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- "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.
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- 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.
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- 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.]
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- 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.
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- 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.")
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- [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.]
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- 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.]
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- 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.
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- 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:
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- * Capitol Hill switchboard phone: 888-449-3511 (toll-free)
* Hastert's direct dial phone: 202-225-2976 * Hastert's fax: 202-225-0697
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- * Capitol Hill switchboard phone: 888-449-3511 (toll-free)
* DeLay's direct dial phone: 202-225-5951 * DeLay's fax: 202-225-5241
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- 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.
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