Gun Owners of America E-Mail / FAX Alert
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Suite 102, Springfield
VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
http://www.gunowners.org

"We've had an excellent relationship with Smith & Wesson for 40 years. But the bottom line is this agreement will force dealers to discontinue the sale of Smith & Wesson handguns, plain and simple."

-- Bill Carter, owner of a hunting and firearms chain and one of the nation's largest S&W dealers.


(Friday, March 24, 2000) -- The pressure is rising on Smith & Wesson. Earlier this week, Gun Owners of America called for a boycott of Smith & Wesson products, citing S&W's gun control agreement with the White House as dangerous to the Second Amendment rights of all Americans. The terms of that agreement not only apply to the company itself, but would also impose gun control restrictions on private gun buyers and massive red tape on gun dealers that carry S&W products.

The tension has continued to mount this week. The White House has tried to pressure other gun manufacturers to join the agreement, but so far, the other gun giants aren't jumping on board. Browning,
Bryco, Glock, and Taurus all announced this week they would NOT join the Clinton & Wesson sell-out. No doubt, these gun giants are taking notice of the tremendous discontent that exists in the gun community. [Gun owners should thank these companies for standing firm.]

The number of businesses, dealers and distributors joining the boycott also continues to grow. For example, RSR Wholesale has indicated that it will stop doing business with Smith & Wesson. This would be a devastating blow to S&W, as RSR reportedly accounts for about 25 percent of Smith & Wesson sales.

Many of you have contacted S&W to express your displeasure and to notify them you will no longer be buying their products. Their public answer has been simply that they had no choice. Well, one could, perhaps, forgive them for being pressured into making a "deal with the devil" if the deal ONLY affected them. However, their deal does NOT just affect them; it also drags others into the fiery pit of gun control hell. (See the Tuesday, May 21 alert, "GOA Announces Boycott of Clinton & Wesson.")

[In fact, GOA's alert from earlier this week only scratched the surface. Gun owners are encouraged to go to
http://www.nssf.org/Agreement.PDF and read the agreement.]

GOA working Capitol Hill to stop enforcement of this agreement. On the good news side, GOA has found that pro-gun Rep. John Hostettler (R-IN) is committed to stopping this sell-out in its tracks.  Hostettler, who already has a bill to end the anti-gun lawsuits against the gun industry, wants the budget to contain a provision
defunding the Oversight Commission which is established in the Clinton & Wesson agreement. [The Oversight Commission has the force of law to make sure the gun control restrictions agreed to by S&W
are being followed by anyone who does business with the company.]


ACTION ITEMS FOR ALL GUN OWNERS: It is very important for activists to contact House Speaker Denny Hastert (R-IL). If he agrees to defund the administration's enforcement of the S&W agreement, then
it is very possible that an effectual "repeal" of this sell-out agreement will become law. Hastert can make or break our efforts.

Thus, gun owners should call Speaker Hastert's office and ask him to do everything in his power to make sure this "deal with the devil" can never be enforced by the administration. Ask him to ensure a "no funding" provision is included in the budget. You can reach Rep. Hastert's office with the following numbers:

* Capitol Hill switchboard phone: 888-449-3511 (toll-free)
* Hastert's direct dial phone: 202-225-2976
* Hastert's fax: 202-225-0697


OTHER IMPORTANT ACTION ITEMS: There are two important subcommittees that Rep. Hostettler will be targeting in his efforts to defund the Clinton & Wesson agreement. They are the Treasury and HUD
appropriation subcommittees.

The best contacts for each committee are Jim Kolbe (R-AZ), who is the Treasury subcommittee head that supervises funding for the BATF, and House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-TX) who sits on the HUD
appropriations subcommittee.

ARIZONA GUN OWNERS: Please call Rep. Kolbe's office and ask him to include language in the Treasury budget providing that no funds will go towards enforcing the Clinton & Wesson agreement.

* Capitol Hill switchboard phone: 888-449-3511 (toll-free)
* Kolbe's direct dial phone: 202-225-2542
* Kolbe's fax: 202-225-0378

TEXAS GUN OWNERS: Please call House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-TX). As the third most powerful Representative in the House and, as one of the Reps. who sits on the HUD Appropriation subcommittee, DeLay can be instrumental in getting a "no funds" provision inserted in the HUD budget. Please ask him to do everything in his power to ensure that the HUD budget contains no funds for enforcing the Clinton & Wesson agreement.

* Capitol Hill switchboard phone: 888-449-3511 (toll-free)
* DeLay's direct dial phone: 202-225-5951
* DeLay's fax: 202-225-5241


INTERNET NOTE: A completely false rumor is currently circulating on the Internet. Supposedly, a talk radio host was in contact with executives at Smith and Wesson, and was told the manufacturer contacted GOA to ask for help in defending against the lawsuits.   The rumor goes on to make the ludicrous charge that GOA advised S&W to cut a deal with the feds! Just for the record, Smith and Wesson has not contacted GOA. Nor would we ever suggest that anyone cut deals with Bill Clinton -- compromise and capitulation are losing
strategies. The legal arm of GOA, Gun Owners Foundation, is prepared to aid to the best of its ability those manufacturers who stand firm and fight from a no-compromise position.