DOWNSIDE LEGACY AT TWO DEGREES OF PRESIDENT CLINTON
SECTION: THE POLITICAL WINDS
SUBSECTION: COMMERCE BEING TREATED AS A CRIME
Revised 8/16/99
COMMERCE BEING TREATED AS A CRIME
Tobacco Companies
Microsoft Internet Browser
Guns
Intel
Reuters 11/13/98 ".In the second lawsuit brought against the gun industry by a major U.S. city, Chicago said Thursday it is suing firearms manufacturers and sellers to recoup the cost of urban gun violence. Chicago's $433 million suit, announced by Mayor Richard Daley and filed in Cook County Circuit Court, alleges gun makers and dealers violated public nuisance laws by knowingly designing, marketing and distributing firearms so they fall into the hands of the city's criminals. ``The Second Amendment doesn't allow these types of weapons in our communities,'' Daley said, referring to the constitutional clause that ensures the right to bear arms.."
Atlanta Journal-Constitution 11/30/98 Bill Rankin ".In the past month, both New Orleans and Chicago filed suit against the gun industry seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. Lawyer Wendell Gauthier and other prominent plaintiffs' attorneys who led a class-action lawsuit against Big Tobacco are bankrolling the New Orleans complaint, which closely imitates lawsuits filed by states that sought compensation for public expenses related to smokers' illnesses."
Washington Post 1/21/99 Saundra Torry ".The tobacco industry, caught off guard by President Clinton's threat to file a massive federal lawsuit against cigarette makers, lashed back yesterday, dismissing the plan as nothing but a "political gesture," the continuation of "a witch hunt against a legal industry." ."
The Heritage Foundation 1/29/99 Edwin Feulner ".If someone commits a crime with a firearm, most people would agree you hold the individual accountable. But there's a disturbing movement afoot to hold gun manufacturers responsible for the acts of criminals. In October, the city of New Orleans filed a lawsuit against leading gun companies, arguing that they should be held financially liable for the cost of handgun violence. Since then, Chicago has filed a similar lawsuit. And the mayor of Philadelphia has proposed that 100 or more cities file similar lawsuits simultaneously later this year-just to let everyone know how serious they are ."
AP 2/1/99 Freeper Jon in GA ".A Florida appeals court has overturned a landmark $1 million award to the family of a smoker who died of lung cancer. In June, a Jacksonville jury ordered Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. to pay the family of Roland Maddox $1 million. In an unsigned one-paragraph order, the appellate court on Friday vacated the award and ordered the case transferred to either Palm Beach County or Broward County in south Florida and not Jacksonville, some 275 miles away.."
Grassroot Republicans Website 2/7/99 Ken Carroll ".At least two groups composed of people vocally opposed to Clinton have been hit this week. Clinton is already trying to make life tougher on gun owners, bringing the National Rifle Association into a conflict, but it is his remarks regarding Christianity which are truly distressing. At an annual prayer breakfast hosted by congressional members, Clinton proclaimed that "Adolf Hitler preached a perverted form of Christianity." Not only is Clinton's statement historically inaccurate, but the context of his speech shows it aimed at Christian conservatives. Clinton said, " . . . throughout history people have prayed to God to aid them in war. People have claimed repeatedly that it was God's will that they prevail in conflict. I do believe that even though Adolf Hitler preached a perverted form of Christianity, God did not want him to prevail." Claiming what Hitler did, by any stretch of the imagination, could be referred to as "Christianity" whether it was "perverted" or not is extremely insulting to followers of Christ. The insinuation is that Christianity is not that far from Nazi beliefs. If you think those are innocent words, replace "Christian" with any other religion and see if it jogs your conscience a little. Would you openly tell a believer of any faith that Hitler preached a perverted form of their religion? Would you say it to a Moslem or a Jewish person? Clinton supporters may say it was a slip of the tongue, but that boat won't float. This is a man so careful in his phrasing and parsing of public words that he claims he misled and deceived people and still did not lie. Bill Clinton knew exactly what the ramifications of his words were and how this message would be taken. ."
Wall Street Journal 2/8/99 Robert Levy Freeper the Raven ".rather than go to war against the government's money grab, the tobacco companies tried to bribe the politicians. That capitulation--the unprincipled surrender of its right to market a legal product--has spawned Mr. Clinton's new assault on the industry: a proposed tax hike of 55 cents per pack and federal litigation to recoup health costs connected with smoking. ....Whenever Mr. Clinton needs money, he calls for Philip Morris. Mr. Clinton simply bypasses the legislative process--not to mention the Constitution--and asks federal courts to create new law. Never mind that the Justice Department has said repeatedly that the federal government has no statutory authority to bring a direct suit to recover smoking-related damages.."
AP 2/9/99 Freeper buffalo bob ". Following heavy lobbying by the National Rifle Association and others, the Georgia Senate has approved a bill that could bar Atlanta from pursuing its liability lawsuit against the gun industry. By a 44-11 vote, lawmakers on Monday approved legislation that would prohibit local governments from suing gun makers. The bill is expected to be passed by the House, which approved a similar measure last year, and signed into law by Gov. Roy Barnes.."
Charleston Post and Courier 2/18/99 Editorial ".Following the lead of the states' big-money settlement with Big Tobacco and further revealing society's retreat from individual responsibility, several U.S. cities are suing the gun industry. Such litigation previously sank under the weight of illogical justifications. But recent rationalizations for the cities' suits, including those filed by Chicago, Miami and New Orleans, tap into the noble-yet-vulnerable intentions of many Americans too easily misled on proper delineations between personal, business and government accountability. Suing cities now typically charge manufacturers with "negligent marketing." . Though the demonization of the gun industry - like the spreading demonization of other legal industries that make potentially harmful products - is grand news for lawyers, it is alarming news for those industries and their consumers. Equally alarming is the cities' cynical use of the civil court system to wage battles that should be fought in legislatures. Most of the cities suing the gun industry admit that their goal isn't to win, but to force a settlement - and possibly bankrupt the defendants. The gun industry's opponents would say, "Good riddance," to such an outcome. But is running firearm makers out of business the correct role of courts - or cities?.."
AP 2/20/99 Paul Shepard ".Since gun-related crimes hit minority communities at high rates across the country, the NAACP is considering joining the growing number of cities filing lawsuits against gun makers, NAACP president Kweisi Mfume said. ``We represent a significant constituency that is disproportionately affected by gun violence. The time has come for us to look at the proliferation of handguns,'' Mfume said at the association's annual meeting Saturday.."
WORLD Magazine 3/6/99 Bob Jones Freeper Stand Watch Listen "… Blame-shifting lawsuits are on the rise against the tobacco industry and gun manufacturers as plaintiffs seek to punish companies for how people use their products. So far, the judicial system seems unwilling or unable to kick the habit................MS ESTRICH, like other liberals, acknowledges that "courts, particularly federal courts, are anti-majoritarian, undemocratic institutions." But, she argues, if the democratic process doesn't yield suitably "progressive" laws, then it's perfectly proper for a handful of jurors to impose their will on millions of voters........Why not sue the Keebler elves to recover the social costs of obesity?…"
Fox News 3/4/99 Reuters "…Three Senate Democrats introduced legislation Thursday designed to give cities, counties and states more financial incentives to sue gun manufacturers. The bill offered by Sens. Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey, Dick Durbin of Illinois, and Charles Schumer of New York, would let localities challenge gunmakers in court for federal as well as local costs associated with treating crime victims…"If enough cities successfully sue the industry it could be brought to its proverbial knees,'' Lautenberg said. He said the bill would fortify cities that already have filed gun suits and encourage more cities to do the same…."
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review 3/10/99 Editorial Freeper starlu "…If a man wielding a maul fatally bludgeons another man, should the maul manufacturer be answerable in the dastardly deed? How about if a woman driving, say, a GMC Jimmy forces another vehicle off the high way in a fit of road rage. The second driver dies. Should General Motors be just as culpable as the Jimmy driver for vehicular homicide? No. And no. So, why do government officials in our cities keep insisting that gun manufacturers be held liable for those who use their products in unsafe and/or illegal ways? …"
THE WASHINGTON TIMES www.washtimes.com 3/10/99 Helle Bering Freeper Bayou City "…The toll taken by communism in its various forms in this century has probably on the whole exceeded that of fascism. Those who spend their time thinking about these dark matters, such as British historian Robert Conquest, place the death tally somewhere around 100 million people, covering the Soviet Union, Red China, Cambodia's killing fields, Latin America and Africa's communist insurgencies, etc…."
USA Today 3/17/99 Wendy Koch "…In a potential new front in the tobacco wars, the city of Philadelphia is considering a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the tobacco industry to recover the costs of fighting fires caused by cigarettes. "We're looking at the fire department, this huge part of our budget, being expended because cigarette companies won't make safer products," says Stephen Sheller, a lawyer hired by the mayor to study a lawsuit's feasibility. Sheller says cigarettes cause 23% of the city's fires…."
Washington Post Reuters 4/2/99 Trailer Trash "...A Utah couple, fed up with a neighbor's smoking, has filed a lawsuit seeking to bar him from lighting up at home, saying his smoke is making them miserable. Matthew and Amanda Parrish of Centerville are suing Douglas MacFarlane, who lives downstairs in their condominium complex. The Parrishes claim his smoke wafts into their living quarters, state court clerk Shelby Brown said today. The lawsuit, which was filed in February in state court, is believed to be the first to challenge the right of people to smoke in their own homes, said a spokeswoman for attorney Michael Stout, who represents the Parrishes...."
Radio news report - WKY, 930 am Oklahoma City 5/13/99 "...The Oklahoma News Network has just reported that the American Airlines, the 2nd largest air carrier is being sued by the Dept of Justice. It seems that the AA is forcing out the competition at Dallas FortWorth Airport by driving the prices very low until the competition is unable to sustain biz...then the AA raises prices..."
ABC News.com 6/1/99 Sandra Sobieraj / AP Freeper dirtboy "..."The boundary between fantasy and reality violence - which is a clear line for most adults - can become very blurred for vulnerable children," Clinton said. The $1 million joint study by the Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department, expected to take up to 18 months, will examine industry marketing practices much as the government investigated tobacco ad campaigns that it determined were aimed at tempting to kids to smoke...."
Reuters [OL] 6/2/99 via NewsEdge Corporation "... A Mississippi jury Wednesday handed the tobacco industry its latest courtroom victory when it ruled that the estate of a barber shop owner who died of cancer was not entitled to damages in a suit brought over second-hand smoke. The estate of Burl Butler had sought $650 million in compensatory damages plus additional punitive damages, claiming Butler had been the victim of second-hand tobacco smoke. But a Jones County jury ruled for the tobacco companies, according to Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., the U.S. unit of British American Tobacco Plc, which makes brands such as Kool, GPC and Lucky Strike. ``The industry showed that credible evidence does not exist to show that ETS (environmental tobacco smoke) causes lung cancer in nonsmokers even at the highest levels likely to be encountered in real-world environments,'' Andrew McGaan, attorney for Brown & Williamson, the U.S. No. 3 tobacco company, said in a prepared statement....."
Reuters 6/6/99 Gail Appleson "...At least 12 more municipalities are planning to sue gun makers this year and the first class action against the firearms industry is expected to be filed in the next few months, lawyers said Saturday. Their comments were made at a major gun litigation conference sponsored by the American Bar Association with participants from the gun and insurance industries, city and county governments as well as the personal injury bar...."
Freeper brityank Libertarian Party 6/6/99 "...A new federal commission that will study whether entertainment companies market violence to children is a case of "intimidation by bureaucrats" and almost certainly won't accomplish anything useful, the Libertarian Party said today. "America already has a mechanism to protect children against violent entertainment: It's called parents," said Steve Dasbach, the Libertarian Party's national director. "It's unlikely that a handful of bureaucrats will be as effective as tens of millions of concerned parents."...."
Baltimore Sun 6/11/99 David K. Martin "...WASHINGTON -- Critics of U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno have attacked her for either ignoring or whitewashing one Clinton administration scandal after another. Whether you agree with them or not, you have to wonder about the core competence of Ms. Reno's Justice Department when it asks Congress to provide $20 million to hire more lawyers and so-called "expert witnesses" to sue the U.S. tobacco industry. The Justice Department wants to spend $15 million to hire 40 new lawyers to make a federal case against the tobacco industry and throw in an additional $5 million to pay for "expert witnesses" in the trial. The department already has hired Minneapolis trial lawyer Michael Ciresi to give its new tobacco hires a primer on how to sue the nation's cigarette makers...."
Business News 6/16/99 Danny Westneat "…Bill Gates came to the U.S. Capitol yesterday and did a simple thing that may resonate for months to come: He talked. He talked about computers, about software, about patent laws, about how immigration laws are limiting his company's ability to hire top talent. He sat at round tables in small rooms and talked with all the top politicians here except the president…. The Microsoft chairman talked in public, at a hearing on technology. More important, he talked in private, to Democrats, Republicans, staffers, and to some of the city's media moguls. The gabfest was conducted with one goal in mind: to convince political leaders that Gates actually likes and respects government. Many politicians assume the reverse is true, especially as the Department of Justice engages the company in a landmark antitrust trial. "They have made huge progress on Capitol Hill, and the difference is noticeable from a year ago," Sen. Slade Gorton, R-Wash., said of Gates and his company, which has become a major political-campaign donor. "They are doing a good job of coming here and reaching out, something they didn't used to do. "I believe that, among Republicans, Microsoft has made inroads here to the point that it has almost isolated (Sen.) Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) as the only one who now opposes the company."…."
AP 8/14/98 Bill Baskervill "A federal appeals court today said the Food and Drug Administration has no authority to regulate tobacco and threw out FDA restrictions on the sale of cigarettes to minors. .
Washington Post 9/6/98 Thomas Edsall "The nation's most influential and aggressive trial lawyers stand to win billions of dollars in fees from lawsuits against the tobacco industry and plan to use those sums in part to fund Democratic candidates and battle business in the courts, Congress and state legislatures.."
National Post 7/2/99 Alexander Rose "...In Nazi Germany, for instance, abstinence from tobacco was a "national socialist duty" (Hitler gave a gold watch to associates who quit the habit, though this didn't stop them lighting up in the Berlin bunker once they heard the Fuhrer had committed suicide).... Tobacco taxes were raised, unsupervised cigarette vending machines were banned, and there were calls for a ban on smoking while driving. Thanks to the Ministry of Science and Education, and the Reich Health Office, posters were produced depicting smoking as the typically despicable habit of Jews, jazz musicians, Gypsies, Indians, homosexuals, blacks, communists, capitalists, cripples, intellectuals and harlots. Zealous lobbyists descended into the schools, terrifying children with tales of impotence and racial impurity. One particularly vile individual, Karl Astel -- upstanding president of Jena University, poisonous anti-Semite, euthanasia fanatic, SS officer, war criminal and tobacco-free Germany enthusiast -- liked to walk up to smokers and tear cigarettes from their unsuspecting mouths...... It comes as little surprise to discover that the phrase "passive smoking" (Passivrauchen) was coined not by contemporary American admen, but by Fritz Lickint, the author of the magisterial 1100-page Tabak und Organismus ("Tobacco and the Organism"), which was produced in collaboration with the German AntiTobacco League....."
NAACP 7/14/99 "…Kweisi Mfume, President & CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) announced plans to file an injunctive class-action lawsuit to force gun manufacturers to distribute their product responsibly….. According to a 1998 National Vital Statistics Report, African American males between the ages of 15-24 are almost five times more likely to be injured by firearms than white males in the same age group. Black females in that category are almost four times more likely to be injured by firearms than white females. Firearm homicide has been the leading cause of death among young African American males for nearly 30 years…..The NAACP received funding for the first phase of the litigation from the Open Society Institute and the Irene Diamond Fund and is receiving the pro bono representation of Denise Dunleavy, Esq. and the Manhattan law firm of Weitz & Luxenberg. Joshua Horwitz, Executive Director of the Educational Fund to End Handgun Violence, and attorney Elisa Barnes, Esq., who earlier this year was victorious when a federal jury ruled against the industry’s negligent marketing practices, will both serve as co-counsel in the lawsuit…."
Philadelphia Daily News / Salon 7/16/99 "…When Paul Jannuzzo, vice president and general counsel of Glock Inc., the Smyrna, Ga., gun manufacturer, heard that the city of New Orleans was preparing to sue the gun industry, he couldn't believe the hypocrisy. Jannuzzo had been working with New Orleans to help the city swap around 10,000 guns in its possession - most of which had belonged to criminals - in exchange for 1,700 new Glock .40-caliber pistols for its officers. The deal was worth $613,000. Thus the city of New Orleans was dumping onto the street the same "unsafe" product it was now suing Glock and several other companies for distributing…."
Libertarian Party 7/15/99 George Getz "…The NAACP is making a "racist mistake" by filing a lawsuit against gun manufacturers -- and is following in the shameful footsteps of the Ku Klux Klan, the Libertarian Party charged today. "With this lawsuit, the NAACP is not only attacking the civil rights of African-Americans, but is also continuing the legacy of the KKK and other racist organizations that have historically tried to keep guns out of the hands of blacks," said Steve Dasbach, the party's national director…"
WorldNetDaily.com 7/8/99 Jon E Dougherty "…For instance, the San Francisco Unified School District board just voted to ban -- of all things -- Oreo cookies, Nutter Butters, Snackwell products, Cheez Whiz and Jell-O puddings because they are made by companies owned by tobacco corporations. Amazingly the district chiefs do not see the irony -- and hypocrisy -- in their actions. One advocate for tobacco-free public places lauded the San Francisco school's decision, saying, "Teens need to show them (tobacco companies) that they can't be pushed around." And yet, the school district is pushing teens around by making this decision for them -- all because they think it's their right to do so and their place to do so. It makes you wonder if there is a single thinking parent in the entire school district -- just one or two who are capable of making such decisions for their children themselves…."
Opinion 7/12/99 Michael Rivero "…First it was the tobacco industry, sued in the name of covering health costs. Then it was the gun industry, sued in the name of paying the victims. Then it was the auto industry, sued for faling to anticipate drunk drivers recklessl driving into their product. Now, it's the health care industry, exposed to new lawsuits in the name of the patients "rights"…. Who gets rich? The lawyers and the government. Even the titular plaintiffs in the record setting GM settlement will only get a fraction of whatever the award is finally set to; the government gets the rest in taxes. The lawyers also pay taxes on their portion of the settlement. This is not justice; this is pillage, the looting and sacking of American industry by a goverment that cannot balance it's books and is out to grab all available cash by any means it can get away with…."
Augusta Chronicle 7/10/99 "…As head of the U.S. Department of Justice, Attorney General Janet Reno, with an annual budget of $20 billion, oversees more than 9,100 government lawyers. But that's not enough. She's now requesting Congress to come across with an extra $20 million so she can hire yet another 40 lawyers. The new personal injury litigators will be charged with ``recovering the expenses of federal health care programs for tobacco-related illnesses.'' Never mind that her own Justice Department attorneys have advised that this plan -- first proposed by President Clinton in his State of the Union speech -- likely won't fly in court, unless the feds can get a settlement from Big Tobacco, as the states did. But there is little incentive now, especially since Wednesday's big class-action victory against tobacco, for the industry to settle. There's nothing in it for them unless the government protects them from such suits. It's too late for that now…."
Wall St. Journal 7/23/99 "...Seems that Bill Gates can't even give it away. For most of the 1990s, of course, Mr. Gates has been tied up with a Justice Department that believes it knows the computer market better than any of its players. Ralph Nader accuses the Microsoft CEO of thinking he is "immune to public scrutiny." Now comes a visiting professor at Johns Hopkins who suggests that even the money Mr. Gates is donating to charity really doesn't fully belong to him...."
CASHILL NEWS 7/27/99 "...As writer Nora Ephron once said, "I get more cynical each day, and I still can't keep up." Case in point: A person can sing about alcohol, drugs and tobacco on a CD but is prohibited from buying air time and talking about them. I recently heard Eric Clapton's "Cocaine" on the radio and I couldn't imagine a better ad for the stuff. Similarly, a person is prohibited from advertising tobacco on a bill board, but is able to "billboard" tobacco use in a movie or even show a literal billboard with tobacco on it...."
Wall Street Journal 7/28/99 Paul Barrett "...The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is considering joining the legal assault against the gun industry, said people familiar with the situation. Such a move would sharply escalate the antigun court fight already being waged by 23 cities and counties around the country. A HUD spokesman said only that the agency is monitoring the litigation and has "no plans" to file a suit...."
Usatoday 7/29/99 Thor Valdmanis Paul Davidson "...After several failed attempts to settle a nasty antitrust battle out of court, the government is refocused on breaking up software giant Microsoft. Senior officials at the Justice Department have approached at least two leading technology investment banks in recent days, requesting a detailed analysis of how best to break up the world's most valuable company - a complex study that could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Bankers at the two firms, who requested anonymity, said Justice officials wanted an assessment of where the logical breakup points of Microsoft were and a valuation of what the market reaction would be. Both firms declined, worried about the impact of siding with a Justice Department that they say is viewed in the business community as interventionist....."
Bloomberg - Top World News 8/7/99 Greg Wiles "...Los Angeles County and three county supervisors are suing gun makers, distributors and retailers, including Sturm, Ruger & Co. and Tomkins Plc's Smith & Wesson, claiming they illegally promoted handgun sales to criminals. The suit claims the gun manufacturers violated California's pro-consumer business law by engaging in unfair and deceptive practices, marketing the weapons to disreputable dealers and designing guns that appeal to criminals. The manufacturers also failed to sell handguns that incorporate reasonable safety features, the filing said..."
business week 8/16/99 William Symonds "...At the center of this hurricane are the world's gun manufacturers, a diverse group ranging from true-blue American brand names like Smith & Wesson and Colt's Manufacturing to foreigners like Italy's nearly 500-year-old Beretta to idiosyncratic tiny players like W.S. Daniel, a company in Ducktown, Tenn., that makes mail-order assault-weapon kits. They're all dependent on America as the world's largest consumer firearms market--and they're all running scared and increasingly divided on how best to defend themselves. ''I've been in this industry 36 years, and this is the most awesome set of circumstances I've ever seen,'' says Robert G. Morrison, chief operating officer of Miami-based Taurus International Manufacturing Inc., the U.S. arm of Brazilian handgun producer Forjas Taurus. Not since George Washington established the Springfield (Mass.) Armory to defend the young republic has the American gun industry faced a more serious crisis. Trouble looms on every front. Politically, the companies are facing the prospect of a Big Tobacco-like meltdown of their power in Washington and clout with state legislatures, a development that could lead to tough new regulations that aren't riddled with loopholes. While handgun registration is still unlikely, measures that would make it harder for criminals to buy weapons at gun shows and limit the number of firearms purchased at one time seem more viable every day. Legally, gunmakers are facing an onslaught of lawsuits they can barely afford to fight, much less lose. These cases are based on the controversial theory that manufacturers are partially responsible for gun violence. The suits seek millions to cover local government expenses for health care and policing. That's a scary prospect to many gun executives because the business is financially shaky. While 1999 will be a strong year, thanks in part to fears of new restrictions on ownership, most executives expect the market to steadily shrink over the long term. ..."
AP Wire 8/13/99 Kalpana Srinivasan The advent of casket stores, Internet sales of coffins and keen competition in the cemetery and funeral industries is prompting federal regulators to consider expanding a 15-year-old rule governing funerals. The funeral rule was issued to protect grieving family members from unnecessary costs and purchases at funeral homes. Now the Federal Trade Commission is looking at casting a wider regulatory net to include other providers of funeral goods...."
Smith-Wesson.com 8/15/99 L E Schutz "...On June 3, 1999 the City of Boston and the Boston Public Health Commission joined a number of other cities in filing a lawsuit against Smith & Wesson and other members of the firearms industry. As in several of the other cases, the complaint has been signed not just by attorneys employed by the City, but by outside lawyers from New York, Washington, D.C. and representatives of an anti-firearm organization, individuals with their own social agenda. Although those bringing the suit say it is not about money, it asks for $100 million plus, and the law firms will get 25% of whatever is exacted from the firearms manufacturers as their only payment for handling this matter...The implications of the suit are that Smith & Wesson has no concern about firearms safety, whether it be applied to the handgun itself, or to safe and responsible storage of the gun. Nothing could be further from the truth. For nearly a century and a half Smith & Wesson has been, and continues to be, a leader in firearms design, innovation, manufacturing quality, safety and training. Smith & Wesson has lawfully and responsibly manufactured firearms in the State of Massachusetts since 1856. Every Smith & Wesson firearm is sold with an owners manual that clearly warns the purchaser about the dangers and responsibilities that accompany ownership. Since 1997, before the President and Congress began debating the merits of gunlocks, Smith & Wesson was providing a Master Lock gunlock with every Smith & Wesson shipped. Even before that Smith & Wesson guns were being shipped in lockable boxes and before that with lockable trigger devices that owners could lock if they were not going to secure their gun in another manner. Since 1955, Smith & Wesson has offered semi-automatic pistols that utilize a magazine disconnect which renders the gun incapable of firing when the magazine is removed. This feature has been incorporated into the training of many police departments and is responsible for saving the lives of officers every year. The similar pistols shipped to the non-law enforcement market also contain this feature. Other features of Smith & Wesson handguns include manual safeties, firing pin safeties and hammer blocks. Smith & Wesson handguns also require significant pressure on the trigger to cause the gun to discharge. In order for a Smith & Wesson gun to fire, the trigger must be pulled all the way to the rear and held, thus preventing the gun from accidentally firing if the trigger is bumped or the gun is dropped...."
Wall Street Journal 8/16/99 Vanessa O'Connel & Paul M. Barrett "...Since last fall, 26 municipalities have sued the gun industry, accusing it of flooding the market with handguns, many of which end up in criminal hands. There is an incongruity in the municipalities position, though: Most of the cities suing the gun industry are themselves, in effect, gun suppliers--and some could be accused of a degree of carelessness in how they unload police weapons and confiscated firearms... The cities say they need to sell or trade in the weapons to cut the cost of obtaining new, higher-power model--much as old police cars are auctioned off for cash...Thousands of these castoff guns have turned up in crimes, such as last week's shooting rampage in Los Angeles by neo-Nazi Buford O. Furrow Jr...[T]he confessed killer allegedly murdered a mailman of Filipino descent with a Glock 26 pistol......But it wasn't an isolated incident. Data obtained by The Wall Street Journal under the Freedom of Information Act show that at least 1,100 former police guns were among the 193,203 crime guns traced last year by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Because of inconsistencies in how the agency compiles gun-trace data, any such annual count of former police guns connected to crime "probably represents the tip of the iceberg," says Howard Andrews, a Columbia University bio-statistician who assisted the Journal in its analysis...."