NSSF Bullet Points | Online News Service

August 6, 2012

Vol. 13 No. 30

This Week:

Government Relations

Industry News

Ranges/Retailers

News of Note

Jobs

U.S. Shooters Tally Four Olympic Medals

Photos courtesy USA Shooting
Jamie Gray Vincent Hancock

HANCOCK, GRAY AND EMMONS ADD MEDALS TO U.S. OLYMPIC EFFORT . . . Following the unprecedented achievement by Kim Rhode of individually medaling in five straight Olympic Games, three other Americans distinguished themselves by standing on the award-winners' podium. Vincent Hancock, gold medalist in the 2008 Olympics in Men's Skeet, became the first shotgun shooter to successfully defend a skeet title. In addition to gaining Olympic gold, Hancock received national news coverage, including an article with his positive comments about the shooting sports in The New York Times. Following Hancock's triumph, Jamie Gray won the Olympic gold medal in Women's 50m Rifle 3-Positions (prone, standing and kneeling), establishing Olympic records in the qualification and then final portions of the event. Matt Emmons earned a bronze medal in the Men's version of the 50m Rifle 3-Positions. That medal complements the gold he won in 2004 and the silver he received in 2008. Watch replays and view results from all Olympic shooting events.

Government Relations

  • CALIFORNIA BILL . . . California Senate Bill 249 was recently amended to change the definition of what constitutes a detachable magazine for a semi-automatic firearm, potentially making an estimated one million semi-automatic rifles legally sold in that state for the last decade "illegal to possess" on July 1, 2013. This legislation could result in owners having to surrender or face confiscation of their currently California-compliant semi-automatic rifles and would take effect despite there being no meaningful statistical connection between these firearms and crime. In fact, crime has continued to decline in the state while these firearms have been legal to own. NSSF is actively monitoring the progress of this legislation for the benefit of our members and the huge number of law-abiding California firearms owners that could be adversely affected by this solution in search of a problem.

  • NSSF NAMES PATRICK ROTHWELL GOV. RELATIONS DIRECTOR . . . NSSF has named Patrick J. Rothwell as director, government relations-federal affairs. In this new position based in NSSF's new Washington, D.C. office, Rothwell will manage NSSF's federal legislative matters and its interests before Congress, and monitor federal legislation and regulations impacting firearms, ammunition, hunting and the shooting sports industry. "Patrick brings knowledge of federal affairs to NSSF gained through hands-on experience working on Capitol Hill," said Lawrence G. Keane, who as senior vice president and general counsel heads up NSSF's government relations efforts. Rothwell can be reached in Washington, D.C., at 202-507-6266 or by email at prothwell@nssf.org. Read the NSSF press release.

2013 Shooting Sports Summit

  • SAVE THE DATE . . . NSSF's 2013 Shooting Sports Summit will be held June 10-12. Prospective attendees should be on the lookout for a Save the Date e-mail in their inboxes. From its beginning in the early 1990s, the Summit has attracted key decision makers from all segments of the firearms industry, conservation community and state wildlife agencies. Today, many programs now exist that were born from an idea, a conversation or a need identified at the Summit. The goal remains the same at next year's Summit: to continue to increase participation in hunting and the shooting sports. Stay tuned for details.

Industry News

  • FIRST QUARTER EXCISE TAXES UP 32 PERCENT . . . According to the latest Firearms and Ammunition Excise Tax Collection report released by the Department of the Treasury, firearm and ammunition manufacturers reported tax liabilities of $145.6 million in the first calendar quarter of 2012, up 32.16 percent over the same time period reported in 2011. This 2012 first-quarter total is the highest quarter reported since the Alchohol & Tobacco Tax & Trade Bureau took over record collection in 1991, surpassing the previous highest quarter reported (2nd quarter 2009) by 14.26 percent. Read More.

  • JULY 2012 NSSF-ADJUSTED NICS BACKGROUND CHECKS UP 25.5 PERCENT . . . The July 2012 NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) figure of 853,355 is an increase of 25.5 percent over the NSSF-adjusted NICS figure of 680,258 in July 2011. For comparison, the unadjusted July 2012 NICS figure of 1,289,585 reflects a 12.4 percent increase from the unadjusted NICS figure of 1,147,355 in July 2011. This marks the 26th straight month that NSSF-adjusted NICS figures have increased when compared to the same period the previous year. Read more.

  • RUGER ANNOUNCES SECOND QUARTER EARNINGS . . . Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE-RGR) has announced that for the second quarter 2012, the company reported net sales of $119.6 million and fully diluted earnings of 91 cents per share, compared with net sales of $79.6 million and fully diluted earnings of 56 cents per share in the second quarter of 2011. The company also announced that its board of directors declared a dividend of 37.7 cents per share for the second quarter, for shareholders of record as of Aug. 13, 2012, payable on Aug. 27. View more details about the company's report.

  • DOLCI NAMED CEO OF CROSMAN CORPORATION . . . Crosman Corporation, an international designer, manufacturer and marketer of a wide range of products for the shooting sports, has announced that Phil Dolci has been named president and chief executive officer. Most recently, Dolci had served as CEO of the Jarden Corporation Leisure and Entertainment Group and president of U.S. Playing Card Company, a division of Jarden.

Ranges/Retailers

  • NICS MODIFIES MENU ITEMS FOR BACKGROUND CHECKS & CUSTOMER SERVICE . . . On Aug. 1, the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) Section modified the telephone scripts/menu option a caller hears when dialing 877-324-6427 for a NICS Background Check and/or customer service. The new menu options have been put in place for improved customer navigation. View the new script and menu.

  • NSSF'S RANGE REPORT MAGAZINE, WEBSITE DEBUT TO RAVE REVIEWS . . . The NSSF has introduced The Range Report, "NSSF's Magazine for Shooting Facilities," as an exclusively digital publication with the release of its Summer '12 edition. The magazine appears on a new website, www.rangereport.org. Reaction from the shooting range community to the magazine and the website has been swift and positive. Read more.

News of Note

  • SCTP NATIONAL CHAMPIONS CROWNED . . . More than 1,500 young shotgun shooters participated in the Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) skeet, trap and sporting clays national championships at The World Shooting & Recreational Complex located in Sparta, Ill., July 17-21. The full team and individual results are available at www.shooterspost.com. SCTP, a youth target-shooting program developed by the NSSF, is now managed by the Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation. Learn more about SCTP and how to start a scholastic team by calling 586-739-7287 or by visiting the website www.shootsctp.org.

  • NSSF AT POMA . . . At the Professional Outdoor Media Association Business Conference in Tunica, Miss., last week, NSSF sponsored a luncheon at which it reminded POMA members--both outdoor communicators and the organization's corporate partners--that resources such as industry research, background papers on key issues and shooting-tip videos from its Pull The Trigger newsletter can be of value when developing their stories and messaging. NSSF's lunch followed POMA's Shooting Day, where more than 100 media members were able to try out the latest models of shooting sports equipment. During the conference, NSSF Director of Editorial Services Glenn Sapir was a member of the "Working Effectively With Media" panel, and NSSF Director of Communications Bill Brassard sat on the "Effectively and Ethically Working Trade Shows" panel. Learn more about POMA at www.professionaloutdoormedia.org.

  • POMA HELPS REOPEN WILLOWS SPORTING CLAYS AND HUNTING CENTER . . . The business conference of the Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA), based in Harrah's Tunica, in Tunica, Miss., served as the occasion of the reopening of the Willows Sporting Clays and Hunting Center. The shooting facility at the Harrah's complex had been closed for more than a year due to the Mississippi River flood of 2011. The gathering of more than 100 POMA media members and corporate partners for the association's Shooting Day provided a great opportunity to christen the new clubhouse and shotgunning fields and courses, as well as the chance to try out some of the industry's newest rifles, shotguns, handguns, air guns and archery gear.

  • ROBIN TAYLOR NAMED DIRECTOR OF SCHOLASTIC STEEL CHALLENGE . . . Robin Taylor has been named the new director of the Scholastic Steel Challenge (SSC). Taylor brings to the position 20 years of competitive shooting experience. As a coach, Taylor's regional team of Custer, Wash., posted the fastest time in the nation for both 2010-11 and 2011-12. SSC is the youth extension of the Steel Challenge Shooting Association, which runs the World Speed Shooting Championship, popularly referred to as "the Steel Challenge."

Jobs


NSSF's Mission

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

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COPYRIGHT © 2012 by National Shooting Sports Foundation, Inc. Permission is granted for broadcast, publication, retransmission to e-mail lists, Websites 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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