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GOA Announces Boycott of Clinton & Wesson (aka Smith & 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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