NSSF Bullet Points | Online News Service

September 16, 2013

Vol. 14 No. 36

This Week:

SHOT Show

Government Relations

1 Million New Hunters

Apprentice hunting afield can spark an interest that the classroom setting might not.

MAJOR MILESTONE FOR FAMILIES AFIELD . . . Families Afield, a model of cooperative effort, was launched in 2004 to increase the numbers of hunters, thus ensuring a promising future for the tradition of hunting and conservation. The initiative, founded by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance and the National Wild Turkey Federation, and now also partnering with the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation and the NRA, observed a major milestone by introducing one million newcomers to hunting. Nearly 200,000 apprentice licenses, a concept fostered by Families Afield, were sold in 2012, bringing that total since 2006 to 1,006,269.

SHOT Show

ATTENDEE REGISTRATION NOW OPEN FOR 2014 SHOT SHOW . . . Registration for the National Shooting Sports Foundation's 2014 SHOT Show is now open for attendees. (Media and Exhibitor registration will open in the coming weeks.) Believe it or not, the show -- Jan. 14-17 in Las Vegas -- is just four months away. While registering, attendees can easily add State of the Industry Dinner tickets, enroll in SHOT Show University and sign up for other educational offerings.
IMPROVED WI-FI READY FOR 2014 SHOT SHOW . . . The Sands Expo & Convention Center recently completed installation of a new $1.6 million wireless LAN (WLAN) that Sands executives say will deliver seamless mobility to the Sands Expo & Convention Center's 2.2 million square feet of flexible exhibition and meeting space. Read more.

Government Relations

Source: Denver Post

COLORADO VOTERS OUST STATE SENATORS WHO WERE KEY IN NEW GUN CONTROL LAWS . . . Grassroots citizen action triumphed last week over millions of dollars in broadcast advertising paid for, in large part, by out-of-state gun control organizations, including the one led by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The recall elections of State Senate President John Morse, representing Colorado Springs, and Angela Giron of Pueblo, drew widespread national attention. Coloradans who ran the recall effort also had some financial help from national organizations, but they were outspent approximately six to one by those defending Morse and Giron. NSSF issued a statement Wednesday congratulating both the leaders of the grassroots effort and the two new state senators, Bernie Herpin and George Rivera, both eminently qualified to represent their constituents. Herpin is a retired Air Force officer and Colorado Springs city council member. Rivera is a retired Pueblo deputy police chief.
ILLINOIS SUPREME COURT ISSUES ANOTHER VICTORY FOR CONCEALED CARRY . . . The Illinois State Supreme Court last Thursday ruled in a unanimous decision that the right to keep and bear arms is not confined to the home and a state law concerning "aggravated unlawful use of weapons" violates the Second Amendment. The decision is another victory for the right to bear arms in the last state to legalize concealed carry. It took an order from the federal Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in the Moore v. Madigan case to force Illinois state legislators to adopt a carry statute earlier this summer.
LAST MASSACHUSETTS GUN-CONTROL HEARING HELD IN BOSTON FRIDAY . . . Boston was the location on Friday for the final public hearing of the Massachusetts State legislature's Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security. That committee is looking at more than 60 bills to make firearms ownership more restrictive in a state that already has some of strictest regulations in the nation. At an August hearing in Springfield, Smith & Wesson CEO James Debney testified that the state legislature's emphasis should be on ensuring that the state's adjudicated mental-health records are sent to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). Massachusetts ranks as one of the worst states in submitting records. NSSF has launched the national FixNICS^SM campaign to have states submit prohibiting records to NICS. NSSF urges all Bay State gun owners, hunters and target shooters to contact their state legislators to urge them to FixNICS, and not infringe on their Second Amendment rights by passing new restrictive legislation.
CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS NEED TO URGE GOV. BROWN TO USE HIS VETO PEN . . . The California State Legislature, ignoring law-abiding gun-owners, hunting and shooting sports organizations, as well as business and labor leaders, has sent several bills to Gov. Jerry Brown. If signed into law, these bills will do everything from banning all semi-automatic rifles with detachable magazines to outlawing the use of traditional lead ammunition in hunting, the first such statewide ban in the nation. NSSF urges all sportsmen, gun owners and retailers to contact the governor and urge him to veto these bills.
- AB 711 (Rendon) Hunting: nonlead ammunition
- SB 374 (Steinberg) Firearms: assault weapons
- AB 48 (Skinner) Firearms: ammunition: sales
- AB 169 (Dickinson) Unsafe handguns
- AB 180 (Bonta) Registration and licensing of firearms: City of Oakland
- SB 567 (Jackson) Firearms: shotguns
Please contact Gov. Brown and ask him to veto these anti-gun/anti-hunting bills. See the NSSF Legislative Alert.
NSSF RESPONDS TO LAW TRIBUNE WRITER'S CALL TO SUE MANUFACTURERS . . . "One way to slow down and reverse the proliferation of guns in Connecticut would be to give gun violence victims the right to sue gun manufacturers for the damage caused by their products," began the editorial in the Connecticut Law Tribune. "It is hard to know where to start in responding to the illogic, insubstantial research and one-sided reasoning expressed in the August 28 Law Tribune editorial," responded the NSSF's Larry Keane. "The courts, including the Connecticut Supreme Court in Ganim v. Smith and Wesson Corp. (Conn. 2001), have repeatedly held that no liability attaches for the criminal misuse of lawfully sold, non-defective products. Would the Law Tribune like to see this basic legal tenant turned on its head for all industries or just firearms manufacturing?" Read NSSF's full response.
A LEFT-HANDED COMPLIMENT, OF SORTS . . . As happens from time to time, a writer who until recently knew little to nothing about firearms, discovers the NSSF and the role we play. So complete with several errors of fact, and out-of-date information, a writer for The Atlantic went to work. "You've likely never heard of the NSSF—they've kept a lower public profile than the National Rifle Association," writes Matt Valentine, "but they've been quietly shaping American gun culture for more than half a century. Now, they've begun to play a much more influential role in politics." At another point in the posting, he mentions the NSSF's "marketing savvy." We'll accept the left-handed compliment because we never shrink from our job to represent the firearms industry and to work on your behalf on many fronts.

Industry News

SILENCERCO NAMED ONE OF INC. MAGAZINE'S 500 FASTEST GROWING COMPANIES . . . SilencerCo, the West Valley, Utah,-based manufacturer of firearms silencers, has been named to Inc. Magazine's list of "The INC. 500: Fastest Growing Companies—Best Run, Most Innovative, Most Inspiring." The company has also been noted among the Utah Top 100 companies by Mountain West Capital Network and was named one of the "Emerging 8" Companies by Utah Business Magazine two years running. Read the INC. Magazine article about SilencerCo here.
MOSSBERG HIRES MILES AS MARKETING DIRECTOR . . . O.F. Mossberg & Sons, Inc., has announced the hire of David Miles to the position of director of marketing. Miles brings to the Mossberg marketing team 20 years of industry experience and an extensive knowledge of electronic and broadcast media, including 11 years at NSSF. At NSSF, Miles' previous place of employment, he most recently served as director, electronic media.
CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS AT 2014 SHOOTING SPORTS SUMMIT . . . NSSF has issued a call for presentations for breakout sessions at its 2014 Shooting Sports Summit, scheduled for June 9-11, 2014, in Springfield, Mass. The summit traditionally attracts leaders from the firearms and shooting sports industry, shooting range operators, firearms retailers and members of the conservation community and state wildlife agencies. Previous summits have sown the seeds of many successful programs that have increased participation in hunting and the shooting sports. Read more about the summit and this call for presentations.

Ranges/Retailers

FREE COMPLIANCE CONSULTANT INSPECTION FOR NSSF'S PREMIUM RETAILER MEMBERS . . . When NSSF announced its Premium Retailer Membership earlier this summer, the most comprehensive bundle of benefits to Federal Firearms Licensees was unveiled. Already dozens of existing and new NSSF members have taken on the "Premium" status and are availing themselves of one of that membership level's greatest benefits: an in-store full-day compliance inspection, evaluation and training by one of NSSF's expert FFL Compliance Consultants. A member of the team of former ATF agents with decades of experience in compliance performs this service at no charge to Premium members. Airfare, lodging, car rental and the $499 consulting fee charged to non-Premium members is covered by NSSF. Learn more about Premium Retailer Membership and about the NSSF FFL Compliance Consultation Program.
DEADLINE APPROACHING FOR OCTOBER WORKSHOP . . . This Friday, Sept. 20 is the last day to reserve your hotel rooms at the contracted group rate for NSSF's Lead Management and OSHA Compliance Workshop on Oct. 13-15 in New Orleans. NSSF's team of experts have hands-on experience in the fields of environmental law related to shooting ranges, OSHA compliance and inspection and lead reclamation and range maintenance. Read more about this workshop and register today.
RETAILERS CAN JOIN NSSF FOR $50 . . . As a special SHOT Show promotion, NSSF retail/range memberships are as low as $50 for a limited time. 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 -- retailer members can take advantage of SHOT Show perks like access to the NSSF Members Lounge and Business Center at the show.

Research

USITC FIREARMS AND AMMUNITION DATA FOR JULY 2013 . . . NSSF tracks and reports monthly U.S. import and export units for several sporting arms, ammunition and optics categories from the U.S. International Trade Commission. See a complete breakdown of each category's July import and export data. NSSF members can access additional historical import and export data by logging in at www.nssf.org/members and clicking NSSF Industry Research.

News of Note

CALIFORNIA'S LONGEST-SERVING HUNTER EDUCATION INSTRUCTOR DIES . . . When Alvin Richard Pecchenino, of Lodi, Calif., passed away last month at age 79, he left behind a legacy of having served as a voluntary hunter education instructor for 60 years. Pecchenino first started instructing with the National Rifle Association in 1952 and began his service with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife's (CDFW) hunter education program as an instructor when the program was launched in 1954. "He made a difference in the lives of generations of new hunters," said CDFW Capt. Roy Griffith. "It was an honor to know him."
MORE OLDER TEXANS GETTING CONCEALED HANDGUN LICENSES . . . Texans in their 50s and 60s are leading the pack in getting concealed handgun licenses, the Star-Telegram reports. The newspaper reports that as the number of concealed handgun licenses continues to increase in Texas, the top age group seeking concealed handgun licenses in the past five years has been over 50.
USA SHOOTING ANNOUNCES NEW PARTNERSHIP WITH SCHOLASTIC PROGRAMS . . . USA Shooting and the Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation announced they have entered into a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that strengthens their ongoing relationship. The new agreement solidifies the NSSF-developed Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) as the "Official Youth Clay target Development Program" for USA Shooting and now includes the Scholastic Pistol Program. The Scholastic Pistol Program (SPP) becomes the "Official Youth Action Pistol Development Program" for USA Shooting in the rapid fire and sport pistol events. Read more.
QUESTION: WHICH COUNTRY BOASTS THE MOST HUNTERS IN EUROPE? ANSWER: FRANCE . . . Have you ever wondered which European nation boasts the greatest number of hunters? The opportunities range from tracking ibex in the mountains of Spain to roaming the wilds of Tuscany in search of wild boar and deer, reports The Outdoor Hub but according to Le Figaro, France boasts the most hunters of any European country, with over 1,224,000 licensed hunters, making it the nation's second most popular sport after soccer.

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.