San Diego judge orders release of internal gun company document

By CATHERINE IVEY
Associated Press Writer

SAN DIEGO (AP) A Superior Court judge has released an internal document from Colt's gun manufacturer about its progress on developing child-resistant ``smart guns'' that the company wanted kept secret as it pursued federal funding.

The decision Friday by Judge Vincent DiFiglia made public a draft memorandum from Colt's Manufacturing Company, Inc., that gun opponents said demonstrates deceitful practices by the industry.

The June 1999 document shows the company believed it had made ``exceptional progress'' on a smart gun model, which could accelerate bringing the product to market.

But, the document said, Colt management intentionally kept its progress from the public out of concern that such news could prompt the federal government to pull research funding for the technology.

``Colt management has not wanted to tip its hand in terms of how close Colt is to launching its first 'Smart Gun' product,'' the document reads.

It continues, ``Colt is working in Washington to help put $20 million to $40 million in the federal budget for research on 'smart gun' technology. Depending on how the press reports the current state of the 'smart gun,' it could be perceived by Congress that further research dollars are not needed.''

A call for comment to Colt's, based in Hartford, Conn., was not returned Friday.

The document was intended to solicit private investments for iColt, a company being formed to develop smart guns, which have special mechanisms that allow only their owners to fire them. Gun opponents have urged manufacturers to hasten development of the weapons in an attempt to prevent accidental gun deaths, suicides and crimes with stolen guns.

The document was part of a suit filed by 12 California municipalities accusing gun manufacturers, distributors and dealers of distributing weapons in a way that makes them accessible to criminals, and of failing to place safety features on guns that could prevent their unauthorized use.

A judge last month dismissed the case against gun makers but ruled it could continue against several gun dealers.

``It's one thing for a company to spend its own money on research and development but when a company seeks and receives taxpayer money to develop a product, it has a duty of candor to the Congress and federal agencies and to the public,'' said Dennis Henigan, the legal director of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. The Washington, D.C. organization is representing the plaintiffs in the suit.

Although some gun manufacturers did later receive federal funding to work on smart-gun technology, Colt's was not one of them, Henigan said.

``It's irrelevant whether or not Colt's actually got the money they were seeking. What is relevant is that they were admitting in this document that they were not being entirely truthful,'' he said.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)