If Dell does not discriminate against gun owners, why do they have an active
financial support link with Brady’s HCI?

http://www.progressivefunds.com/hci/index.html

Harry Schneider, PSA Chairman
Pennsylvania Sportsmen’s Assn.,
Rights, not privileges

“No State shall convert a liberty into a privilege, license it, and charge a
fee therefore.” Murdock v. Pennsylvania, 319 US 105

“The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the
State shall not be questioned. [*287] Because the ownership of firearms is
constitutionally protected, its regulation is a matter of statewide concern.
The constitution does not provide that the right to bear arms shall not be
questioned in any part of the commonwealth except Philadelphia and
Pittsburgh, where it may be abridged at will, but that it shall not be
questioned in any part of the commonwealth.”
SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA, 545 Pa. 279; 681 A.2d 152; 1996 Pa. LEXIS
1447, May 1, 1996, ARGUED July 18, 1996, DECIDED

> http://www.jackweigand.com/Dell.html

I am writing this because I feel every Firearms owner should know
this story.
I placed an order for a Dell notebook computer on February 13 on line
with Dell. I was given a tentative delivery date of February 21st. I
was watching the order through the Dell on line tracking system; I
also opted for the automatic email notification of when the machine
was to be shipped. Well the 21st came and went, I am a Pistolsmith I
know things can happen. I made a phone call on the 25th, did a
voice mail message for my salesman to get back to me and I was
looking for the delivery date. The 25th came and went with no
callback. On the 26th I placed another call this time to cancel the
order. After a few hours I got a call back, with this amazing reason
for the delay. It seems someone in Dell had already canceled my
order, when I asked why I was told Dell was afraid I was going to
use the machine for illegal purposes. When I asked why someone
would think that I was told it was because of the name of my
business “Weigand Combat Handguns Inc.”. Because I am involved in
firearms I might be doing something illegal. Now keep in mind I was
never called or informed of this decision the order was just canceled.
Many of you know me personally and know I run my business about
as squeaky clean as possible. In addition being the President of the
American Pistolsmiths Guild I am under additional scrutiny as to how I
run my business, if I am not clean how can I be the President of an
organization that promotes just that! I was informed by a Dell
supervisor not long after all of this the reason I was refused was
because of their post September 11th policy of screening buyers.
I would like to respectfully ask the firearms community to do the
following. If you intended to buy a Dell and because of this letter
you
do not, email Dell and let them know why. Feel free to distribute this
account to all you know in the Firearms community, I think they need
to know. I for one am sick and tired of people assuming just because
we are involved with firearms that we are doing something illegal. I
also do not believe Dell deserves our business if this is how they
intend to treat us.
God Bless
Jack Weigand
President
American Pistolsmiths Guild Inc.

Information, Tips, and Support for the Private Gun Owner
————————————————————
February 27, 2002 A Political Aims Special Report
————————————————————
Gwen S. Patton, Editor, wendy_lyn@u…
————————————————————

DUDE, YOU’RE NOT GETTING A DELL!
=============================

An email is circulating through the RKBA mailing lists that has
suddenly swung thousands of sights upon Dell Computing. Gun owners
are
hopping mad, and there is even talk of a boycott, such as the efforts
taken against K-Mart, Smith & Wesson, and others who have “betrayed”
the lawful gunowners of the nation.

But did Dell betray gun owners when they cancelled Jack Weigand’s
order for a notebook computer? Was it a political statement towards
the right to bear arms in this nation? Or was it more of a comedy of
errors, with Dell playing the fool?

On Febuary 13th, 2002, Jack Weigand, President of the American
Pistolsmiths Guild and owner of Weigand Combat Handguns, Inc., placed
an order for a Dell notebook computer. When the tentative delivery
date of February 21st came and went with no computer on his doorstep,
he assumed there had been some sort of snafu and made a phone call.
He
did not hear back even until the 26th, whereupon he placed another
call
to cancel his order…and found out why he had not received his
computer.

The name of his company, “Weigand Combat Handguns, Inc.”, had raised a
red flag in Dell’s order-handling system, and the order had been
automatically stopped. This is where things got ugly.

Mr. Weigand understandably became angry. In a posting to his website,
Mr. Weigand says: “…when I asked why I was told Dell was afraid I
was
going to use the machine for illegal purposes. When I asked why
someone would think that I was told it was because of the name of my
business ‘Weigand Combat Handguns Inc.’ Because I am involved in
firearms I might be doing something illegal.” He became incensed that
a legal firearms owner and licensed firearms dealer would be
automatically impugned just because, in his belief, he dealt in
firearms. Also, in an addendum to this posting, Mr. Weigand states
that the process of screening company names is a “new post-9/11
screening procedure.” Surely, if this were the case, Mr. Weigand
would
have reason to be angry.

HGD spoke to Cathy Hargett, of Dell’s Corporate Communications office,
to clarify this muddled situation. Ms. Hargett assured HGD that Mr.
Weigand’s order was not red-flagged because he was a firearms
dealer,
nor is the procedure of scanning company names for particular words or
phrases a new thing since the September 11 attacks. Federal export
control laws prohibit the exporting of computing technology to
countries that support terrorism, or the sale of technology to those
who would put national security at risk, such as known terrorists,
drug
traffickers, etc. These laws have been on the books for years, and
all
computer manufacturers are required to screen purchasers of their
goods.

Since Dell is one of the few computer manufacturers that deals
directly
with the customer, instead of through a store, these questions must be
put directly to the end-user when issues arise. Words such as
“combat”, “missile”, “nuclear” — all of these trigger an automatic
process in Dell’s order-handling system that is supposed to shunt an
order back to the sales representative, who is supposed to call the
customer and ask four follow-up questions:

1. Who is the end-user?
2. Where will the product be used?
3. What will the product be used for?
4. What type of business or industry is involved?

So long as these questions are answered in such fashion as do not
constitute a violation of the export laws, the order is expedited.
But
in this case, the process broke down. No one called Mr. Weigand to
ask
these questions. The order simply vanished until he called Dell to
complain.

When asked whether they assumed that the inclusion of certain words in
a company name implied illegal intent, Dell’s answer was an emphatic
NO. They only use that screening process to determine if the follow-
up
questions need to be asked.

This was, as your reporter likes to call it, a “Strother Martin”
circumstance. “What we have here is a failure to communicate,” said
the actor, in his signature role as the chain-gang warden in the movie
“Cool Hand Luke”.

“We dropped the ball,” said Cathy Hargett. “That’s not the standard
of
customer care we hold ourselves to.”

Dell Computers is not the enemy here. They are not against the gun
owners of America. They do not contribute to VPC, or HCI, or the
Brady
Campaign. Instead, their contributions go to educate kids in the use
of technology and the Internet. This was a simple case of
miscommunication. There’s no need for a boycott. There simply needs
to be greater communications from Dell with their gun-owning customers
in the future.

— Gwen Patton
Editor, Household Gunowners’ Digest

Additional Information
—————————-
Jack Weigand’s Original Posting:
http://www.jackweigand.com/Dell.html
http://www dot jackweigand dot com/Dell.html

Michael Dell’s response letter, direct from Dell:
http://www.revolutionearthpress.com/michaeldell.html
http://www dot revolutionearthpress dot com/michaeldell.html

>From Dell, Inc Founder and CEO – Michael Dell:
U.S. export laws restrict the sale of technology to terrorists and to
people in countries that support terrorism. These laws also prohibit
computer sales to people who will use the technology in developing
biological or nuclear weapons. Dell strictly complies with our country’s
export laws in order to ensure the safety of our customers and citizens
around the world. When there is reasonable cause for concern, we carefully
review customer orders for prohibited destinations and activities.

When additional follow-up on an order is required, our sales
representatives ask our customers four basic questions:

1. Who is the end-user?

2. Where will the product be used?

3. What will the product be used for?

4. What type of business or industry is involved?

The answers to these questions, like all customer information we gather,
are confidential and are not shared outside of Dell.

We recently received an order from a customer whose company name included
the word “combat.” We cancelled the order to give us enough time follow up
with the customer and be assured that the sale would be in compliance with
U.S. export law. However, we failed to contact the customer, and as a
result, we did not deliver the order as promised, and the customer did not
know why. Once we discovered our error, we apologized to the customer for
this misunderstanding, as well as the inconvenience caused by the delay.
This is not the service standard that we hold ourselves to at Dell, and if
I were a customer who’d received similar treatment, I would be very
disappointed.

We at Dell feel a strong obligation to uphold our federal law, but we have
just as strong an obligation to be responsive to the needs of all our
customers. I want assure you that Dell does not discriminate against any
business, regardless of the products or services they sell, nor do we
discriminate against individual consumers. We do, however, sometimes make
mistakes – as we did in this case.

Thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

Michael Dell