http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/202/nation/Preference_to_gun_maker_
rejected_by_Senate_panel+.shtml

Preference to gun-maker rejected by Senate panel
By Associated Press, 7/20/2000

WASHINGTON – A Senate panel dealt a blow yesterday to Smith & Wesson, the
giant gun-maker that promised last March to adopt gun-safety measures.

A subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee voted to prohibit the
government from giving preference to Smith & Wesson when purchasing arms
for
federal law enforcement officers.

Senator Byron Dorgan, a North Dakota Democrat, sought to strike the
language
from a spending bill, but the effort was rejected by voice vote.

Under a pact reached with the Clinton administration last March, Smith &
Wesson agreed to begin including childproof locks on its guns and to
require
its dealers to conduct background checks on customers. In exchange, the
federal government – and a group of states and communities – agreed to drop
lawsuits against the Springfield, Mass., company and refrain from filing
new
ones.

In addition, 515 communities have agreed to give Smith & Wesson preference
when buying arms for law enforcement personnel – a provision that seven
other gun-makers have challenged in court.

The federal government has not yet agreed to give such a preference,
although officials have discussed it, said Sandi Abadinsky, spokeswoman for
the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the lead agency on the
issue.

This story ran on page A23 of the Boston Globe on 7/20/2000.