NSSF

Uncategorized

SHOT Show Day One: Preliminaries

January 19, 2016 by

Day One is off to a good start. I got my luggage at 6am this morning! Southwest finally came through. I know it was the insurance I bought yesterday – a trip to Walmart to get clean underwear and socks.

I just spoke with a young reporter who is doing videography for CNN Money. She is from New York and is excited to be at her first SHOT Show. She took in Media Day at the Range and loved it. I don’t know if it was her first time shooting but it is another media person who is now somewhat inoculated against the lies of the gun prohibitionists.

Despite mechanical problems on both of my Southwest flights which caused me to arrive here a day late, I still made it to a portion of Media Day at the Range. Thanks to Paul and Susan Lathrop of The Polite Society Podcast I do have some pictures to prove it. I did get to shoot many of the firearms that I wanted to try out but not the Ruger American pistol nor the Ruger LCR in .327 Federal Magnum. There is always next year or a range rental.

I just ran into Rev. Kenn Blanchard, the Black Man with a Gun, who is starting a new outreach program for minorities and other underserved groups in the shooting community. He’ll be having a press conference on it tomorrow and I plan to attend. His group is called 2AO.org. As I said in the first paragraph, my day is off to a good start. It is always good to see Brother Kenn.

Now off to check out the first floor of the Sands Expo Center which is where the smaller companies are usually located.

Uncategorized

December NICS Checks

January 6, 2016 by

The National Shooting Sports Foundation released their adjusted NICS checks for December 2015 on Monday. Let’s just say that if I had an investment that went up that much I’d be ecstatic! Compared to December 2014, the NSSF-adjusted NICS checks rose 37.6%. This wasn’t the highest December on record – that was December 2012 – but it missed hitting the all-time December high by only about 2,000 checks out of over 2.2 million.

The December 2015 NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) figure of 2,235,560 is an increase of 37.6 percent compared to the December 2014 NSSF-adjusted NICS figure of 1,624,524. For comparison, the unadjusted December 2015 FBI NICS figure of 3,308,199 reflects a 43.7 percent increase from the unadjusted FBI NICS figure of 2,301,386 in December 2014.

You can see the increase graphically below. Look at December 2015 and December 2012 in particular. Both months saw a tremendous surge in anticipation of more gun control coming from the Obama Administration. People were buying firearms while the getting was good.

The firearms industry and those that hold Ruger, Smith & Wesson, and Vista Outdoors stock are probably saying, “Keep talking big guy”.

Uncategorized

NSSF Response To Obama’s Executive Actions

January 5, 2016 by 1 Comment

Like the NRA, the National Shooting Sports Foundation issued a response to President Obama’s Executive Actions on gun control. Their response is a bit more detailed than the NRA response and they note that they will be issuing more responses as the days go by. They bring up a good point about making the shipper – not the recipient dealer – responsible for reporting guns lost or stolen in transit.

NSSF Statement: “Executive Actions to Reduce Gun Violence and make Our Communities Safer”
We
all share the goal of reducing the intentional misuse of guns and
enhancing the safety of our communities. As the trade association for
the firearms and ammunition industry, the National Shooting Sports
Foundation (NSSF) will carefully review all aspects of the executive
actions that President Obama announced today. Much remains to be spelled
out. In the interim we have some initial reactions:
  • We support further resources being allocated to staffing and
    increasing operational hours for the FBI’s National Instant Criminal
    Background Check System (NICS) to make the system more efficient and
    responsive.
  • We represent Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs). The criteria
    for what will constitute being “engaged in the business” going forward
    needs considerable clarification and raises questions about
    enforceability.
  • The number of firearms lost or stolen while in transit to or
    from FFLs is less than 0.15 percent of the number manufactured and
    imported in a given year. In these rare occurrences, FFLs already
    actively participate in ATF’s long-standing voluntary reporting program
    and FFLs and common carriers work closely with ATF to investigate them.
    Proposals to make a shipping FFL responsible for tracking and reporting
    firearms no longer in their inventories, after the legal title has been
    transferred to the purchaser, are misdirected, as the receiving FFL is
    in the best position to know if it receives its shipment.
  • We have long called for the effective enforcement of the
    numerous laws already on the books regarding the criminal misuse of
    firearms and would encourage the administration to carry through on this
    directive.
  • NSSF has been working actively since early 2013 through our
    FixNICS initiative to encourage states to report all appropriate
    adjudicated mental health records to NICS and has succeeded in getting
    legislation passed in more than a dozen states. We welcome the
    administration’s attention to this issue.
  • With regard to the development of “smart-gun” technology, the
    industry has never opposed its development. How additional government
    research into this technology would advance it is unclear. Law
    enforcement agencies and consumers themselves will have to make the
    determination whether acquisition of firearms with this technology
    “would be consistent with operational needs,” as the White House itself
    states. We would continue to oppose mandates for this technology,
    particularly since there are well proven existing methods to secure
    firearms, and firearms accidents are at historic low levels.
NSSF
will have additional responses in the days, weeks and months ahead,
especially as federal departments and agencies begin the work of
carrying out the executive orders.
Uncategorized

A NICS Check Two-Fer

December 2, 2015 by 2 Comments
The FBI’s NICS checks marked two milestones on Black Friday, November 27th. First, it had the highest recorded number of NICS checks on record for the day after Thanksgiving which is otherwise known as Black Friday. Second, and more importantly, it surpassed the previous one day record total for NICS background checks set on December 21, 2012.

The National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) reports that it processed 185,345 transactions on Nov. 27, Black Friday, making the day the highest Black Friday ever and the highest day in NICS history. The highest previous day was Dec. 21, 2012 with 177,170 background checks. For the entire Nov. 26-29 2015 four-day Black Friday period 368,774 checks were completed, a 9.9 percent increase over the 335,555 checks conducted over the corresponding 2014 4-day period.

While the number of NICS checks are indicative of the number of firearm sales transactions, they are not perfectly correlated. For example, concealed carry permits in many states are taken as a substitute for the NICS background check. Thus, the actual number of firearms sold could be even greater than the number of checks reported.

Many factors probably are coming into play here. First, the ISIS attacks in Paris are still fresh in the minds of many people. I know my fellow Polite Society Podcast co-host Gary Daugherty has reported a significant rise in the number of people contacting him to take the Illinois concealed carry class. Second, the Democrats have decided the gun control is a winning issue for them and have gone all in on it. Finally, President Obama has said he wants to make gun control one of his primary focuses in his last year in office.

Uncategorized

NSSF Points Out The Contradictions In Big City Police Chief’s Advice

November 25, 2015 by 2 Comments

Last Sunday in an interview on 60 Minutes DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier said that if you can take out an active shooter, do it. She noted that even the best police response time will be 5-7 minutes. NYPD Police Commissioner Bill Bratton disagreed with that advice saying essentially it was a good way to get killed. He didn’t think a person with a handgun could take out someone with an AK-47 as they would be “outgunned”.

The NSSF video below shows the contradictions in what Lanier says and what Bratton says.

However, the problem in both New York and the District of Columbia is that Joe Average can’t get a carry permit. Donald Trump has a carry permit but he also now has Secret Service protection. Michael Bloomberg doesn’t need a carry permit because he has a swarm of armed guards around him all the time. The bottom line is that a lot of people will get killed in either city before the cops arrive.

Uncategorized

One Shot Draw Drills

November 23, 2015 by 3 Comments

Enough with the political stuff! Here is something interesting that you can use at the range if they allow you draw from a holster. While most indoor ranges forbid it, you could do it at an outdoor range in most places.

In this training video from the National Shooting Sports Foundation, Doug Koenig demonstrates how he uses a one shot draw drill to speed up his response time for steel challenge competitions. He notes that he first starts out doing the drill at home with dry-fire practice. That is something everyone could do regardless of what his or her favorite range allows.

Uncategorized

SAF, NRA, And NSSF Move For Summary Judgment In Seattle Gun Tax Case

October 26, 2015 by 5 Comments

After the City of Seattle imposed a “gun violence tax” on sales of arms and ammunition within their city limits, the Second Amendment Foundation, National Rifle Association, and the National Shooting Sports Foundation jointly sued the city. Under Washington State law, cities and counties are preempted from passing regulations that impact firearms. That is reserved for the state.

This suit is groundbreaking because it is the first time the three have jointly sued on a gun rights issue. Now comes word that they have moved for summary judgment in King County Superior Court.

Plaintiffs Move For Summary Judgement In Challenge To Seattle Gun Tax

BELLEVUE, WA – Plaintiffs challenging a so-called “gun violence tax” recently passed by the Seattle City Council have today filed a motion for summary judgment in their lawsuit, citing Washington State’s long-standing preemption statute which “fully occupies and preempts the entire field of firearms regulation within the boundaries of the state.” The motion was filed in King County Superior Court.

Attorneys Steven Fogg and David Edwards, with Corr Cronin Michelson, Baumgardner Fogg & Moore LLP filed the motion for the Second Amendment Foundation, National Rifle Association, National Shooting Sports Foundation and their co-plaintiffs. They allege that the city “is well aware of this restriction on its legislative power, in part because its most recent attempt to regulate firearms was emphatically struck down by the Court of Appeals.”

That case was Chan v. City of Seattle, brought by SAF, NRA and several other plaintiffs. Fogg also argued that case. It derailed an attempt by the city under former Mayors Greg Nickels and Mike McGinn to ban guns in city park facilities. But Washington State’s preemption statute, passed 32 years ago and used as a model by other states to adopt similar legislation, stopped that effort in its tracks.

“Seattle is trying to be too clever by half,” said SAF Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb. “Our motion shows that members of the city council brainstormed with members of local gun control groups to try to skirt the preemption law. This so-called ‘gun violence tax’ clearly seeks to limit access to firearms and ammunition by imposing what amounts to a regulatory fee on the sale of all firearms and ammunition within City limits. The city can’t do that, and we’re confident the court will tell them so.

“The city can’t even pass this off as a B&O tax, because it’s a flat fee, not a percentage of sales,” he continued. “In the final analysis, this is an attempt to skate around, and thus erode, our state’s model preemption law. That cannot be allowed to stand. The City of Seattle is not an entity unto itself, but still part of Washington State, and therefore the city has to abide by the same laws we all follow.”

Uncategorized

September NICS Checks Hits Record Levels

October 13, 2015 by 1 Comment

There seems to be a strong correlation between what comes out of the mouths of anti-gun rights politicians and rising NICS checks. Both President Obama and semi-presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton have recently said they admire the Australian model. Translated this means the confiscation and destruction of those firearms they don’t like which is the majority of firearms out there.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation reported their adjusted NICS checks for September yesterday along with the third quarter 2015 statistics. Suffice it to say, they hit records for the highest month and highest quarters on record.

The September 2015 NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) figure of 1,071,945 is the highest September on record for the 17-year-old system, with an increase of 4.7 percent compared to the September 2014 NSSF-adjusted NICS figure of 1,024,272. For comparison, the unadjusted September 2015 NICS figure of 1,786,743 reflects a 23.4 percent increase from the unadjusted NICS figure 1,447,485 in September 2014.


The third quarter 2015 NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) figure of 3,050,432 is the highest third quarter on record – a 7.8 percent increase over third quarter 2014.

You can see this graphically below:

What impresses me about these statistics is that they have surpassed similar periods in 2013 which was the immediate post-Newtown surge. Beyond the political rhetoric I’m not exactly sure what is responsible for this growth. The attendance at the local gun show this past weekend did not seem extraordinary and the number of AR15s for sale seemed to be down. However, on a personal note, I did get a message from one of the Complementary Spouse’s cousins asking for help in purchasing a firearm. He noted that he’d never owned a firearm but felt he should be armed.

As always, these NSSF-adjusted NICS checks do not have a direct correlation with sales. Several states use the NICS system for the issuance and continued inspection of concealed firearm permits. Moreover, the CCW permits from many states can be used as a substitute for a NICS check. This said, the adjusted NICS checks do show sales trends and they seem to be trending up again.

Uncategorized

Second Highest Number Of NICS Checks On Record

September 9, 2015 by 1 Comment

The National Shooting Sports Foundation released their adjusted NICS checks for August 2015 yesterday. After hitting an all time high for a July in the previous month, the NSSF adjusted NICS checks were only the second highest on record for the the month.

The August 2015 NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) figure of 1,031,959 is the second-highest August on record for the 17-year-old system, with an increase of 4.3 percent compared to the August 2014 NSSF-adjusted NICS figure of 989,337. For comparison, the unadjusted August 2015 NICS figure of 1,735,911 reflects a 12.8 percent increase from the unadjusted NICS figure of 1,538,347 in August 2014.

The previous high had been set in August 2012.

 Looking back to 2012 to see what might have made it the highest month, I find stories regarding an AWB for Illinois, the George Zimmerman-Trayvon Martin case, and the UN’s Arms Trade Treaty. Project Gunwalker aka Operation Fast and Furious had finally started to make the news as well.

While August is traditionally one of the slower months, we are also starting to see a trend of year over prior year increases starting up again.

As always, it should be noted that NICS checks do not have a perfect correlation with sales. Many states use them for checking on concealed carry holders. Moreover, in many states such as North Carolina, a CCW takes the place of having to run a NICS check. However, as a general indicator of the direction of sales, the adjusted NICS checks are quite adequate.

Uncategorized

Training Tip – Slide Lock Reload On The Move

August 24, 2015 by 2 Comments

The National Shooting Sports Foundation has released another of their training tips video. This one features Adam Painchaud of the Sig Sauer Academy.

In the video, Adam demonstrates a slide lock reload drill. This drill consists of two precision shots at a 25 yard steel target, a slide lock reload while moving backwards and finishes off with two close range shots on a paper target while moving.

Adam notes that the drill teaches self-discipline because it forces the shooter to concentrate on the second 25-yard shot before moving backwards and reloading. The natural tendency is to think about the reload and the move as you are taking that second shot.