<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>World Forum on the Future of Sport Shooting - Mailing list
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Century end, lawsuit threats spark gun sales spike
By Leslie Gevirtz
BOSTON, (Reuters) - More than a million Americans asked for background
checks so they could buy guns in December, a surge insiders say has something
to do with Millennium mania, but more to do with pending litigation.
``It's been a good year for Smith & Wesson and from what I'm hearing for the
rest of the industry as well,'' said Ken Jourgensen, a spokesman for the
legendary handgun maker.
Sturm, Ruger & Co (RGR.N), the Connecticut-based maker of sporting guns, told
Reuters, ``Orders for the quarter (ending Dec 31) versus the same quarter
last year seem to be stronger.'' However, no specific figures were released.
Current and pending litigation, some of which seeks to hold gunmakers
responsible for the criminal misuse of firearms, is making many consumers
rush to buy arms before any anti-gun verdicts or new laws further restrict
their purchase, he said.
``I think the biggest thing driving it is the litigation and the possible
legislation that is being considered,'' Jourgensen said, adding, ``Y2K is
selling a lot of ammo at this point, not guns. The folks worried about Y2K
have been planning for a long, long time.''
Federal and state officials conducted 1,045,799 background checks from Dec. 1
through Dec. 26. During the third week of December, the FBI conducted 162,595
such checks compared with 129,558 for the same time a year earlier.
``We expected a December spike based on Christmas sales,'' Daniel Wells,
acting operations manager for the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background
Check system in Clarksburg, W. Va. told Reuters. The rise is ``a bit larger
than we expected. But it's nothing we can't handle.''
December marked the second month in a row of the agency conducting a million
background checks, he said.
The record day in volume was set on Dec. 23 when his unit was asked to
conduct 67,000 background checks.
Since the nationwide background checks went into place in Nov. 1998, state
and federal officials have conducted 9,823,408 checks, according to the FBI.
The checks were mandated by the so-called Brady Law, named for White House
press secretary Nicholas Brady who was severely wounded in the 1981
assassination attempt on President Reagan.
``We saw the same spike in sales in 1993-94,'' said Jourgensen, the spokesman
for Smith & Wesson, a subsidiary of the UK manufacturer Tomkins PLC ).
``There was a 90-day window before the law took effect and people were buying
everything they could afford, he said.''
``Any time there's talk of legislation, people who are concerned about
firearms, who have been thinking about buying a gun, who fear they may not be
able to in the future or they're worried about parts, they buy them,'' he
said.
The gun industry has succeeded in having three of the 19 lawsuits filed
against it by 28 cities and counties thrown out of court. The municipalities
want to hold handgun makers and distributors responsible for the criminal
misuse of firearms.
The Clinton administration is also threatening to bring a class action
lawsuit on behalf of the nation's 3,191 public-housing authorities.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development says public-housing
authorities spend about $1 billion a year trying to keep their 3.3 million
residents safe from gun violence.
16:51 12-28-99[/quote]
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"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes" RKBA!
________________________________________________
Century end, lawsuit threats spark gun sales spike
By Leslie Gevirtz
BOSTON, (Reuters) - More than a million Americans asked for background
checks so they could buy guns in December, a surge insiders say has something
to do with Millennium mania, but more to do with pending litigation.
``It's been a good year for Smith & Wesson and from what I'm hearing for the
rest of the industry as well,'' said Ken Jourgensen, a spokesman for the
legendary handgun maker.
Sturm, Ruger & Co (RGR.N), the Connecticut-based maker of sporting guns, told
Reuters, ``Orders for the quarter (ending Dec 31) versus the same quarter
last year seem to be stronger.'' However, no specific figures were released.
Current and pending litigation, some of which seeks to hold gunmakers
responsible for the criminal misuse of firearms, is making many consumers
rush to buy arms before any anti-gun verdicts or new laws further restrict
their purchase, he said.
``I think the biggest thing driving it is the litigation and the possible
legislation that is being considered,'' Jourgensen said, adding, ``Y2K is
selling a lot of ammo at this point, not guns. The folks worried about Y2K
have been planning for a long, long time.''
Federal and state officials conducted 1,045,799 background checks from Dec. 1
through Dec. 26. During the third week of December, the FBI conducted 162,595
such checks compared with 129,558 for the same time a year earlier.
``We expected a December spike based on Christmas sales,'' Daniel Wells,
acting operations manager for the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background
Check system in Clarksburg, W. Va. told Reuters. The rise is ``a bit larger
than we expected. But it's nothing we can't handle.''
December marked the second month in a row of the agency conducting a million
background checks, he said.
The record day in volume was set on Dec. 23 when his unit was asked to
conduct 67,000 background checks.
Since the nationwide background checks went into place in Nov. 1998, state
and federal officials have conducted 9,823,408 checks, according to the FBI.
The checks were mandated by the so-called Brady Law, named for White House
press secretary Nicholas Brady who was severely wounded in the 1981
assassination attempt on President Reagan.
``We saw the same spike in sales in 1993-94,'' said Jourgensen, the spokesman
for Smith & Wesson, a subsidiary of the UK manufacturer Tomkins PLC ).
``There was a 90-day window before the law took effect and people were buying
everything they could afford, he said.''
``Any time there's talk of legislation, people who are concerned about
firearms, who have been thinking about buying a gun, who fear they may not be
able to in the future or they're worried about parts, they buy them,'' he
said.
The gun industry has succeeded in having three of the 19 lawsuits filed
against it by 28 cities and counties thrown out of court. The municipalities
want to hold handgun makers and distributors responsible for the criminal
misuse of firearms.
The Clinton administration is also threatening to bring a class action
lawsuit on behalf of the nation's 3,191 public-housing authorities.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development says public-housing
authorities spend about $1 billion a year trying to keep their 3.3 million
residents safe from gun violence.
16:51 12-28-99[/quote]
------------------
"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes" RKBA!