Manufacturers, dealers skeptical over new federal initiatives

Robert Macy

Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2000 | 2:18 a.m.

LAS VEGAS - James Maupin checked out the sight on a new Smith & Wesson handgun Tuesday and offered his assessment on President Clinton's newest gun legislation proposal.

"It means spending a lot more money on feel-good projects," said Maupin, owner of JDM Enterprises, a Green Valley, Calif. gun dealership. "This will solve no problems. It will just create a new bureaucracy and do nothing. It's nonsense."

Clinton announced Tuesday that he was asking Congress for $280 million in additional funds to hire 500 Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents and inspectors and create a program to track guns through ballistics testing.

Maupin, a Los Angeles County police officer for 30 years before opening his gun shop, was one of some 30,000 people attending the 22nd annual Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show. The event is billed as the world's largest gun show, with a Who's Who of gun manufacturers exhibiting their weapons.

Participants greeted Clinton's latest gun control initiative with the same response often advanced by the industry.

"We have plenty of gun laws," said Ken Jorgensen, director of media relations for gun manufacturing giant Smith & Wesson. "We certainly need to see those laws enforced. Communities who have enforced gun laws have seen crime decrease."

There has been and will continue to be "a certain amount of political posturing" on gun control issues, Jorgensen added.

"If the president wants to spend more to enforce current laws, that's great," Jorgensen said. "A law that goes unenforced isn't much of a deterrent."

"Generally, the powers that be just like to throw a lot of money at an issue," said John Hult, an associate of Maupin.

Clinton said he was sending a message to criminals: "If you commit crimes with guns or violate gun laws, you will pay a heavy price."

Jorgensen said Smith & Wesson, a 148-year-old Springfield, Mass. company, already has trigger safety locks on its guns, an issue that is being pushed in gun legislation currently stalled in Congress.

Some 1,400 companies are showcasing items ranging from rifles and handguns to hunting gear, clothing, knives, scopes and holsters at the show, which runs through Thursday. The show is closed to the public and manufacturers sell only to distributors, who sell to dealers.

Saf-T-Trigger of Scottsdale, Ariz. unveiled a tiny retractable trigger-blocking device that fits into a firearm's trigger guard, preventing the trigger from being pulled and the gun from being fired unless activated. President Bob Scott said the device can be installed by gunsmiths for less than $40.

David Hale, director of business development for Insight Technology Inc. of Londonderry, N.H., demonstrated The Illuminators, lights that fit on the barrel of a revolver. The attachments can also include laser lights for law enforcement agencies and infrared lights for military clients.

Hale said he would favor new Clinton initiatives if they are used to "enforce laws that are already there."

Ben Young and his wife, Debbie, owners of the Shooter's Station in Conroe, Texas, roamed a section featuring products of Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc., America's largest gun manufacturer.

"I'd rather see the government allocate money to enforce existing laws and prosecute criminals," Young said. "I think this is a case of the government not doing the job we hired them to do. I believe Clinton has good intentions. I just think his efforts are misdirected."

Bob Delfay, president of the Newtown, Conn.-based National Shooting Sports Foundation, the show sponsor, set the tone in a speech Monday. He said the firearms issue has never been higher on the national political agenda and called next year's elections crucial to the gun industry.

"A Democratic House and Senate would blaze through a myriad of gun control measures that have been stymied to date," Delfay said. "Gun licensing and registration would be on top of the list."