August 9, 2010

Vol. 11 No. 32

This Week:

Senate Passes Industry Excise Tax Improvements

BILL HEADS TO PRESIDENT . . . The National Shooting Sports Foundation hailed Thursday's passage of the Firearms Excise Tax Improvement Act of 2010 (H.R. 5552) by unanimous consent in the U.S. Senate. The legislation will allow firearm and ammunition manufacturers to pay the federal excise tax on a quarterly basis, just as other industries do. Currently, firearms and ammunition manufacturers pay this tax on a bi-weekly schedule, forcing many manufacturers to borrow money to ensure on-time payment. The excise tax is a major revenue source for funding the Wildlife Restoration Trust Fund (also known as the Pittman-Robertson Trust Fund). "This bill strengthens wildlife-conservation funding in America," said NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Lawrence G. Keane. "By enabling manufacturers to grow their businesses, excise tax receipts will actually grow. We are thankful for the tremendous support and leadership of Senators Max Baucus and Mike Crapo. Clearly, their vision in championing this bipartisan, pro-conservation, pro-business legislation allowed for smooth passage of the bill." The bill passed the House of Representatives at the end of June by a vote of 412-6. Passage of H.R. 5552 would not have been possible without the hard work of many organizations, including a broad coalition of more than 35 conservation groups that are members of the American Wildlife Conservation Partners. This coalition includes the National Rifle Association, Ducks Unlimited, Safari Club International and the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation, which made passage of this bill a priority. Read NSSF's news release.

Industry News

NSSF Senior Vice President Chris Dolnack speaks to industry marketers at last week's event in Dallas.

INDUSTRY MARKETERS MEET IN DALLAS . . . NSSF hosted its first annual Marketing Symposium in Dallas last week at the DFW Hyatt Regency. This invitation-only event was attended by 26 of the industry's top marketing and communications professionals that covered a wide variety of topics that included a response to the proposed ban on traditional ammunition, addressing concerns on modern sporting rifles, current research projects, improvement for the SHOT Show and input on various NSSF and industry programs. The meeting format included presentations from Chris Dolnack, NSSF senior vice president; Mark Thomas, managing director, marketing communications; and Jim Curcuruto, director, industry research and analysis, who updated the members on programs and issues in the morning. The afternoon session was a candid and open discussion on ways to improve communications and participation in hunting and the shooting sports, which included more collaboration among NSSF members. "Our goal for this meeting was not only to inform these top-flight communications professionals of the work and initiatives we are pursuing at NSSF, but also to solicit their input for the future," said Dolnack. "We also want them to begin thinking about how we can work together toward common goals to help us fulfill our mission of promoting, protecting and preserving hunting and the shooting sports." According to Thomas, based on the overwhelming feedback, the meeting will be an annual event. The event was also supported by Rob Southwick, president of Southwick Associates.
ATK REPORTS FIRST-QUARTER RESULTS . . . Alliant Techsystems (NYSE:ATK) reported that first-quarter sales in its Armament Systems group (which includes ammunition) increased 9 percent to $439 million, compared to $402 million in the prior-year quarter. ATK said the increase was driven by continued strength in military small-caliber ammunition, higher sales of energetics products and revenues from the group's precision mortar program. The increase was partially offset by lower revenue on medium and large-caliber ammunition programs. Overall, ATK reported an 8 percent increase in profit for the quarter, which beat Wall Street expectations.
ATK NAMES SHELL EXECUTIVE, FORMER AMBASSADOR TO BOARD . . . ATK announced that Roxanne Decyk and April Foley have been elected to the company's board of directors. Decyk is currently based in Washington, D.C., where she serves as the executive vice president, global government affairs, for Royal Dutch Shell. Foley served as the United States Ambassador to Hungary from 2006 to 2009.
LIPSEY NAMED NASGW BOARD CHAIRMAN . . . Richard Lipsey of Lipsey's (Baton Rouge, La.) has been named the new chairman of the National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers, and Jack Baumler of W. L. Baumler Co. (Lorain, Ohio) now holds the office of secretary, NASGW announced. Lipsey succeeds Michael Brown, who was recently named vice president, sporting goods sales, for Smith & Wesson. Read more.
SHOOTING INDUSTRY MASTERS RAISES $32,000 FOR FIRST SHOTS . . . Top firearms industry executives and professional competitors left the Eighth Annual Shooting Industry Masters with more to show from the two-day shooting match than just a good time. Nearly 270 shooters representing 62 teams also helped the Masters raise a record-breaking $32,000 for NSSF's First Shots program. This brings the amount raised to $57,000 by the Masters for First Shots in two years. The Masters, held July 23-24 in Grand Island, Neb., and owned and operated by FMG Publications, also raised $7,000 for the USA Shooting team. Read more about the event.

NICS

JULY NICS BACKGROUND CHECKS . . . Unadjusted data released by the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) reported 1,069,792 checks in July 2010, ranking the month the highest July for most NICS checks. This figure represents an increase of 10.7 percent over checks in July 2009. The total number of background checks reported since the beginning of NICS is 118,006,677. FBI NICS disclaimer: These figures indicate the number of background checks requested. They do not indicate firearm transfers.
JULY NSSF ADJUSTED NICS BACKGROUND CHECKS . . . As NICS can be used for a variety of purposes such as state permit checks on CCW databases and applications, NSSF has created an adjusted monthly NICS figure by subtracting out the "permit" column on the monthly NICS purpose code reports. The July 2010 adjusted NICS figure of 628,125 is an increase of 4.3 percent over the adjusted figure of 602,353 in July 2009. As more states use NICS to check new CCW applicants and their active CCW databases, NSSF feels by subtracting the NICS checks used for "permit" checks, it will give a more accurate and reliable indicator of current market conditions.

Legal & Legislative

NSSF URGES ALL TO OPPOSE PETITION TO BAN TRADITIONAL AMMUNITION . . . NSSF has announced its opposition to a petition filed last week with the Environmental Protection Agency seeking to ban the use of traditional ammunition containing lead-core components by America's sportsmen and women. The petition, filed by several agenda-driven groups, including the Center for Biological Diversity, erroneously claims that the use of traditional ammunition by hunters is inconsistent with the Toxic Substance Control Act of 1976. The petition goes on to suggest that the use of traditional ammunition poses a danger to wildlife, in particular raptors such as bald eagles, that may feed on entrails or unrecovered game left in the field. NSSF is urging all hunters and shooters to learn more about this issue and to contact the EPA to oppose the petition.
DESPITE OPPOSITION, KAGAN CONFIRMED AS SUPREME COURT JUSTICE . . . Despite objections from the firearms industry, National Rifle Association and many other Second Amendment advocates, Elena Kagan was confirmed by the U.S. Senate last week by a 63-37 vote and was sworn in as the country's 112th Supreme Court justice on Saturday. NSSF strongly opposed Kagan's confirmation after reviewing her record, including public statements, written documents and her testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Read more.
SAF FILES TRIO OF SUITS CHALLENGING ANTI-GUN LAWS . . . In recent weeks, the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) has filed several lawsuits challenging gun laws in New York, Maryland and North Carolina. The Maryland and New York cases focus on law enforcement arbitrarily denying concealed carry permits to law-abiding citizens for such reasons as not being able to demonstrate a "reasonable precaution against apprehended danger" nor "good cause" to exercise their constitutional right. The North Carolina case challenges the state's emergency powers statute, which allows the governor or local municipalities to suspend the right to bear arms outside of the home after an emergency has been declared.
NRA FILES SUIT IN NEVADA . . . The National Rifle Association is backing a lawsuit filed against Clark County (Nevada) and the City of North Las Vegas in Nevada District Court. This lawsuit aims to defend the state's firearms preemption law, which ensures cities and municipalities cannot enact their own gun-control ordinances that are more restrictive than that of the state.
ATF PROPOSES ELIMINATION OF FIREARMS TRANSACTION RECORD, ATF FORM 4473 (LOW VOLUME) . . . Last week, the Department of Justice published a proposal in the Federal Register to amend the regulations of the ATF by eliminating Form 4473 (Low Volume). According to ATF, licensees rarely request or use the form and it should therefore be eliminated. If this proposed rule is adopted, licensees would still be required to act in accordance with regulations and conduct transactions with the standard Form 4473.

News of Note

PENNSYLVANIA SAYS WOMEN FASTEST-GROWING SEGMENT OF HUNTERS . . . According to license-sale surveys conducted by the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the fastest-growing segment of hunters in the state is women, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. The finding mirrors recent figures from the National Sporting Goods Association that show the number of female hunters in the United States increased by 5.4 percent last year, netting 163,000 new participants.
PETA TAKES SHOT AT 'AMERICAN IDOL' SINGER'S NEW HUNTING SHOW . . . The Los Angeles Times reports that it only took one episode of "American Idol" contestant Kristy Lee Cook's new hunting show to air before the anti-hunting group the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals started firing shots at the singer.
U.S. SHOOTERS EARN QUOTA SPOTS FOR 2012 LONDON OLYMPICS . . . Four shooters have earned quota spots for the United States in the 2012 London Olympics. At the World Shooting Championships in Munich, Germany, rifle shooters Matt Emmons and Jamie Beyerle and shotgunners Kim Rhode and Josh Richmond secured the spots with their performances. Read more about the world championships at www.usashooting.org.
SLOTS STILL AVAILABLE FOR STEEL CHALLENGE . . . Slots are still available for shooters to compete in one or more of the many divisions supported in the Steel Challenge World Speed Shooting Championships. Scheduled for Aug. 19- 22 in Piru, Calif., the Steel Challenge routinely draws the best and fastest shooters in the world, as well as strong industry support.

Jobs

INDUSTRY CAREER CONNECTION . . . Visit www.nssf.org/jobs for current employment opportunities in the shooting, hunting and outdoor industry. Employers: Log in to post a job opening.

NSSF's Mission

"To promote, protect and preserve hunting and the shooting sports."

Click here to visit the NSSF Web site and see how we accomplish this mission.

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COPYRIGHT © 2010 by National Shooting Sports Foundation, Inc. Permission is granted for broadcast, publication, retransmission to e-mail lists, Web sites or any other copying or storage, in any medium, online or not, if 1) the text is forwarded in its entirety, including this paragraph, and 2) no fee is charged. "Bullet Points®," "National Shooting Sports Foundation®," "NSSF®," and all other trade names, trademarks, service marks, logos and images of the National Shooting Sports Foundation appearing in this publication are the sole property of the Foundation and may not be used without the Foundation's prior express written permission. All other trade names, trademarks, service marks, logos and images appearing in this publication are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

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