Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2000 18:05:15 -0700 From: crowtalk@THERIVER.COM (Joe Horn) Subject: Fwiw: Smith & Wesson Sell-out: Boycott! To: AZRKBA@asu.edu
----- Original Message ----- From: "Gun Owners of America" <goamail@gunowners.org> To: <goamail@gunowners.org> Sent: Tuesday, March 21, 2000 3:21 PM Subject: Smith & Wesson Sell-out: Boycott!
> GOA Announces Boycott of Clinton & Wesson
> -- Sell-out worse than originally reported
>
> Gun Owners of America E-Mail/FAX Alert
> 8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
> Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
> http://www.gunowners.org
>
>
> (Tuesday, March 21, 2000) -- Last week's "agreement" between Smith &
> Wesson and the Clinton Administration will undoubtedly be remembered
> as one of the most regretful episodes in the modern Right to Keep
> and Bear Arms movement. The firearms manufacturer's lamentable
> decision to "settle" with the most anti-gun Administration in
> history cannot go without a pointed response by all those who
> seriously cherish and believe in the God-given right of individual
> self defense.
>
> The so-called settlement between Smith & Wesson and the Departments
> of Treasury, Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and local and state
> governments is more a nationalization of the British-owned firm
> which now, for the sake of accuracy, should be renamed the "The
> Clinton & Wesson Corporation." (More on this in just a moment.)
>
> The Clinton Administration has achieved nearly every outrageous
> demand in its original lawsuit without having to prove its case in a
> court of law. This sellout agreement creates an "Oversight
> Commission" that will include four government officials (one from
> the BATF) and a Smith & Wesson executive.
>
> The Clinton & Wesson commission will have the power of law to
> enforce gun control upon any gun dealer that sells S&W products and
> upon any gun owner that buys from such a dealer!!! This is European
> fascism at its best, and is much more draconian than what has been
> reported in the media. Consider just some of the highlights:
>
> Restrictions On Individual Gun Owners
>
> * Gun rationing: Any gun dealer that carries S&W products can
> NOT sell you two handguns on the same day... or during the same
> week!!! (No more than one handgun during a 14-day period.)
>
> So let's get this straight: a total gun ban in England has
> neither stopped 3 million illegal guns from getting into criminal
> hands nor stopped their crime rate from exceeding ours. But somehow
> gun rationing here is going to keep criminals from getting guns.
>
> * Mandatory gun owner registration: A S&W dealer will not be
> able to sell any of his guns at a gun show unless ALL of the sales
> at the show -- including private sales -- are run through a
> registration background check. Why does the Clinton administration
> want to know who every gun buyer is?
>
> * Mandatory training requirements: You will not be able to buy a
> gun from a S&W dealer unless you have put your rights on hold for
> however long it takes to complete a certified training course.
> Hopefully, someone you know will never try to buy their first gun to
> protect themselves from a stalker or abusive spouse. Because now,
> dealers carrying S&W products cannot sell that person a self-defense
> gun until that person jumps through the Clinton & Wesson hoops.
>
> Restrictions On Gun Dealers
>
> * Mandatory employee training. This would require all employees
> of dealers and distributors to attend mandatory ATF approved
> training. Thus, dealers who have had a business for 20 years will
> now need to send their employees to the federal government for
> indoctrination.
>
> * Dealer entrapment. The agreement requires persons under 18 to
> be accompanied by adults either in gun stores covered by this
> agreement or in the gun sections of those stores. So the next time
> Wal-Mart lets those pesky 17-year-olds walk near the gun section of
> its store, look out! An ATF agent may jump out from behind the camo
> rack and bust the employees for not carding the juveniles and
> keeping them out.
>
> * BATF harassment provision. This agreement gives the new
> Oversight Commission (including its BATF representative) unfettered
> access into gun dealers' stores -- more so than is currently allowed
> by federal law. Any time it wants, the BATF can reach its dirty
> hand into the dealer's records and gain "access to documents
> necessary to determine compliance."
>
> According to the official summary found on HUD's website, this
> agreement is "enforceable as a court order and as a contract." You
> may have heard on the news about some of the "anti-safety" devices
> that S&W has agreed to include on their weapons -- trigger locks,
> smart gun technology, etc. These are anti-safety devices that will
> cost innocent lives if they are imposed upon the public. After all,
> if they truly were safety devices, then why does the Clinton and
> Wesson agreement exempt law enforcement and the military from having
> these items on their guns?
>
> For these reasons and more, Gun Owners of America is urging its near
> quarter of a million members and all those committed to a NO
> COMPROMISE position in regard to the Second Amendment to
> disassociate themselves from the firearms manufacturer and BOYCOTT
> all Smith & Wesson products.
>
> This is a serious and dramatic step and one which we had never
> envisioned taking. We are aware of the "extortionary" pressure that
> Smith & Wesson was under from the maniacal Clinton-Gore
> Administration and the costly legal struggle that it faced. However,
> to defeat such a vicious and cunning opponent requires courage and
> perseverance, not capitulation.
>
> In taking this step, we are adopting our forefathers' example, who
> also boycotted those merchants who willfully collaborated with
> British authorities against the interests of their fellow Americans.
> In fact, Smith & Wesson's decision is not that altogether surprising
> coming from a foreign country that has been so hostile to the
> private ownership of firearms.
>
> In sum, Smith & Wesson has done serious and irrevocable damage to
> the entire 2nd Amendment movement. Such action is no longer worthy
> of gun owners' support or patronage. We hope our loyal and
> patriotic membership concurs. Just as important, it is hoped that
> this action will dissuade other firearms manufacturers and related
> industries from abandoning the struggle against the assaults by the
> Clinton Administration on our unalienable rights.
>
> ACTION:
>
> * GOA urges all of those who are deeply troubled with Smith &
> Wesson's decision to voice their protests and concerns directly to
> them. Their customer service department can be reached at
> 1-800-331-0852; and their public relations department can be reached
> by phone at (413) 781-8300 ext. 299 or by e-mail
> (ceo@smith-wesson.com), (qa@smith-wesson.com). You can fax them at
> (413) 747-3317. The postal address is Smith & Wesson, 2100
> Roosevelt Avenue, Springfield, MA 01104.
>
> * GOA also urges people to ask their gun dealerships they
> frequent to STOP carrying Smith & Wesson products. Gun owners can
> read an official "Summary of Terms" at
> http://www.hud.gov/pressrel/gunagree.html on the HUD website.
>
> **************
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