M&P .45 "LEO/MILITARY ONLY" What gives??

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Mojo-jo-jo

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Sooo, I was at a gun show yesterday, and I noticed that a dealer had a M&P 45 with a handwritten sign on it that said "LEO AND ACTIVE/RETIRED MILITARY ONLY." The case also had a sticker on it that appeared to be factory applied that said something to the effect of "for sale to law enforcement only."

The dealer was busy, so I didn't ask him about this, but I assume that if he went through the trouble of handwriting a sign for it that he would only sell it under the conditions noted. There are no legal restrictions on handgun features in this state, so I can't figure out for the life of me why sale of this pistol would be restricted.

What gives? Is S&W contractually requiring their dealers to sell certain products to LEO and military only? If so, why would they do this, and why would dealers go along with it? If this is the case, this certainly continues a dangerous precedent of manufactures restricting the sale of otherwise legal products such as Ruger restricting >10 round magazines.

Or, am I completely wrong and this is some horsehockey that this dealer is doing on his own?
 
The guy is trying to jack up the price. I would bet if you talked to him he would have given you a "sweetheart" of a deal allowing you to buy a "restricted" firearm for a premium.
 
Shop I part-time at will sell you any model of M&P .45 for a killer price. S&W was pushing them hard to the public at SHOT Show.

The Military, more or less, isn't buying any new pistols except more M9s. The Joint Combat Pistol competition was cancelled.
 
was it a glock?
Glock has a special deal for police, EMS, Military and retires of each.
They get $100 off and an extra mag. The sticker on the box would say LEO only.
 
shotgunred, I'm a paramedic, how do I go about getting this EMS discount on a Glock 21 I want to buy?
 
From my understanding, Smith does QC their LEO guns a lot better and to stricter requirements than the civilian jobs, but they are the same guns part-wise. There are no factory uber-M&P's out there. They're not even listed in Smith's performance center.
 
I have a guy here in my area that likes to only sell to law enforcement. He also sells uniforms and gear as well. I guess he does well, I dont know. He just moved into a nicer/bigger shop a few years ago.

Anyway the point being: He will sell to civilians but he asks retail for his stuff. The first and only time I ever went into his shop I looked at a Glock ,the price was MSRP. I Said "can you take a little off if I pay cash?" He tells me thats the price or I can leave.
He was more interested at selling one of the officers in there some button or bar or something for his uniform that cost like $5.
I figured a sell was a sell. :shrugs:
 
LEO & Govt

Firearms made for LE Officers or Govt can be sold without the 11% excise tax. The dealer has to send a copy of the Officers Creds back to the Manufacturer, also a copy is attached to the back of the 4473 if the purchase is made in person.
 
Yep, the guns S&W mandates for sale to LE generally have night sights and three magazines for the same price as the non-LE guns without night sights and two mags. As stated above, this is due to the excise tax.
 
I know Smith has an LE program to get a % of their guns in the hands of LE --
Next time you're in the shop, ask Y ;)
 
was it a glock?
Click to expand...
Since he said it was an "M&P" and explicitely refers to it being made by "S&W" I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that the answer to your question is, "No."
 
The "retired military" aspect of the sign gives it away. Companies tend to not be overly concerned with retired LEs or soldiers when it comes to discount, as opposed to active duty LEs, firefighters, and EMS.

Someone was just trying to run the price up a bit.
 
Is this a shop in Ringgold,GA?
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It was on a dealer's table at the Cobb Civic Center Eastman show last weekend. I suppose the dealer could be from Ringgold, but I have no idea who he was or where he was from.
 
I've heard of this BS before.
Upon investigation, the M&P turns out to be one made without an magazine disconnecter.
The story is "S&W will only sell these non-magazine disconnect guns to LE and military".

In fact, S&W is quite happy to sell M&P's with or without the magazine disconnect feature, but that word isn't widely known yet, so some people figure to cash in.
 
dfariswheel said:
The story is "S&W will only sell these non-magazine disconnect guns to LE and military".
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If someone at a show told me that story I'd start laughing at him. The disconnect is a feature desired by LEOs and disliked by non-LEOs. Silly dealer got his story backwards.
 
If someone at a show told me that story I'd start laughing at him. The disconnect is a feature desired by LEOs and disliked by non-LEOs. Silly dealer got his story backwards.
Click to expand...

I guess it depends on the LEO. I think they offer the mag disconnect models to meet requirements in some state or another, NJ, I think. As for me, I wouldn't have one with a disconnect. Smith has a number of models with it. Makes them far less of a serious contender in the LEO market if you ask me.
 
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