On October 7th, Smith & Wesson, a leading American gunmaker for over 169 years, celebrates the Grand Opening of its new Tennessee Headquarters and production center. The Grand Opening event will feature a shooting day, product demonstrations, and fun events.
Since 1852, Smith & Wesson had been based in Springfield, Massachusetts. Now a big change is taking place. The company announced in September 2021 that it would relocate its headquarters from Massachusetts to East Tennessee, along with distribution, assembly, and other major operations. The Smith & Wesson Headquarters Grand Opening and Fall Festival event takes place Saturday, October 7 from noon to 8 p.m. at 1852 Proffitt Springs Road in Maryville, TN.
The Shooting Wire reports that: “The new Maryville facilities will house the company’s headquarters, plastic injection molding, pistol and long gun assembly and distribution centers. The company’s longtime home, Springfield, Massachusetts, will remain operational with all forging, machining, metal finishing, and revolver assembly staying behind. More than 1,000 S&W employees will still be employed there, but it’s a decided diminishment for the facilities that have been home to the company since 1832. More than 750 jobs are relocating from Springfield, Massachusetts, Deep River, Connecticut and Columbia, Missouri, to Maryville.”
Smith & Wesson’s President and CEO Mark Smith cited several key factors in the decision to move S&W’s corporate HQ from Massachusetts to Tennessee:
Support for the 2nd Amendment
Business friendly environment
Quality of life for employees
Cost of living and affordability
Access to higher education institutions
Availability of qualified labor for operations
Favorable location for efficiency of distribution
GunTalk Media Will Stream Live from the Grand Opening Gun Talk Media will broadcast LIVE from the Grand Opening of Smith & Wesson’s new facility on October 7, 2023. Beginning at 1:00 pm EST Ryan Gresham and Kevin Jarnagin host a LIVE broadcast throughout the day, giving viewers who might not be able to attend an inside look at the grand opening.
This broadcast provides an exclusive look at the new premises, interviews with key personnel, and insights into the latest offerings from one of the most renowned firearms manufacturers in the world.
Gun Talk LIVE Schedule on Saturday, October 7, 2023:
1:00 pm: S&W – Mark Smith, President & CEO
1:30 pm: S&W/Mighty Oaks Foundation – Chad Robichaux, Founder of Mighty
2:00 pm: USCCA – Maria Julianna
3:00 pm: S&W – Jerry Miculek, S&W Brand Ambassador
3:30 pm: Gatorz Eyewear – Scott Melton, Product Manager
4:00 pm: C&G Holsters –Chris Burns, Founder & President
4:30 pm: Rugged Rare – Travis Ferguson, VP of Sales & Marketing
5:00 pm: Black Rifle Coffee Company – Michael Shea
Grand Opening Silent Auction To Support Local Tennessee Charities
There is a special auction connected with Smith & Wesson’s TN Grand Opening. The Smith & Wesson Grand Opening Silent Auction is auctioning off over $20,000 worth of Smith & Wesson and partner products to support local East Tennessee charities. This Silent Auction is open to the public, and concludes 10/7/203 at 7:00 pm EST. CLICK HERE to see All Auction items.
CONGRESS MAKES BIPARTISAN REBUKE of PRESIDENT BIDEN’S HUNTER EDUCATION ATTACKS
The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) praised the U.S. Congress for the swift and decisive vote to rebuke President Joe Biden’s unprecedented move to defund scholastic hunter education and archery programs available for youths. The U.S. House of Representatives approved H.R. 5110, the Protecting Hunting Heritage and Education Act, in a 424-1 vote and the U.S. Senate hot-lined the legislation, passing it by unanimous consent. The legislation, introduced by U.S. Reps. Mark Green (R-TN) and Richard Hudson (R-NC) is now headed to President Biden’s desk for consideration.
The White House has not signaled whether the president will sign or veto the legislation. However, Congress approved the bill in a rare and overwhelming veto-proof majority. Should the president veto the legislation, Congress could override the president’s veto and enact the law.
“This is a tremendous victory for true and proven firearm safety, as well as a reminder of how Congress can unite to protect the American public from special-interest driven agendas,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel. “This should have never been an issue. Congress never wrote into the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act that hunter education and archery programs were ineligible for funding. That was a unilateral decision to appease gun control and anti-hunting special interests. It was an unforced error that the Biden administration refused to acknowledge. Congress, as the representatives of the people, has spoken and spoken loudly and clearly.”
The Biden administration wrongly claimed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA) forbid the funding of school-based hunter education and archery programs. That was never in the language or intent of the law. Congress appealed to the Biden administration to reverse course in several bipartisan and bicameral letters. Biden could have resolved the issue by simply reversing the policy to deny funds for the essential scholastic programs by ending the policy put into place by Education Secretary Miguel Cardona.
Congress acted when administration officials refused. Congress passed the Protecting Hunting Heritage and Education Act less than two months after it was introduced. NSSF is deeply grateful to Congressmen Green and Hudson for their leadership to restore hunter education and archery funding for schools, as well as for Congress for setting aside partisan politics to represent the interests of all Americans and true and proven firearm safety programs.
Top Photo Courtesy Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
Gun Owners of America (GOA) and the Gun Owners Foundation (GOF) teamed up with Gun Owners of California (GOC) to file suit challenging portions of SB 2, a bill that anti-gun Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law this week. This unconstitutional legislation was passed in response to the Bruen decision (which ended the state’s draconian “may-issue” policy). As signed by Newsom, California SB 2 will:
— Create vast, restricted “sensitive locations” where concealed carrying would be prohibited, including all private property unless expressly permitted by the owner;
— Require 16 hours of training;
— Significantly increase the costs associated with securing a permit.
This lawsuit challenging SB 2 was filed in the U.S. District Court (Central District South) in Calfornia. The action, entitled May et al v. Bonta specifically goes after the “sensitive locations” provision of the law. Several other anti-gun states have enacted similar unconstitutional legislation in response to the Bruen decision, and GOA and GOF are a part of litigation in several of these cases.
Click image for a list of insurance programs for CCW holders.
Erich Pratt, GOA’s Senior Vice President, issued the following statement:
“This is just the latest assault on our rights in California. Just as concerning, Governor Gavin Newsom has already made his anti-gun intentions quite clear: he wants to effectively repeal the Second Amendment. Sadly, his acknowledgment that doing so would be the only way to enact more gun control did not dissuade him from violating his oath when he signed this law into effect, but we are fully prepared to fight back.”
Sam Paredes, on behalf of the board for GOF and in his role as the Executive Director of Gun Owners of California, added:
“Pro-gun groups in California have had success when pushing back on legislation like this –just look at our victory last week against the state’s magazine ban. And just like in that case, we are confident SB 2 will be overturned. I’ve been warning governors and legislatures across the country since the Bruen decision that these ‘response bills’ will not stand, but unfortunately, many have still been pushed through. That won’t stop us however – states should fall in line, or we will make them.”
Earlier this month, gunmaker GLOCK Inc. presented a $50,000 check to the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) at the CMP Talladega Marksmanship Park in Alabama during the GLOCK Sport Shooting Foundation (GSSF) Annual Match. GLOCK has been a generous sponsor and supporter of the CMP and Talladega Marksmanship Park throughout its existence, dedicating thousands to the organization each year to be used toward programs and initiatives.
GLOCK Inc. V.P. Josh Dorsey and Nat’l Sales Manager Bob Radecki presented the $50,000 check to the CMP’s acting park manager Bret Lankford and Business Development Exec. Stefanie Teaford.
“We’re always so grateful to GSSF and GLOCK, Inc. for supporting the CMP,” said Teaford. “We’ve been able to use their substantial contributions to enhance our impact in the marksmanship community through organized opportunities and through the distribution of fundamental and safety instruction to countless individuals across the country.”
About the CMP’s Talladega Marksmanship Park
Since 2015, Talladega Marksmanship Park, “The Home of Marksmanship,” has been a worthy destination for firearm supporters and guests looking for practice, competition and mindful learning opportunities. Featuring CMP electronic targets and scoring monitors that can only be found at the 500-acre facility, the park regularly hosts rifle, pistol, shotgun and archery events all year long. The CMP’s Unknown Distance Range at Talladega also allows guests to practice their skills in the field of over 100 steel targets, out to 625 yards, and provides even more marksmanship fun at the Park.
The public is welcome, all year long, to test out their firearms or to simply take a tour of the grounds. Off the firing line, the Club House holds a fully stocked Pro Shop that includes an exclusive collection of rifles, ammunition, marksmanship accessories and CMP memorabilia that is always open during park hours. Learn more at the CMP Talladega Park webpage.
The Civilian Marksmanship Program is a federally chartered 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. It is dedicated to firearm safety and marksmanship training and to the promotion of marksmanship competition. For more information, visit TheCMP.org.
Chris Simmons Wins International Precision Rifle Federation PRS World Championships
Lapua congratulates Team USA’s Chris Simmons on winning the first-ever International Precision Rifle Federation Precision Rimfire World Championships. This highly anticipated match took place August 28 through September 3 at the Piancardato Tiro A Volo range in Collazzone, Italy. Chris was shooting a Vudoo rifle with Lapua X-Act .22 LR rimfire ammunition. Simmons posted an Aggregate score of 165.00 points with a time of 1480.45. The first four finishers were also from the USA. CLICK HERE to see hundreds of photos from the event.
The International Precision Rifle Federation (IPRF) World Championships drew top shooters from 23 nations. The three-day event had competitors tackle a challenging course of fire at different distances, shooting from both supported and unsupported obstacles, with long-range shots, and moving targets, all within tight time constraints.
Simmons, no stranger to the winner’s circle, was part of a two-year selection process to represent the United States at the inaugural IPRF event. Over the past nine months, Simmons took his training to another level, getting up before daylight to hit the range. He also spent many evenings after work shooting 10-12 different positions in a 90-second timeframe, firing hundreds of rounds daily.
Match was conducted in a beautiful hillside location in Collazone, Italy.
After surviving tricky wind conditions and bad wind calls, Simmons found himself in second place prior to going into the last two stages. He then performed great in the final two stages, taking the overall win: “Paul Dallin and I ended up tied and it came down to the fastest aggregate time of all the stages,” commented Simmons. “I won the World Championship by 23 seconds in 2023! Paul is a hell of a shooter and competitors and was tough to beat. Congratulations to him on his second-place finish!”
Top Five Shooters at IPRF Rimfire World Championships:
1. Chris Simmons, USA
2. Paul Dallin, USA
3. Payton Grimes, USA
4. Tyler Orth, USA
5. Radek Novak, Czech Republik
“It was an honor to be able to represent Team USA in the World Precision Rifle Championships in Italy. Thank you to Lapua for supporting both myself and Team USA with quality ammunition,” stated Simmons.
Member of Team USA with a patriotic stars and stripes rimfire rifle.
Competitors came from 23 different countries from around the world.
The USA’s Payton Grimes was top lady shooter and 3rd overall.
The event included unusual stages with across-the-water shots.
Ammo Testing at Lapua Rimfire Performance Centers
The Lapua X-ACT .22 LR ammunition used by Chris Simmons was matched to his VuDoo rifle at a Lapua Rimfire Performance Center in the USA. Unique lots of ammunition are tested at 50 and 100 meters simultaneously, identifying the best performing ammunition for purchase. This service is available to any shooter who wishes to gain a competitive advantage. Schedule your testing at either of Lapua’s Rimfire Performance Centers located in Mesa, Arizona, or Marengo, Ohio.
To learn more about the Lapua Rimfire Performance Centers or to schedule an appointment, visit Rimfiretest.com.
RCBS, a leading manufacturer of reloading equipment and tools, celebrates its 80th anniversary this year, marking eight decades of equipping handloaders with quality, American-made reloading gear. “After 80 years of operation, RCBS is still delivering top quality reloading products backed by world class customer service,” said Justin Smith, product line manager for RCBS. “The brand has never lost the essence that Fred championed back in 1943 and the men and women in Oroville today truly do bleed green. You’ll be hard pressed to find another group who cares more about the quality of products they produce and the consumers who depend on them.”
The RCBS story began in 1943 in the backroom of Fred T. Huntington’s father’s laundry and dry-cleaning business in Oroville, California. A dedicated shooter, Huntington sought to make his own high-quality .22 caliber bullets for shooting local varmints known as rock chucks. He designed and crafted his own “Rock Chuck Bullet Swage” dies, a name later shortened to RCBS.
In the decades following becoming a business, RCBS rapidly grew from a small shop into the nation’s leading maker of reloading equipment. Now using state-of-the-art equipment in large manufacturing facilities, RCBS has stayed near its roots in Oroville.
Product manager and R&D engineer, Steve Koch, has witnessed RCBS’s impressive growth firsthand. He’s been with the company for over 40 years and knows personally how passionate the employees are in Oroville. “Wow, 80 years, a lot has changed. I’m very proud to say that I’ve spent 45 years at this great establishment,” said Koch. “Everyone is extremely proud of what we have here in Oroville. The pride and dedication of the people that produce, assemble and package the finest reloading equipment in the world is the key to our success. Quality is the RCBS motto, and we will continue to ensure we provide our customers with the finest reloading equipment possible.”
In honor of its 80th anniversary, RCBS will soon be introducing a limited-edition Summit single-stage reloading press. This American-made press will feature a special red, white and blue design, and will be limited to only 1,000 pieces. Stay tuned to RCBS social media channels and RCBS.com for more info on this special Summit press release.
To learn more about the RCBS 80th anniversary, check out the video below. For more information on RCBS products and 80-year company history visit RCBS.com.
Due to statutory requirements set forth in both the NICS Denial Notification Act and the Bipartisan Safer Community Act (BSCA), the ATF Form 4473 was revised in December of 2022. Incorporating industry member suggestions made during the recent 60 and 30-day Notice and Comment periods, ATF has further revised the form and now that newest version (August 2023) has been approved by the Office of Management and Budget for implementation. The new form becomes mandatory on 2/1/2024, but the ATF recommends using the updated Forum 4473 now.
The ATF encourages all federal firearms licensees (FFLs) to begin using the Revised Form immediately. The Revised Form is available on the ATF website, and can be downloaded and printed for immediate use. Note that the entire Form, including instructions, must be printed, and stored together. Hard copies of the Revised Form will be available through the ATF Distribution Center beginning November 1, 2023. The ATF eForm 4473 application is also being revised and notification will be sent when it is ready for use.
The Revised Form will become mandatory for use on February 1, 2024. Please contact your local ATF Industry Operations office should you have any questions regarding the changes to the form.
OK guys, you probably want to keep this page confidential. Your spouse probably doesn’t want to be reminded about all the times you ignored the “Honey Do” list and headed off to the range instead. And she certainly doesn’t want to know how much you spend every year on your gun hobby.
Answer these two polls to see how dedicated (or should we say “obsessed”) a gun guy you really are. Once you vote you can see how your shooting (and spending) habits compare to other readers. Full results display after you select an answer and click the “Vote” button.
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The rifle cartridge money clip was a real product from ReleaseMeCreations.com (now sold out). You can, of course, make your own cartridge money clip with a Dremel tool for free.
Everytown Comes Out from Behind the Curtain
By Larry Keane, NSSF Senior V.P. and General Counsel
For years, gun control organizations have been seeking to dismantle the bipartisan Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA). That’s the crucial federal law shielding firearm manufacturers and sellers from frivolous lawsuits designed to bankrupt law-abiding businesses by blaming them for the criminal misuse of lawfully-sold firearms … and impose gun control through court-ordered settlements. It is what former Clinton Secretary of Labor Robert Reich dubbed “regulation through litigation”.
Gun control advocates have unsuccessfully urged Congress to repeal the law, falsely claiming it provides total immunity from all lawsuits — a falsehood regularly repeated by President Joe Biden even though the media has fact-checked him and said it is not true. In court, these groups have unsuccessfully challenged the PLCAA’s constitutionality. Attorney General Merrick Garland testified before Congress that the PLCAA was Constitutionally-sound, despite the contrary rhetoric coming from The White House and the gun ban lobby. They continue to ask courts to misapply the law’s exceptions (disproving the total immunity claim). All these efforts are designed to open up a new floodgate of frivolous litigation against the industry not seen since the late 1990s and early 2000s. It was that litigation which the bipartisan PLCAA prevents.
Now, the enemies of the Second Amendment have opened up a new line of attack on the PLCAA. Surreptitiously led by the Bloomberg-funded Everytown for Gun Safety, they have convinced a few “Blue” antigun legislatures to pass unconstitutional “public nuisance” (anti-PLCAA) statutes. These statutes attempt an end run around the PLCAA to set the table for a renaissance of reckless lawsuits against members of the industry. NSSF is challenging the Everytown-backed laws in New York, New Jersey, Delaware, California, Illinois, Washington and Hawaii.
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Everytown’s masquerade as a champion of responsible firearm regulation is a sham. Their actions speak louder than their hollow words. By actively participating in “public nuisance” lawsuits and championing laws like Hawaii’s HB 426, Everytown lays plain its intention to undermine the PLCAA and smother the firearm industry with irrational restrictions that only erode the Second Amendment rights of Americans and do nothing to make communities safer. Their track record of manipulating tragic events for their own political gain is morally reprehensible.
Hunting season is starting soon in most areas of the country. Here’s a way you can improve your hunting skills/knowledge. The NRA is offering a FREE online Experienced Hunter Education Course for those preparing to take advantage of the 2023 hunting season.
“Our Experienced Hunter Education Course provides those who might have taken a season or two off a convenient way to sharpen their skills before heading back into the field,” said Peter Churchbourne, director of NRA’s Hunters Leadership Forum.
NRA’s free 2-hour course is a firearm and hunting safety-training refresher in a convenient and engaging platform available through desktop, tablet, or smartphone. The course is available to everyone at www.NRAEHE.org. NOTE: The course is NOT a substitute for state-mandated hunter safety requirements and does not offer any certifications.
The NRA’s NRA Experienced Hunter Education Course, is an online training program designed to help hunters brush up their skills. Free to all, this comprehensive hunting refresher course will help hunters become safer and more confident before heading out into the field. CLICK HERE for more information.
“If you’ve taken a break from the shooting sports or haven’t hunted in a season or two, our Experienced Hunter Education Course is the perfect refresher for firearms safety and safe hunting practices,” explained Elizabeth Bush, managing director of NRA Community Engagement. “Best of all, we’re offering this service completely free of charge.”
Course Description
This online training course is specifically designed for individuals who have not hunted in the past year or more and are looking for a safety refresher before they head back out in the field. In this course, hunters will have the opportunity to refresh their skills by taking a look at safe hunting practices and firearms safety. Once completed, you will be a safer hunter in the field.
Earlier this month, gunmaker GLOCK Inc. presented a $50,000 check to the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) at the CMP Talladega Marksmanship Park in Alabama during the GLOCK Sport Shooting Foundation (GSSF) Annual Match. GLOCK has been a generous sponsor and supporter of the CMP and Talladega Marksmanship Park throughout its existence, dedicating thousands to the organization each year to be used toward programs and initiatives.
