S&W has been bought by an American company!
[url]http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010514/bs/manufacturing_smithwesson_dc_2.html[/url]
May 14
Firearm Safety Firm Buys Smith & Wesson
Gunmaker Smith & Wesson Corp., an American institution that dates from the Civil War, came back home Monday after being in British hands for 14 years.
Saf-T-Hammer Corp., a maker of safety locks and equipment for firearms, said it acquired Smith & Wesson from Britain's Tomkins Plc for $15 million.
The price is a fraction of the $112 million Tomkins paid in 1987 for Smith & Wesson -- a name that has come to symbolize the gun culture in America.
Scottsdale, Arizona-based Saf-T-Hammer will pay $15 million in cash, with $5 million paid upon closing and the balance due in May 2002, the company said.
Observers linked the relatively low purchase price for Springfield, Massachusetts-based Smith & Wesson to lawsuits filed by communities seeking costs from crimes committed with guns. Gun control advocates say about 30,000 people die from firearms each year in the United States.
Since 1998, more than 30 other U.S. cities and counties have sued gun makers for millions of dollars, said Dennis Henigan, legal director of the anti-gun Center to Prevent Handgun Violence. He said a suit in New Orleans was recently thrown out for legal reasons, but others are heading toward trial, he said, adding that Chicago is looking to recover $400 million from gun makers.
A Smith & Wesson spokesman was not immediately available to say how many suits were pending. No one at Saf-T-Hammer was available, but a publicist for the company said it was consulting its lawyers about the suits and their potential cost.
Saf-T-Hammer said it would incorporate its safety features in Smith & Wesson firearms, which include the famous .357 Magnum and the .44 Magnum wielded by actor Clint Eastwood in his ``Dirty Harry'' movies in which he urged bad guys to ``Make my day!''
``Smith & Wesson, a brand name for 147 years, would be at the top of any list of immediately identifiable corporate logos recognized worldwide,'' Bob Scott, president of Saf-T-Hammer and former vice president of Smith & Wesson, said in a statement.
``We are proud to return this storied company to American ownership. We intend to maximize the value of the name and to fully utilize the manufacturing, marketing and worldwide distribution assets of the company to create appreciation and value for our shareholders.''
``We're excited about the prospects afforded by this unique union of a firearm safety and security device developer and a firearm manufacturer that is synonymous with Americana,'' said Mitchell Saltz, chairman of Saf-T-Hammer.
Bob Delfay, president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a trade organization that represents some 1,800 firearms manufacturers, said it was uncertain how much the price of Smith & Wesson guns would increase if safety features were incorporated in the manufacture.
``..many people like the idea of Smith & Wesson returning to American ownership,'' Delfay told Reuters. ``But there are many fine (gun) companies that are foreign-owned. Ownership, per se, is not going to make much difference as far as whether a company is desirable to consumers.''