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Colt
Hall of Shame
Judge
Orders Release of Colt's Smart-Gun Research
San
Diego judge orders release of internal gun company document
CATHERINE IVEY © Associated Press
Posted on Fri, Apr. 18, 2003, The MercuryNews.com
SAN
DIEGO -- A Superior Court judge has released an internal document
from Colt's gun manufacturer about its progress on developing
child-resistant "smart guns" that the company wanted kept
secret as it pursued federal funding.
The
decision Friday by Judge Vincent DiFiglia made public a draft
memorandum from Colt's Manufacturing Company, Inc., that gun opponents
said demonstrates deceitful practices by the industry.
The
June 1999 document shows the company believed it had made exceptional
progress" on a smart gun model, which could accelerate
bringing the product to market. But, the document said, Colt management
intentionally kept its progress from the public out of concern
that such news could prompt the federal government to pull research
funding for the technology.
"Colt
management has not wanted to tip its hand in terms of how close
Colt is to launching its first 'Smart Gun' product," the
document reads. "Colt is working in Washington to help put $20
million to $40 million in the federal budget for research on 'smart
gun' technology'. Depending on how the press reports the current
state of the 'smart gun,' it could be perceived by Congress that
further research dollars are not needed."
A
call for comment to Colt's, based in Hartford, Conn., was not
returned Friday.
The document was intended to solicit private investments for iColt,
a company being formed to develop smart guns, which have special
mechanisms that allow only their owners to fire them. Gun opponents
have urged manufacturers to hasten development of the weapons
in an attempt to prevent accidental gun deaths, suicides and crimes
with stolen guns.
The
document was part of a suit filed by 12 California municipalities
accusing gun manufacturers, distributors and dealers of distributing
weapons in a way that makes them accessible to criminals, and
of failing to place safety features on guns that could prevent
their unauthorized use.
A
judge last month dismissed the case against gun makers but ruled
it could continue against several gun dealers.
"It's
one thing for a company to spend its own money on research and
development but when a company seeks and receives taxpayer money
to develop a product, it has a duty of candor to the Congress
and federal agencies and to the public," said Dennis Henigan,
the legal director of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
The Washington, D.C. organization is representing the plaintiffs
in the suit.
Although
some gun manufacturers did later receive federal funding to work
on smart-gun technology, Colt's was not one of them, Henigan said.
"It's irrelevant whether or not Colt's actually got the money
they were seeking. What is relevant is that they were admitting
in this document that they were not being entirely truthful,"
he said.
{In
accordance with 17 USC 107, this material is free of
charge to those who have expressed prior interest for non-profit
research or education.}
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The
Truth About Colt (Colt
is not going out of business)
Don't
believe all the reports you hear on the evening news about Colt
going out of business or discontinuing all gun sales to civilians.
Here's the truth of the matter:
Colt
announced on Oct. 5 of last year that the company was "consolidating
(its) product line" by drastically reducing its handgun offerings.
According to Colt, they are no longer accepting new orders for
the Magnum Carry, the DS II, the Python, the Anaconda, the Pocket
Nine, the 380 or the 1991 series. They will continue to ship the
Single Action Army and Cowboy sixguns, and the three Model O pistols.
In
a statement, Colt's VP of marketing, Thomas Kilby said, "We are
committed to taking a classic rather than a me-too approach to
the future development of our product lines and plan to focus
more on what we have been best known for and done best for the
past 164 years."
Reuters
reports that this re-focusing will force Colt to lay off up to
200 workers -- 29% of the company's total work force. The discontinued
guns represent about 25%
of Colt's handgun sales.
Colt
also has a new CEO, Lt. General William Keys (USMC, ret.), who
said, "We intend to continue the growth of our military and law
enforcement market segment while focusing our commercial efforts
on our most important and profitable product lines." Keys replaces
Stephen Sliwa, who has moved on to head iColt, a division of Colt
dedicated to the development of "smart gun" technology.
--
from Guns Magazine, Feb, 2000, by Scott Farrell
{In
accordance with 17 USC 107, this material is free of
charge to those who have expressed prior interest for non-profit
research or education.}
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