NSSF Bullet Points | Online News Service

June 18, 2012

Vol. 13 No. 23

This Week:

Retailers

Import/Export

Government Relations

News of Note

Jobs

Microstamping Legislation Vote
Pending in New York

New York State Capitol

CONTINUE TO CONTACT ASSEMBLY MEMBERS . . . Anti-gun legislators from New York City continue to seek passage of firearms microstamping legislation (A.1157B) that would result in banning firearms in the Empire State. The bill's sponsor, Assemblywoman Michelle Schimel, a New Yorkers Against Gun Violence board member, for the fifth year in a row continues to seek a legislative mandate of this patented, sole-sourced concept that independent studies have found to be flawed and easily defeated by criminals. Please continue to contact your Assembly member to voice your opposition. The last thing New York needs is another failed concept (ballistic imaging was repealed this year) costing taxpayer money, forcing manufacturing jobs out of the state and impacting only lawful firearms owners and retailers.

  • MICROSTAMPING IN THE MEDIA . . . Last Friday, New York State Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb debated Assemblywoman Michelle Schimel in a CNN segment concerning microstamping legislation and how it would impact the state. Kolb stressed the the firearms industry's importance to New York and how passing this flawed concept would negatively impact manufacturers and force them to abandon the state. NSSF thanks Minority Leader Kolb for his support of the industry. Also last week, the NSSF Blog carried a response to an unbalanced New York Times story on microstamping, and another post referenced a new study that pointed out shortcomings of microstamping.

Retailers

  • SHOT BUSINESS JUNE/JULY ISSUE . . . The latest issue of SHOT Business magazine is now available online at shotbusiness.com. This issue includes two features, "LAW ENFORCEMENT 2012" and "Draw of the Dead." "LAW ENFORCEMENT 2012" highlights the latest guns and gear, including optics, for the law enforcement community, and "Draw of the Dead" takes aim at the Zombie action pandemic that is sweeping shooting-scenario games. Also find the most recent news briefs, what's selling where, new products, what's new from NSSF and much more. On an iPad or other mobile device? Tap here for the digital publication.

  • ATF RESPONDS TO REP. YOUNG ON FFL INSPECTIONS . . . In response to Alaska firearm retailers reporting that inspectors from ATF had improperly requested transaction records to be removed from stores or copied, U.S. Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), who is an NRA board member, asked ATF in a letter for an explanation of this and other issues. In its response, ATF said that "turning over such records is voluntary . . . [and] copies of the documents obtained from an FFL with no violations are purged or destroyed once the inspection is closed." Regarding Young's concern over centralizing firearm ownership records, ATF's Joseph J. Allen, acting assistant director of public and governmental affairs, said "ATF has neither the inclination nor the capability to create a registry of firearms owned by licensees or individuals." Read the full ATF letter.

Import/Export

  • USITC FIREARMS AND AMMUNITION DATA FOR APRIL 2012 . . . NSSF reports that overall U.S. imports (in units) in six sporting arms and ammunition categories increased 7.1 percent in April 2012 compared to April 2011. April 2012 imported units in tracked categories totaled 145.5 million, up from 135.9 million reported in April 2011. U.S. exports (in units) in six sporting arms and ammunition categories decreased 48.7 percent in April 2012 compared to April 2011. April 2012 exported units in tracked categories totaled 62.1 million, down from 120.9 million reported in April 2011. All figures sourced from U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC). See a complete breakdown of each category's April import and export data. NSSF members may access additional historical import and export data by logging in at www.nssf.org/members and clicking NSSF Industry Research.

  • FIREARMS IMPORT/EXPORT CONFERENCE; REGISTER TODAY . . . To help Federal Firearms License holders stay on top of and in compliance with myriad federal laws and regulations, a joint presentation of NSSF and the FAIR Trade Group will take place July 31 to Aug. 1 at the Hyatt Regency Reston Town Center in Reston, Va. Last year's event was sold out, so please plan ahead in getting registered. Learn more and register today at nssf.org/ImportExport.

Government Relations

  • SUPPORT THE SPORTSMEN'S ACT AMENDMENT . . . NSSF urges its members and all firearm owners to support the Sportsmen's Act (Senate Amendment 2232), one of the most important pieces of pro-sportsmen legislation to come before Congress in a generation. This package of 16 bills includes the firearms industry's top legislative priority, the Hunting, Fishing and Recreational Shooting Protection Act (S. 838), which would clarify that ammunition is excluded from regulation by the Environmental Protection Agency under the Toxic Substances Control Act. This legislation will help prevent anti-hunting groups, led by the Center for Biological Diversity, from pressuring EPA to ban traditional ammunition made with lead components. Such a ban would devastate hunting and shooting sports participation, drive up ammunition prices on average by almost 200 percent and reduce conservation funding. Learn how you can support the Sportsmen's Act here.

  • PA FIREARMS PREEMPTION SLOWED BY HOSTILE AMENDMENTS . . . The Pennsylvania House of Representatives still has not considered firearms preemption legislation, Senate Bill 273, which would strengthen the state's firearms preemption law to further ensure firearm and ammunition laws are uniform throughout the state. Unfortunately, at least 30 amendments have been filed, most of which have been offered by anti-gun legislators designed to kill S.B. 273. Please contact your representative immediately and urge him or her to support S.B. 273 without any additional hostile amendments.

  • HEARING ON CA ANTI-HUNTING BILL SCHEDULED . . . Senator Ted Lieu (District 28) and Senator Darrell Steinberg (District 6) have introduced Senate Bill 1221, "Mammals: Use of Dogs to Pursue Bears and Bobcats," sponsored by the Humane Society of the United States, that would expressly prohibit the use of dogs in hunting these animals. The bill recently passed the Senate and now will be heard in the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee on Tuesday, June 26. The anti-hunting community in support of this bill, led by the Humane Society, has stated that the hounding practice is "inhumane, unsporting and unfair." Speak out against this legislation by contacting members of committee, especially if you live in any one of their districts. Tell him or her that you are opposed to SB 1221.

SHOT Show

  • NORTH AMERICAN ARMS TO SUPPORT 2013 BIRDIES FOR THE BRAVE GOLF EVENT . . . North American Arms has stepped up to be a supporting sponsor of the 2013 SHOT Show Birdies for the Brave charity golf event next January. Last year's event raised $70,000 for several military homefront groups, and the goal is to top that this year. The event, which will be presented in partnership with PGA TOUR on Jan. 12-13, 2013, at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas, precedes the 2013 SHOT Show. NSSF is the title sponsor of the event. Read NSSF's news release on North American Arms' support of the event.

News of Note

  • PARKER NAILS DOWN FINAL OLYMPIC SHOOTING SPOT; TEAM FINALIZED . . . Sgt. First Class Jason Parker of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, who has appeared in three previous Olympics, has earned his fourth visit to the Summer Games with a first-place finish in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials at Ft. Benning, Ga., where he competed in Men's 50m Rifle Three Position. The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Team selections are now complete, with 22 members of USA Shooting set to represent the United States in London this summer.

  • HUNTERS, SHOOTERS URGED TO TAKE SPECIAL CARE IN FIRE-PRONE WEST . . . It was a vast forest fire in New Mexico 62 years ago that left a black bear cub orphaned. That bruin, the inspiration for the U.S. Forest Service's Smokey Bear, has been fighting to prevent forest fires ever since, and now, during a time of extremely dry conditions in the Western United States, appeals are going out to all who visit the outdoors to take special precautions. NSSF President Steve Sanetti, in New Mexico last week where extensive fires have ravaged the landscape, urged hunters and shooters in extreme drought environs to be cautious in target selection so as not to cause sparks; to not use tracers that burn; to clear any target area and backstop of combustibles, especially if targets feature exploding bull's-eyes; not to park their car in tall grass, where the heat of an exhaust pipe, for example, can ignite a fire; and simply to exercise extra caution when afield.

  • SHOOTING INDUSTRY MASTERS ANNOUNCES MYSTERY COURSE OF FIRE . . . FMG Publications has taken the 2012 Shooting Industry Masters to a new level -- by not announcing the event's course of fire. The "mystery course of fire" reinforces the primary purpose of the Masters: to provide an opportunity for those in the shooting sports industry to actually get out and enjoy shooting. Owned and operated by FMG Publications, the Masters consists of three main competition stages -- handgun, rifle and shotgun -- and has a well-deserved reputation for being fun. This year, match organizers added a special new twist. Read more.

  • ANNIE OAKLEY'S SHOTGUN FETCHES $143,400 AT AUCTION . . . About 100 items owned by sharp-shooting legend Annie Oakley and passed down ultimately to Oakley's great-grandnieces were put on auction in Dallas recently. The item bringing in the highest bid -- $143,400 -- was her Parker Brothers 12-gauge shotgun.

  • HUNTING DOG SURPRISES NEW OWNER WITH AN ENGAGEMENT RING . . . How many men have been as creative as Brandon Berg of West Concord, Minn., in the way they proposed to their intended bride? Pheasants Forever reports on Berg's imaginative plan, relying on man's best friend to deliver the goods. Berg brought his girlfriend, Shay Jurgensen of Kasson, Minn., to Top Gun Kennels in Central City, Iowa, to present her with a German short-haired pointer puppy. Attached to its collar was a box, placed there by breeder/accomplice Steve Ries. Berg removed an engagement ring from the box, got on his knee and popped the question--to which Jurgensen, of course, said yes. How do you say, "No," while looking into the eyes of a tag team of a hunter-boyfriend and gun-dog puppy?

  • EUROPEAN SHOOTING SPORTS LEADER PASSES AWAY . . . Dr. Vito Genco, who served in leadership positions with several European shooting sports organizations and was former president of the World Forum on the Future of Sport Shooting Activities (WFSA), has died. Widely respected, Genco was a champion of many efforts to preserve hunting and target shooting in Europe and beyond. "Vito Genco was not only a leader and great asset to the shooting sports industry, he was also a great friend and the epitome of a gentleman," said Steve Sanetti, president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation and of the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute.

Jobs


NSSF's Mission

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

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

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Find NSSF on:


COPYRIGHT © 2012 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.

Share this email
Share via Twitter Share via Facebook Share via Email Share Other

--------------------

NSSF.org

Bullet Points Online

Archive

Subscribe

---------------------

NSSF Blog

Covering issues affecting the industry, gun ownership and hunting and the shooting sports.

---------------------

SHOT Show Blog

Stay current on news and information about NSSF's SHOT Show -- the shooting, hunting and outdoor industry's largest trade show.

---------------------

SHOT Business

The modern magazine of the shooting sports industry and the official publication of the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

---------------------
Promote | Protect | Preserve