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243,292

November 27, 2012 by 3 Comments

That is the number of point-of-sale NICS checks that were performed on Friday and Saturday combined. The NSSF is reporting that the number of NICS checks on the day after Thanksgiving, “Black Friday”, set the all-time one-day record of 154,873.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving also made the list of top ten highest days coming in at number six.

With regard to the numbers, NSSF points out:

That total was nearly 20 percent more than the previous high of 129,166 set on Black Friday last year. Since a federal background check is mandatory for every firearm sold at retail, background check activity serves as an indicator of retail gun sales.

They attribute the high sales to Obama’s reelection, an increase in hunting license sales, and the fact that more and more Americans are taking responsibility for the safety of their families as well as themselves.

Since these numbers are strictly from point-of-sales, it will be interesting to see how the gun prohibitionists try to spin this.

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Final Vote On Sportsmen’s Act Of 2012 Expected Today (Updated)

November 27, 2012 by 1 Comment

The Senate Calendar for today lists S.3525 as the first act of legislative business for today.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation has released another alert that the bill is coming to a vote and urging support for it.

What makes this alert a little different is that they acknowledge indirectly GOA’s opposition to the bill. I know this will put me on the other side of the fence from some of my readers but I think NSSF has it right on this. I have heard criticism of NSSF’s support for S.3525 as “consider the source”. This assumes that NSSF only cares about lead ammo and shooting ranges and not Federal confiscation of land. Frankly, I think this improperly denigrates both NSSF and the gun manufacturing community as “unAmerican” and only looking out for themselves.

UPDATE: The Senate voted 50 yea, 44 nay, and 6 not voting on a substitute amendment by Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV). The amendment is described as “Motion to Waive all Applicable Budgetary Discipline Re: Amdt. No. 2875; In the nature of a substitute.” The amendment failed as it required a 3/5 majority. Every Republican except the lame duck Sen. Olympia Snowe (RINO-ME) voted nay on the amendment.

 According to today’s Senate calendar, S. 3525, is being placed on the Unanimous Consent calendar to:

1.—Ordered, That S. 3525, a bill to protect and enhance opportunities for recreational hunting, fishing, and shooting, and for other purposes, be returned to the Calendar status quo; provided, that at a time to be determined by the Majority Leader after consultation with the Republican Leader, it be in order for the Majority Leader to resume consideration of S. 3525. (Nov. 26, 2012.)

Where this leaves the bill in terms of scheduling, I’m not sure.

UPDATE II: The NSSF released this statement regarding S. 3525 yesterday. They still hope it will be brought to a vote in this lame-duck session.


NSSF today expressed disappointment with the results of last evening’s procedural vote in the U.S. Senate that has delayed action on the Sportsmen’s Act of 2012 (S.3525), but pledged to continue working in a bipartisan fashion, along with a coalition of more than 45 other leading sportsmen’s and conservation groups, to advance the historic package of bills before the adjournment of the 112th Congress.


“It is clear there is broad bipartisan support for the policies contained in the Sportsmen’s Act, which contains our industry’s top legislative priorities” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF senior vice president and general counsel. “While we are disappointed by Monday’s procedural vote, we will continue to work in a bipartisan manner to address budgetary concerns raised by senators in time to ensure a vote on the Sportsmen’s Act before the end of the lame-duck session.”

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NCWRC Sued Over Night Hunting Of Coyotes

November 27, 2012 by

The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission is being sued by the Southern Environmental Law Center on behalf of Red Wolf Coalition, Defenders of Wildlife and the Animal Welfare Institute to stop night hunting of coyotes with artificial light in five eastern NC counties. A judge in Wake County Superior Court has granted a preliminary injunction stopping the hunting of coyotes in Dare, Tyrrell, Hyde, Washington and Beaufort counties.


RALEIGH, NC- Coyote hunting at night with the aid of an artificial light will be disallowed temporarily in five counties – Dare, Tyrrell, Hyde, Washington and Beaufort – pending the outcome of a lawsuit questioning the temporary rule adopted by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.


Wake County Superior Court Judge Paul Ridgeway issued a preliminary injunction halting coyote hunting at night with the aid of artificial light only in those five counties. The order was issued in response to a complaint filed by the Southern Environmental Law Center, on behalf of the Red Wolf Coalition, Defenders of Wildlife and the Animal Welfare Institute.


“While we accept the judge’s decision, it is important to note that this is a decision on a preliminary injunction only. It is not a decision on the lawsuit,” said Wildlife Commission Executive Director Gordon Myers. “We remain confident of our position and its merits.”


The Wildlife Commission passed temporary rules in July allowing the taking of coyotes and feral swine by hunting on private lands at night with a light. Night hunting is one means of controlling localized populations of coyotes and feral swine, both of which are non-native to North Carolina, destructive to the landscape, and potential disease carriers. Coyotes also pose predatory threats to pets and livestock.


The preliminary injunction issued today by the Superior Court only applies to hunting coyotes at night in Washington, Beaufort, Tyrrell, Hyde and Dare counties The order does not prevent taking of wildlife, including coyotes and red wolves, while in the act of depredation. It does not affect hunting feral swine at night with the aid of a light.


The preliminary injunction will remain in effect pending the final ruling by the Superior Court on this issue.
Wildlife Officers in the five-county region will work to alert hunters about today’s ruling.

The plaintiffs are alleging that the rule allowing night hunting of coyotes in those counties violated the NC Administrative Procedure Act and will put the red wolf, an endangered species, at risk. A copy of the lawsuit can be found on the Animal Welfare Institute’s website here.

As a North Carolinian, I am a bit worried about the use of the legal system by groups like PETA and now the Animal Welfare Institute. AWI describes their mission as:

Since its founding in 1951, AWI has sought to alleviate the suffering
inflicted on animals by people. In the organization’s early years, our
particular emphasis was on the desperate needs of animals used for
experimentation. In the decades that followed, we expanded the scope of
our work to address many other areas of animal suffering.

I would think that if they were really concerned about the health of the red wolf they would be all for the hunting of a non-native invasive species that competes with the red wolf for food and habitat. Moreover, one of the biggest threats to the survival of the species is hybridization with coyotes.

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The Spoils Of Winning The Presidency

November 27, 2012 by

Ah, the spoils of being the victor. Not only does Barack Obama get to stay in the White House another four years with Secret Service protection, Air Force One at his beck and call, and a whole host of other amenities but now he has had a fish named after him.

The Etheostoma obama or Spangled Darter is a newly discovered fish that lives exclusively in the fresh water river systems of Tennessee. (corrected)

According to Sci-News, a total of five new darters were discovered and named after Obama, Teddy Roosevelt, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, and Jimmy Carter because they “worked to promote conservation and environmental protection.” These five darters live in the river systems of Tennessee, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Kansas and Oklahoma.

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Black Friday Gun Sales Crash NICS

November 25, 2012 by 7 Comments

According to a story in the Bangor (ME) Daily News, the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System or NICS suffered intermittent outages on Black Friday due to call volume. A number of Bangor-area firearms dealers reported trouble with the system which caused them to lose sales. While a number of their customers were local, a good proportion were from the more rural areas of Maine and made a special trip into the Bangor-Brewer area just to purchase a firearm.

The FBI confirmed the outage to the newspaper.


Black Friday sales played a role in the problems with NICS, the director of the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division said, responding to an email from the Bangor Daily News.


“The NICS has experienced intermittent outages today due to high call volumes,” Stephen G. Fischer Jr. said at about 2:15 p.m.


Lozier, who has worked at Van Raymond’s for more than a decade, said the outages cost him at least half a dozen customers by the time the business day was only half over.


“If we can’t call it in, we can’t sell a gun,” Lozier said. “It’s cost us some money.”

This report of high sales and resultant outages on the East Coast correlates with what Dave Workman was finding in Washington State. 


Friday may have broken records for gun sales across the country, and for background checks with the National Instant Check System (NICS), and gun dealers here in the Pacific Northwest were definitely along for the ride.

Examiner checked with Wade’s Indoor Gun Range in Bellevue and learned that there were times during the day when sales clerks simply could not get through to the NICS headquarters to conduct the necessary background checks.

It was the same story from Robin Ball, proprietor at Spokane’s Sharp Shooting Indoor Range, who told this column that “We had guns (and paperwork) stacked up…and we were doing speed dialing to finally get through.” When they did, she noted, clerks would have to do several checks at a time. She noted that Wednesday was also busy.

Ball said that NICS access began improving Friday afternoon as East Coast and central-U.S. gun shops began closing for the day.

I can’t wait to see the NSSF-adjusted NICS statistics for November. I think you are going to see records broken yet again.

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Doing My Part To Stimulate The (Gun) Economy – 2012 Edition

November 22, 2012 by

For the last couple of years, I have posted all all the Black Friday (or earlier) sales that were gun, knife, tactical, or outdoor related that I could find. This year I’ve also added some sales that are prep related.

I have included any coupon codes if needed. If you find others, please share them in the comments section.

MidwayUSA Black Friday All Week

Every day through Monday, Nov. 26th, Midway will be offering select items such as SOG knives, Leatherwood scopes, Hornady reloading kits, and other stuff substantial discounts. There is a limit of 3 items per customer at these prices.

Deer and Deer Hunting

They will be offering stuff such as game cameras, hunting clothing, knives, and books at 15% off through Sunday night. Use code EXTRA15.

 Core 15 Rifle Systems Black Friday Sale

They will be running their Black Friday specials Nov. 23 through 26th.

Sportsman’s Warehouse Black Friday Super Sale

Their doorbuster specials run from 6am until 10am. They will also have a Cyber Monday sale beginning 12am on Nov. 25th. Doorbusters include SmartWool (and other brands) wool socks, buy 1, get the second for $1. They also have the Ruger SR22 for $289 and the 10/22 for $199.

Gadsden and Culpepper

All of their black shirts, caps, patches, jackets, flags, etc. will be 30-50% off. I’ve bought patches, caps, and shirts from them in the past and have been very satisfied.

Gunsite Black Raven Friday

Gunsite Academy’s ProShop will have everything on their Christmas Ideas page priced at 20% off on Friday. Free USPS shipping for orders over $200.

Surefire Cyber-Monday Holiday Blowout

On Monday, Nov. 26th only (all day), SureFire will be offering 25% off and free shipping on select products. Use code XMAS25

Wilson Combat Black Friday Sale

This sale begins on Wednesday evening at 7pm EST and ends Monday morning at 1am EST. Items on sale include certain 1911 magazines, holsters, shirts, gun lubes, gun parts, and ammunition.

CDNN Sports Black Friday Sale

Ends on Nov. 23 at midnight CST. Flat $6.99 shipping and free shipping for orders over $99 with code FS99.

CRKT Knives

Offering free shipping on all orders over $50. Began Tuesday and will run through Jan. 7, 2013.

Galco Gunleather

Order online beginning Thanksgiving Day and get 20% off complete order with code BF2012. Sale runs through Sunday, Nov. 25th. Does not include custom orders or exotic hides.

Cabela’s After Thanksgiving Doorbuster Sale

Special doorbuster sales are in-store only from 5am until 10 am on Friday. Includes the Ruger 10/22 Take Down for $279. They will have a number of other firearms at special prices through Nov. 28th.

OPSGEAR Thanksgiving Weekend Sale

OPSGEAR will have special pricing on their DVDs, targets, and other gear. On other gear, they are offering 20% off your entire order with code thanks20. This ends on Nov. 26th.

Harbor Freight

They will be having a special sale on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Items of interest include a 45 watt solar panel kit for $139 and a 60″ workbench with 4 drawers for $129. I bought the latter to use a solid reloading bench.

WalMart

Of interest to gunnies are a couple of their in-store firearms specials. They will have the Sig M400 for $867 and the Ruger American Rifle in .270 for $337. I have read that each store should have at least 2 each of these rifles. The doors open at 8pm on Thanksgiving evening.

Dicks Sporting Goods


Dicks is having their doorbuster sales starting at 12am on Friday until 2pm. There are some good gun buys including a Remington 700 Varmint for $349, a Troy AR-15 for $799 (with full rail system), and the Ruger 10/22 for $179. Check your local store’s circular online.

eFoods Direct

If you are looking for some long-term storage foods, eFoods Direct is having some good specials for the holidays with free shipping through Nov. 30th on certain items.

DSG Arms

Their Black Friday sales are good through Nov. 30th or until they run out. Included are Magpul non-windowed PMags for $100 for a 10 packs or $125 for windowed. They also have mil-spec stock hardware kits for $35 for your AR builds. No codes are required.

Palmetto State Armory

They have released their list of items on Arfcom here and it includes a M4 assembled upper (no BCG) for $249. If you are looking to do a build, they have a lot of their parts on sale including Geissele triggers.

For other listings of Black Friday-Cyber Monday deals, Rob Reed, the Michigan Gun Rights Examiner, has his list up. If you are looking for more tactical oriented stuff, Soldier Systems has a large compilation of tactical gear sales on their webpage here. Here is another compiler of the Black Friday sales that is more general in nature.

I hope everyone has a very Happy Thanksgiving and if you do venture forth for Black Friday, stay safe.

UPDATE: Here are some more to add to the list.

Uplanders Warehouse

They will be having their Blaze Orange Friday sale which will run through Monday at midnight. Use code shipfree for free shipping if your order is over $100 and ship3 to get $3 off shipping for orders under $100.

Brownells

They will be having the Black Rifle Friday sale. Use code DU9 to get 10% off on order of $150 or higher.

U.S. Cavalry

Get 20% off storewide beginning today through Nov. 24th. Use code PN12N20.

Sportsman’s Guide

Now through midnight CST on Monday, Nov. 26 get free shipping with no minimums. Use code SH974.

Slick-Guns

This is another compilation site that has many of the gun offers for Black Friday.

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This Should Convince You That The Fiscal Cliff Is Real

November 21, 2012 by 3 Comments

In what I consider a combination of gun and financial news, Sturm, Ruger & Company declared a special dividend of $4.50 per share. By contrast, their regular third quarter dividend was 38.2 cents. While CEO Michael Fifer says in the statement below that this special dividend will increase Ruger’s return on shareholder’s equity, I can’t help but wonder if tax considerations also played a role in this.

Come January 1, 2013, there will be a new 3.8% Medicare tax on investment income including dividends for individuals with adjusted gross incomes over $200,000 and couples with adjusted gross incomes over $250,000. In addition, dividends for those in the 25 % or above tax brackets are currently taxed at 15% and nothing if one is in the 10 or 15% bracket. If Congress and the President do not come to an agreement and the Bush-era tax reductions revert to their old levels, dividends will be taxed at 10% for those in the 15% tax bracket and 20% in any bracket above that. Thus, some taxpayers could be seeing their dividends taxed as high as 23.8% or an almost 59% increase over current levels.

The takeaway is that the fiscal cliff is real, taxes do matter when it comes to investments, and that companies are taking it seriously. Now if only those within the Beltway were equally as serious.


Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE: RGR) announced today that its Board of Directors voted to declare a special dividend of $4.50 per share on the Company’s issued and outstanding shares of common stock. This cash dividend will be paid on December 21, 2012 to shareholders of record as of December 7, 2012.

Chief Executive Officer Michael O. Fifer commented on the special dividend, “The decision to return this cash to our shareholders was based on an analysis that indicates we can continue to fund our high rate of organic growth, including expected increases in both working capital and capital expenditures, and fund our quarterly dividend while still growing our cash reserves at a modest rate. In addition, the special dividend will substantially increase the Company’s return on our shareholders’ equity, as the equity will now more accurately reflect the net assets being used in the conduct of the business. Likewise, after the special dividend, our long-term investors will still own the same future stream of earnings, resulting in an increase to their return on investment.”

Mr. Fifer concluded, “This special dividend reflects our confidence in the future to be able to pursue good opportunities that come our way. We remain committed to our new product development strategy and will continue to seek accretive acquisition opportunities and prudently expand our manufacturing capacity.”

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About That Secession Petition You Signed…

November 21, 2012 by 1 Comment

In the aftermath of the election, secession petitions for all fifty states (and maybe for the rest of the 57 as well) have sprung up on the White House’s petition website and over 800,000 signatures have been collected. There is also a counter-petition asking that anyone who has signed such a secession petition be declared a traitor and then be hung, drawn, and quartered with the remains scattered to the four corners of the earth. Actually, I’m kidding about that last little bit but the true believers are asking for signees to be declared traitors.

In the midst of all of this has come the Department of Defense’s Defense Security Service. They are the agency at DOD charged with managing the Secret, Top Secret, and other such security clearances for defense contractors. A few days ago, they issued a notice regarding the secession petitions and whether signing one would be considered a reportable event for contractors.


November 16, 2012

DSS personnel have recently received questions from security personnel at cleared contractors about whether contractors should file adverse information reports pursuant to NISPOM paragraph 1-302 regarding cleared persons who sign petitions to allow a state to withdraw or secede from the United States.

It also appears that erroneous statements have been made to the effect that DSS is directing contractors to treat the signing of such petitions as reportable adverse information.

Please note that DSS has not provided any approved direction or guidance. DSS is not directing any contractor to file adverse information reports regarding persons who have signed secession or withdrawal petitions. This issue is under review and DSS will provide information to contractors when that review is complete.

So while they aren’t requiring defense contractors to report employees who has signed such petitions yet, they are still studying the situation. David Martosko of The Daily Caller has more on this story.

David Codrea has written on some of the implications for gun owners of signing these secession petitions at the National Gun Rights Examiner. His advice is to not sign any of these petitions. While it may not equate with renunciation of your citizenship which is a disqualifying event for gun purchases, I wouldn’t put anything past the Obama Administration. When it comes to being vindictive and petty, they could have given Richard Nixon lessons.