NSSF

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NSSF Defensive Pistol Tip – Drawing Your Pistol In A Car

April 7, 2014 by 1 Comment

In one of the latest training tips videos from the National Shooting Sports Foundation, Adam Painchaud, Director of the Sig Sauer Academy, discusses drawing your pistol from concealment while in the driver’s seat of a car.

For the majority of us who are right-handed and carry on the strong side, the seat belt can be problematic. Adam shows a way of using the steering wheel to give yourself enough leverage to draw your pistol without interference from the seat belt. He also discusses alternate methods of carry including shoulder holsters, cross-draw, and the ankle holster. Personally, I drive a lot and the idea of using an ankle holster is getting more and more appealing.

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NSSF And SAAMI Sue California To Stop Microstamping

March 31, 2014 by 2 Comments

The National Shooting Sports Foundation and the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers’ Institute filed suit in Fresno Superior Court today. They are seeking a preliminary injunction against California’s microstamping law calling it unworkable.

You may remember that last year California Attorney General Kamala Harris certified the microstamping was no longer covered by patent protection. As a result, all new firearms that weren’t previously on the California Handgun Roster now must be microstamped. Any design changes a manufacturer makes to an existing firearm would then require it to be recertified and thus have a microstamp on its firing pin.

The release from NSSF and SAAMI is below:

NEWTOWN, Conn. – 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 cartridge primer the required identifying information from the tip of the firing pin, the only possible location where it is possible to micro-laser engrave the information, said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF senior vice president and general counsel.

“The holder of the patent for this technology himself has written that there are problems with it and that further study is warranted before it is mandated. A National Academy of Science review, forensic firearms examiners and a University of California at Davis study reached the same conclusion and the technical experts in the firearms industry agree,” Keane said. “Manufacturers cannot comply with a law the provisions of which are invalid, that cannot be enforced and that will not contribute to improving public safety. Today, we are seeking injunctive relief against this back-door attempt to prevent the sale of new or upgraded semiautomatic handguns to law-abiding citizens in California.”

In 2007, California Assembly Bill 1471 was passed and signed into law requiring microstamping on internal parts of new semiautomatic pistols. The legislation provided that this requirement would only became effective if the California Department of Justice certified that the microstamping technology is available to more than one manufacturer unencumbered by patent restrictions. The California legislature subsequently reorganized certain statutes concerning the regulation of firearms, including the microstamping law in 2010. On May 17, 2013, Attorney General Kamala D. Harris provided such certification.

Smith & Wesson and Sturm Ruger have separately announced that they would no longer be selling new or improved semiautomatic handgun models in California because of the impossibility of complying with the new law.

The notice that NSSF and SAAMI would be seeking a preliminary injunction can be seen here.

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NSSF Fires Back At Feinstein’s New Anti-Gun Jihad

March 21, 2014 by 11 Comments

Sen. Dianne Feinstein has launched a new effort in her anti-gun jihad. She is circulating a letter among her fellow senators to get them to urge President Obama to issue an executive order banning the importation of any semi-automatic rifle that has or could possibly be converted to have a capacity of 10 rounds or more. Sebastian wonders if her goal is to have the Democrats lose control of the Senate.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation has fired back at her anti-gun jihad and urges people to call their senators to tell them not to sign the letter. I can be reasonably sure that one of my senators – Richard Burr (R-NC) – is not being asked to sign the letter. I can also be reasonably sure that the other senator – Kay Hagan (D-NC) – would be a fool to sign it. That being said, you can never assume that when it comes to guns that a Democrat won’t act like a fool.

From NSSF:

Call your Senators!
Tell them Not to Sign On to Senator Dianne Feinstein’s Attempt to Ban Imports of Many Semi-Automatic Rifles

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 have a military origin but are modeled closely after military firearms. These military-style firearms are not prohibited under the current import ban, even though they are functionally equivalent to prohibited rifles with a military origin. In addition, the Treasury Department’s 1998 guidance allows foreign-made firearms to be imported into the United States without military features, even though these firearms have the capacity to fire multiple times in quick succession without the need to reload and can easily have military features attached.”

Sen. Feinstein’s intent is clear. Again she is pursuing “banning” firearms because of their characteristics and not focusing her effort on the criminals who misuse firearms. What does she want President Obama, acting through ATF to do? Here’s what (her words):

  • “Prohibit importation of all semi-automatic rifles that can accept, or be readily converted to accept, a large capacity ammunition magazine of more than 10 rounds, regardless of the military pedigree of the firearm or the configuration of the firearm’s magazine well;


  • Prohibit semi-automatic rifles with fixed magazines with a capacity of more than 10 rounds;

  • Prohibit the importation of the frame or receiver of any prohibited rifle, regardless of whether it is incorporated into a fully manufactured firearm.

  • Prohibit the practice of importing assault rifles in parts and then constructing the rifles once they are in the United States by adding the requisite number of American-made parts;

  • Prohibit the use of a “thumbhole” stock as a means to avoid classification of a rifle as an assault rifle; and

  • Prohibit the importation of assault pistols, in addition to assault rifles.”

That would be a lot of semi-automatic rifles! This effort must be stopped short! Why should law-abiding citizens have their rights curtailed by an anti-gun Senator’s effort to convince other senators to join her jihad?

Call both your Senators today (Capitol switchboard: 202-224-3121) and tell them NOT to sign on to this letter!

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NSSF Training Tip: Holdover And Offset

February 6, 2014 by 1 Comment

Adam Painchaud of the Sig Sauer Academy talks about holdover and offset in the latest training tips video from the National Shooting Sports Foundation. A red dot sight or a scope is zeroed for a specific distance. If shooting a distance that is either greater or less than the zeroed distance, you need to compensate for it in order to get an accurate hit.

Adam discusses ways to determine the holdover and offset for your rifle. This becomes important in a defensive situation when you are using a rifle at close range. It is also important if you are in a competitive match such as a 3-Gun competition.

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Target Shooting Means 4,460 Jobs And $459 Million For North Carolina

January 17, 2014 by 1 Comment

The National Shooting Sports Foundation just released a study analyzing the economic impact of target shooting in the United States in terms of jobs and money put into the economy. This economic impact is distinct from the influence of hunting. The study found that target shooting created 185,000 jobs and injected $23 billion into the US economy.

NSSF has broken this down by state and the impact on North Carolina’s economy is significant.

LAS VEGAS, Nev. — The National Shooting Sports Foundation has released a major new report about the importance of target shooting activities to the economies of North Carolina and the nation. NSSF is the trade association for the firearms, ammunition, hunting and shooting sports industry.

The report, Target Shooting in America: Millions of Shooters, Billions of Dollars, was released today in conjunction with a press conference at the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show (SHOT Show), the largest trade show of its kind in the world and a showcase for the firearms and ammunition industry.

The report provides a first-ever look at U.S. target shooting-related expenditures. Also included are state-by-state statistics for the number of target shooters, retail sales, taxes and jobs. The target-shooting report complements the Hunting in America report released by NSSF and the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies in March 2013.

In North Carolina, target shooting-related spending contributed $459,373,038 to the state’s economy and supported 4,460 jobs.

Nationally, the money target shooters spent in 2011 resulted in $23 billion being added to the nation’s economy and supported more than 185,000 jobs.

“More people target shooting is good news for the industry, and it is equally good news for America’s economy,” said NSSF President and CEO Steve Sanetti.

Retail sales related to target shooting account for nearly $10 billion, with rifle and handgun shooting being the leading contributors, followed by shotgun and muzzleloader shooting. California and Texas are the top two states ranked by retail sales.

Combining data from Target Shooting in America and Hunting in America shows that target shooters and hunters together poured more than $110 billion into the nation’s economy, fueling more than 866,000 jobs. “Communities and businesses of all sizes benefit from these activities,” said Sanetti.

Target shooters ($8.2 billion) and hunters ($8.4 billion) spend nearly equal amounts on equipment common to both pursuits, such as firearms, ammunition and accessories. Hunters spend more overall than target shooters when factors such as fuel, food, lodging and transportation are included.

“The Target Shooting in America and Hunting in America reports give us a more complete understanding of the economic importance of the shooting sports to America,” said Sanetti. “We’ve long known about the recreational benefits of these activities, and now we know how much they contribute to our country’s financial well-being.”

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90% Support Universal Background Checks?

December 23, 2013 by 8 Comments

You know how all we’ve heard for the past year is that 90% of Americans support universal background checks? Well, not so fast.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation has released a poll today that shows only 40% of Americans want universal background checks at gun shows. The difference in the poll results is because contextual detail was added to the question. Instead of asking do you want to close the “gun show loophole” or other such nonsense, the poll points out that most sales at gun shows are conducted with background checks and are by FFLs.

The poll goes further. Only 39% of respondents thought that requiring a background check for transferring a firearm between friends or family members would reduce violent crime. That’s a long way from 90% in my calculations.

The poll was conducted in November for NSSF by McKeon and Associates. The poll sample included over 1,200 respondents and contained a margin of error of +/- 4.1%.

The release on the poll results with more details is below:

Americans Don’t Think ‘Universal Background Checks’ Extension for Gun Shows Are Needed, National Poll Finds
NEWTOWN,
Conn. — Only four out of ten Americans support so-called “universal
background checks” at gun shows after being informed that the vast
majority of firearms sales at these shows are transacted by licensed
retailers that already conduct such checks through the National Instant
Criminal Background Check System (NICS) as required by federal law. The
poll results stand in contrast to the vague claim often reported in the
media and attributed to gun control proponents without important
contextual detail that 90 percent of Americans surveyed support
“universal background checks.
 “These
findings were the among the results of a national scientific poll of
more than 1,200 Americans conducted in November by McKeon &
Associates and released today by the National Shooting Sports Foundation
(NSSF), the trade association for the firearms and ammunition industry.
The McKeon poll found that only 40 percent of respondents said that
extension of “universal background checks” to private transactions at
gun shows are necessary, while 53 percent said they are not necessary
and 7% said they did not know.
The
Americans polled also said by a combined 74 percent margin that
conducting background checks against an incomplete database was not
effective at all or not very effective while 54 percent said that
requiring background checks for transferring guns between friends and
family members was not at effective at all or not very effective in
reducing violent crime.
links to hi-res JPG
The
poll also discovered that 92 percent of Americans agree that the states
should submit all records of persons federally prohibited from owning a
firearm to the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check Systems
(NICS), passing legislation if needed.
Some
70 percent of the survey sample also said that did not believe that
government should mandate that all firearms produced incorporate “smart
gun” technology should it become commercially available. Only 17
percent approved of a mandate, while 13 percent didn’t know.
links to hi-res JPG“We
commissioned this poll to help determine where Americans stood on the
various aspects of how the NICS system actually works today,” said Larry
G. Keane, NSSF senior vice president and general counsel. “When
properly informed of relevant details, it turns out that only four out
of ten, not nine out of ten Americans support so-called ‘universal
background checks’ at gun shows or for firearms transfers. The poll
also found that Americans want a National Instant Criminal Background
Check System with a dependable and accurate database, which supports the
goal of the FixNICS initiative we launched in 2013 and will continue in
2014.”
links to hi-res JPGThe
poll conducted Nov. 6-7 has a margin of error of +/- 4.1 percent.
Respondents self-identified as 33 percent Democrat, 26 percent
Republican and 41 percent independent. As to ethnicity, 62 percent of
respondents said they were Caucasian, 18 percent African-American, 11
percent Hispanic; and 9 percent, other. As to age, 20 percent of
respondents said they were 18-30; 36 percent, 31-45; 23 percent 46-60;
and 21 percent, 60 or older.
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Practice Tips From Jim “Long Hunter” Finch

December 12, 2013 by 3 Comments

In one of the latest videos from the National Shooting Sports Foundation, Jim “Long Hunter” Finch talks about how he goes about practicing for a match. While not everything about Cowboy Action Shooting or, for that matter, competition is applicable to daily life, some of the practice tips he suggests are.

I really like his suggestion that you practice not what you are with comfortable with but what makes you uncomfortable. In his case, as a natural right-hander, he’s more comfortable drawing from his right side as well as with moving left to right. In his practice sessions, he reverses that so that he is practicing what doesn’t come natural to him.

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NSSF Sues Sunnyvale, California Over New Gun Ordinance

December 11, 2013 by 6 Comments

The National Shooting Sports Foundation, US Firearms Company LLC, and Eric Fisher filed a lawsuit Monday in Santa Clara County (California) Superior Court seeking to enjoin the enforcement of a new gun ordinance. The ordinance requires sellers of ammunition to keep logs of purchasers, bans magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition, and requires the reporting of a firearms theft to the police within 48 hours. The ordinance was passed in a special city election with great support from Mayor Bloomberg’s Illegal Mayors.

The lawsuit contends that the ordinance violates both state and Federal laws as well as being preempted by California state law dealing with firearms. The plaintiffs are seeking a temporary restraining order, a preliminary and permanent injunction, and a writ of mandate prohibiting its implementation as well as requiring notice to the police that the law is invalid.

The NSSF’s release on the lawsuit is below:

NEWTOWN, Conn. — the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the trade association for the firearms industry, has filed a lawsuit against the City of Sunnyvale, Calif. and the Sunnyvale City Council to prevent an ordinance passed in November from being enforced that is detrimental to responsible and law-abiding firearms retailers doing business within city limits.

In the complaint, NSSF and U.S. Firearms Company LLC, a local retailer, are challenging portions of the city’s newly enacted gun-control ordinance that violates and is preempted by state and federal law and that imposes an onerous regulatory burden on firearms retailers including requirements that they keep ammunition sales logs and personal information on their customers and that expands and duplicates an existing reporting requirement for lost or stolen guns.

“Retailers in Sunnyvale must be federally licensed and already comply with a myriad of state and federal laws in operating their businesses. These businesses should be entitled to operate under the same rules, not a patchwork of different and conflicting local laws across California,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF senior vice president and general counsel. “It is unjust to ask retailers within the Sunnyvale city limits to collect sensitive personal information from customers who easily can drive a few miles to a store in another city where such information is not required. Surely, no demonstrable public safety benefit is achieved and only law-abiding businesses are penalized.”

The lawsuit seeks to enjoin enforcement of the Sunnyvale ordinance.

The San Jose Mercury News reports that the NRA will be filing a similar lawsuit in Federal district court.

The NRA had threatened to sue even before Measure C was approved, and the group’s West Coast counsel, Chuck Michel, intends to file that federal lawsuit Monday, a spokesman for Michel said Tuesday. Michel last month filed an NRA-supported suit against San Francisco over a similar ban on high capacity magazines.

But Sunnyvale taxpayers won’t foot the bill because of the offer of (San Francisco law firm) Farella Braun + Martel to defend the city against the gun-related lawsuits for free.

Farella Braun + Martel has 137 attorneys and is headquartered in San Francisco with a satellite office in Napa Valley. The Legal Center to Prevent Gun Violence (sic), formerly the Legal Center Against Violence, gave them their “Outstanding Pro Bono Contribution” award in 2009 and 2010.

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NSSF’s Lawsuit Against Connecticut’s SB 1160 Dismissed

December 4, 2013 by 2 Comments

Chief District Court Judge Janet Hall dismissed the National Shooting Sports Foundation’s lawsuit which sought an injunction against Connecticut’s new gun control law on Monday. Hall, a Clinton appointee, dismissed the case under Rule 12(b)(1) of the Federal Rules of Procedure which states that a plaintiff must have standing to bring a case. She agreed with the State of Connecticut’s claim that the NSSF did not have standing to challenge SB 1160.

The case which was brought in July of this year sought to have Connecticut’s draconian gun control law – SB 1160 – invalidated because the state did not follow its own legislative rules when it claimed an “emergency certification” exemption. Normally a bill in Connecticut must be available to be read by state legislators for two legislative days before it can be voted upon. An exemption can be granted in emergency situations if the Speaker of the House and the Senate President Pro Tem certify in writing the necessity for the emergency exemption along with the supporting facts. In this case while they did certify the emergency they failed to state any facts to support their certification. (See items 18 through 33 in the plaintiff’s complaint.)

Judge Hall states that the NSSF would have standing to challenge the gun control law’s impact on its members but not to challenge the defects in the legislative process that led to the bill being passed. She found that the NSSF’s complaint was a “generally available grievance against government” which other courts have found not to confer standing.

Here,
the
claimed
pecuniary injury
make
s
NSSF a
proper party to
challenge gun control legislation. That injury, however,
does
not make
NSSF
—
or any
other
member of the public
aggrieved
only incidentally
by
procedurally defective
legislation
—
into a proper party to challenge
the
defects
in legislative process.

Judge Hall goes on to say:

Because
the pecuniary injury asserted as the basis for NSSF‟s standing is
unrelated to
the rights of democratic participation in the legislative process that NSSF
seeks to vindicate, the court lacks the authority to adjudicate the
claims put forward in
this
case
. Accordingly,
the case must be dismissed
for lack of standing.

She concludes by granting the state’s motion to dismiss and by stating that based upon the NSSF’s written and oral pleadings that they “would be unable to replead to satisfy the standing requirement.”

The NSSF is reportedly studying the decision and weighing its options.

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Gun Sales Are Seeking A New Normal

December 3, 2013 by

The National Shooting Sports Foundation has released its adjusted-NICS figures for the month of November 2013.  It shows a drop of 14.2% from November 2012. 

The November 2013 NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) figure of 1,308,100 is a decrease of 14.2 percent compared to the NSSF-adjusted NICS figure of 1,525,177 in November 2012. For comparison, the unadjusted November 2013 NICS figure of 1,805,759 reflects a 9.6 percent decrease from the unadjusted NICS figure of 1,997,703 in November 2012. NSSF-adjusted NICS for November 2013 is the second highest on record — an 18.8% increase over November 2011.

In many ways this really shouldn’t be surprising. While the peak in November 2012 was pre-Newtown, it reflects the uncertainty for gun owners of another presidential term for Barack Obama. If you look in the chart below of the adjusted NICS checks for the month of November going back to year 2000, you see definite spikes in 2008 and 2012.

 As I wrote last month, gun sales as reflected in the adjusted-NICS checks are trending towards a new normal. They are coming off their post-Newtown peaks but are still at a much higher overall level than they were pre-Newtown. Firearms manufacturers are still trying to catch up with the demand and are working through their backlog of orders. Tom Taylor of Mossberg confirmed this last Sunday on Tom Gresham’s Gun Talk in the first hour of the show.

NICS checks are an indicator of trends in gun sales but are not perfectly correlated with them. This is because many states use the NICS database for initial and continuing checks on their concealed carry permit holders. Moreover, in many states such as North Carolina, a concealed handgun permit substitutes for a NICS check.