http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/updates/ap_guns000317.htm
WASHINGTON -- The Clinton administration today announced it has reached agreement with gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson on a plan to provide external locking devices within 60 days on handguns the company sells.
Under the unprecedented deal reached with the company by the departments of Housing and Urban Development and Treasury and officials representing state and local governments, Smith & Wesson agreed to a "code of conduct" for sales and distribution of handguns.
The company would sell its products "only to authorized dealers and distributors" who also agree to certain conditions. A dealer or distributor would have its contract with the manufacturer terminated, for instance, if "a disproportionate number" of crimes were traced to the weapons it sells.
In exchange for its commitments toward advancing gun safety, Smith & Wesson won an agreement by the federal, state and local governments to dismiss pending suits against it or refrain from filing new suits. The administration had been threatening to bring a national lawsuit against the industry if manufacturers failed to enter negotiations aimed at increasing gun safety.
Today's deal affects only Smith & Wesson, one of eight major gun manufacturers.
"Our goal in reaching an accord is to continue to sell to the consumer market. It would have been easy to agree to sell to the law enforcement and military communities only, but that has never been an option," said Ken Jorgensen, a Smith & Wesson spokesman. "The effect of this agreement will mean a change in the way Smith & Wesson does business. It will not sacrifice the Second Amendment rights of gun owners, something we will not do."
Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo, at a midday news conference, told reporters "this is the most important announcement" during his time in Clinton's Cabinet.
"We've heard the statistics many times. ... A rate of firearm deaths for children in this country 12 times higher than the other 25 industrialized countries combined," he said. "So we approached the process in the belief that reasonable gun manufacturers could sit down ... to stop the senseless gun violence. ... We have reached a settlement with ... the nation's largest gun manufacturer."
"It mandates ... an impressive array of safety features ... that will prevent once and for all accidental gun deaths and keep children safe," he said.
Smith & Wesson President Ed Shultz said the deal provides for "the future viability" of the company while allowing it to "make our guns better and safer in the future."
The agreement provides for new safety and design standards, including:
--External locking devices must be included in all the company's handguns within 60 days.
--There must be internal locking device on all guns within 24 months.
--A second "hidden" serial number must be provided by the manufacturer to counter criminals who obliterate serial numbers.
--Within 12 months, handguns must be designed "so they cannot be readily operated by a child under 6," according to a background paper distributed by administration officials at the news conference.
