NSSF Bullet points

Inside the Industry

• FBI-NICS BACKGROUND CHECKS HIT 100 MILLION . . . The FBI has announced the completion of the 100 millionth instant background check since the inception of its National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) 10 years ago. “We congratulate FBI-NICS on this milestone,” said NSSF President Steve Sanetti. “For 10 years and 100 million transactions, the FBI-NICS team has minimized complications and delays of firearm purchases, thereby benefiting America’s retailers, law-abiding gun owners and the general public.”

• SMITH & WESSON BACKS NEW SCHOLASTIC STEEL CHALLENGE . . . The Scholastic Steel Challenge (SSC) announced that Smith & Wesson has come on board as a major supporter of the new youth shooting program. Smith & Wesson has committed to donating 30 M&P pistols valued at over $20,000 which will be used in support packages to help new shooting teams get started in the program. The company will also offer special pricing on additional pistols to further assist teams as they grow. SSC is a national team-oriented youth program developed by the Steel Challenge Shooting Association (SCSA) and funded in part by a grant from NSSF. Read more.

• TIME MAGAZINE FEATURES STORY ON FIREARM SALES . . . It quickly became Time.com’s “most read” and “most e-mailed” story last week. Time magazine featured a story titled “Boom in Gun Sales Fueled by Politics and the Economy.” NSSF worked with the article’s author in providing information for the piece. Read the article.

• STAYING OUT OF THE CROSS HAIRS . . . ABC’s 20/20 ran a hit piece on firearms and firearms’ owners on Friday evening. NSSF was asked numerous times by 20/20 Senior Producer Muriel Pearson to participate in the story, but understanding the piece was a set-up we refused. “After pointing out to Ms. Pearson that our refusal to participate in the program did not absolve her team of their responsibility to ask hard-hitting questions of those supporting gun control, we supplied 20/20 with information on the more than 20,000 gun laws on the books and data from the Department of Justice and Bureau of Justice Statistics related to firearms,” said NSSF Director of Public Affairs Ted Novin. “Unfortunately, given 20/20’s refusal to disclose any of the information we provided — information that interfered with their already pre-established and desired anti-gun conclusion — it has become all too clear that journalistic impartiality on firearms issues at 20/20 is limited to John Stossel.”

• RISE IN GUN SAFETY COURSES MIRRORS UPSWING IN SALES . . . “Along with the rise in gun and ammunition sales, local and national gun instructors are reporting a rise in gun course participation,” reports the Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle. NSSF has seen this trend firsthand in its First Shots program, which is offered by local ranges to provide newcomers to shooting with a welcoming introduction to gun safety and the shooting sports.

Hunting

• ECONOMIC IMPACT OF WATERFOWLERS . . . According to a new U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service report, waterfowl hunters spent $900 million on food, transportation, guns, decoys, hunting dogs, clothing and other goods and services in 2006. These expenditures produced more than $2.3 billion in economic output for 2006, resulting in $157 million in federal and state tax revenues, supporting more than 27,000 jobs and generating more than $8.5 million in employment income. The report notes that waterfowl hunters tend to be younger, have higher educational achievements and are more affluent compared to all hunters. The majority (74 percent) of waterfowl hunters live in the South and the Midwest. “The Economic Impact of Waterfowl Hunting in the United States” is an addendum to the 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation, a survey conducted every five years.