Slick & Wesson

    In a surprise move, British owned Smith & Wesson caved in to mounting legal pressure and signed a deal with the Clinton administration, in what most gun owners are calling a Sell Out.  Reaction from the administration has been to heap praise on S&W and to encourage various armed federal agencies, states, cities and municipalities to make firearms purchases from S&W.  HUD announced they would make every effort to purchase firearms from S&W and other gun companies who signed the agreement.  As of this date, no other gun companies have signed up for the Clinton HUD gun deal.  An administration spokesman said they are very pleased with the agreement and with Smith & Wesson.

     The reaction from gun owners and firearms dealers has been exactly the opposite, with most gun dealers, including S&W's two  largest wholesale distributors, RSR and Davidsons, canceling all orders for S&W products and announcing that they were to immediately stop buying and selling all Smith & Wesson firearms and associated products.   This impromptu "boycott" has now been followed by an official message from GOA - Gun Owners of America, one of the nations largest gun rights organizations, calling for an official Boycott of S&W.  The NRA and several other firearms activists call this agreement a sell out that threatens the Firearms Industry and private gun ownership.

     The national media is reporting that the agreement calls for trigger locks and improved safety measures that make the agreement seem like a no brainier.  However the "devil" is in the details and as Dave Kopel puts it in his article below this is indeed a "Faustian Bargain".    Did S&W make a deal with the devil and sell there sole and the civil rights of all American gun owners for a quick reprieve from the nonsense suits and legal fees they faced?  I think so.  I believe that the law suits pending against the firearms industry will be thrown out or lost.  Many have already been thrown out and several more face dismissal.  I encourage gun owners and the Firearms Industry as a whole to stand together and to continue to fight for freedom and our basic human rights to own firearms.  As the founders said "We must all hang together... or we may all hang separately."

    Gun owners and freedom loving individuals should take this opportunity to show there disdain for Slick & Wesson and this foolish agreement by refusing to purchase S&W products and by contacting Smith & Wesson executives and customer service representatives at the following contact numbers and e-mail addresses.

     We should also all show our support and encouragement to the Firearms  Manufacturers that have announced they will not sign a deal with the devil by calling them up and thinking them for their support of freedom and by purchasing their products in lieu of any Slick & Wesson products.  A complete listing of Firearms Manufacturers is online at URL:  http://www.GunneryNetwork.com/man.html

The agreement between S&W and the government is online at the HUD website
- at URL: http://www.hud.gov/pressrel/gunagree.html

To decipher the S&W agreement and to understand the implications please read the article - Smith & Wesson's Faustian Bargain - By Dave B. Kopel - March 20, 2000.

Other Related Articles:

Gun Owners of America (GOA) Announces Boycott of Clinton & Wesson 
- GOA Press Release - March 21, 2000

Pressure Levels Rising on "Clinton & Wesson" 
-  GOA working with Representative Hostettler to defang S&W agreement

Smith & Wesson Buy into Another Clinton Lie
- By Gary Lane - March 28, 2000

Smith & Wesson Must Die!
- By L. Neil Smith - April 7, 2000

Smith & Wesson, Going, Going...
S&W announces more layoffs - CEO fired.

Slick & Wesson