Smith & Wesson Donates $500,000 to Fight Semiautomatic Rifle Ban
OutdoorHub Editor: Keenan Crow 08.09.16
Gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson recently donated $500,000 to the United State’s largest gun industry trade body to help its fight against the Massachusetts attorney general’s ban on the sale of semiautomatic rifles to civilians.
Smith & Wesson said it had donated the money to the National Shooting Sports Foundation’s (NSSF) battle against “arbitrary government action that threatens to turn lawful gun owners and dealers into criminals.”
Maura Healey, the Massachusetts attorney general, said “the gun industry has found a way to exploit our laws, a loophole of potentially horrific proportions and it’s time we act.” Healey also accused gun companies of getting around the law by selling state-compliant “copycat versions of their assault weapons” with “small tweaks that do nothing to limit the lethalness of the weapon.” Fortunately, the gun lobby doesn’t lay down easily, and fought back launching plans for legal action against Healey, who it claims has “undermined the legislative and public process by unilaterally declaring products that were legal to be illegal.”
Don’t let anti-gun politicians take aim at your rights. #GUNVOTE https://t.co/E8PLTvyZtg
— #GUNVOTE (@gunvote) August 1, 2016
Lawrence Keane, NSSF’s senior vice-president and general counsel, said “her actions totally disregard 18 years of Massachusetts firearm law, supported by all state regulatory agencies and understood by all concerned, in which firearm retailers have operated.” Keane went on to say, “in doing so, she has endangered the livelihoods of family-owned businesses and made potential felons out of tens of thousands of law-abiding citizens.”
The NSSF has also called on gun owners and manufacturers to donate to its #GUNVOTE campaign, that helps gun owners to register to vote ‘and encourages them on election day, armed with the facts, to #GUNVOTE so they do not risk their rights.” You can follow Gun Vote on Twitter for more information.
