SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) -- The nation's largest handgun manufacturer is requiring dealers in its collective advertising program to sign a code of ethics designed to prevent the illegal sale of guns.
More than three-quarters of Smith & Wesson's 3,500 registered dealers in the program have signed the agreement since the company began mailing them in mid-July, said Paul Pluff, manager of retail sales.Among other things, the code requires dealers to obey all firearms laws, sell only Smith & Wesson guns with safety locks and to closely monitor buyers to avoid illegal purchases.
The Springfield-based company warned that dealers will be dropped from collective advertisements and won't receive other marketing help if they run afoul of the law or fail to sign the agreement by the end of the year.
However, because the company doesn't sell directly to retailers, stores need not belong to the advertising program to sell Smith & Wessons, spokesman Ken Jorgensen said after being asked about a report in Friday's Washington Post about the ethics code.
The issue of negligent sales has been raised in several lawsuits that have been filed by various cities against the gun industry.
Smith & Wesson has been cleared in lawsuits that have been decided so far.
"Smith & Wesson has not been found negligent. We want to make sure that the people we are doing business with are in step with us and the law in that way," Jorgensen said.