Smith & Wesson Snubs Police with "Commemorative" Revolver

When last heard from, Smith & Wesson was gaining public attention from their marketing of a high-powered revolver that could penetrate the body armor most commonly worn by America's law enforcement personnel.

Now the company is working to wheedle its way back into the news cycle with the announcement that they're producing a "commemorative" snub-nosed "lightweight carry revolver" celebrating the recent Supreme Court decision in District of Columbia v. Heller.

Highlighting the gun industry's insularity and ubiquitous tin ear for irony is the fact that a portion of the profits from the handgun's planned sale in the fall will go to the Second Amendment Foundation -- an organization founded by Alan Gottlieb, a convicted felon who at one time lost the ability to possess guns. (He later regained the ability to own guns through the now-defunct federal "relief from disability" program, a multi-million dollar program that re-armed convicted, often violent, felons, at taxpayer expense.)

Smith & Wesson says that models of the 38 caliber revolver will also be presented to each of the original six plaintiffs in the case -- a total that surpasses the number of already-possessed revolvers that have been registered by DC residents under a recent amnesty program stemming from the decision. According to last Friday's Washington Post, "of the five applicants so far, police said, only Heller brought in a legal gun from outside the District. The others sought to register revolvers under the amnesty program. Three of those applications are pending. The other was rejected and the gun was confiscated because the applicant had a criminal record..."

Smith & Wesson's announcement comes the same week as the 10-year anniversary of an attack at the U.S. Capitol with another Smith & Wesson .38 revolver that left two Capitol Hill police officers dead. On July 24, 1998, Russell Weston, Jr. , who had a history of serious mental illness, shot his way into the U.S. Capitol to "prevent the United States from being annihilated by disease and legions of cannibals." After killing Jacob Chestnut, a uniformed U.S. Capitol police officer, he ran into the building and killed John Gibson, a Capitol police special agent assigned to protect then-Majority Whip Rep. Tom DeLay. Weston was subsequently wounded by police and captured.

So let's review. Smith & Wesson, which manufactures a "vest busting" revolver that can penetrate the body armor worn by law enforcement, issues a special "commemorative" revolver to celebrate the end of a law strongly supported by Washington, DC police and other national law enforcement organizations, with a share of the profits from the revolvers' sale going to an organization founded by a convicted felon, during the same week as the 10-year anniversary of the same caliber and type of Smith & Wesson handgun being used to kill two Capitol Hill police officers.

Now what was that about the gun industry's insularity and ubiquitous tin ear for irony?

Comments

[dragn1]

Wow Josh good to see you posting it is so lonely when you are hiding in DC with your FFL. You forgot to mention that most rifle ammo will pass through body armor. The ubiquitous 30-30 all the way to the 22lr.

[djkrlsn]

And don't forget that the 30-30 is one of the lowest power 30 caliber hunting rounds out there and much of its success is based on the utility of the carbines it is used in as brush rifles (150 yard range as a deer rifle is no disadvantage if you can't see a deer at more than 100 yards because of all the trees and shrubbery). It is this kind of range where the various hunting revolvers (the X frame Smiths as well as all the revolvers in 41 mag, 44mag, 454 Casull and others) are also popular.

[Ohio9]

As mentioned earlier, the "Vest Busting" Smith and Wesson Model 500 is it totally useless for criminal purposes.

Its also amusing to see Josh keep reffering to Alan Gottlieb as a "convicted felon" without mentioning what he was convicted of. What was this horrible crime Gottlieb commited? It was tax evasion! Gottlieb was convicted of tax evasion in 1984 and sentenced to 8 months in a work release program. Its so scary to think of a person who was convicted of a minor white collar crime 24 years ago getting gun rights restored. What is the world coming too?

Then he tries to blame Smith and Wesson for the 1998 shooting spree just because the criminal happened to use a S&W revolver. Surely its because S&W loves criminals and not because S&W is the largest manufacturer of revolvers in America.

The most laughable thing about Josh's article is that he is trying to make S&W appear to be "anti-police". Nothing could be farther from the truth. S&W is one of the largest suppliers of firearms and equipment to police officers in the country. I bet that within a few months, a large number of cops will be carrying the new commmerative revolver as an off-duty weapon or as a backup gun.

If Josh really wants to talk about irony, he should explain why he, as the leader of one of the most fanatical anti-gun organizations in America, has a federal firearms license.

[djkrlsn]

So Mr Sugarman--you forget that you lost in DC vs Heller--there is a right to own firearms for legal purposes. The S&W X frame is an extremely specialized and expensive revolver designed for hunting large hightly dangerous game (think American bison, wild boar, and bear) that can, do and will kill people. Not only does the price tag of well over $1000 pretty much preclude its use in crime, so does the sheer size of the gun (it make an N frame (think S&W 44mags) look small). The fact it can be carried in certain styles of holsters mean it can be readily available when confronted by dangerous animals when an appropriate rifle might not be. The J frame revolver you are having a hissy fit about has historically been popular among detectives and as a backup gun for police, as well as being poplular among civilians for discrete carry. Also, I was curious--when are you going to use your FFL for its intended purpose for you to be a firearms retailer.

[SnowflakesInHell]

Gangbangers and drug dealers, who are known to follow the Supreme Court cases closely, will surely be lining up their straw purchasers to get their hands on the latest Smith & Wesson commemorative revolver, so they can pop a cap in someone's ass all "Justice Scalia style." No drug dealer or pimp would be caught alive (or dead) without this vital fashion accessory.

Or they will all end up in the hands of collectors, which is the target market.

I'll leave it up to the reader to decide which scenario is more likely, especially when you consider Josh Sugarmann's reputation for lying about guns.

See, I will say that about Josh, because he knows better. Josh is well aware that body armor is rated for the types of ammunition it can stop, with center fire rifle rounds going through any piece of soft body armor. There is body armor that will stop the 500 S&W, but it gets bulkier at higher levels of bullet resistance. Most police wear armor that will stop the most common threats, which the 500 S&W is not. There is no body armor that will stop every bullet.

[fsilber]

Good for Smith & Wesson!

That high-powered revolver whose bullets can go through a policeman's vest is huge, weighs five pounds, and will permanently deafen the shooter if he's not wearing ear protection. Obviously it has no practical criminal use and is sold only for its Wow! factor.

As for selling revolvers similar to those used for shooting police, that's no different from running a newspaper similar to one that was used to slander the police, or selling a car that is similar to one used to run a cop down.

As for felons with guns, I believe any convicted felon who is sufficiently rehabilitated to get back his right to vote should also get back his right to keep and bear arms. That's all the more appropriate for those whose felonies were nonviolent, e.g. a person convicted in Texas forty years ago for possessing a joint.

[SnowflakesInHell]

The target market for the .500 is handgun hunters. It's not the wow factor, it's the fact that it's one of the few handgun rounds that can take down larger game animals.

[djkrlsn]

Although if Buffalo Bore loads for the 44mag or heavy loads for the 454 Casull won't work--I would be inclined to go with a 375H&H, 375 Ruger or one of the 416 loads as opposed to a 500S&W

[djkrlsn]

I agree with you--non violent felons should be able to get their 2nd amendment rights, especially if several years have passed with no further convictions.

[ladyshooter]

"That high-powered revolver whose bullets can go through a policeman's vest is huge, weighs five pounds, and will permanently deafen the shooter if he's not wearing ear protection. Obviously it has no practical criminal use and is sold only for its Wow! factor."

Even the .44 Magnum, is not really useful for criminal purposes. It is also very loud, and requires hearing protection. Furthermore, .44 Magnums and heavier handgun calibers have sufficient recoil to make rapid shooting impractical.

"As for felons with guns, I believe any convicted felon who is sufficiently rehabilitated to get back his right to vote should also get back his right to keep and bear arms. That's all the more appropriate for those whose felonies were nonviolent, e.g. a person convicted in Texas forty years ago for possessing a joint."

That is a good point! My opinion is if they cannot be trusted with a gun, then they shouldn't be released from prison. That also means, if they qualify for release from prison, then the state must be satisfied they will not offend again.

[ItamarCanario]

The people a miltia? That's just a crock. They never were and aren't today. One Apache helicopter will take out a whole nest of your "militia" in about three seconds.

One has to stand in awe of the power of people to hypnotize themselves into believing that the United States is free because 30,000 folks (more or less) are killed by firearms every year and many times that number wounded. Cloud cuckoo land....

[dogman44]

Helicopters can and have been brought down by small arms fire from the ground. This
includes gunships in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. You need to see combat before
you make anymore unqualified statements about what will happen "if".

[ladyshooter]

It would be interesting to discuss the Danish Resistance movement, Holger Danske, and their success at destroying German airplanes.

[45superman]

The insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan seem to be holding up pretty well against Apache helicopters, Abrams tanks, and every other weapon system the U.S. military throws against them--and they do it without armored fighting vehicles, helicopter gunships, jet fighters, heavy artillery, or a host of other weapons associated with a modern military.

Your ability to underestimate militias is similar to Donald Rumsfeld's--but at least he had the (lame) excuse of not having all the hindsight data available that you do.

[Warsong]

Sometime last year an Apache went down while on a mission west of here. The after-crash investigation turned up a .22 Caliber Bullet lodged in a sensitive component that they figured may have been fired from a Single-Shot Rifle. Maybe, a kid playing Jihadi.

[Thirdpower]

Sorry Joshie. Your organization classifies rifle ammo as "armor piercing" and wants to have it banned . There are quite a few handgun rounds that can penetrate standard police body armor as that armor was not designed to stop it in the first place. So that means ANY handgun firing them is a "cop killer" according to the VPC.

But don't let facts get in the way of things.

[Warsong]

I seldom wear my armor anymore, mainly because we haven't had any incoming in a couple of Months.
In fact, we've only had two False Alarms lately, both since Obama arrived in town. I'm wondering if someone wasn't just giving the Obamamassa a cheap thrill, especially since one of those was about the time he was probably boarding the Helicopter to evacuate Baghdad.

Even though I've got two of the best Armor Vests made, I never had any illusions about 'em. They only cover a small percentage of your Body, and, only have two really protected places, a 6 X 8 inch Plate over the center of your Chest and one in the Back. Any good shot can avoid those two 'Sweet Spots,' and, kill you dead with a thrown Dart.

Problem is, they can shoot through even the Ceramic Plates with an ordinary, garden variety AK47. I could kill someone wearing Armor with a good Target Bow from up to 100 yards...just don't hit the Plates...a Super-Hilbre (Razor) Broadhead wouldn't even slow down when it hit the Soft Armor.

[Mrtnz]

During WWII a japanese general was asked, why, not invade america's mainland? He said he would not invade because there was a gun behind every blade of grass. That incident points to the fact that the people then, at that moment, were the militia, exactly as the founders intended. In my opinion "A well regulated militia" should mean that the authorities should know that you are armed. The founders knew that when a town became armed no one is going to try something sneaky in that town.
Plus the authorities are less abusive of your rights. They knew that the people and militia are one and the same, as the japanese general already knew, but some judges don't seem to understand. Why do you think they added the frase "being necesary to a free state"
Why was the right for the people to be armed linked directly to being necesary to a free state? Did they know something you and I don't?
Ben Judea