Smith and Wesson made improper deal

In his column on Smith and Wesson ("Hey NRA, protect your interests," Feb. 12), Brian Zell made some interesting points, but I cannot let readers hear them without knowing the real story behind the Smith and Wesson deal. \nWhen people heard Smith and Wesson was putting locks on all of its guns, they thought the company was doing a great thing for the people of America. The fact is, they weren't looking out for anyone's interests but their own. Smith and Wesson made a deal with President Bill Clinton that basically said if S&W put locks on all their guns, the U.S. government would buy weapons for military and police forces from them first.\nOf course, a deal like this should go through Congress, right? Wrong. Clinton made the deal without going through the proper channels. That is why the National Rifle Association is boycotting S&W. They made a deal with the one man that wanted to take them down. Some might remember that Rep. John Hostettler (R-8th) challenged this deal in the House of Representatives. He got the support of police from all over the country because they didn't want to have to carry a gun they weren't familiar with. Not only is this unsafe, but it is scary to think that our police are going to be made to carry a gun that might not fire when they need it to.