NSSF

Smith & Wesson has stepped up to become a Gold Sponsor of the NSSF Industry Summit, the National Shooting Sports Foundation announced.

The 2014 edition of the Industry Summit will take place June 9-11 in Springfield, Mass., the city where Smith & Wesson maintains its headquarters and manufacturing facilities.

“We are very pleased to have the generous support of this iconic firearms company for the Industry Summit,” said Chris Dolnack, NSSF Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer. “As a Gold Level sponsor, Smith & Wesson recognizes the importance of the Industry Summit and its long-term value to every segment of the shooting sports community.”

At the Summit, leaders representing the firearms industry, state wildlife agencies, conservation organizations and shooting sports and hunting groups will share ideas to help shape a positive future for the shooting sports.

Many programs that have helped increase participation in target shooting and hunting in the past 18 years can trace their roots to NSSF Industry Summits.

More information about the NSSF Industry Summit, registration, schedules, accommodations and sponsorship opportunities can be

The Second Amendment, as affirmed by the Heller and McDonald cases, protects the right of American citizens to possess guns regardless of geographic boundaries within the U.S., yet cities like Washington, D.C. and Chicago make gun ownership very difficult. Seeing how these cities have violent crime rates higher than other U.S. cities, you would think they would make it easier for law-abiding citizens to possess guns as a means of self-defense as well as for sporting reasons.  Sadly this isn’t the case; in fact, the rights of gun owners in these two major U.S. cities are closer to gun rights of citizens of Mexico than they are to their fellow Americans.

The Second Amendment, as affirmed by the Heller and McDonald cases, protects the right of American citizens to possess guns regardless of geographic boundaries within the U.S., yet cities like Washington, D.C. and Chicago make gun ownership very difficult. Seeing how these cities have violent crime rates higher than other U.S. cities, you would think they would make it easier for law-abiding citizens to possess guns as a means of self-defense as well as for sporting reasons.  Sadly this isn’t the case; in fact, the rights of gun owners in these two major U.S. cities are closer to gun rights of citizens of Mexico than they are to their fellow Americans.

Article 10 of the Mexican Constitution grants citizens the right to “possess arms in the home for security and legitimate defense” and, over the past five years, as violence has become more prevalent throughout t

One of NSSF’s shooting tips is up for a People’s Telly Award, but we need your vote. If you like the work we’ve done with Sig Sauer Academy instructor Adam Painchaud, watch our video “Cure for Poor Trigger-finger Discipline.” Then, if you like what you see, give the video the THUMBS UP. It’s that simple. Voting ends today, Friday, April 4 so cast your vote now!

Click here for the best way to watch, vote and share the tip. 

After you’ve cast your vote, join the community of nearly 60,000 subscribers of NSSF’s YouTube channel–located at youtube.com/TheNSSF–and be among the first to

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 report released today by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the industry’s trade association.

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 report released today by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the industry’s trade association.

“We have seen dramatic, unprecedented during peacetime growth in the firearms and ammunition industry that is the direct result of consumer demand for our products in the last five years,” said Stephen L. Sanetti, NSSF president and chief executive officer. “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. Supplier and induced jobs* were also increased by about half since 2008, even as we increased federal tax payments by 93 percent, Pittman-Robertson excise taxes that support wildlife conservation by 8

Gun control advocates are often quoted in media accounts as saying that the vast majority of Americans are in favor of stricter gun control laws before they spin off onto the particular “commonsense” new law they are espousing that day from that organization. Leaving aside the often dubious sources they cite, we are in a mid-term election year for Congress and many states have gubernatorial elections.

Gun control advocates are often quoted in media accounts as saying that the vast majority of Americans are in favor of stricter gun control laws before they spin off onto the particular “commonsense” new law they are espousing that day from that organization. Leaving aside the often dubious sources they cite, we are in a mid-term election year for Congress and many states have gubernatorial elections.

With elections squarely in mind, I bring your attention to the results of a new Rasmussen Reports national survey that 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.”

These results nearly mirror a

The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) and the  Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers’ Institute (SAAMI) have filed a  motion for a preliminary injunction on behalf of their members  against the State of California in Fresno Superior Court to prevent enforcement  of the state’s microstamping law. The state statute enacted in 2007, but not made  effective until May 2013, requires that all semiautomatic handguns sold in the  state not already on the California approved handgun roster incorporate unproven  and unreliable microstamping technology.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) and the  Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers’ Institute (SAAMI) have filed a  motion for a preliminary injunction on behalf of their members  against the State of California in Fresno Superior Court to prevent enforcement  of the state’s microstamping law. The state statute enacted in 2007, but not made  effective until May 2013, requires that all semiautomatic handguns sold in the  state not already on the California approved handgun roster incorporate unproven  and unreliable microstamping technology.

Under this law, firearms  manufacturers would have to micro laser-engrave a gun’s make, model and serial  number on two distinct parts of each handgun, including the firing pin so that,  in theory, this information would be imprinted on the cartridge casing when the  pistol is fired.

“There is  no existing microstamping technology that meets the requirement of this ill-considered  law. It is not technologically possible to microstamp two locations in the gun  and have the required information imprint onto the cartridge casing. In  addition, the current state of the technology cannot reliably, consistently and  legibly imprint on the

The news stunned those who follow politics and government in California. The FBI is charging State Sen. Leland Yee with conspiracy to traffic in firearms and public corruption as part of a major investigation centered in San Francisco, the city he represents. Term limited from running again for what had been his safe state Senate seat, the arrest ends Yee’s quest to become California secretary of state.

The news stunned those who follow politics and government in California. The FBI is charging State Sen. Leland Yee with conspiracy to traffic in firearms and public corruption as part of a major investigation centered in San Francisco, the city he represents. Term limited from running again for what had been his safe state Senate seat, the arrest ends Yee’s quest to become California secretary of state.

Yee is alleged to have met on several occasions with an undercover FBI agent, soliciting campaign contributions in return for setting up a sale with international arms dealers. This is the same Yee who sponsored numerous pieces of anti-gun legislation that have seriously infringed the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding California citizens.

Specifically, Yee is charged with conspiracy to traffic in firearms and to illegally import firearms, as well as six counts of attempting to defraud citizens. Each corruption count is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000, while conviction on the gun-trafficking cou

Register for NSSF’s 2014 Industry Summit by March 31 to get early-bird pricing on registration. 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 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.

Since the late 1930s, hunters, target shooters and the firearms industry have been the nation’s largest contributors to conservation, paying for programs that benefit America’s wildlife and all who love the outdoors.

In fact, the U.S. Department of Interior just announced that firearms and ammunition manufacturers contributed a record $760.9 million in excise taxes in 2013 through the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Program.

NSSF has created a new infographic, “How Wildlife is Thriving Because of Guns and Hunting,” to illustrate how we as an industry and as sportsmen are the greatest contributors to wildlife conservation in America, providing nearly $9 billion over the past 76 years.

Please spread this message far and wide. Share it on social media, post it to your websites — let the world know about America’s original and largest contributors to conservation: hunters, shooters and the firearms industry.

She’s back! Roundly defeated legislatively and procedurally on the Senate floor a year ago, Dianne Feinstein, the U.S. Senate’s leading foe of Americans exercising their Second Amendment rights, is resuming her jihad against semi-automatic modern sporting rifles using a different tactic.

This time, the California Democrat is asking her fellow U.S. 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.”

If that sounds like nonsense, it’s because it is nonsense. Here’s some more of her flawed reasoning:

“In 1998, the Department of the Treasury — which then housed ATF — issued guidance that interpreted the import ban to prohibit only semi-automatic rifles that use magazines originally designed for a military rifle. Many semi-automatic firearms on the market today do not h

When a pre-set story narrative meets formulaic writing, you get the worst of both worlds.  The latest example is evident in “10 things the gun industry won’t tell you,” recently served up by MarketWatch, formerly a property of CBS, but now part of News Corp through its acquisition of the Wall Street Journal, but absent the seasoned editorial judgment that used to be synonymous with that brand.

The whole approach is an artifice when applied to anything more than a straightforward  customer purchase or client services relationship, far better in concept for “10 things your realtor won’t tell you” for which this approach is usually applied. There’s far too much wrong in this piece to respond to point for point. Besides, the thousand-plus overwhelmingly critical comments posted in response did a good job of identifying the selective use of data and inaccuracies. But for the sake of the record, let us take on four of the things the gun industry supposedly “won’t tell you.”

1. “Owning our product may be hazardous to your health.”
   The piece reported the gun-control community’s favored aggregate number of “people killed by firearms” without separating suicides and deaths of those involved

NSSF’s 2014 Industry Summit will feature an hour-long dialog with two pro-Second Amendment journalists — Katie Pavlich of Townhall.com and a Fox News contributor, and Emily Miller of The Washington Times.

Because a better informed firearms industry is a more effective one, the program will help familiarize participants with Katie and Emily’s work, so that we can help them gain readers and viewers in the battle for public opinion even as we learn from them how to more effectively overcome the arguments of anti-gun activists.

That two young women are such successful journalists, while both are active in the shooting sports, helps dispel the media myth that defending gun ownership is the domain of middle-aged and older men.

NSSF Public Affairs Director Mike Bazinet will facilitate the discussion.

Just a year after President Obama unilaterally overturned 17 years of Congressional action that prevented the Centers for Disease Control from wasting taxpayer dollars for “studies” pre-designed to yield results gun control supporters can point to, he recently went for an encore by earmarking $10 million to the Centers for Disease Control for precisely this purpose.  Cheered on by gun-control proponents U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), the president’s earmark would infuse CDC with a “critical investment,” Markey said, “to help us make progress toward keeping our neighborhoods and communities safer.”

That sounds nice, but what effect will this new funding really have?

PEW RESEARCH CENTER

First, more instructive and cost-efficient than commissioning a raft of new studies is the real life experiences of the last two decades. Gun-related violence has plummeted and continues to do so. At the same time, rates of firearm ownership are increasing and more firearms are in circulation now than ever before. According to a 2012 study from t