> -------------Forwarded Message----------------- > > From: Steve Sarich, INTERNET:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Colt Manufacturing, Inc., plagued by vendor-creditors and double- digit > lawsuits, including those from several major US cities, is working busily > behind the scenes to stiff vendors and the cities, along with their own > union employees. Colt has long wanted to move out of their antiquated > factory in West Hartford, which has been plagued with union problems since > the early '90s. CMI (Colt Manufacturing, Inc.) is owned by New York banker, > Donald Zilkha, who still maintains his Iraqi citizenship. Unfortunately, > while Mr. Zilkha owns CMI, he *does not* own the name "Colt". That belongs > to the State of Connecticut. The State gained ownership of the name when > the companies previous owners went bankrupt in 1994 owing the State of > Connecticut pension fund $11,000,000. > > Zilkha's arrangement with the State required him to keep the ailing company > in Connecticut for ten years, which included the manufacturing of any gun > that had ever been produced in that factory....or pay the State $11,000,000 > they lost in the previous bankruptcy. Apparently Zilkha has come up with an > exit strategy that will allow him to both move the company's manufacturing > to friendlier, non-union, ground and leave the companies creditors sucking > wind. Zilkha is now negotiating with the State to finally buy the name > "Colt". > > The plan calls for a breakup of the existing company into four separate > legal entities. The majority of the Colt pistol line will be eliminated and > the remaining models, including their popular single action revolvers, > Pocket 9, Pony, Defender and the new Officer's carry will be moved to a new > company, "Colt Classics", in Springfield, Mass. This will serve as their > "custom shop", as well as handling consumer gun sales. No need to run out > panic buying a Colt product one of these products listed above is what > you're interested in. > > Colt's military weapons, the M4 carbine and the M16, will be moved to > another Colt Holdings owned company, SACO Defense in Maine. They will > undoubtably continue the production of the AR15 as well, but it will most > likely be sold through the "Custom Shop"...no doubt at a higher price. > > CMI, the current corporation, with all it's outstanding debts to vendors, > along with it's many lawsuits, and union contracts will file for protection > under Federal Bankruptcy statutes and the factory in West Hartford will be > closed, leaving the many creditors and the 780 employees out in the cold. > > Colt headquarters and it's executives, under yet another corporate veil > (iColt), will move to a location near Washington D.C. to focus on their > lobbying efforts which include more sweetheart military contracts and > government grants for developing their much touted but non- existent "Smart > Gun". Zilkha has been lobbying Democratic lawmakers to *give* the company > $100,000,000 in development money for this white elephant. Unfortunately > for Mr. Zilkha, another company has recently shown an NIJ panel, who > previously gave Colt $500,000 for Smart Gun development, that they are at > least two years ahead of Colt in the development of Smart Gun technology. > Colt is unlikely to land their government windfall for Smart Gun > development. Colt president, Steve Sliwa, speaking about the Smart Gun, has > publicly stated that Colt has "bet the future of the company on it". Even > Zilkha political crony, Sen. Chuck Schumer, won't be able to get this money > out of Congress for Colt's non-existent pipe-dream. > > Numerous firings over the last few months, which included several long-time > Colt executives and department heads, indicate that this move is not far > off. Colt will continue negotiating with the cities regarding a settlement > of the numerous lawsuits, but once Zilkha has secured the rights to "Colt" > name from the State of Connecticut, and they complete their plans to divide > up the profitable areas of the company, safe from creditors, the cities will > find that Mr. Zilkha has left them holding an empty bag. The other gun > companies being sued will surely be the loser in this battle. The ultimate > loser will be the American gun owner. > > There is everything in this story for a good novel. A rich Iraqi > oilman/banker, from the richest Jewish family in America (I only include > this as a point of interest...I'm hardly an anti-semite as Aaron Zellman > will attest to), attempting to control 85% of the world's arms market! > Yup...one of those stories that's just too wild to be believable, but that's > what's happening. Zilkha has already purchased SACO Defence. He tried, > unsuccessfully to buy Remington. He's tried twice, unsuccessfully, to buy > Fabrique National (which also owns Browning and Winchester). He recently > tried, unsuccessfully, to purchase Vektor Arms, the largest military arms > producer on the African continent. He's still trying to purchase Heckler & > Koch, but I believe he'll fail in that attempt (and if you're interested let > me know and I'll tell you why). He's also trying to buy S&W, which is also > up for sale. He told me, personally, that he planned to control 85% of the > world's arms market (with the rest being controlled by the Easter Bloc and > China). Fortunately, I have personal relationships with many of these > companies and I know that he won't be successful. > > But let your mind run wild with the possibilities of one man controlling all > those assets. And remember that he's the one negotiating with the cities > and the FEDS right now. He also depends on his military contracts with the > Federal government for 90% of Colt's income. Would he be in a position to > single-handedly negotiate away our rights in return for exclusive rights to > military contracts? You bet. He's proven that he can do it with the M4 > contract. Colt managed to get around the law and got an exclusive contract > for the M4...with no competitive bidding! What's an M4?...an M16 with > another name, of course. Why? Because Fabrique National *won* the M16 > contract for the Army through the conventional competitive bidding > proceedure. This left Colt out in the cold. Again, the M16 has been 90% of > Colt's business for years. So, almost like magic, a plan is developed to > get around FN's legitimate contract. They simply call the gun by a > different name, create a new "requirement" for this gun, and give Colt an > exclusive no-bid contract for it...for more money than FN charges the Army > for the M16! Now imagine if Zilkha is already this powerful, what would > happen if he also owned FN? And H&K? And Vektor? And S&W? > > Did I mention that Zilkha's a financial supporter (and personal friend) of > both Chuckie Schumer and Frank Lautenberg? Imagine which way Zilkha leans > on civilian ownership of firearms. > > As for iColt and the "Smart Gun", it looks like Steve Sliwa will ignore my > advice, and my promise. Over a cold beer I warned this "rocket scientist" > that a gun that operated on radio frequency was a bone-head idea. I asked > him if he ever had trouble with reception with his cell phone (DUH!). I > told him that this was such a stupid concept that if he actually built an RF > controlled handgun that I promised him that I'd develop an RF jammer the > size of the average garage door opener that would be capable of jamming > Smart Guns for a six square block area. Imagine a bank robbery going down, > the cops show up, but none of their Smart guns will fire :-) Well, it looks > like Mr. Sliwa didn't take me seriously. Guess he didn't get to know me > well enough. Very shortly I'll announce the formation of "noColt" to > produce our RF jammer. This product will be marketed as a personal > protection device. You never know when you'll find a criminal with a Smart > Gun and you may need to disarm him, right?:-) > > The announcement of "noColt" and the "SmartJammer" should probably throw a > stick in the spokes of Sliwa's venture capital raising efforts on behalf of > iColt. We can only hope so. The Smart Gun is the silver bullet that the > anti-gun movement and the ATF is begging for. Just for a moment imagine a > radio controlled gun, or thousands of them, that could be disabled by > satelite generated signal with the push of a button in Washington DC. They > won't have to come to your house to take you gun away...you can keep it. It > just won't work anymore. To wild to happen? Just ask yourself...if they > *could* do this, would they? The technology is certainly there. > > SS
