NSSF Bullet Points | Online News Service

December 3, 2012

Vol. 13 No. 46

This Week:

Shooting Sports Summit

Government Relations

Industry News

SHOT Show

News of Note

Record Month for NICS Checks

NOVEMBER NSSF-ADJUSTED NICS CHECKS UP 38.5% . . . Powered by the largest single day ever for background checks on Black Friday, November 2012 is now the record holder for the most background checks conducted in a single month. The November 2012 NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) figure of 1,525,177 is an increase of 38.5 percent over the NSSF-adjusted NICS figure of 1,101,076 in November 2011. For comparison, the unadjusted November 2012 NICS figure of 1,997,703 reflects a 30.8 percent increase from the unadjusted NICS figure of 1,527,454 in Nov. 2011. This marks the 30th straight month that NSSF-adjusted NICS figures have increased when compared to the same period the previous year. The number reported for November 2012 eclipsed the previous high in December 2011 by 8.1 percent. Even as firearm sales have trended upward in recent years, statistics show that violent crime and firearms-related accidents continue to decrease, a fact that underscores more firearms do not lead to more crime and accidents. Read more.

2013 Shooting Sports Summit

SAVE THE DATE . . . NSSF reminds leaders from the hunting, shooting and conservation communities and industry to save the dates of June 10-12, 2013, for the NSSF Shooting Sports Summit in Springfield, Mass. The 2013 Summit will feature reports on increasing hunting and shooting sports participation 20 percent by the end of 2014 and strategy sessions related to achieving that goal.

Industry News

GUNBROKER.COM SALES SOAR ON CYBER MONDAY; UP 22.7% . . . GunBroker.com recorded a 22.7 percent increase in 2012 Cyber Monday sales activity over 2011, signaling a powerful final quarter for online sales of hunting and shooting sports equipment. The company recently reached $2 billion in cumulative merchandise sales in November of 2012. Read more.
BROWNELLS BREAKS GROUND ON NEW FACILITY . . . The "World's Largest Supplier of Firearms Accessories and Gunsmithing Tools" is getting even larger, reports Brownells, upon the occasion of the groundbreaking for its new warehouse expansion and office facility. The planned 200,000-square-foot building will more than double the company's current capacity when it opens in late 2013. The company will remain headquartered in Montezuma, Iowa, at its current location only 20 minutes from the new site.
AGREEMENT ANNOUNCED FOR PURCHASE OF PLANO MOLDING COMPANY . . . Plano Molding Company, Inc., supplier of outdoor sports storage systems, including firearms and bow cases, is being acquired by the Ontario (Canada) Teachers' Pension Plan, according to an announced agreement. Based in Plano, Ill., and founded in 1932, Plano is being acquired through the Teachers' private equity investment division, Teachers' Private Capital. Terms of the transaction are not being disclosed.
WALTHER ARMS TO LOCATE U.S. OPERATIONS IN FORT SMITH, ARK . . . Walther Arms, Inc. has announced that its U.S. operations will locate at Chaffee Crossing in Fort Smith, Ark., sharing a campus and business resources with Umarex USA. Umarex USA announced on the same day that it will expand its manufacturing operations to include components of both air guns and firearms. Read more about these developments. "My personal hope and objective is to see more manufacturing and jobs return to the USA in the coming years and what better place than Fort Smith!" said Adam Blalock, CEO of Walther Arms and Umarex USA.

Government Relations

ENDING SUNDAY HUNTING PROHIBITION WOULD BOOST PENNSYLVANIA ECONOMY . . . Of the six states that prohibit Sunday hunting all together, Pennsylvania is the largest and would benefit the most economically from ending this prohibition. A study conducted for the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation showed that eliminating the Sunday hunting ban across all seasons would create a total of 8,193 new jobs (direct and indirect) and provide an economic boost of more than $764 million for the Pennsylvania economy. Read more at the NSSF Blog.
VIRGINIA GOVERNOR RECOGNIZED FOR SUPPORT OF INDUSTRY . . . At the recent Republican Governors Association annual meeting, NSSF presented a shotgun to outgoing RGA Chairman Bob McDonnell, the governor of Virginia. In presenting the shotgun to Gov. McDonnell, Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF senior vice president and general counsel, commented on Gov. McDonnell's strong support for Sunday hunting legislation and for supporting the Second Amendment by signing a bill repealing his state's one-gun-a-month law. Pictured are Gov. McDonnell, left, and Keane.

SHOT Show

SOCIAL MEDIA SPOTLIGHT: SECOND OF A FOUR-PART SERIES . . . Social media has transformed the way companies market through trade shows. No one knows this better than renowned trade-show industry consultant and thought leader Traci Browne. The author of "The Social Trade Show" has graciously provided a series of blog posts that will be posted on the SHOT Show Blog-- and in the Exhibitor Resource Center at shotshow.org -- each week for the next four weeks in advance of the 2013 SHOT Show. Be sure to visit the SHOT Show Blog each week for a chance to win a free copy of Traci's book. This week's post: Five Tips on Using Video to Generate Excitement.
'SHOT SHOW SURVIVAL GUIDE' . . . In a column Friday on HumanEvents.com, writer Richard Johnson provided some advice to those headed to the 2013 SHOT Show. Read his "SHOT Show Survival Guide."
RETAILERS/RANGES: JOIN NSSF FOR $35 . . . To celebrate 35 years of NSSF's SHOT Show, NSSF retail/range memberships for a limited time are as low as $35. Retailers can take advantage of this offer while registering for the show or by visiting nssf.org. In addition to all of NSSF's retailer-specific benefits -- including access to ATF compliance consulting, FFL Hotline, NSSF research and more -- NSSF member retailers will have their businesses included in NSSF's Find an FFL directory. Have a range as well? Your business will also be listed in bold print on WhereToShoot.org -- NSSF's state-by-state shooting range directory -- as well as on the Where2Shoot mobile app.

News of Note

COSTAS' ANTI-GUN COMMENTS . . . In blogs and forums, firearms owners are venting their displeasure over anti-gun comments made by veteran sports announcer Bob Costas during halftime of NBC's broadcast of the Cowboys-Eagles football game Sunday night. Costas used the prime-time forum to imply that gun control could have prevented Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Javon Belcher from fatally shooting his girlfriend and then himself the day before. In his uncalled-for commentary, Costas paraphrased sports columnist Jason Whitlock in blaming Belcher's actions on "our current gun culture." Costas was immediately criticized en masse on social media for making the comments.
POTTERFIELDS DONATE $1.3 MILLION TO SCTP PROGRAMS . . . MidwayUSA owners Larry and Brenda Potterfield have made generous donations to several state Scholastic Clay Target Programs (SCTP) so that each can introduce more youth to the shooting sports through trap, skeet and sporting clays, as well as help build high school- and collegiate-level shooting teams. The Potterfields recently donated to these state SCTP programs--Alaska, $196,000; Idaho, $156,000; Montana/Wyoming, $325,000; Nevada, $81,000; Oregon, $158,500; Utah, $151,000; and Washington, $276,000--for a total of more than $1.3 million. Learn more about SCTP at shootSCTP.org.

Jobs

FIREARMS INDUSTRY JOBS . . . 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 website and see how we accomplish this mission.

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