Readers forum.

Small Arms Industry

In reference to Lawrence Farrell's piece entitled "Assault on the Small Arms Industrial Base," which appeared in the Presidents Perspective column in the February issue, Farrell hits the nail right on the head. As the writer points our, the survival of most of this nations small arms suppliers, both domestic and foreign, is in great part dependent on the commercial sale of non-military style firearms. In fact, many small arms manufacturers that supply firearms for military and police use generate 70 percent or more of their annual revenue by selling firearms to the general public as permitted by current federal and local laws for personal defense, hunting or related sporting purposes.

Selling firearms to the government is rarely as profitable as commercial sales, where costs are relatively low and profits are generally high. Government contracting requires that the prospective contractor wade through a mountain of red tape even to submit a responsive bid with no guarantee of return on that substantial investment. Even with the much touted procurement streamlining and today's emphasis on past performance and best value contracting, winning small arms business with the government usually means accepting low profits and an additional workload simply not required in commercial firearms sales.

How does this affect our national defense? When commercial sales of firearms are curtailed by anti-gun legislation, manufacturers are forced to reduce spending on internal R&D on new products for military and law enforcement customers. These users usually possess no funding for new weapons development and rely on the industries' own investment in developing the smalls arms that these organizations want and need to accomplish their missions, but cannot afford to fund themselves.

The once-productive military arsenals that developed and produced small arms and ammunition for our armed forces no longer exist. The fact is private industry is our only real source for the design, production and logistical support for small arms and medium and large caliber weapons today.

Whether all Americans like to admit it or not, our nation's defense is dependent on the ready availability of advanced modern small arms for our ground forces that are the final deciding factor in all conventional wars. An effective war against the forces of terrorism would be impossible without today's small arms industry. That is the plain cold truth.

Jim Schatz

STERLING, VA

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