Gone are the days of reason and honesty. I am afraid that our government has lost all pretense of even pretending to follow the law and honor the constitution, and to respect any of our rights. We already live in a police state! Gun foes and gun advocates alike know for a fact, even if some will not admit it, that White House funded lawsuits against the gunmakers are extortion, illegal, unconstitutional and a perversion of the separation of powers. Now, they have decided that if the dealers, wholesalers, and I suppose customers, no longer but sh*t&wesson products, that violates the governments anti-trust laws. All I can say to that is WTF? Now we all MUST buy sh*t&wesson products by government mandate? A bunch of attorney generals who are, remember, non-elected government bureaucrats, have decided that a "boycott" (to you and I it's called "freedom of choice") now constitutes a violation of the ANTI-TRUST laws. Here is the AP news article and link:
http://fullcoverage.yahoo.com/fc/US/Gun_Control_Debate/
Thursday March 30 6:14 AM ET
Report: Gun Industry Investigated
NEW YORK (AP) - An antitrust investigation has begun to see if gunmakers are targeting Smith & Wesson in retaliation for its agreement to put safety locks on handguns, The New York Times reported today.
The probe is being conducted under state laws in New York, Connecticut and Maryland, said Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut's attorney general. He said more states were expected to become involved and subpoenas were imminent.
Earlier this month, Smith & Wesson agreed to include safety locks with all handguns and pistols - external locks will be on the weapons in 60 days and internal locks installed within two years. New firearms would not be allowed to accept magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition.
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The company also agreed to devote 2 percent of firearms revenues every year to developing ``smart'' technology that limits a gun's use to its rightful owner. The gunmaker, in addition, will not advertise or market its products in a way that appeals to juveniles or criminals, such as ads claiming guns are fingerprint-proof.
In exchange, a number of municipalities, states and the federal government agreed to drop threatened lawsuits over gun violence.
However, officials told the Times that other gun manufacturers and dealers opposed to the settlement have since put financial pressure on Smith & Wesson, based in Springfield, Mass.
A top wholesaler will no longer carry company weapons, retailers will not sell Smith & Wesson products and the National Rifle Association has accused the company of surrendering to Clinton administration demands, the Times reported.
``We are seeing behavior on the part of Smith & Wesson's competitors that raises the specter of illegal antitrust activity,'' New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said. ``This is serious stuff.''
Robert Delfay, president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, denied the accusation.
``I could not be more confident that these are just independent actions by businessmen,'' Delfay said.
IMHO, this is INSANE and has to stop. What these government officials are doing HAS to be illegal, and probably could be considered a felony under Title 18, U.S. Code, Sections 241 and 242:
http://www.webleyweb.com/lneil/18usc.html which states that conspiring to deprive someone of their constitutional rights is a felony. Problem is, how do you get the DAs to prosecute themselves?
