Smith & Wesson Introduces New .50 Caliber Magnum Revolver...

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Feb 13, 2003 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The legendary 150-year-old handgun maker, Smith & Wesson Corp., a subsidiary of Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation ( AMEX:SWB) today introduced the largest and most powerful production revolver ever made along with eight other new products at the 2003 Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show in Orlando, Florida.

The new 500 Smith & Wesson Magnum(R) revolver is chambered for the new .50 caliber 500 Smith & Wesson Magnum(R) cartridge.

"The 500 Smith & Wesson Magnum is a natural progression of our leadership role in handgun development," said Roy Cuny, president and CEO of Smith & Wesson Corp. "Smith & Wesson has a strong customer contingency of hunting and shooting enthusiasts that are continually looking to us for innovation. We produced the original Magnum(R) revolver with the introduction of the .357 Magnum in 1935 and 20 years later amazed the shooting world with the .44 Magnum. Now in 2003, we have once again produced a premier hunting revolver with no equal."

The newly introduced 500 Smith & Wesson Magnum cartridge produces nearly three times the muzzle energy of the .44 Magnum round, which far exceeds all other handgun cartridges.

Based on orders to date from Smith & Wesson dealers, production on the new .50 caliber revolver has been increased. "The demand has far surpassed our original expectations," said Cuny.

Recently editors and writers from the firearm industry and outdoor publications previewed the new 500 Smith & Wesson Magnum revolver and the 500 Smith & Wesson Magnum cartridge at the Smith & Wesson state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Springfield, Massachusetts. "I have no doubt that within a year our members will have used this new Smith & Wesson revolver and cartridge in Africa on the world's most dangerous game", said Steve Comus, director of publications for Safari Club International.

"This firearm offers the confidence required when hunting the world's most challenging animals with a handgun," Comus concludes.

"The new Smith & Wesson Corporation has proved its capabilities, not only with the introduction of the 500 Smith & Wesson Magnum(R) revolver, but with the extensive line of products it is bringing to market in 2003," said Roy Huntington, editor of AMERICAN HANDGUNNER. "The Company, under its new leadership, has made a commitment to its core products - and to its customers."

Russ Thurman, editor of SHOOTING INDUSTRY, an industry trade publication stated, "It is exciting to see so many new products come from one manufacturer in one year. I believe dealers and consumers will find this line- up of products quite interesting."

Smith & Wesson will also be launching the most extensive introduction of new products seen in over a decade at the 2003 SHOT Show in Orlando, Florida, February 13-16, 2003. In addition to the 500 Magnum press, dealers and distributors will see the latest in the Scandium Series revolvers, the SW1911, new rimfire revolvers and new SW99 pistols. For more information, visit the Smith & Wesson website at http://www.smith-wesson.com.

THE AGREEMENT THAT WASN'T: Gun-safety deal cracks under fire

Sales restrictions set off harsh rebuke

January 3, 2003

BY RUBY BAILEY FREE PRESS WASHINGTON BUREAU

In 2000, President Bill Clinton held a Rose Garden news conference to announce what was to be a groundbreaking deal with gun maker Smith & Wesson.

The deal that was -- and very quickly wasn't -- had been hashed out over months between Edward Schultz, then Smith & Wesson's president and chief executive officer, and officials in the Clinton administration.

In it, the gun maker agreed to limit its dealers to selling one gun per customer on any given day, to install internal locking devices in its guns within two years and form a commission to oversee compliance with the agreement.

Smith & Wesson also agreed that its products could be sold only by dealers who followed a strict "code of responsibility" for all its gun sales, not just Smith & Wesson products. That would give the agreement the ability to impact the entire firearms industry, whether other manufacturers signed on as hoped or not.

Clinton called it a "major victory for America's families." "It had the ability to change the way guns were distributed and purchased in this country," said Dennis Henigan, legal director for the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence in Washington, D.C. "It would have changed everything."

But gun-rights advocates branded Schultz a traitor and called for a boycott of Smith & Wesson's products.

The NRA sent faxes to its members saying the firm was ready to "betray the Bill of Rights."

Within two weeks, the company placed a clarification on its Web site, effectively reneging on the deal.

The gun maker said the agreement would force its dealers to impose background checks and other gun-sale restrictions only on buyers of Smith & Wesson products.

The company also said the criminal background checks Smith & Wesson agreed to for gun show sales would not apply to guns sold by private citizens, only to those sold by licensed dealers.

"I didn't think they thought it through," said Jeff Reh, an attorney for Beretta USA. "The agreement surrendered design and distribution control."

The federal government stood by its interpretation that, under the agreement, dealers who want to sell Smith & Wesson's products must impose the code's restrictions on buyers of all guns.

A compromise was never reached. The Clinton administration threatened to sue Smith & Wesson to force compliance with the version of the agreement signed at the White House, but it never did.

By the end of the year, Schultz was gone from Smith & Wesson. And the lawsuits continued.

"Although they signed it, they never conformed to it," Henigan said. "If the gun industry would alter its practices to something close to that agreement, we wouldn't be where we are today."

George W. Bush -- who as Texas governor signed a law granting gun makers immunity from such suits -- is now president. And he has no interest in enforcing the Smith & Wesson agreement, according to company spokesman Ken Jorgensen.

The White House did not respond to inquiries regarding the agreement.

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