Anybody who thinks this is just an above-board investigation by disinterested and politically neutral regulators should not be allowed to vote or drive. From Tyler Durden at zerohedge.com:
Last Friday, in the aftermath of the most recent mass shooting in San Bernardino and the latest attempt by Obama to impose further gun control measures, ostensibly by executive order, we pointed out the one thing, or rather person, who even the NYT begrudgingly admitted in an article on “What Drives Gun Sales” has been the primary driver of gun sales in the US: US president Barack Obama.
The irony in all this, of course, was that just last Friday the stock price of Smith & Wesson hit an all time high on expectations gun sales are about to hit even greater all time highs in the coming weeks.
Alas, as it turns out, Obama is not a fan of efficient market irony and instead of letting the chips on gun control fall where they may especially if it means record stock prices for the shareholders of SWHC and RGR, the president – in pulling a page straight out of the “US Government vs Exxon” in which the company will soon be prosecuted over its Global Warming denials as reported previously – has decided to take his vendetta with US gun makers to the next level and as the NYT reported overnight, “the New York City public advocate on Monday asked federal regulators to investigate whether the gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson had made adequate disclosures in its financial statements.”
One would think that being in compliance with all existing SEC regulatory requirements would be sufficient, but when one is on Obama’s black list there are additional requirements for “adequate disclosure” one must follow, especially the ones that one does not know about because they appear only after the fact.
The NYT continues:
In an eight-page letter, the public advocate, Letitia James, said the Securities and Exchange Commission should examine whether Smith & Wesson misrepresented or omitted information about how often its products are involved in crimes and what it has done to keep its guns out of the hands of criminals.
In the letter “public advocate” Letitia James says that “with the increase in mass shootings, public concern about the proliferation of firearms has animated a national dialogue about gun control measures, interstate gun trafficking, and whether gun manufacturers should take additional steps to ensure that their products do not end up in the hands of criminals,” the letter says. “Smith & Wesson knows that it is at risk of grave reputational harm.”
It probably also did not know that the US government is capable of extortion when it does not get its way; it will be quite aware of that now.
To continue reading: Obama’s Vendetta With Gun Makers Gets Personal
