NSSF Bulletpoints:

Inside the Industry

Watch Press Conference

• INDUSTRY TURNS OUT IN FORCE TO OPPOSE MICROSTAMPING BILL . . . America’s leading firearms manufacturers, many based in Connecticut, attended a press conference at the State Capitol in Hartford to announce a unified industry stand against legislation that would force them to adopt a patented, unreliable sole-sourced technology to microstamp firearms. The companies attending the press conference included Colt’s Manufacturing Company, Marlin Firearms, O.F. Mossberg and Sons, Sturm, Ruger and Co., and Smith & Wesson. Joining the press conference was NSSF and the Connecticut Association of Firearms Retailers.

Millner

• REMINGTON CEO TAPPED TO LEAD CABELA’S . . . Cabela’s Inc. (NYSE:CAB) announced today that Remington Arms Co. CEO Thomas (Tommy) Millner has been picked to succeed Dennis Highby as the outdoor retailer’s new CEO and president. Millner spent 15 years with Remington, serving the past 10 years as its CEO. He is a former member of NSSF’s Board of Governors. “Tommy Millner’s many years in and understanding of the industry, respect for Cabela’s values, passion for the outdoors and knowledge of the competitive landscape will be very important in his new position at Cabela’s,” said Highby, who will assume the position of vice chairman of the board. Highby joined Cabela’s 33 years ago as its first salaried employee and has served as CEO and president since July 2003. Read more: Cabela’s Press Release

• TORBECK TO SUCCEED MILLNER AS REMINGTON / FGI CEO . . . Remington Arms Co. and its parent company, Freedom Group Inc., have named Theodore (Ted) Torbeck as their CEO. Torbeck joined Remington as its chief operating officer in February 2008. Torbeck will replace Tommy Millner, who is joining Cabela’s Inc. as its new CEO and president. Prior to his employment with Remington, Torbeck had been an employee of General Electric Co. since 1978, most recently serving as vice president operations of GE Industrial from 2006 to 2008. “I am excited about the opportunity of leading this amazing group of companies and its dedicated employees. The industry faces many challenges and our enterprise is poised to address them and continue to meet and exceed our customers’ expectations,” said Torbeck. Read more: Remington Press Release

• RAISING AWARENESS IN L.A. . . . In an effort to help educate the Los Angeles-area public about gun ownership, shooting and firearm safety, ranges around L.A. are teaming up with NSSF to hold a number of First Shots seminars starting March 28. The seminars are part of a broader effort to raise awareness of the shooting sports and to promote firearms safety and responsibility. A full-page ad, which ran this weekend in the Los Angeles Times, focused on what is being done by the industry to promote firearm safety. The ad highlights NSSF’s Project ChildSafe, First Shots and Don’t Lie for the Other Guy programs and their Web sites. The effort follows a successful similar campaign in the Chicago area. Learn more at www.firstshots.org/LA.

• SMITH & WESSON CLIMBS TO PROFIT IN THIRD QUARTER . . . Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:SWHC) reported Thursday that it posted a third-quarter profit of $2.4 million, or 5 cents a share, compared to a loss of a loss of $1.8 million, or 4 cents a share, a year ago. Pistol sales jumped 45.7 percent during the quarter. Net product sales rose 25.9 percent. Said CEO Michael Golden, “While our hunting business continues to suffer in the current economic environment, the market for hunting rifles in a healthy economy is a sizeable one. In addition, this portion of our business produces barrels for our tactical rifles, products that are clearly in very high demand right now.” The company’s third-quarter results easily beat Wall Street estimates.

• YSSA BEGINS INTERVIEW SERIES WITH INDUSTRY LEADERS . . . The Youth Shooting Sports Alliance has initiated a new “Q&A with Industry Icons” interview series featuring Ron Coburn, chairman and CEO of Savage Sports Corporation. The series will be published on the YSSA Web site, www.youthshootingsa.com, and will feature leaders in the shooting sports industry who will discuss what their companies and organizations are doing to benefit the next generation of shooters and hunters.

• FMG ADDS ANOTHER DIGITAL EDITION . . . American Handgunner becomes the fourth FMG Publication to make the move into cyberspace, joining GUNS Magazine, Shooting Industry magazine and American COP in the digital arena. The online edition of American Handgunner debuts with the May/June issue and uses the latest dynamic flash, flip-page technology to create a real-time, page-turning, online magazine viewing experience. Visit www.americanhandgunner.com to view the May/June digital edition of American Handgunner, and for more information on FMG’s family of publications visit www.fmgpublications.com.

Shooting

• COLLEGE CHAMPIONSHIPS EYE RECORD NUMBERS . . . The 41st ACUI Intercollegiate Clay Target Championships will be held Wednesday to Sunday at the National Shooting Complex in San Antonio, Texas. According to preliminary numbers, the event is expected to be the largest ever, thanks to a continued influx of new shooters and new teams. NSSF is a co-sponsor of the event, along with NRA, Winchester and USA Shooting. NSSF is also sponsoring a series of airings of the event on ESPNU and ESPN2. Look back on last year’s championships.

• IHEA BENEFIT SHOOT TO BE HELD BEFORE NSSF SUMMIT IN FLORIDA . . . The International Hunter Education Association Foundation Annual Benefit Shoot is the most important event of the year to raise the money that keeps today’s 750,000-per-year hunter-education students and more than 70,000 volunteer instructors functioning and effective. The IHEA 2009 Annual Benefit Shoot will held May 30-31, immediately prior to NSSF’s Shooting Sports Summit in Florida. The shoot will be held at Markham Park Range in Sunrise, Fla., just a few minutes away from summit headquarters at the Hyatt Regency Bonaventure. Summit attendees are invited to sign up 3-person teams for the shoot. Those attending the summit as individuals are encouraged to join up with other individual attendees to form teams. Learn more about the shoot.

Hunting

• BAN ON TRADITIONAL AMMO HURTS HUNTING, WILDLIFE . . . Hunting has declined in areas where California last year banned the use of traditional ammunition with lead components, costing the Department of Fish and Game in excess of $200,000 in lost tag fees, reports outdoor writer Jim Matthews in the San Bernadino Sun. Sales of deer tags for the seven zones affected by the ban declined after three years of gains there, and tags for wild pigs were down as well. While hunting increased outside the geographic scope of the ban, the decline appeared to confirm a Responsive Management study that showed approximately 25 percent of hunters would either quit big-game hunting or hunt less in California if a ban was adopted. Among the reasons cited for the decline was that non-lead ammo costs more than traditional ammunition. “NSSF fought the ban on traditional ammunition because there was no conclusive evidence that California condors were being harmed by it and because hunters offered to voluntarily take steps to prevent ingestion of spent bullet fragments by burying game entrails,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF senior vice president and general counsel.

• NSSF AND OTHERS CRITICIZE NPS AMMO BAN . . . The National Park Service last week announced a ban on using traditional ammunition with lead components, and lead fishing tackle, on NPS-managed lands seemingly without input from conservation groups, hunters, anglers or ammunition manufacturers. “The decision is arbitrary, over-reactive and not based on science,” said Steve Sanetti, NSSF’s president. “Studies show that traditional ammunition does not pose a health risk to humans, or wildlife populations as a whole.” The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance called on sportsmen to contact their U.S. representatives and senators to voice their opposition to the ban, and the American Sportfishing Association said the park service’s decision ran counter to President Obama’s executive memo advocating transparency in government. In a West Virginia news story later in the week, the park service’s public affairs director was quoted as saying the ban applied only to park personnel, although Acting Parks Service Director Dan Wenk is quoted in the NPS press release as saying, “Our goal is to eliminate the use of lead ammunition and lead fishing tackle in parks by the end of 2010.” Read more: NSSF Press Release.

• DEC: SAFEST YEAR ‘IN HISTORY OF HUNTING IN NEW YORK’ . . . Syracuse.com reports that the New York Department of Environmental Conservation has indicated that 2008 was the safest year ever for hunters in the state.