news
NEWTOWN, CT -- The National Shooting Sports Foundation, the firearms industry^s leading trade group, responded promptly and emphatically to Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal^s antitrust subpoena, telling Mr. Blumenthal that "The NSSF is not organizing, participating in or even remotely aware of any ^industry conspiracy^ against Smith & Wesson for entering into its agreement with the Clinton-Gore Administration."
Mr. Blumenthal^s subpoena promised to keep NSSF^s response confidential. However, Robert T. Delfay, President and Chief Executive Officer of NSSF, stated, "On the contrary, we want our response to be public. Two weeks ago headlines announced this antitrust investigation. Now we hope widespread exposure of the industry^s response will balance the unfortunate and inaccurate impression about NSSF and its members this investigation has created.
"It is my opinion that Mr. Blumenthal knows that this organization and this industry are not involved in any attempt to punish Smith & Wesson. The Attorney General sat in my office and we discussed what our organization stands for. In a recent radio interview, he suggested he did not think the NSSF would participate in any sort of antitrust activity and referred to our role in previous industry-government discussions as ^constructive^.
"Further, I believe the Attorney General fully recognizes that the reaction to the Smith & Wesson agreement, while intense, is only consumer-based and does not constitute antitrust activity. Smith & Wesson^s consumers, retailers and distributors are responding to the inappropriate burdens which Smith & Wesson unilaterally imposed upon them through their pact with Clinton-Gore. These customers are angry with Smith & Wesson for creating policies that impact all gun owners through secret negotiations with the Clinton-Gore Administration. But again, a response by angry customers, no matter how large, is not an antitrust violation.
"I fear there is only one reason Mr. Blumenthal issued the subpoena to NSSF, and that reason has little to do with obtaining information regarding antitrust activity. I suspect the Attorney General issued his subpoena to our organization for the sole purpose of intimidating and silencing NSSF as spokesman for the industry on the crucial issues of political and legal process raised by the Smith & Wesson agreement and the tactics employed to bludgeon other companies into signing on to that agreement. If that was the Attorney General^s objective, it has failed.
"The National Shooting Sports Foundation believes it perverts the rule of law and democratic process to create new public policy through what amounts to legal intimidation. Sidestepping the legislative process is an abuse of power and NSSF will not back off from its rightful role in decrying such abuses just because an attorney general has authority to issue a groundless, politically motivated subpoena," Delfay said.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation is an industry trade group with some 1,800 members representing the manufacturer, distributor and retailer segment of the industry.
Uploaded: 4/14/2000
Uploaded: 4/14/2000