Smith Enterprise Pulls the Plug on Conn. Law Enforcement to Support Colt

Smith Enterprise has been taking a hard line against states pushing for new gun control laws by stopping the sales of Smith’s products to state and local law enforcement agencies in those states. It began with law enforcement agencies based in New York State due to the so-called "SAFE Act". This same policy was placed against state and local agencies in Colorado and California for similar reasons. Today the hammer is dropping on the State of Connecticut whose proposed laws not only threaten the liberty of their citizens, but the livelihoods of over 700 workers from Colt's Manufacturing Company, LLC located in the ironically named "Constitution State".

 

Effective immediately, Smith Enterprise is stopping the sales of its products to state and local law enforcement agencies within the State of Connecticut.

 

President of Smith Enterprise, Ron Smith said today, “Samuel Colt must be rolling over in his grave. While the Sandy Hook shooting in Newtown, Connecticut was tragic, the problem was not law-abiding gun owners, but a deranged individual. Like California, New York and Colorado, Connecticut seeks to punish only the law-abiding citizen. These laws are symbolism over substance and will do nothing to prevent another mass-shooting, let alone halt street crime.

 

"Smith's products will not be made available to any law enforcement agency at the state or local level in any state that seeks to trump the US Constitution. Colt's Manufacturing has been one of our most loyal customers for many years. As we said with regard to Magpul leaving Colorado for similar reasons, we do not leave our fallen comrades on the battlefield. We have Colt’s back and hope they find a more welcoming home for their new operation. I hope more people support them by buying their products and making Connecticut’s anti-gun politicians pay for this at the ballot box.”

In the history of American firearms development, there is perhaps no name more iconic than that of Samuel Colt. Colt's genius in both inventing and marketing his firearms propelled his home state of Connecticut into a major center for manufacturing throughout much of the 19th and 20th centuries.

 

Colt's firearms made in Hartford, Connecticut, have played a prominent role throughout the world from the US Civil War to the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Nearly every museum in the State of Connecticut has a display dedicated to either the company which made Hartford its base of operations for 175 years or its founder: Samuel Colt. 

 

Unfortunately, Connecticut no longer seems to have room for its most famous native-son or his company which is directly responsible for $1.7 billion to the state's annual economy. Proposed laws being debated by the Legislature and pushed by Governor Dannel Malloy include a new gun owner registry, restrictions on commonly used rifle ammunition, a magazine ban, an expanded assault weapons ban and restrictions on the amount of ammunition that may be purchased at one time.

 

Current President and CEO of Colt's, Dennis Veilleux has stated that the company may be looking to relocate if these laws come to fruition. Veilleux recently wrote in an Op-Ed piece for the Hartford Courant: “At some point, if you can’t sell your products … then you can’t run your business. You need customers to buy your products to stay in business. The fact is bans don't work. We tried to ban alcohol nearly 100 years ago, which just drove a regulated activity underground. I know one thing that the governor's proposed ban will do: It will irreparably damage — if not destroy — the brand of any Connecticut firearms manufacturer."

 

The measures that recently passed Connecticut’s Public Safety and Security Committee in the State Senate are as follows:

• SB 506 – Criminalizes the private transfer of any firearm.  

• SB 710 – Gives the local authority the ability to decide whether or not to grant a permit for a gun show and establishes a permitting process. 

• SB 897 – Requires the purchaser of a firearm to provide their birth date and place of birth at the time of delivery and eliminates the temporary eligibility certificate for a pistol or a revolver.

When asked if any of the proposed legislation would have stopped the Sandy Hook shooting, Smith said, “None of these laws would have prevented the Newtown shooter from murdering his mother and stealing her lawfully registered firearms. The simple fact that continues to elude the anti-gunners is that criminals do not obey laws. That is why they are criminals.”

The Connecticut legislature needs to know that this infringement upon the rights of its law-abiding citizens needs to end.

Concerned citizens can write their representatives here urging them to OPPOSE the anti-gun bills listed above. 

Until Connecticut's governor gets the hint that restricting the rights of the law-abiding is a direct assault on 2nd Amendment Freedom, Smith Enterprise will be forced to apply the laws he passes to all government agencies in Connecticut.

Smith Enterprise is committed to standing up for Colt's Manufacturing Company, LLC and the people of Connecticut.