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April 04, 2014 |
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NSSF Annual Congressional Fly-In Brings Vital Messages to Capitol Hill
NSSF member company executives were in Washington, D.C. this week for the highly productive seventh annual congressional "fly-in". The firearms and ammunition industry executives met with Members of both houses of Congress to discuss such matters as the $37.7 billion national economic impact of the firearms industry, the need for revenue-neutral measures to allow the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to reduce the currently lengthy backlogs in form-processing times, and the opportunity to improve the provision of safety information and gun locks through law enforcement agencies across the country by re-starting funding of Project ChildSafe. NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Lawrence G. Keane said of the Fly-In, "We always welcome the opportunity to speak with our elected representatives to help ensure that the economic contribution of our industry members is understood and that we continue to work on a bi-partisan basis to help ensure that our members can continue to engage in the lawful commerce, grow their businesses and create even more good-paying jobs here in America." See the ad run in Politico, Roll Call and The Hill to help deliver the message to federal lawmakers that the firearms industry exercises real economic impact. ------------------ Industry Economic Impact Nearly Doubles in Five Years The total economic impact of the firearms and ammunition industry in the United States increased from $19.1 billion in 2008 to $37.7 billion in 2013, a 97 percent increase, while the total number of full-time equivalent jobs rose from more than 166,000 to more than 245,000, a 48 percent increase in that five-year period, according to a new National Shooting Sports Foundation report. Stephen L. Sanetti, NSSF President and Chief Executive Officer, notes that "While our nation's overall economic recovery has been slow since 2008, our industry has been a true bright spot, increasing our direct workforce by nearly half, adding jobs that pay an average of more than $47,700 in wages and benefits. The Firearms and Ammunition Industry Economic Impact Report: 2013 provides a state-by-state breakdown of job numbers, wages and output covering direct, supplier and induced employment, as well as federal excise taxes paid. Access the full report here ------------------ Reid: No Background Check Expansion Bill Will Reach Senate Floor U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has said that any legislation to expand the current National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) will not be considered on the Senate floor following Wednesday's shooting involving an apparently mentally unstable soldier at Fort Hood in Texas. While Reid pledged last year to bring gun-control legislation back to the floor, he said there are insufficient votes for passage and he won't move a bill until he can count enough positive votes. Reid understands very clearly that any vote to expand background checks would pose a huge political problem for vulnerable red-state Democrats seeking reelection this year. ------------------ NSSF, SAAMI Seek Injunction to Stop Unworkable Microstamping Law
------------------ Day Five of Testimony in Case against Colorado Governor The case against Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper brought by NSSF, county sheriffs, Magpul Industries, firearms retailers and associations and individual gun owners challenging the state's gun-control laws (HB 1229 and HB 1224) is in its fifth day of trial in federal court in Denver. The court has heard from all of the plaintiffs' expert witnesses, with the exception of further testimony from the plaintiffs' criminologist, which was scheduled for today. These experts each explained in detail the hardships created by the state's gun restrictions, particularly the magazine ban in HB 1229, which will not have the intended effect of reducing crime. The state called its first witness, a retired police chief, on Thursday. ------------------ Is the End Near for Ballistics Imaging in Maryland? NSSF's ongoing effort to repeal Maryland's ballistics imaging (IBIS) law received a victory this week with the inclusion of language into this year's budget that requires the state police to develop a report on imaging and present it to the state legislature by the end of the year. Some of the areas the budget committee would like to see addressed include: how the program has been used over the last four years; its effectiveness in solving crimes; and its overall benefit to in criminal investigations. In the past, the Maryland State Police have been critical of the program and have issued two reports looking to do away with IBIS citing it as a drain on law enforcement resources. Currently, state police are still collecting the required casings, but they are not entering them into the system because the program is no longer funded, even as manufacturers and retailers still must comply. Maryland is the only state left with this requirement after NSSF successfully worked to repeal the law in New York in 2012. NSSF will continue to work toward repeal in Maryland. ------------------ Governor Heineman Signs Nebraska FixNICS Reporting Bill
------------------ Michigan Supreme Court Decision Ends Long Legal Fight A long legal battle between a Michigan shooting range owner and local zoning officials finally came to an end this past week. The Michigan Supreme Court has ruled that the state's amended Sport Shooting Range Act (Act) permits ranges in existence before 1994 and that operate in compliance with the generally accepted practices (NRA Range Source Book Guidelines) to continue to operate without having to comply with local zoning laws. After more than 10 years of operating his range with permission from Addison Township, Jerry Barnhart was suddenly issued a citation in 2005 for failing to obtain a zoning permit. Litigation ensued and the case was volleyed back and forth countless times between the state trial and intermediate appellate levels. The case ultimately ended up in the hands of the Michigan Supreme Court on the issue of whether a range is a "sport shooting range" as defined by the Act. The court found ranges are entitled to immunity from civil and criminal liability and also from local regulation under the Act if they are "designed and operated for the use of firearms-related activities." It does not matter what patrons may use the range for, or that the range may be run for commercial purposes. The idea that the Act does not protect hundreds of Michigan shooting ranges that charge patrons fees, or engage in business transactions to increase membership as the Michigan Court of Appeals erroneously believed, would have put these ranges out of business. The NSSF applauds the Michigan Supreme Court for its common sense and for stopping the re-writing of state law and stripping ranges of the protections afforded under the Act. ------------------ Pleasant Hill, Calif. Zoning Panel Delays Decision More than 100 people attended a public hearing of the Pleasant Hill, California Planning Commission this week in opposition to an already-passed city ordinance regulating firearms retailers. Eyewitness reports indicate there was visible frustration from the commissioners on the flawed ordinance now before them, especially when they learned that the city council had passed the ordinance without careful deliberation or even reference to relevant city-staff prepared information. The commissioners even questioned why the ordinance was necessary in the first place, ultimately delaying any decision until their next meeting on May 6th and requesting clarification from the council on a number of questions. ------------------ NSSF-Adjusted NICS Background Checks Second Highest March Ever
------------------ Poll: Most Americans Don't Buy the Gun Control Spin A new Rasmussen Reports national survey finds only 40 percent of "likely U.S. voters" believe that the United States needs stricter gun control laws. This poll records a nine-point drop from last May. As the Rasmussen press release notes, "Fifty-three percent do not think the country needs tougher gun control laws, the highest level of opposition in over two years. The results nearly mirror a January Gallup poll that showed the percentage of Americans favoring stricter gun laws fell 7 points in 2014, from 38 to 31 percent. The country's overall dissatisfaction with U.S. gun laws and policies has increased to 55 percent this year, up from 51 percent in 2013. Read NSSF President Steve Sanetti's view of what these two major poll results mean --------------------------- Learn more about our industry's Political Action Committee:
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NSSF and the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute (SAAMI) have filed a motion for a 
The March 2014 NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) figure of 1,224,705 is the second highest March on record for the system, even with a decrease of 18.4 percent compared to the March 2013 NSSF-adjusted NICS figure of 1,501,730. For comparison, the unadjusted March 2014 NICS figure of 2,476,610 reflects a 12.7 percent increase from the unadjusted NICS figure of 2,197,116 in March 2013. The unusually large difference in the NSSF-adjusted and unadjusted NICS numbers appears to be due to the submission by North Carolina of monthly background checks for CCW permits. 
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