End Glock gun contract, Blagojevich urges Ryan Series: -DATELINE-

Gov. Ryan should cancel the state's contract with gunmaker GlockInc. and switch to Smith & Wesson to reward the gunmaker for agreeingto government demands involving marketing and safety, a congressmansaid Tuesday.

Rep. Rod Blagojevich (D-Chicago) is asking Congress to give Smith& Wesson favored status in federal contracts and suggested the sameon the state level.

Ryan should nullify a $363,000 state police contract with Glockfor more than 2,500 handguns and give the business to Smith & Wessonbecause Glock "refused to adopt Smith & Wesson's sensible safetymeasures," he wrote.

But Dave Urbanek, spokesman for Ryan, said Glock already deliveredguns to the state police and the contract can't be broken. He addedthat the governor is satisfied with Glock's recent promises that itis monitoring its dealers' sales to make sure they act responsibly.

A Glock representative could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Glock announced last month it would not participate in a legalsettlement Smith & Wesson entered into March 17 with the U.S.Department of Housing and Urban Development and more than 15 stateand local governments.

Under the Smith & Wesson deal, the gunmaker agreed to enforce astrict "code of conduct" for its suppliers and to make firearms withbuilt-in safety devices. In return, the governments dropped theirlawsuits against the company.