Feds Descend on SHOT Show
 

From BusinessWeek online

Big Shots Go Down at Gun Show
FBI arrests in a bribery scandal may leave the firearm industry wounded

The setting was Las Vegas, but no one was expecting fireworks at this year's Shot Show, the annual gun industry trade convention. Sure, sales of firearms and ammunition rose in the wake of Barack Obama's victory, as Second Amendment buffs�fearing a Democratic Administration would push new restrictions on weapon ownership�rushed to stock up. Yet what the industry calls the "Obama stimulus" had already started to tail off by the time gun marketers converged on Las Vegas.

Then the feds crashed the party. The FBI used the convention to round up 21 industry executives who allegedly fell for an undercover sting in which they agreed to pay illegal kickbacks to the defense minister of an African nation. In exchange, the small arms marketers thought they were securing the opportunity to sell millions of dollars in weapons and body armor. Unfortunately for them, they were transacting business with FBI operatives posing as middlemen, according to indictments unsealed by a federal judge in Washington. A 22nd suspect was picked up in Miami. "This is one case where what happens in Vegas didn't stay in Vegas," said Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer at a news conference.

One of the men arrested in Las Vegas was Amaro Goncalves, a vice-president of sales for Smith & Wesson (SWHC), the largest U.S. manufacturer of handguns. A federal grand jury alleged that Goncalves agreed to pay a 20% kickback to clinch the sale of 1,825 pistols for use by the presidential guard of the African government (the name of the nation is not revealed in the court filings). Goncalves and the others stand accused of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits bribery in seeking overseas business.

Goncalves' employer has not been charged, and neither has any other company. Smith & Wesson said in a written statement that it has "no information beyond what has been reported" and is "prepared to cooperate fully with law enforcement."

"Obama Stimulus" Fizzles
The arrests created a stir among attendees at the Shot Show. The FBI gave the organizers no warning and caught everyone by surprise, says Mark Thomas, spokesman for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the show's sponsor. But Thomas denies the raid cast a pall over this year's proceedings. "It's business as usual," he says.

The gun industry still faces the fizzling of the Obama sales rally. While Smith & Wesson and competitors such as Sturm Ruger (RGR) and Glock reported strong financial results in 2009, many executives expect a cooling off in 2010, especially in sales of semiautomatic rifles, which had surged last year.

Reliable statistics are hard to come by in an industry where many players are private companies, but one set of data confirms that a shift is already under way. The federal government reported that mandatory criminal background checks, which gun retailers must carry out in advance of a sale, dropped 7.6% in December, to 1.41 million, from the previous year. "Things are getting back to normal, meaning they are slowing down," says Cameron Hopkins, a gun marketing consultant based in suburban Las Vegas who attended the Shot Show. "The good times never last forever."

Re: Feds Descend on SHOT Show
 

How in the hell is it illegal to "bribe" someone who not only is not in the USA, but doesn't exist?

I don't get it.

Re: Feds Descend on SHOT Show
 

I'm curious to see what Dan Shea has to say about this in the next issue of Small Arms Review....

Re: Feds Descend on SHOT Show
 

I think they're sending a message. I'm going to try and spend as much as I legally can to purchase ammo. There's a storm coming and it's not in our interest.

Re: Feds Descend on SHOT Show
 

Agreed 100%. They are going to use any method they legally can to go after your firearms. If they can't pass a law or a tax then they will send in the FBI on a raid. Put up a few more black eyes on the gun industry and get the zombies to fall in line on restrictions, taxes, etc. Where will it go from here...

Re: Feds Descend on SHOT Show
 

WOW!

Even Obama's stimulus package for the gun culture FAILED - accidental though it was and a response to what many percieve as confiscation. It appears our prez can't get anything right.

And they did a 'sting' and several 'high level' executives were arrested. They will probably attempt to claim RICO, which won't fly.

BIG DEAL.

Now, arrested AND convicted might make this story some what interesting.

This is strictly an attempt to gain an anti-gun headline. WHEN ALL 22 PEOPLE ARRESTED ARE FOUND NOT GUILTY, DO YOU ACTUALLY THINK THAT WILL RATE THIS SAME KIND OF STORY?

HELL NO.

Desperate LEO's trying to shore up their careers as to WHY they actually have a job is the real reason why this was a such big deal.

AND EXCUSE ME, but doesn't the BATFE control everything to do with FIREARMS, INCLUDING IMPORTING AND EXPORTING THEM. Why in the hell is the Fibbies involved? If that doesn't tell you how big a NON-DEAL this is, FBI doing the BATFE jobs? There's GOTTA be a lot of testy BATFE guys who are REALLY PISSED OFF RIGHT NOW.

Strictly a high profile raid to make themselves feel important. Otherwise, they could have rounded ALL these guys up at each business a week or two ago, but that wouldn't post a big headline, which they get if they WAIT until the SHOT SHOW. BIG WOO!!:36_1_30:

Re: Feds Descend on SHOT Show
 

Re: Feds Descend on SHOT Show
 

The corporately owned federal bureau of instigation will not tolerate the special arms deals made to Africa by private dealers because that is the CIA's job.

Re: Feds Descend on SHOT Show
 

The corporately owned FBI will not tolerate CORPORATIONS SUCH AS SMITH AND WESSON selling weapons to Africa?

That doesn't make any sense.

The corporately owned FBI wants the CIA to sell the weapons? Why? Why don't the corporations that own the FBI (and CIA?) just sell the weapons normally like they always do?

Please don't use bizarre fantasy theories to distract from the obvious message of the story that the federal government is trying anything it can to persecute and humiliate gun owners and producers, and that it will go so far as to prevent them from having four days of fun at SHOT Show.

If they are attacking the producers, it is because they want to cut off the supply to the users.
If they are attacking SHOT Show, it is because they want to eventually attack local gun shows.

Re: Feds Descend on SHOT Show
 

Oh sorry. I forgot that I was supposed to go with the current mindset of gun control and follow along. Thanks for showing me the fence line.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Cyclone

They won't take your guns away by attacking corrupt gun dealers at shows. You'll give them up willingly for an MRE and a spoon full of water as soon as the economy drops. It is the only thing that will hold traction for a massive gun sweep. This is why this nation is being liquidated. But with the looks of things, the government is out of control as it is and existing gun owners are doing nothing to utilize their rights and stop it. So it really doesn't make a damn bit of difference either way.

People who fear gun control lack the initiative to use the gun for control.

Re: Feds Descend on SHOT Show
 

The FBI arrested them because the Government didn't want competition in Africa.