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NSSF Grant Helps Florida

PILOT PROGRAM LIFTS HUNTING LICENSE SALES . . . The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission used coordinated e-marketing campaigns to boost hunting license sales by 4.2 percent last year, one of the largest increases demonstrated in test promotions funded by Hunting Heritage Partnership grants from NSSF. Florida worked on the project with Southwick Associates, a specialist firm in outdoor statistics, and to reduce costs, enhanced its messaging with existing video tips on hunting and shooting from NSSF's extensive video tips library. "These relatively low-cost campaigns were amazingly successful in motivating recipients to purchase or renew their hunting licenses," said Melissa Schilling, NSSF director of recruitment and retention. "NSSF will share this success with other states." Read NSSF's news release.

Government Relations

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• OPPOSE EXPORT CONTROL AMENDMENTS . . . Outdated U.S. export regulations put the firearms and ammunition industry and many other U.S. industries at a severe disadvantage when competing with foreign companies. Export reforms are underway, but now some in Congress are trying to derail those much-needed reforms by offering amendments to National Defense Authorization Bill (H.R. 4310).  NSSF urges you to call your member of Congress at 202-224-3121 and tell him or her to oppose any amendments to H.R. 4310 that would undermine the Export Control Reform initiative. See the NSSF Legislative Alert.

• IOWA GOVERNOR PROTECTS TRADITIONAL AMMUNITION . . . In a major victory for all Iowa sportsmen and the firearms industry, Gov. Terry Branstad signed an executive order Friday to remove the traditional ammunition ban in the state. Last summer, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources decided to implement the ban during the state's first-ever dove season, but the ban was eventually delayed. Gov. Branstad came to the relief of hunters after inaction by the Iowa Senate on SJR 2001, a legislative resolution to rescind the ban. NSSF would like to thank all sportsmen and women for making their voice heard and Gov. Branstad and Senator Dick Dearden for their extraordinary efforts to protect sportsmen and the industry.

• CONN. LEGISLATURE PASSES BILL TO REMOVE BOUND BOOK . . . NSSF-supported SB 196 passed both the Senate and the House and is awaiting Gov. Malloy's action. This bill will remove the requirement that firearms retailers keep a separate bound book for the sale of handguns. This state law has always been duplicative because firearms retailers already must comply with federal requirements to keep a bound book for all firearms transactions and also to file every Form 4473 for 20 years. Fortunately, retailers will now be able to conduct transactions more efficiently.

• CALIFORNIA ADVANCING ANTI-GUN LEGISLATION . . . With economic problems facing the state, the last thing legislators should be doing is trying to advance bills that will impact law-abiding retailers and sportsmen throughout California. Unfortunately, SB 1221 and SB 1315 are close to receiving a vote in the State Senate as early as today.  SB 1221 would ban hunting bears and bobcats with dogs and represent yet another negative impact to the more than $4 billion dollar hunting industry in the state. SB 1315 would allow the County of Los Angeles, and any city within that county, to regulate and ban the sale of any BB "device" such as a toy gun, replica of a firearm or other device, effectively destroying California’s firearm preemption law. This would lead only to patchwork of firearms laws throughout the state. Please call and e-mail your state senator today and urge him or her to oppose SB 1221 and SB 1315.

SHOT Show

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• BIRDIES FOR THE BRAVE . . . NSSF will once again be hosting a charity golf event at the 2013 SHOT Show in partnership with PGA Tour for Birdies for the Brave on Jan. 12-13, 2013, at TPC Summerlin, in Las Vegas. Last year's inaugural event raised $70,000 for the nine charities supported by Birdies for the Brave, and the goal for 2013 is to net $100,000. It's a great opportunity for our industry to provide even more support for those who have sacrificed so much for our country. Read more on the SHOT Show Blog.

Industry News

• UPDATE ON BOA ALLEGATIONS . . . In response to recent allegations that Bank of America has an anti-firearms industry policy, NSSF investigated the allegation, including contacting the Bank of America to insist on a response from them to the allegations that it has a corporate policy of not doing business with members of the firearms industry. As we noted in our original statement on this matter, we are aware that many members of our industry have had longstanding banking and business relationships with the Bank of America and had reported to us that they had not encountered any problems with the bank due to the fact that their business was in the firearms industry. In a May 2, 2012, reply, the Bank of America said that though it could not comment on its relationship with customers, the company has not made changes to its policies. "I want to assure you and your organization that we do not have a policy that would deny banking services to entities because they are in the firearms industry," wrote Anne G. Pace in BOA's letter.

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• MARCH 2012 FIREARM & AMMUNITION IMPORTS AND EXPORTS . . . NSSF reports that overall U.S. imports (in units) in six sporting arms and ammunition categories increased 15.9 percent in March 2012 compared to March 2011. March 2012 imported units in tracked categories totaled 182.3 million, up from 157.2 million reported in March 2011. For the first three months of 2012, total units imported in the four sporting arms categories rose 53.1 percent while the two ammunition categories increased 6.8 percent over the same time period in 2011. NSSF reports that overall U.S. exports (in units) in six sporting arms and ammunition categories increased 27.3 percent in March 2012 compared to March 2011. March 2012 exported units in tracked categories totaled 113.1 million, up from 88.9 million reported in March 2011. For the first three months of 2012, total units exported in the four sporting arms categories rose 14.0 percent while the two ammunition categories increased 2.0 percent over the same time period in 2011. Additional firearm import and export data, including monthly historical data and charts for each category, are available to NSSF members by logging in and clicking NSSF Industry Research then Monthly Firearm Import Export Data.

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• NSSF NAMES LAURA SPRINGER EMERGING MEDIA MANAGER . . . NSSF has promoted Laura Springer to manager of emerging media. In her new role, Springer will manage NSSF's online efforts, including websites, mobile-application development, social media and digital publications. Springer has been with NSSF since 2000, serving as webmaster. Read NSSF's press release.

 

• FREEDOM GROUP NAMES CAMPBELL AS LEAD DIRECTOR . . . Freedom Group, Inc. (FGI) has named James Campbell to its board of directors as lead director. Campbell spent 10 of his last 30 career years as president and CEO overseeing a global appliances and lighting business. "As we continue to enhance the operation of our family of companies, Jim's understanding of manufacturing, product development, supply chain and quality control will be a strong asset," said George Kollitides, CEO and chairman of the FGI board.

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• UPDATED RESEARCH REPORT ON BOWHUNTERS' PURCHASING TRENDS . . . The 2012 edition of NSSF's The Modern Bowhunter Report® is now available.  The report provides 2010 and 2011 demographics and purchase information on a wide range of popular bowhunting products from bow cases to arm guards. Cost, brand and place of purchase are included in this report, which is sourced from Southwick Associates, HunterSurvey.com. NSSF member cost is $50, nonmember price $500. This report can be ordered online, and additional NSSF research can be found at www.nssf.org/research.

News of Note

• BLM TO ALLOW SHOOTING ON NATIONAL MONUMENT LAND . . . The Federal Bureau of Land Management last Friday said it would recommend keeping the Sonoran Desert National Monument area outside of Phoenix open to recreational shooting. This is welcome news since BLM had previously recommended to close the entire monument area to shooting, which would have put 90 percent of the public lands in a 30-mile radius surrounding Phoenix off limits to target shooters. Members of the federal Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council recently met with BLM officials to express their concerns about the closure. "We appreciate them taking our concerns to heart," said NSSF President and CEO and WHHCC member Steve Sanetti. "It is our hope that this will help stop the steady erosion of availability of federal lands for recreational shooting across America."

• JACK ROBERTSON SPORTING CLAYS EVENT TO BENEFIT U.S. SHOOTING TEAM; SLOTS STILL OPEN . . . The 13th Annual Jack Robertson Sporting Clays Invitational, scheduled for May 24, in Dover Plains, N.Y., will benefit the U.S. Shooting Team, which is preparing for the 2012 Olympic Summer Games in London. The shoot, coordinated by the Hunting Heritage Trust, is largely a shooting industry event, and this year's squads will include an "Olympic Dream Team" sponsored by the National Shooting Sports Foundation. As of earlier today, openings for three teams of six shooters and approximately five more individual shooters still existed. Interested? Email Kay Delfay or call her at 803-641-1030.

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• EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR NAMED FOR SCHOLASTIC SHOOTING SPORTS FOUNDATION . . . Dan Hathaway has been named executive director of the Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation, which oversees the NSSF-developed Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP). Hathaway brings more than 40 years of business experience in a variety of industries to the organization. SSSF is responsible for all aspects of SCTP, including participant registration, coaches, state coordinators, state and national championships, promotion, communications, websites, public relations and growth strategies.

Jobs

• FIREARMS INDUSTRY JOBS . . . Visit www.nssf.org/jobs for current employment opportunities in the shooting, hunting and outdoor industry. Employers: Log in to post a job opening.

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The last morning of the Last Grand American Day in Vandalia Ohio, 2005...

Amateur Trapshooting Association moves on...
It couldn't be said better than the article by Jim Morris staff writer of the Dayton Daily News 
and author of the book "Homegrounds." Photo slide show by Bill Reinke

Amateur Trapshooting Association moves on

Grand American adjusts just fine to new location. ATA officials and shooters say they're happy with the $50 million complex in Sparta, Ill.

By Jim Morris
Staff Writer

Photo slide show...

SPARTA, Ill. — If you showed up at the former Amateur Trapshooting Association grounds in Vandalia last week and wondered where all the shooters were, you could have found them 380 miles to the southwest.

For the first time since 1924, the Grand American World Trapshooting Championships were held somewhere other than Vandalia, and from all appearances, the shooters fit in well at their new location.

"We will grow into it," said John Norris, executive director of the ATA. "There have been a few minor things, but overall I am very pleased."

The new $50 million World Shooting and Recreational Complex here in southwest Illinois is everything the shooters could have hoped for.

"I like it," exclaimed sub-junior shooter Walter Reaster of West Milton. "It's huge, but it's not all that difficult to get around. You can park your car right behind the trap where you are shooting."

Getting there

Starting in Vandalia, the drive to Sparta is not difficult. Figure six to seven hours, including a few rest stops and a half-hour for a quick meal.

There are several ways to approach Sparta, a small town with about 5,000 residents about 20 miles from the Mississippi River. Perhaps the most direct route is to take Interstate 70 almost to East St. Louis, and then head directly south for 50 miles on Illinois 4, a mostly straight, two-lane road through corn and bean fields and some small towns.

Once you get close, it's easy to find the shooting complex. The state has posted signs that take you directly there. Local folks also have put up large signs welcoming shooters and pointing them in the right direction.

What you see

The first inkling that something new and very large has been created out of former strip-mine land in southwest Illinois is the glistening white water tower with the shooters' logo. Then you see four new buildings, the first one being the 34,000-square-foot events center, the hub of everything going on at the shoot.

The small army of state highway patrol officers directs drivers on a rather circuitous route to enter the 1,600-acre WSRC. And as you drive to the main parking lot, you see some of the other facets the facility will soon be opening — rifle and pistol ranges, a cowboy action shooting corral, and archery ranges — and signs to the campground that has about 1,000 spaces.

The events center serves as the central entry building with all of the shooter services, windows to sign up for events and cashiering. But unlike the old Central Entry Building in Vandalia, there also is a snack bar, a full-service restaurant and all of the offices and meeting rooms for the ATA.

Merchants are found in two locations. The larger firms, such as Baretta and Perazzi, can be found in four new buildings to the west of the events center. The small, more numerous vendors are set up in a row of tents and trailers about a quarter-mile east of the center on the other side of one of five lakes on the grounds.

Surrounding area

"People thought we were 'in the middle of nowhere,' but that isn't true," said Toni Pautler, president of the Sparta Chamber of Commerce. "When some of the campers came in, they were carrying two weeks' worth of groceries because they thought there was nothing around here.

"There's no big city right here (like Dayton), but we have several small towns with restaurants and places to stay. And there will be two new hotels going up this year. I think the shooters are finding everything they need."

Those shooters who don't camp seemed to find places to stay, even though they might have had to drive several miles to the grounds each day.

"We're staying in Chester, and it's a 24-mile drive, but it's not bad," said New Knoxville's Dave Berlet, who was shooting in his 50th Grand American last week.

Chester is a town of about 8,000 on the Mississippi River. It has a statue of Popeye in a park overlooking the river, honoring Chester native Elzie Segar, creator of the sailor-man comic.

"We are all excited to see the shooters come," Pautler said. "There really has been nothing going on around here since the coal mines closed."

The shooting

With a 3-mile-long line of 120 traps, all facing north, the ATA has found what it was looking for when talk of expansion first came up in the late 1990s. The only difference is it doesn't own anything, other than the trap machines, trams, benches and scoring chairs. The ATA has a 10-year lease. In addition to the Grand, it also puts on smaller shoots in July and October.

The background, with its wide sky and a few trees, is mostly to the shooters' liking.

"The shooters seem to like it," said Chuck Fritzges, tournament director since 2000. "The line is pretty much the same from one end to the other, so it doesn't really matter where you shoot."

And, he added, referring to Vandalia, there aren't any airplanes roaring in overhead.

As with any new facility, the grounds could use more trees and green grass (the summer has been unusually dry), both on the trap line and campground. And more restrooms are needed.

"They (Illinois Department of Natural Resources, which operates the WSRC as a state park) have been very accommodating," Norris said. "When we've seen something that needed to be done, they have taken care of it."

Ray Greb of Maryland, incoming ATA president, said he was happy with the turnout.

"The naysayers came, and they've enjoyed it here. The attendance has been good, better than last year," Greb said.

For the entire tournament, which closed Friday, 33,858 entered Grand events, up 11 percent from 30,455 in Vandalia last year.

In addition to those trams, traps and benches, there is one last reminder to the days at Vandalia — the Italian sausage man, Tony Johnson, drove his sausage trailer down from Vandalia.

"It wouldn't be the Grand American without that smell of Italian sausage along the trapline," one shooter said.

  Gun, Gun's, Guns

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