homepage and use their e-mail link. Let them know that your dealer will not be ordering from them as long as they sell S&Ws.
[This message has been edited by AUTiger73 (edited March 28, 2000).]
WHAT I DID NOT KNOW WAS THAT THEY SENT THEIR SMITH & WESSONS BACK TO THE FACTORY. Wow! Again, thanks to RSR. THANKS to you for the information.
The 3 other major distributors are Camfour, Sports South, and Lew Horton. I've e-mailed them also but have not heard from them. All these distributors are linked at the S&W homepage, use it to go to each distributor's homepage and use their e-mail link. Let them know that your dealer will not be ordering from them as long as they sell S&Ws.
[This message has been edited by AUTiger73 (edited March 28, 2000).]
PTGDVC: Read RSM's statement HERE.
------------------
Bulldawg: NRA, GOA, TSRA, Shiner Bock Connoisseur.
Bulldawg's Firearms Page
------------------
Bulldawg: NRA, GOA, TSRA, Shiner Bock Connoisseur.
Bulldawg's Firearms Page
Robert the41MagFan
New member
RSR has $30 million in S&W inventory. I doubt very seriously that it has been sent back. They are just not shipping product to dealers.
RSR has received those 629 V Comp's, they just are not going to ship them. I paid for one in February, before the hoopla. It will be bitter sweet if I get it. Only reason I will take this one is because it's paid for. If not, would have told S&W to fly a kite. It is the last S&W I will EVER buy, until Tomkin sells them. Boycott TOMKIN!
RSR has received those 629 V Comp's, they just are not going to ship them. I paid for one in February, before the hoopla. It will be bitter sweet if I get it. Only reason I will take this one is because it's paid for. If not, would have told S&W to fly a kite. It is the last S&W I will EVER buy, until Tomkin sells them. Boycott TOMKIN!
Gunmaker calls wholesaler meeting to explain settlement http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a38e20e9857ab.htm
By David Olinger
Denver Post Staff Writer
March 29 - Smith & Wesson has called a hastily scheduled conference with gun wholesalers alarmed by the terms of its new agreement with the federal government.
About 25 Smith & Wesson distributors have been invited to a meeting Thursday at the gunmaker's Nashville, Tenn., headquarters. Company President Ed Shultz plans to discuss
the pact it signed to settle pending lawsuits with several cities and avoid a threatened lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
In interviews, several of those distributors said they may sever long-standing relationships with Smith & Wesson rather than try to meet the new regulatory demands being placed
on them and gun-store owners.
"It's sad to see this happen," said Ron Shirk, a Smith & Wesson distributor in Pennsylvania for 15 years. "The company's always been good to us."
But Shirk said he also has to consider the risk that few of the 250 authorized Smith & Wesson retail dealers in Pennsylvania will accept various new sales restrictions as well as
demands for liability insurance and fireproof gun storage.
"I've talked to quite a few of them. They say they can't do it. What happens to my customer base?" he said.
One leading wholesaler, RSR Group Inc., has announced it will no longer sell Smith & Wesson products when its current contract expires. At the same time, RSR plans to attend
the Nashville meeting and press Smith & Wesson to reopen negotiations with the government.
Other wholesalers expressed unhappiness with the Smith & Wesson settlement but said they want to hear the company's explanation before closing the door to a leading gun
manufacturer.
"I'm concerned about it. I think it's going to be bad for the whole industry," said Gil Hebard, a Smith & Wesson distributor for 42 years.
He predicted that the settlement will eliminate thousands of gun-store owners currently authorized to sell Smith & Wesson products, "and I cannot sell to them if I agree to this."
But "the door is slightly open," he added. "I want to get the facts before I make a decision."
Smith & Wesson spokesman Ken Jorgensen said the company does not fear a shortage of distributors willing to take its firearms along with the new sales restrictions.
A memo from Smith & Wesson Vice President Chris Killoy acknowledged the wholesalers' concerns and invited them to review its interpretation of the settlement on the Smith &
Wesson Web site.
"There has been more than enough emotion over this this past week," Killoy wrote. "Please take the time to read our side of the story."
Two weeks ago, Smith & Wesson signed what President Clinton hailed as a landmark agreement to change its marketing practices and improve gun safety. In return, HUD and
several cities suing the gun industry agreed to drop Smith & Wesson as a defendant.
As part of the agreement, Smith & Wesson promised that its products would be withheld from any gun show where private, unregulated sales occur. The company also agreed to
stop sales of high-capacity ammunition magazines and limit multiple handgun sales by letting customers take only one Smith & Wesson handgun home on the purchase date. In
addition, wholesalers may be told to cut off deliveries to any retail dealer whose guns are frequently traced from crime scenes.
The settlement has been praised by guncontrol groups but condemned by gun-owner and industry associations. One group, Gun Owners of America, called for a boycott against
Smith & Wesson.
To date, no other manufacturer has agreed to the terms of the Smith & Wesson settlement.
By David Olinger
Denver Post Staff Writer
March 29 - Smith & Wesson has called a hastily scheduled conference with gun wholesalers alarmed by the terms of its new agreement with the federal government.
About 25 Smith & Wesson distributors have been invited to a meeting Thursday at the gunmaker's Nashville, Tenn., headquarters. Company President Ed Shultz plans to discuss
the pact it signed to settle pending lawsuits with several cities and avoid a threatened lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
In interviews, several of those distributors said they may sever long-standing relationships with Smith & Wesson rather than try to meet the new regulatory demands being placed
on them and gun-store owners.
"It's sad to see this happen," said Ron Shirk, a Smith & Wesson distributor in Pennsylvania for 15 years. "The company's always been good to us."
But Shirk said he also has to consider the risk that few of the 250 authorized Smith & Wesson retail dealers in Pennsylvania will accept various new sales restrictions as well as
demands for liability insurance and fireproof gun storage.
"I've talked to quite a few of them. They say they can't do it. What happens to my customer base?" he said.
One leading wholesaler, RSR Group Inc., has announced it will no longer sell Smith & Wesson products when its current contract expires. At the same time, RSR plans to attend
the Nashville meeting and press Smith & Wesson to reopen negotiations with the government.
Other wholesalers expressed unhappiness with the Smith & Wesson settlement but said they want to hear the company's explanation before closing the door to a leading gun
manufacturer.
"I'm concerned about it. I think it's going to be bad for the whole industry," said Gil Hebard, a Smith & Wesson distributor for 42 years.
He predicted that the settlement will eliminate thousands of gun-store owners currently authorized to sell Smith & Wesson products, "and I cannot sell to them if I agree to this."
But "the door is slightly open," he added. "I want to get the facts before I make a decision."
Smith & Wesson spokesman Ken Jorgensen said the company does not fear a shortage of distributors willing to take its firearms along with the new sales restrictions.
A memo from Smith & Wesson Vice President Chris Killoy acknowledged the wholesalers' concerns and invited them to review its interpretation of the settlement on the Smith &
Wesson Web site.
"There has been more than enough emotion over this this past week," Killoy wrote. "Please take the time to read our side of the story."
Two weeks ago, Smith & Wesson signed what President Clinton hailed as a landmark agreement to change its marketing practices and improve gun safety. In return, HUD and
several cities suing the gun industry agreed to drop Smith & Wesson as a defendant.
As part of the agreement, Smith & Wesson promised that its products would be withheld from any gun show where private, unregulated sales occur. The company also agreed to
stop sales of high-capacity ammunition magazines and limit multiple handgun sales by letting customers take only one Smith & Wesson handgun home on the purchase date. In
addition, wholesalers may be told to cut off deliveries to any retail dealer whose guns are frequently traced from crime scenes.
The settlement has been praised by guncontrol groups but condemned by gun-owner and industry associations. One group, Gun Owners of America, called for a boycott against
Smith & Wesson.
To date, no other manufacturer has agreed to the terms of the Smith & Wesson settlement.
SPECIAL TO: SELECTED MEDIA
For Immediate Release - March 18, 2000 http://www.nssf.org/releases/smithwesson2.html
Contact: Robert Delfay
(203) 426-1320
or After Hours Office 203/264-7390
SMITH & WESSON DEAL UPSTAGES OVERALL INDUSTRY EFFORTS
--More Than 20 Already Provide Locking Devices--
Newtown, Conn.—The St. Patrick's Day pact between Smith & Wesson and the Clinton Administration has allowed
the rebel firearms manufacturer to capture the spotlight for safety initiatives that many other handgun makers volunteered
years ago, while jeopardizing a comprehensive series of new industry safety and crime prevention initiatives.
According to the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute, more than 20 other major handgun and
long-gun manufacturers already include free locking devices with their firearms. Most, according to the industry group,
have been doing so for several years and at least one, Sturm, Ruger & Co., has been providing locking devices with its
firearms for more than a decade.
"There are many unfortunate aspects of the Smith & Wesson deal with the Clinton-Gore administration," commented Bob
Delfay, President and Chief Executive Officer of the industry group. "One of the most unfortunate and most unfair is the
White House inference that Smith & Wesson is the only handgun manufacturer that cares about safety. Every member of
SAAMI is currently including locking devices with new firearms. This represents some 90 percent of all firearms
manufactured in this country."
Among those SAAMI members currently including locking devices are:
Beretta U.S.A. Corp.
Browning Arms Company
Colt's Manufacturing Company
H&R 1871, Inc.
Marlin Firearms Company
O.F. Mossberg & Sons, Inc.
Remington Arms Co., Inc.
Savage Arms, Inc.
SIGARMS, Inc.
Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc.
Taurus International Firearms
U.S. Repeating Arms Co.
Weatherby, Inc.
Non-SAAMI members, including Glock, Inc., Kimber Manufacturing, Inc., Heckler & Koch Inc., K.B.I., Inc., Kahr Arms,
Kel-Tec Inc., Freedom Arms and North American Arms, Inc. also ship their firearms with free locking devices.
SAAMI officials released a seven-page draft document dated February 16, 2000 which indicated that in addition to
including locking devices with all new firearms, the manufacturers were prepared to announce the free distribution of one
million free locks to the public, support for NICS background checks at gun shows, mandatory distribution of safety videos
or CD-ROMS to all firearms purchasers, a cooperative program with ATF to reduce straw purchases, expansion of existing
SAAMI standards for firearms manufacturers, providing locking devices, at cost, to any individual that has purchased any
handgun over the past 100 years, discussions with ATF regarding new serial-numbering specifications and many more
safety and crime control efforts. "Our discussions with the National Rifle Association and legislative leaders on these
initiatives have been encouraging. Smith & Wesson executives were aware of the comprehensive safety and crime
prevention initiatives currently being drafted by industry officials but still felt the need to secretly negotiate their own deal,"
Delfay said.
"The responsible manufacturers of sporting firearms in our nation will continue to carefully develop the initiatives we have
been working on for the past several months. These efforts will not generate the headlines or the Clinton-Gore partnership
that has been lavished upon Smith & Wesson, but that has never been our aim," Delfay said.
"These initiatives are part of a continued tradition in which the industry, the NRA and responsible politicians have, together,
developed effective means of reducing gun misuse through such programs as Project Exile and NRA Public Education
Programs. These efforts have trained tens of millions of people in firearms safety and saved thousands of lives without
abridging Second Amendment rights. And, especially," Delfay said, "without encouraging extortion through litigation by
the Clinton Administration and city mayors which seek to force compliance with a regulatory scheme which should be
subject to the legislative approval of the American public."
The Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute was founded in 1926 at the request of the Federal
Government to administer standards for the manufacture of sporting firearms and ammunition in America.
For more information, contact:
Robert T. Delfay
President & CEO
203-426-1320
For Immediate Release - March 18, 2000 http://www.nssf.org/releases/smithwesson2.html
Contact: Robert Delfay
(203) 426-1320
or After Hours Office 203/264-7390
SMITH & WESSON DEAL UPSTAGES OVERALL INDUSTRY EFFORTS
--More Than 20 Already Provide Locking Devices--
Newtown, Conn.—The St. Patrick's Day pact between Smith & Wesson and the Clinton Administration has allowed
the rebel firearms manufacturer to capture the spotlight for safety initiatives that many other handgun makers volunteered
years ago, while jeopardizing a comprehensive series of new industry safety and crime prevention initiatives.
According to the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute, more than 20 other major handgun and
long-gun manufacturers already include free locking devices with their firearms. Most, according to the industry group,
have been doing so for several years and at least one, Sturm, Ruger & Co., has been providing locking devices with its
firearms for more than a decade.
"There are many unfortunate aspects of the Smith & Wesson deal with the Clinton-Gore administration," commented Bob
Delfay, President and Chief Executive Officer of the industry group. "One of the most unfortunate and most unfair is the
White House inference that Smith & Wesson is the only handgun manufacturer that cares about safety. Every member of
SAAMI is currently including locking devices with new firearms. This represents some 90 percent of all firearms
manufactured in this country."
Among those SAAMI members currently including locking devices are:
Beretta U.S.A. Corp.
Browning Arms Company
Colt's Manufacturing Company
H&R 1871, Inc.
Marlin Firearms Company
O.F. Mossberg & Sons, Inc.
Remington Arms Co., Inc.
Savage Arms, Inc.
SIGARMS, Inc.
Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc.
Taurus International Firearms
U.S. Repeating Arms Co.
Weatherby, Inc.
Non-SAAMI members, including Glock, Inc., Kimber Manufacturing, Inc., Heckler & Koch Inc., K.B.I., Inc., Kahr Arms,
Kel-Tec Inc., Freedom Arms and North American Arms, Inc. also ship their firearms with free locking devices.
SAAMI officials released a seven-page draft document dated February 16, 2000 which indicated that in addition to
including locking devices with all new firearms, the manufacturers were prepared to announce the free distribution of one
million free locks to the public, support for NICS background checks at gun shows, mandatory distribution of safety videos
or CD-ROMS to all firearms purchasers, a cooperative program with ATF to reduce straw purchases, expansion of existing
SAAMI standards for firearms manufacturers, providing locking devices, at cost, to any individual that has purchased any
handgun over the past 100 years, discussions with ATF regarding new serial-numbering specifications and many more
safety and crime control efforts. "Our discussions with the National Rifle Association and legislative leaders on these
initiatives have been encouraging. Smith & Wesson executives were aware of the comprehensive safety and crime
prevention initiatives currently being drafted by industry officials but still felt the need to secretly negotiate their own deal,"
Delfay said.
"The responsible manufacturers of sporting firearms in our nation will continue to carefully develop the initiatives we have
been working on for the past several months. These efforts will not generate the headlines or the Clinton-Gore partnership
that has been lavished upon Smith & Wesson, but that has never been our aim," Delfay said.
"These initiatives are part of a continued tradition in which the industry, the NRA and responsible politicians have, together,
developed effective means of reducing gun misuse through such programs as Project Exile and NRA Public Education
Programs. These efforts have trained tens of millions of people in firearms safety and saved thousands of lives without
abridging Second Amendment rights. And, especially," Delfay said, "without encouraging extortion through litigation by
the Clinton Administration and city mayors which seek to force compliance with a regulatory scheme which should be
subject to the legislative approval of the American public."
The Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute was founded in 1926 at the request of the Federal
Government to administer standards for the manufacture of sporting firearms and ammunition in America.
For more information, contact:
Robert T. Delfay
President & CEO
203-426-1320
S&W is back treading to the distibutors by defending their agreement with HUD. Two examples follow:
1. In the 16 page agreement that appears on the HUD website, the following language appears on page 7, point "d" at top:
"MAKE NO SALES AT GUN SHOWS UNLESS ALL SALES BY ANY SELLER AT THE GUN SHOW ARE CONDUCTED ONLY UPON COMLETITION OF A BACKGOUND CHECK"
Their website offers under this point that this applies to on S&W products and does not apply to private sales.
Seems pretty clear to me.
2. On page 8 of the document, under point "h" it states:
"NOT SELL AMMUNITION MAGAZINES THAT ARE ABLE TO ACCEPT MORE THAN 10 ROUNDS REGARDLESS OF THE DATE OF MANUFACTURE, NOR SELL ANY SEMI-AUTOMATIC ASSAULT WEAPON AS DEFINED IN 18 U.S.C. 921 (A)(30) REGARDLESS OF THE DATE OF MANUFACTURE..."
Again their website states this only applies to S&W products. Tomorrow S&W is going to a meeting with it's distibutors and no doubt shovel more of this drivel in an attempt to divert the backlash. I work for a firearms manufacturer and we can tell you that this agreement can bring down the industry. Tomorrow will be a turning point. In what direction will depend on the results of the meeting in Nashville. We will be watching closely....
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Byron:
A dealer friend called RSR to see if there were any 629 V-Comps still in the pipeline. RSR said they wouldn't distribute another S&W and had sent every one they had in stock back to S&W. I think it might have been somebody on these boards that said RSR distributed about 25% of S&W's guns, including many of the Performance Center models. If Lew Horton follows suit, that might be the end of the Performance Center.
[/quote]
------------------
1. In the 16 page agreement that appears on the HUD website, the following language appears on page 7, point "d" at top:
"MAKE NO SALES AT GUN SHOWS UNLESS ALL SALES BY ANY SELLER AT THE GUN SHOW ARE CONDUCTED ONLY UPON COMLETITION OF A BACKGOUND CHECK"
Their website offers under this point that this applies to on S&W products and does not apply to private sales.
Seems pretty clear to me.
2. On page 8 of the document, under point "h" it states:
"NOT SELL AMMUNITION MAGAZINES THAT ARE ABLE TO ACCEPT MORE THAN 10 ROUNDS REGARDLESS OF THE DATE OF MANUFACTURE, NOR SELL ANY SEMI-AUTOMATIC ASSAULT WEAPON AS DEFINED IN 18 U.S.C. 921 (A)(30) REGARDLESS OF THE DATE OF MANUFACTURE..."
Again their website states this only applies to S&W products. Tomorrow S&W is going to a meeting with it's distibutors and no doubt shovel more of this drivel in an attempt to divert the backlash. I work for a firearms manufacturer and we can tell you that this agreement can bring down the industry. Tomorrow will be a turning point. In what direction will depend on the results of the meeting in Nashville. We will be watching closely....
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Byron:
A dealer friend called RSR to see if there were any 629 V-Comps still in the pipeline. RSR said they wouldn't distribute another S&W and had sent every one they had in stock back to S&W. I think it might have been somebody on these boards that said RSR distributed about 25% of S&W's guns, including many of the Performance Center models. If Lew Horton follows suit, that might be the end of the Performance Center.
[/quote]
------------------
The Smith and Wesson boycott is working. Read this from the NY Times:
March 30, 2000
Gun Maker's Accord on Curbs Brings
Industry Pressure
Related Articles
Issue in Depth: Gun Control
By FOX BUTTERFIELD and RAYMOND HERNANDEZ
mith & Wesson, which recently agreed to restrictions on the way it
makes and distributes handguns, has come under such fierce
financial pressure from other firearms manufacturers and dealers opposed
to the agreement that state officials have started antitrust investigations of
the industry.
Federal, state and city officials are also trying to protect Smith & Wesson
by persuading police agencies nationwide to buy its weapons.
The effort to help Smith & Wesson comes after the company agreed on
March 17 to a wide array of restrictions in exchange for ending many of
the 30 lawsuits filed against it by cities and counties and averting
threatened suits by the states of New York and Connecticut and the
Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Since then, one of the nation's largest gun wholesalers announced it
would stop distributing Smith & Wesson handguns, many retail dealers
have proclaimed they will not sell Smith & Wesson products and the
National Rifle Association has denounced the company as a
foreign-owned business that has "run up the white flag of surrender" to
the Clinton administration. Smith & Wesson, which experts say produces
about one-fifth of the 2.5 million handguns sold nationwide each year, is
based in Springfield, Mass., but is owned by Tomkins PLC of London.
In addition, Ken Jorgensen, a spokesman for Smith & Wesson, said the
Chicago law firm that had long jointly represented Smith & Wesson,
Sturm Ruger & Company and the Colt's Manufacturing Company, three
of the largest handgun makers, has said the firm will drop Smith &
Wesson as a client. And some shooting match organizers have told Smith
& Wesson that the company is not welcome at their events.
The Chicago law firm that informed Smith & Wesson it would no longer
represent the company is Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon. Anne
Kimball, a lawyer at the firm who has represented Smith & Wesson, did
not return phone calls seeking comment.
Eliot Spitzer, the attorney general of New York who helped strike the
deal with Smith & Wesson, said that officials are investigating whether
there is a conspiracy against the gun maker. "We are seeing behavior on
the part of Smith & Wesson's competitors that raises the specter of illegal
antitrust activity," Mr. Spitzer said in an interview today, adding: "This is
serious stuff."
Richard Blumenthal, the Connecticut attorney general who was also
involved in the agreement and is helping coordinate the measures to
protect the company, said, "Smith & Wesson is under absolutely
unprecedented pressure, both financial and personal within the gun
industry, with threats that are almost violent in nature, and I have heard
the fear that it could be put out of business."
But Robert Delfay, president of the National Shooting Sports
Foundation, the gun industry trade organization, said, "there is no
conspiracy" against Smith & Wesson.
"I could not be more confident that these are just independent actions by
businessmen," Mr. Delfay said.
The antitrust investigation is being conducted under state antitrust laws in
New York, Connecticut and Maryland, with more states expected to
join and subpoenas to be issued starting Thursday, Mr. Blumenthal said.
Mr. Jorgensen, the Smith & Wesson spokesman, said it is too early to
tell what the settlement's financial impact on the company will be. But,
Mr. Jorgensen added, "We've been getting beat up pretty bad, and the
whole idea seems to be a boycott of Smith & Wesson products."
The effort to get law-enforcement agencies buy Smith & Wesson
handguns could prove very helpful to the company, whose sales are
primarily to civilians. Nationwide, police forces purchase about 25
percent of the handguns sold each year. Only a very small part of the
police handgun purchases are from Smith & Wesson.
But Mr. Blumenthal and other federal, state and city officials who met in
Washington on Tuesday to try to find a way to help the company
acknowledged there are difficult contractual and legal problems in getting
police forces to make the change to Smith & Wesson.
Several cities and counties around the country, including Atlanta, Detroit,
Miami-Dade County, Buffalo, N.Y., Rochester, N.Y., and Albany,
N.Y., have recently agreed to buy only from Smith & Wesson. New
York City, which buys Glock handguns for its police officers, has
withheld a decision.
The effort to support Smith & Wesson is critical to regulating the firearms
industry, government officials say, because the deal it struck splintered
the powerful united front of gun makers and gun owners that has blocked
tough gun laws in Washington and state capitals for years. The company
agreed to improve the safety of its handguns, for instance, by including
trigger locks with all sales, and to allow its dealers to sell weapons at only
those gun shows where all sales are subject to background checks on the
buyer.
It also requires, within three years, so-called smart-gun technology that
will allow each of its new handguns to be fired only by authorized users.
Mr. Spitzer said that if Smith & Wesson was undermined financially, it
would weaken the government's hand in drawing other gun makers into
similar agreements. "If one company signs on and is left out to dry, we
can't credibly go to other companies and ask them to join this
agreement," he said.
The wholesaler that announced it will stop distributing Smith & Wesson
guns is RSR Group Inc.
of Winter Park, Fla., which called for Smith & Wesson to reopen
negotiations to "find a workable solution."
"Although RSR has been a leading distributor of Smith & Wesson
products for more than 20 years we have come to the difficult conclusion
that we cannot continue to do business with Smith & Wesson under the
problematic terms of the current agreement," the company said.
Mr. Blumenthal said these were precisely the kinds of actions the
investigation would examine to see whether "they are part of a concerted,
illegal campaign to retaliate against Smith & Wesson, restraining trade
and impeding the development of a safer product."
Andrew M. Cuomo, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development,
who helped organize the meeting on Tuesday in Washington, said, "It
seems the industry is doing everything it can to make an example out of
Smith & Wesson."
Almost overlooked in the dispute over what has happened to Smith &
Wesson is the view of some gun control advocates, who said the
settlement let the company off easy because it only accepted provisions it
was already practicing.
Moreover, six municipalities that did not take part in the agreement --
Chicago, Cleveland, Cincinnati, New Orleans, Washington, D.C. and
Wayne County, Mich. -- said they would continue with their lawsuits
against Smith & Wesson as well as other gun makers.
John Komako, a lawyer for Cleveland, said he saw "no reason to sign
onto the agreement" without seeing what documents Smith & Wesson
would be forced to disclose in the discovery stage of the lawsuits. On
March 14, just before Smith & Wesson reached its agreement, a Federal
District Court judge in Cleveland, Donald Nugent, rejected the gun
companies' motion for summary dismissal and ordered that discovery in
the case could proceed.
Lawyers advising the cities suing the gun industry have contended that if
they could get into discovery of corporate documents they would find
evidence that the firearms makers have long known how easily their guns
are sold to criminals and juveniles, providing the kind of proof that led to
expensive settlements by the tobacco companies.
The lawsuits filed against the gun makers by cities and counties charge
them with negligently marketing and distributing their guns in ways that
have helped criminals and juveniles gain access to them.
Some of the cities are seeking to recover the cost of gun violence for the
hiring of additional policemen and in hospital care while other cities say
their main goal is to improve gun safety and change gun makers'
marketing practices.
[This message has been edited by mcginnes (edited March 30, 2000).]
March 30, 2000
Gun Maker's Accord on Curbs Brings
Industry Pressure
Related Articles
Issue in Depth: Gun Control
By FOX BUTTERFIELD and RAYMOND HERNANDEZ
mith & Wesson, which recently agreed to restrictions on the way it
makes and distributes handguns, has come under such fierce
financial pressure from other firearms manufacturers and dealers opposed
to the agreement that state officials have started antitrust investigations of
the industry.
Federal, state and city officials are also trying to protect Smith & Wesson
by persuading police agencies nationwide to buy its weapons.
The effort to help Smith & Wesson comes after the company agreed on
March 17 to a wide array of restrictions in exchange for ending many of
the 30 lawsuits filed against it by cities and counties and averting
threatened suits by the states of New York and Connecticut and the
Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Since then, one of the nation's largest gun wholesalers announced it
would stop distributing Smith & Wesson handguns, many retail dealers
have proclaimed they will not sell Smith & Wesson products and the
National Rifle Association has denounced the company as a
foreign-owned business that has "run up the white flag of surrender" to
the Clinton administration. Smith & Wesson, which experts say produces
about one-fifth of the 2.5 million handguns sold nationwide each year, is
based in Springfield, Mass., but is owned by Tomkins PLC of London.
In addition, Ken Jorgensen, a spokesman for Smith & Wesson, said the
Chicago law firm that had long jointly represented Smith & Wesson,
Sturm Ruger & Company and the Colt's Manufacturing Company, three
of the largest handgun makers, has said the firm will drop Smith &
Wesson as a client. And some shooting match organizers have told Smith
& Wesson that the company is not welcome at their events.
The Chicago law firm that informed Smith & Wesson it would no longer
represent the company is Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon. Anne
Kimball, a lawyer at the firm who has represented Smith & Wesson, did
not return phone calls seeking comment.
Eliot Spitzer, the attorney general of New York who helped strike the
deal with Smith & Wesson, said that officials are investigating whether
there is a conspiracy against the gun maker. "We are seeing behavior on
the part of Smith & Wesson's competitors that raises the specter of illegal
antitrust activity," Mr. Spitzer said in an interview today, adding: "This is
serious stuff."
Richard Blumenthal, the Connecticut attorney general who was also
involved in the agreement and is helping coordinate the measures to
protect the company, said, "Smith & Wesson is under absolutely
unprecedented pressure, both financial and personal within the gun
industry, with threats that are almost violent in nature, and I have heard
the fear that it could be put out of business."
But Robert Delfay, president of the National Shooting Sports
Foundation, the gun industry trade organization, said, "there is no
conspiracy" against Smith & Wesson.
"I could not be more confident that these are just independent actions by
businessmen," Mr. Delfay said.
The antitrust investigation is being conducted under state antitrust laws in
New York, Connecticut and Maryland, with more states expected to
join and subpoenas to be issued starting Thursday, Mr. Blumenthal said.
Mr. Jorgensen, the Smith & Wesson spokesman, said it is too early to
tell what the settlement's financial impact on the company will be. But,
Mr. Jorgensen added, "We've been getting beat up pretty bad, and the
whole idea seems to be a boycott of Smith & Wesson products."
The effort to get law-enforcement agencies buy Smith & Wesson
handguns could prove very helpful to the company, whose sales are
primarily to civilians. Nationwide, police forces purchase about 25
percent of the handguns sold each year. Only a very small part of the
police handgun purchases are from Smith & Wesson.
But Mr. Blumenthal and other federal, state and city officials who met in
Washington on Tuesday to try to find a way to help the company
acknowledged there are difficult contractual and legal problems in getting
police forces to make the change to Smith & Wesson.
Several cities and counties around the country, including Atlanta, Detroit,
Miami-Dade County, Buffalo, N.Y., Rochester, N.Y., and Albany,
N.Y., have recently agreed to buy only from Smith & Wesson. New
York City, which buys Glock handguns for its police officers, has
withheld a decision.
The effort to support Smith & Wesson is critical to regulating the firearms
industry, government officials say, because the deal it struck splintered
the powerful united front of gun makers and gun owners that has blocked
tough gun laws in Washington and state capitals for years. The company
agreed to improve the safety of its handguns, for instance, by including
trigger locks with all sales, and to allow its dealers to sell weapons at only
those gun shows where all sales are subject to background checks on the
buyer.
It also requires, within three years, so-called smart-gun technology that
will allow each of its new handguns to be fired only by authorized users.
Mr. Spitzer said that if Smith & Wesson was undermined financially, it
would weaken the government's hand in drawing other gun makers into
similar agreements. "If one company signs on and is left out to dry, we
can't credibly go to other companies and ask them to join this
agreement," he said.
The wholesaler that announced it will stop distributing Smith & Wesson
guns is RSR Group Inc.
of Winter Park, Fla., which called for Smith & Wesson to reopen
negotiations to "find a workable solution."
"Although RSR has been a leading distributor of Smith & Wesson
products for more than 20 years we have come to the difficult conclusion
that we cannot continue to do business with Smith & Wesson under the
problematic terms of the current agreement," the company said.
Mr. Blumenthal said these were precisely the kinds of actions the
investigation would examine to see whether "they are part of a concerted,
illegal campaign to retaliate against Smith & Wesson, restraining trade
and impeding the development of a safer product."
Andrew M. Cuomo, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development,
who helped organize the meeting on Tuesday in Washington, said, "It
seems the industry is doing everything it can to make an example out of
Smith & Wesson."
Almost overlooked in the dispute over what has happened to Smith &
Wesson is the view of some gun control advocates, who said the
settlement let the company off easy because it only accepted provisions it
was already practicing.
Moreover, six municipalities that did not take part in the agreement --
Chicago, Cleveland, Cincinnati, New Orleans, Washington, D.C. and
Wayne County, Mich. -- said they would continue with their lawsuits
against Smith & Wesson as well as other gun makers.
John Komako, a lawyer for Cleveland, said he saw "no reason to sign
onto the agreement" without seeing what documents Smith & Wesson
would be forced to disclose in the discovery stage of the lawsuits. On
March 14, just before Smith & Wesson reached its agreement, a Federal
District Court judge in Cleveland, Donald Nugent, rejected the gun
companies' motion for summary dismissal and ordered that discovery in
the case could proceed.
Lawyers advising the cities suing the gun industry have contended that if
they could get into discovery of corporate documents they would find
evidence that the firearms makers have long known how easily their guns
are sold to criminals and juveniles, providing the kind of proof that led to
expensive settlements by the tobacco companies.
The lawsuits filed against the gun makers by cities and counties charge
them with negligently marketing and distributing their guns in ways that
have helped criminals and juveniles gain access to them.
Some of the cities are seeking to recover the cost of gun violence for the
hiring of additional policemen and in hospital care while other cities say
their main goal is to improve gun safety and change gun makers'
marketing practices.
[This message has been edited by mcginnes (edited March 30, 2000).]
Robert the41MagFan
New member
I think that this NY Times article is showing that boycotts DO work. For a state to start an investigation of antitrust this quickly demonstrates the true financial situation of S&W. Don't be surprised that the layoffs start soon and the closer of S&W firearms division to follow. No investigation can save S&W now. We are the only ones that can save them.
Antitrust lawsuits take years to explore and pursue, VERY difficult to prove. They are just puffing smoke. That the end of the day, the Slick & Wesson deal cost jobs and shut down a legal business. That is what will linger come election day.
Robert
Antitrust lawsuits take years to explore and pursue, VERY difficult to prove. They are just puffing smoke. That the end of the day, the Slick & Wesson deal cost jobs and shut down a legal business. That is what will linger come election day.
Robert