Smith & Wesson NRA and NSSF over the issue of smart guns, thousands of retailers and tens of thousands of firearms consumers boycotted Smith & Wesson. CEO Ed Shultz, who negotiated the deal, was forced out in September of that year. By December 2000, the company's stock price was 19 cents per share. Smith & Wesson dropped its smart gun plans after nearly being driven out of business. On May 11, 2001, Saf-T-Hammer Corporation acquired Smith & Wesson Corp. from Tomkins plc for US$15 million, a fraction of the US$112 million originally paid by Tomkins. Saf-T-Hammer assumed US$30 million in debt, bringing the
Smith & Wesson Model 469 Smith & Wesson Model 469 The Smith & Wesson Model 469 is a semi-automatic pistol, chambered for the 9mm cartridge. The Model 469 is an early model in Smith & Wesson's 59-series, envisioned as pistols that could be easily concealed, but with sufficient firepower to work as service weapons as well. It is a traditional double-action pistol with a 3.5-inch barrel, equipped with a slide-mounted safety/decocker. Magazine capacity is 12 rounds. When Smith & Wesson introduced its "third-generation" series of semiautomatics, several similar pistols succeeded the Model 469. These included the Model 6904, which had an alloy frame with black