Ousted Smith & Wesson CEO Ed Shultz reflects decades after deal with President Bill Clinton drove him from business

ED SHULTZ

Ed Shultz, then CEO of Springfield-based gunmaker Smith & Wesson, shows off a working prototype of an authorized-user-only 40-cal. semi-automatic handgun in 2000. (Steve Miller / Associated Press file photo)

SPRINGFIELD — Ask Ed Shultz why people buy guns, and why they shoot them, and he’s got a remarkably succinct answer.

“Immediate satisfaction,” he says.

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