Got most of the following from Wikipedia.

The British company made a deal with the devil in 2000 to keep S&W operating under which it would implement changes in the design and distribution of its firearms in return for "preferred buying program" to offset the loss of revenue as a result of anticipated boycott. The agreement stated that all authorized dealers and distributors of Smith & Wesson's products had to abide by a "code of conduct" to eliminate the sale of firearms to prohibited persons, dealers had to agree to not allow children under 18 access, without an adult, to gun shops or sections of stores that contained firearms.

After an organized campaign by the NRA and NSSF over the issue of smart guns, thousands of retailers and tens of thousands of firearms consumers boycotted Smith & Wesson. 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, the British company that made the deal with the devil.

Had Tomkins continued ownership of S&W, there would be no S&W to send your gun into for repair.