NSSF® SHOT Show® Press Conference Invitation

"Firearms Sales Outlook Positive for 2012 following Record-setting Year"

 

When: Wednesday, January 18, 10 to 11 a.m., at the 2012 Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade ShowSM (SHOT Show®).

Where: SHOT Show Press Conference Room 3306, Venetian Hotel, Level 3, adjacent to NSSF press room; entry available through press room prior to start of press conference.

Who: The National Shooting Sports Foundation, the trade association for the firearms, ammunition, hunting and shooting sports industry and owner of the SHOT Show. Speakers: NSSF President and CEO Steve Sanetti and firearms retailer Joe Keffer, chairman of the NSSF Retailer Advisory Board and owner of the Sportsman's Shop, New Holland, Penn. Additional resources: NSSF Director of Research and Analysis Jim Curcuruto and NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Lawrence G. Keane.

Why: More and more law-abiding citizens are choosing to exercise their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms, and they are doing so in a safe and responsible manner. This multi-year trend is nationwide and newsworthy for national and local media outlets.

Indicators reveal a record-setting year in 2011 for firearms sales--a positive sign for industry in 2012 and for overall participation in the shooting sports. Indicators also reveal growing interest among citizens, particularly women, in owning a firearm for personal and home protection.

The speakers will explain how NSSF uses indicators such as National Instant Criminal Background Checks to gauge sales. They also will discuss notable changes in customers who are purchasing firearms, their reasons for doing so and the types of firearms that are in demand.

December marked an unprecedented 19th-straight month of background check increases when compared to the same period of the previous year. NSSF-adjusted background checks for December totaled nearly 1.5 million--the most ever for any month. This comes on the heels of the historic "Black Friday" (November 25, 2011) record for the most background checks in a single day.

Important to the discussion is FBI data released in December showing that violent crime in the United States continues to drop, falling 6.4 percent in the first half of this year compared to the same period a year ago. The FBI statistics undermine a favorite argument of anti-gun groups and some mainstream media that "more guns equal more crime."

Two additional statistics have a relationship to America's growing firearm sales and decreasing crime rate; they are the historic low level of firearm-related accidents and the record lack of public support for gun control.