More Cities Join Gun Safety Coalition By PAUL SHEPARD .c The Associated Press WASHINGTON (April 27) - Unbowed by a gun industry lawsuit aimed at overturning a key provision of a national gun safety plan, 190 communities have signed on Smith & Wesson's pledge to adopt new safety and responsibility standards. ``We have turned a page in the book on gun violence in this nation,'' said Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo, who was joined by Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., at a news conference today to announce that 190 local governments have joined the Communities for Safer Guns Coalition. The coalition formed in March around a pledge signed by Smith & Wesson, the nation's largest gun maker, and federal officials to make guns safer. As part of the pact, cities would give Smith & Wesson a preference when buying guns for law enforcement officials. The preference provision of the agreement is the subject of a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday by seven gun makers and a gun industry trade group. Calling the suit ``laughable,'' Schumer said: ``Its seems the gun industry is spoiling for a fight. To that we say, ' make our day.''' The lawsuit filed in an Atlanta federal court alleges an illegal conspiracy in restraint of trade. In March, President Clinton announced a landmark gun safety agreement with Smith & Wesson that included the installation of gun locks on all the weapons it sells, the introduction within three years of ``smart gun'' technology, and barring sales of its weapons at gun shows without a background check. Under the agreement, Smith & Wesson was to be dropped from lawsuits against gun makers that were being contemplated by federal officials and some cities. Any other gun maker that agreed to the plan would also be given preferential treatment, but so far none has joined Smith & Wesson. ``We are demanding cities stop the effort of using their purchasing power to control the distribution and design of firearms,'' said Jeff Reh, general counsel for Beretta U.S.A. Corp, one of the seven suing companies. The lawsuit names as defendants New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who helped draw up the agreement. ``This action is preposterous, false and unfounded and an insult to law enforcement,'' Blumenthal said. ``It is plainly an effort to deceive and confuse the public, and distract law enforcement officials from the work of improving gun safety and stopping crime.'' Aside from HUD, also named were the California communities of San Francisco, Berkeley, East Palo Alto, Inglewood, Oakland, and San Mateo; as well as Bridgeport, Conn.; Atlanta; Miami-Dade County, Fla.; Gary, Ind.; Boston; Detroit; St. Louis; Newark, N.J.; Philadelphia; and the District of Columbia. Bridgeport Mayor Joseph Ganim called the lawsuit, ``a desperate move by the gun makers to try and prevent us from doing what is the right thing to do.'' ``They continue to forget that our only goal is to protect children and families, and their only goal is to protect corporate profits and greed,'' Ganim said. But Robert Delfay, president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, said local officials ``have tried everything from litigation to economic extortion to compel compliance on a national level with their own individual ideas about gun design, ownership and distribution.'' Reaction to the lawsuit from Capitol Hill was swift and partisan. ``I am disappointed that some gun manufacturers have chosen confrontation over cooperation,'' said Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J. ``The federal government isn't asking for much, only that these companies help adopt common sense measures to keep guns from ending up in the wrong hands.'' Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said the Clinton administration overstepped its authority. ``From the allegations of the complaint filed today ... it now appears the administration seeks to further its goals by circumventing the will of Congress and illegitimately bringing the weight of the executive branch to bear on law-abiding firearm manufacturers,'' Hatch said. AP-NY-04-27-00 1319EDT -------[Cybershooters contacts]-------- Editor: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website & subscription info: www.cybershooters.org
