March 25, 2013

Vol. 14 No. 11

This Week:

Government Relations

SHOT Show

Retailers & Ranges

Research

News of Note

Survey: Firearms Retailers Overwhelmingly Oppose 'Universal Background Checks'

95.7% SAY LEGISLATION WOULD NOT PREVENT CRIMINALS FROM OBTAINING FIREARMS . . . An online survey of federally licensed firearms retailers conducted last week by NSSF reveals that those who would be on the front line of implementing what is touted as "universal background checks" have serious concerns both about whether such proposals would work as well as the potential negative effects on their businesses. Asked whether they supported or opposed "universal background checks," 85.7 percent of the responding firearms retailers said that they opposed them. To the question of whether they believed such legislation would prevent criminals from obtaining firearms, a nearly unanimous 95.7 percent said no. In addition, the retailers reported that they feared these proposals would result in higher regulatory and additional record-keeping burdens, increased risk of license revocation for record-keeping errors related to private party sales of firearms, additional delays in processing of National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) requests, low government-set fees that will not cover their costs, and increased liability exposure arising from having to process private-party transactions. Read more.

Government Relations

• SENATE VOTES TO STOP U.S. FROM JOINING U.N. ARMS TRADE TREATY . . . Though negotiations on a U.N. Arms Trade Treaty that would regulate international arms sales is slated to end on March 28, an amendment to the Senate's budget resolution introduced by Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) is intended to prevent the United States from entering into the treaty. Despite President Obama saying he would not vote for anything that would violate the Second Amendment, criticism over his decision to even consider the treaty prompted the Senate vote, which passed by a 53-46 margin.

• SEN. REID ANNOUNCES APRIL VOTE ON FIREARMS LEGISLATION . . . U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced Thursday that in April the Senate would consider a bill on straw purchases, school safety and expanded background checks. Negotiations on all three of these major provisions are ongoing, and it is undecided what form they will take. Discussions on a background check bill have been taking place within a bipartisan group of senators since January, but they have been unable to agree on a compromise thus far.

• NSSF AIRS RADIO ADS IN CONNECTICUT . . . In Connecticut, the birthplace of the modern firearms industry, NSSF last week launched radio ads to encourage citizens to contact members of the General Assembly to urge lawmakers to focus on measures that would truly be effective in preventing future criminal misuse of firearms and not punish law-biding gun owners and the companies based in the state. There is no question that momentum to quickly pass highly restrictive gun regulations has been slowed down in a state where emotions continue to run high following the Newtown tragedy. More voices have asked for the release of crucial information from the investigation into the tragedy following a New York Daily News report.

• MAGPUL INDUSTRIES TO PULL OUT OF COLORADO . . . When Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper last week signed into law three new pieces of highly restrictive gun control legislation, it started the clock on magazine manufacturer Magpul Industries' promise to move out of the state. The company says it will be manufacturing magazines outside of the state within 30 days. It's quite possible that Magpul's action is just the first of several possible moves by manufacturers from those states adopting new restrictions on firearms features and magazine capacities to those states with decidedly stronger pro-Second Amendment sentiments. State legislators anywhere who argue that providing exemptions for manufacturing products that cannot be sold within the state's borders resolve the issue would do well to read an op-ed written by Colt's Manufacturing CEO Dennis Veilleux. He argues that a ban sought by the Connecticut Governor on modern sporting rifles in that state would so seriously impair the iconic Colt brand with American consumers that even historical ties and a highly skilled workforce may not be enough to keep manufacturing of those semiautomatic rifles in the Constitution State.

• MARYLAND CONCEALED CARRY PERMIT REQUIREMENT UPHELD . . . A federal appeals court last Thursday upheld Maryland's state law that residents provide "good and substantial reason" before they can get a handgun permit. By its ruling, the three-judge panel of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has rendered the Second Amendment meaningless by requiring that law-abiding citizens justify to public officials why they should be allowed to exercise their fundamental right to own and carry a firearm. An appeal of the decision is expected.

• NSSF CONGRESSIONAL FLY-IN REMINDER . . . All NSSF Voting Members are strongly encouraged to attend this key government relations effort to meet with key lawmakers and help advance the industry's federal legislative priorities. If you are interested in attending, please register today. A special group rate for hotel reservations will only be available until Tuesday, March 26.

SHOT Show

• TRADE SHOW EXECUTIVE MAGAZINE INTERVIEW WITH NSSF'S DOLNACK . . . In this month's Power Lunch cover story, Trade Show Executive magazine's Bob Dallmeyer sat down with NSSF Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Chris Dolnack to discuss NSSF's SHOT Show. With more than 600,000 net square feet of exhibit space, the SHOT Show is the 16th largest trade show in the nation, according to Trade Show Executive's Gold 100 directory, and the largest firearms trade show in the world. Dolnack shares the strategies that keep the show on track and on target. Read the interview in the March issue of Trade Show Executive.

Retailers & Ranges

• ADVERTISING AND MARKETING GUIDE FOR FIREARMS RETAILERS . . . NSSF has worked with noted author Tom Shay to create a series of operational books geared toward managing a firearms retail store. The fifth book in this series, Advertising and Marketing Guide for the Firearms Retailer, provides a comprehensive overview of the advertising and marketing process and covers such topics as the main components to a marketing plan, using social media, maximizing electronic media, capitalizing on traditional media, budgeting and determining the return on investment of your advertising campaign. These books are available as a free download on the member-only section of the NSSF website. Bound copies may be ordered from Ann Siladi (free to members, $15 to non-members). Email her at asiladi@nssf.org

NSSF Research

• INTERESTED IN OPENING A SHOOTING RANGE OR FIREARMS RETAIL SHOP? . . . NSSF Customized Market Reports (CMR) are a great way to learn more about the demographic makeup, potential customer base and local competition in and around the area you've selected to open a range or retail establishment. A CMR from NSSF averages 80 pages and contains detailed data for a chosen radius on any U.S. address. To learn more about Customized Market Reports and how you can commission one, email Dianne Vrablic, NSSF research coordinator, at dvrablic@nssf.org or call her at 203-426-1320. More information on this report is available at the NSSF website. This custom report, which costs non-NSSF members $5,000, is available to NSSF members for $500. Read about one member's experience with a CMR and view a sample report.

News of Note

• SPORTS SOUTH PROVIDES MAJOR SUPPORT TO FAMILIES AFIELD . . . Distributor Sports South, an NSSF member, has generously donated $100,000 to the Families Afield program that works to lower barriers and increase opportunities for youth to go hunting. Of the donation, Sports South Chairman and CEO Skipper Dickson said, "Sports South is proud to support the Families Afield program targeting youth development and fostering life-changing opportunities in the outdoors. From personal experience, I cherish the bond created by hunting with my children and now witness that influence in their strong character. We must always help protect and promote the fundamental building blocks of our industry, and the Families Afield initiative is a great way to do just that." Families Afield is a joint effort of NSSF, U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance, National Wild Turkey Federation, Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation and the National Rifle Association.

• U.S. FISH AND WILDLFE SERVICE ANNOUNCES $882.4 MILLION IN USER-GENERATED FUNDING TO STATE WILDLIFE AGENCIES . . . The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced the distribution of excise tax revenues generated by sportsmen and women through purchases of sporting products, including firearms and ammunition, in the amount of $882.4 million. These funds are distributed to state and territorial wildlife and fisheries management agencies to fund wildlife and fish conservation and recreation projects, including shooting ranges. An example of the impact in just one state was reported in the San Francisco Chronicle regarding Montana, which received $22.3 million, due in large part to the increased sale of firearms and ammunition.

• MIDWAYUSA FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES $3 MILLION DONATION TO SCHOLASTIC SHOOTING TRUST . . . The MidwayUSA Foundation and Scholastic Shooting Trust, a public charity established by MidwayUSA founders Larry and Brenda Potterfield, received a $3 million donation from the Potterfields to assist in the funding of not only new teams but also for those existing teams with little or no money in their endowments. The funds were approved for 204 endowments in all, including 192 shooting teams, seven state 4-H shooting programs and five newly established college curriculum shooting programs.

• VINCENT HANCOCK WINS GOLD AT ACAPULCO WORLD CUP . . . Twice Olympic gold winner Vincent Hancock of Eatonton, Ga., made another visit to the winner's podium, this time to receive the gold medal in skeet shooting at the International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup in Acapulco, Mexico. Missing only two clays in the 125-target qualifier earned Hancock a tie for first place in that event, and his perfect 16 out of 16 round secured a spot in the finals against Britain's Michael Gilligan. Hancock missed his first target in that gold medal match, but then shot perfectly through to the last double on station four, earning the gold.

• 1948 AMERICAN SHOOTER NOW WORLD'S OLDEST OLYMPIAN EVER . . . A new Olympic record of sorts was set last Thursday when American Olympic shooter Walter Walsh became the longest-living Olympian ever. On March 21, Walter Walsh, who placed 12th in the Men's 50m Free Pistol event in the 1948 games, reached 105 years and 321 days. Walsh's life as a youth in New Jersey shooting clothes pins with a BB gun and rats with a smoothbore .22 caliber rifle, as an FBI agent who apprehended some of the agency's "most wanted" and was shot twice, as a Marine in WW II and as an Olympian is celebrated in a press release produced by USA Shooting. Read the release.

• NEW YORK TIMES: HUNTERS NECESSARY TO SAVE AFRICAN LIONS . . . In an article published in the New York Times, Tanzanian Wildlife Director Alexander N. Songorwa states that while the lion population in his country is not endangered, declaring it so would create a loss of American hunters that would be devastating to conservation efforts. A recap of the Times article in the Outdoor Hub describes how the threatened "endangered" classification by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would have severely adverse effects. Songorwa emphasizes that if American hunters head elsewhere, an incredible strain will be laid on the nation's economy--with wildlife protection programs among the first to be affected. Read both the article in the New York Times and the report in Outdoor Hub.

• TONY KNIGHT, 'FATHER OF INLINE MUZZLELOADING,' DIES . . . Tony Knight of Plano, Iowa, passed away on March 18 at the Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines. In 1985, Knight invented, patented and began to manufacture his modernized version of the muzzleloader, known worldwide as the Knight Rifle. His accomplishment earned him the distinction of being "the father of inline muzzleloading."

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.

COPYRIGHT © 2013 by National Shooting Sports Foundation, Inc. Permission is granted for broadcast, publication, retransmission to email 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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