I'm not sure about prior to the late 1980's but I think Smith & Wesson was private and bought out by Tomkins plc. the brand's sales plummeted when the parent cut a deal with the Clinton administration in 2000 to settle government anti-gun lawsuits. Tomkins sold Smith & Wesson to Saf-T-Hammer bulletin board SAFH and a former Smith & Wesson employee in 2001 for a lot less than they paid in the late 80's
It was changed to bulletin board SMWS and then listed on the AMEX in late 2002.
But enough about boring corporate transactions. This will always be the funniest SWB PR ever!
usatoday.com
Posted 2/26/2004 11:37 AM Updated 2/26/2004 11:51 AM
Smith & Wesson chairman quits due to criminal history
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) — The newly elected chairman of Smith & Wesson's parent company has resigned after his criminal past came to light.
"I felt it was the best thing for the company, given the circumstances," James Joseph Minder, 74, of Scottsdale, Ariz., told The Republican newspaper in Springfield, Mass.
Minder said he submitted his resignation voluntarily at a meeting of directors of the Smith & Wesson Holding (SWB) earlier this week, the newspaper reported Thursday.
Company officials did not immediately return telephone calls seeking comment. However, the newspaper said the gun maker was expected to name a replacement for Minder on Friday.
Minder's resignation came three weeks after The Arizona Republic reported that he spent more than 10 years in Michigan prisons in the 1950s and 1960s for a string of armed robberies and an attempted prison escape.
Minder said he didn't disclose his criminal past to other directors of the 150-year-old gun company before his election as chairman in mid-January.
"Nobody asked," he said, adding he had turned his life around in the 30 years since his release from prison.
Following his release from prison, Minder founded Spectrum Human Services, a nonprofit agency serving delinquent and disabled Michigan youths, and ran it for 20 years before retiring to Arizona in 1997. |
