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?
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.
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.
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.
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....
includes gunships in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. You need to see combat before
you make anymore unqualified statements about what will happen "if".
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.
But don't let facts get in the way of things.
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.
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