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NSSF Congressional Fly-In, April 2 & 3
A FEW SPOTS REMAIN . . . Although NSSF's Congressional Fly-In is nearly here, there is still time to claim one of the few places that remain for firearms industry leaders to take advantage of this opportunity to speak directly with senators and representatives in their offices on Capitol Hill. The April 2-3 event is open to presidents/CEOs (or a senior staff member of their choosing) of voting members and supporting manufacturer and distributor members. Industry leaders who have attended in past years speak highly of the opportunity the Fly-In provides to make their priorities and concerns known to our federal lawmakers. For more information: 2014 NSSF Congressional Fly-In.
Project ChildSafe
 IDAHO CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION AT PROJECT CHILDSAFE EVENT . . . U.S. Sens. Mike Crapo and James Risch and Reps. Mike Simpson and Raul Labrador, along with the Ada County and Canyon County Sheriff Departments and the Boise and Meridian Police Departments, helped bring Project ChildSafe's "Own It? Respect It. Secure It." message to gun owners in Idaho last Tuesday. "This is a responsible way to approach gun safety. Your contributions can help expand availability to gun locks," said Sen. Crapo at the lock giveaway event hosted at Sportsman's Warehouse in Meridian. Also in attendance were representatives from ATK, which has a facility in Lewiston, and Bill Brassard, NSSF Senior Director, Communications, who stressed that storing firearms properly is the No. 1 way to help prevent accidents and misuse. Watch TV coverage. Become a Project ChildSafe supporter.
- BENEFITS OF TALKING TO CHILDREN ABOUT GUN SAFETY . . . Last Friday, Opelousas, La., Police Chief Perry Gallow provided elementary school children with knowledge they can use to be safe around guns, and in return a student provided him with information that he used to help make his community safer. According to an article in the Daily World, a student told Chief Gallow about three firearms hidden under an abandoned house. All the firearms were found to be loaded. Read the story.
Government Relations
- NSSF ACTION ALERT: SEN. FEINSTEIN'S NEW ATTEMPT TO BAN IMPORTS OF SEMI-AUTOMATIC RIFLES . . . U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif. ) is pursuing her long-running effort to take semi-automatic rifles out of the hands of law-abiding Americans using a different approach. Having been defeated on the floor of the U.S. Senate a year ago, the liberal California Democrat is now asking fellow senators to sign on to a letter to President Obama asking him to direct the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to ban the importation of what she calls "assault weapons" and "military-style rifles" that are not "generally recognized as particularly suitable for or readily adaptable to sporting purposes." See the NSSF Action Alert.
 SOUTH DAKOTA GOV. DAUGAARD SIGNS FIXNICS BILL . . . House Bill 1229, which will allow the State of South Dakota to submit mental-health records to NICS, was signed March 14 by Gov. Dennis Daugaard. The act becomes effective on July 1, 2014. South Dakota was one of the priority target states in NSSF's nationwide FixNICS initiative.
- NSSF TESTIFIES AT RHODE ISLAND HEARING . . . The Rhode Island House Judiciary Committee held a hearing last week to consider numerous anti-gun bills. NSSF Director Government Relations, State Affairs, Jake McGuigan and representatives from A.T. Wall Company, a Warwick-based maker of ammunition magazines, testified in opposition to the bills that include a ban on all semi-automatic firearms, outlawing the manufacture of magazines over 10 rounds and even advocating the confiscation of magazines greater than 10 rounds. The committee voted to "hold for further study" all of the anti-gun legislation. The bills have not been defeated, they will remain in committee for the foreseeable future. NSSF thanks all Ocean State gun owners who attended the hearing.
- DELAWARE'S HIGHEST COURT RULES PUBLIC HOUSING TENANTS HAVE RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS . . . The Delaware Supreme Court last week ruled in Doe v. Wilmington Housing Authority that the state's public housing tenants have the right to bear arms for self-defense even in common areas. In so ruling, the court applied the state constitution's right to bear arms provision -- "A person has the right to keep and bear arms for the defense of self, family, home and State, and for hunting and recreational use," noting that this language may justify broader protection than that given by the Second Amendment. The precedent could prove influential in other states because the case deals with having firearms for self-defense, which the U.S. Supreme Court in D.C. v. Heller held is covered by the Second Amendment. Read more about the decision.
- JUDGE: ATF JUMPED THE GUN ON SILENCER DESIGNATION . . . ATF arbitrarily classified a new device as a firearm silencer without sufficient review or a decent explanation why, a federal judge has ruled. Innovator Enterprises Inc. brought the complaint as the creator of the "Stabilizer Brake" that attaches to the muzzle of a rifle with the intent of substantially reducing the firearm recoil and redirecting noise away from the shooter toward the target, among other things. Read about this case.
For more Government Relations news, read NSSF's latest Government Relations Update.
NSSF Industry Summit
- EARLY-BIRD REGISTRATION ENDS MARCH 31 . . . Register by March 31 to get early-bird pricing on registration for the NSSF Industry Summit. Fees will rise after that date, so we encourage you to register today to participate in the process of building a positive future for target shooting, hunting and the industry. The NSSF Industry Summit is slated for June 9-11 in Springfield, Mass., and registration is open to individuals representing hunting and shooting sports organizations, conservation groups, wildlife agencies and the firearms and ammunition industry. Register Today.
SHOT Show
- DEADLINE FOR SHOT SHOW EXHIBITOR NSSF MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS OR NEW APPLICATIONS APPROACHING . . . All SHOT Show exhibitors must have either their 2014 NSSF supporting membership renewal payment or their supporting member application into the NSSF membership department by June 30 to take advantage of the 2015 SHOT Show member discount booth pricing. Pricing is at $35 per square foot, but NSSF members will receive a discount, putting their booth price at $30 per square foot. NSSF voting members have an even deeper discount of $25 per square foot.
 SHOT SHOW INDUSTRY DAYS AT THE RANGE FORMAT CHANGE . . . SHOT Show's Media Day at the Range and Buyer Day at the Range will now take place on the same day, Monday, Jan. 19, 2015. The change means buyers will not have to miss the opening morning of SHOT Show. The new single-day format will have two sessions. The first will accommodate up to 1,000 invited media members, who are welcome to stay the entire day. The afternoon session will be for up to 700 invited buyers, dealers, distributors and retailers. Though there will be no at-large media session, the media segment has been expanded to accommodate additional invited media. Read the press release.
- EXHIBITOR REGISTRATION OPENS FOR INDUSTRY DAY AT THE RANGE . . . Registration for existing exhibitors at SHOT Show Industry Day at the Range opened March 20; new exhibitors will be able to register on April 21. SHOT Show Industry Day at the Range, which includes Media Day and Buyer Day, will take place Jan. 19, 2015, the day before SHOT Show opens. Exhibiting opportunities are open to all manufacturers in the hunting and shooting industry; conservation groups and shooting organizations are welcome on a first-come, first-served basis. Learn more at www.SHOTShowRangeDay.com.
NSSF Premium Retailer Membership
 FIREARM RETAILERS: SIGN UP OR UPGRADE TODAY . . . While NSSF's Premium Retailer Membership has many benefits, the heart of the program is its compliance compendium and training that NSSF provides through a coaching audit provided by its FFL Compliance Consultant Team. Moving forward from the training, if Premium members have compliance questions, they have access to an unlimited 24/7 compliance hotline as well as access to their consultant if any issues arise. In addition to the training and support NSSF provides, should a Premium member business find ATF taking legal action against its license, NSSF's unlimited legal defense fund is there to protect its livelihood. For more information, visit nssf.org/premium. The Premium Retailer Membership provides peace of mind in knowing that if you follow the training and use the support provided and stay in compliance, your trade association will be there to defend your license and your livelihood. To upgrade your existing membership to a Premium Retailer Membership, contact NSSF Member Services.
NSSF Industry Research
- USITC FIREARMS AND AMMUNITION DATA FOR JANUARY 2014 . . . 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 January import and export data. NSSF members can access additional historical import and export data by logging in and clicking NSSF Industry Research.
 NEWEST NSSF SURVEY TRACKER AVAILABLE . . . The NSSF Survey Tracker is a monitoring service using an online panel of active hunters and target shooters. Sourced by Southwick Associates' online panel at HunterSurvey.com, each report features: Market Snapshot--purchases made in the past two months; and Market Leaders--the top brands purchased in different retail categories. This edition posts Market Leaders for Powder and Presses and the top 5 types of rifle shooting performed in November and December. NSSF members may view, in addition to this latest edition, historical survey trackers by logging on to www.nssf.org/members and clicking on "NSSF Industry Research" and then on "Survey Tracker."
News of Note
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COAST GUARD SALUTE FOR SCALIA . . . U.S. Coast Guard Academy cadets honored visiting Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia last week with a 19-gun salute using 40mm cannons. Scalia, who wrote the majority opinion for the landmark Heller case that reaffirmed the individual's right to own a firearm, addressed an auditorium of cadets wearing their dress blue uniforms. He said the U.S. Constitution deserved their affection and their oath, according to a Washington Post story. During his visit, Scalia met with varsity shooting team members and the honor canon crews, which, in keeping with tradition, presented Scalia with a "First Honors" shell.
- NSSF ADDRESSES POMA BUSINESS CONFERENCE . . . The 2014 Professional Outdoor Media Association's Business Conference completed a successful run from a Wednesday evening reception to an NSSF-sponsored Saturday luncheon that capped off a successful shooting day at the John Sevier Hunter Education Center in Knoxville, Tenn., and ended the official portion of the conference. At the luncheon, NSSF Director, Editorial Services, Glenn Sapir informed the crowd of NSSF's Project ChildSafe "Own It? Respect It. Secure It." campaign and urged industry and media participation. At shooting day, media were able to try out some of POMA corporate partners' latest firearms, ammunition, bows, crossbows and accessories. On Friday evening, POMA's Pinnacle Award honorees were announced by Kevin Tate, former chairman of the board of POMA and vice president of media production for Mossy Oak, which sponsors the awards.
- SCHOLASTIC PISTOL PROGRAM SETS RECORD WITH COLLEGIATE NATIONALS . . . The Scholastic Pistol Program, administered by the Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation (SSSF), held its 2014 Collegiate National Championships at Fort Benning, Ga., March 14-16 and in so doing presented the largest college action-shooting match in the country. Nearly 100 shooters from 24 squads representing 10 universities participated. Read more about this event in SSSF's press release.
- ACUI COLLEGIATE SHOTGUNNING CHAMPIONSHIPS ABOUT TO GET UNDERWAY WITH RECORD PARTICIPATION . . . The ACUI Collegiate Clay Target Championships continue to show marked growth in participation as more than 600 shooters and nearly 75 college teams prepare for the 2014 championships to be held March 25-30 at the National Shooting Complex in San Antonio, Texas. The ACUI program has grown by an average of over 10 percent annually for the last five years. Some of the six events have shown increases of as much as 15 percent. Learn more about ACUI and the upcoming championships, for which NSSF serves as a title sponsor.
- 18 SKEET, DOUBLE TRAP ATHLETES EARN WORLD CUP TEAM SPOTS . . . Eighteen shotgunners at the Spring Selection match conducted by USA Shooting earned Skeet and Double Trap spots to compete at the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) World Championships in Granada, Spain, Sept. 6-20. Among the familiar names winning spots were Glenn Eller, Josh Richmond, Kim Rhode, Haley Dunn and others. Read more, including mention of all 18 who earned spots.
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