March 21, 2011

Vol. 12 No. 12

This Week:

NSSF Summit

Hunting

Government Relations

News of Note

NSSF Tops 1 Million Views on YouTube

ONLINE VIDEOS GROWING IN POPULARITY . . . Over this past weekend, total views of National Shooting Sports Foundation videos on YouTube topped the 1 million mark, with 869,842 of those views occurring in the past year alone. NSSF's YouTube channel, located at youtube.com/TheNSSF, has quickly gained popularity among new and experienced shooters and hunters. The channel currently features about 100 videos, a majority of which are aimed at encouraging more people to head to the range or afield to try out the tips they've picked up in the videos. NSSF's "Shooting Sportscast" videos are also available through Apple's iTunes for free download in both high definition and standard definition. Anyone interested in knowing when new videos are available can subscribe to NSSF's monthly Pull the Trigger enewsletter or subscribe to NSSF's YouTube channel or to "Shooting Sportscast" on iTunes.

Shooting Sports Summit

  • PAWLENTY TAKES FIRST STEP TOWARD 2012 PRESIDENTIAL BID . . . Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who will be a keynote speaker at NSSF's Shooting Sports Summit, announced today the formation of a presidential exploratory committee, The Washington Post reports. The announcement was aired live on Facebook at 3 p.m. He is expected to officially enter the race later this spring.

  • GET REGISTERED: EARLY-BIRD DISCOUNT ENDS SOON . . . Those who register for NSSF's Shooting Sports Summit by March 31 will receive considerable savings on registration fees. All leaders from throughout the industry and the shooting and hunting communities are urged to attend this year's summit, where the goal remains the same: to continue to increase participation in hunting and the shooting sports. Join us June 7-9 at the Louisville Marriott Downtown in Louisville, Ky. Register and learn more at nssf.org/summit.

Hunting

  • 600,000 NEW HUNTERS . . . Last week's Bullet Points included an update on the Familes Afield program's successes. This week, new data sheds light on just how successful the program has been. To date, 30 states have passed Families Afield-style laws, and new statistics show that more than 598,532 apprentice licenses have been sold since the program began. Additionally, the safety rate of the supervised apprentices has exceeded that of the average hunter. Even more encouraging was data from a study on the first class of apprentices from the state of Ohio that began in 2006. Over the three-year period, roughly half of the purchasers of apprentice licenses continued hunting. Full Story

Government Relations

  • CT MAGAZINE CONFISCATION BILL TO BE HEARD IN COMMITTEE WEDNESDAY . . . Legislation (HB 1094) that would ban the possession of any magazine (rifle, pistol or shotgun) capable of holding more than 10 rounds will be heard in the Joint Committee on the Judiciary this Wednesday, March 23. NSSF is urging all gun owners and sportsmen to attend Wednesday's public hearing, which will be held in the Legislative Office Building in Room 2C at 10 a.m. and to contact their state representative, senator and all members of the Judiciary Committee immediately, urging them to oppose this magazine ban. Learn more.

  • NSSF STATEMENT ON LEGISLATION TO 'IMPROVE' NICS . . . NSSF on Thursday issued this statement concerning legislation to "improve" the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.

  • CONGRESSIONAL SURVEY DEMONSTRATES IMPORTANCE OF CAPITOL HILL VISITS . . . With the NSSF Congressional Fly-In only weeks away, a recent survey of congressional staffers is helping to demonstrate the importance of such face-to-face congressional visits. The Congressional Management Foundation surveyed more than 250 Hill staffers and found that the most influential advocacy strategy for swaying an undecided member of congress is personal communications, such as an office visit. In fact, 97 percent of those staffers surveyed said constituent visits to Capitol Hill have some or a lot of influence on an undecided member. There is still time for NSSF and SAAMI voting members to register for the 2011 NSSF Congressional Fly-In (April 6-7). For more information, please contact Marje Swarts at mswarts@nssf.org.

  • WASHINGTON STATE POLICE SEEK DATA ON LAW-ABIDING GUN OWNERS . . . The Washington State Patrol has sent letters to federally licensed firearms retailers in the Evergreen State asking for documentation of all AR-15 rifle sales over the past nine months. The information being sought includes the names and addresses of law-abiding gun owners in the state. Retailers should be aware that sending such personal information to the state is not required by law and is a blatant violation of gun-owner privacy rights.

News of Note

View full-size chart

  • 4TH QUARTER U.S. QUARTERLY IMPORTS DOWN 17.6 PERCENT . . . NSSF reports that overall U.S. quarterly imports (in U.S. dollars) of all sporting arms and ammunition declined 17.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010 compared to the same period last year. During the period of October to December 2010, imports were $255.3 million, down from $309.8 million in 2009. Individually, the shotgun category showed a 7.6 percent increase from $39.5 million to $42.5 million while the muzzleloader category posted a 7.4 percent increase from $4.4 million to $4.7 million. The ammunition category was down 0.5 percent from $104.2 million to $103.7 million, followed by the rifle category being down 24.1 percent from $37.2 million to $28.3 million. The shotshells category was down 32.6 percent from $5 million to $3.7 million and handgun imports were down 39.1 percent from $119.6 million to $72.8 million. For additional research information, visit nssf.org/research.

  • STAR-TRIBUNE: 'GANDER MOUNTAIN TAKING AIM AT COMPETITION' . . . St. Paul, Minn.-based outdoor retailer Gander Mountain will soon begin opening a series of retail shooting academies around the country. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune last week featured look at the retailer's aggressive remodeling program.

  • SHOT BUSINESS: AMMO 2011 . . . In a few short years, factory ammunition has come a long way. The major players now all produce quality cartridges that perform in all circumstances. SHOT Business magazine provides an update on what to look for in 2011.

NSSF History Snapshot

  • HEADQUARTERS . . . For nearly its entire 50 years, NSSF has made its home in Connecticut, a state rich in firearms manufacturing history, with headquarters located in Riverside, Wilton and, since 1993, in Newtown. Learn more at www.nssf.org/50.

Membership

  • SPECIAL $50 NSSF MEMBERSHIP OFFER FOR RANGES AND RETAILERS . . . NSSF is extending its special 50th anniversary rate of $50 for the first two levels of range and retailer membership, which includes businesses that have up to $10 million in annual sales. Businesses that take advantage of this offer will become members through Dec. 31, 2011, for just $50. This offer does not apply to multiple-store locations. Apply online or download a PDF application. Questions? E-mail bswann@nssf.org or call 203-426-1320.

Jobs


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 © 2011 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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2011 Shooting Sports Summit, June 7-9

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