Mr. Delfay countered that gun manufacturers and distributors were disappointed with Smith and Wesson's move to cooperate with the government for three primary reasons. Ninety perent of the handguns manufactured in the United States are made with trigger locks. In fact, Sterm and Ruger has been making guns with trigger locks for the last 10 years. Secondly, the gun manufacturers were angered by the media's representation of Smith and Wesson as the only company that was interested in gun safety. Lastly, Mr. Delfay told me that Smith and Wesson infuriated other gun manufacturers because "they made rules and regulations for retailers and distributors that they had no authority to implement."
Mr. Delfay also told me that approximately 1,000 people a year die accidentally from the irresponsible handling of firearms, and that the primary problem does not lie with the accidental offenders, but rather with the criminals. Arguing that the U.S. should enforce current laws before creating new legislation, he said that there are many systems in place to catch these offenders, however, the laws are not implemented. The National Instant Criminal System (a system that does background checks on gun consumers) detected 180,000 criminals attempting to buy firearms last year, however, only 11 were prosecuted!
Mr. Blumenthal contended that this more vigorous enforcement should be done simultaneously with the passage of new legislation. Even with the existing legislation, he believes that vicious acts of violence and deadly mistakes are still too possible. Gun manufacturers need to assume some of the responsibility. The responsibility lies with the owner according to Mr. Delfay, who made the comparison of someone dying as a result of a drunk driver getting behind the wheel of an automobile. "You wouldn't sue the car manufacturer," he stated. "The problem shouldn't be with the product or with the responsible user, but with the criminal who uses the product," he contended.
