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January 5th, 2012
Americans of all walks of life are purchasing more pistols, rifles, and shotguns than ever before. Based on NSSF-adjusted FBI background check (NICS) records, American purchased 10,791,275 firearms in 2011. That’s an all-time record, and a 14% increase over 2010. Gun sales hit a new high in 2011 after a decade of steady increases (see chart). In 2002, ten years ago, slightly less than 7,000,000 firearms were sold. The 2011 sales figure represents a 54.1% increase over 2002 sales. And the NICS figures are conservative, because they do not report multiple gun sales made with a single background check.
Gun Ownership Becomes More Universal
The increase in gun sales over the last ten years reflects growth in the ranks of gun owners. A significant percentage of recent sales have been made to first-time gun owners. And more women are arming themselves. Gun ownership is becoming more universal, not limited to the traditional groups of male hunters and sportsmen. A recent Gallup Poll found that: “47 percent of American adults currently report that they have a gun in their home or on their property”.
 First-time buyers and women are driving the spike in gun sales. USA Today reports: “Some gun industry analysts attributed the unusual surge to a convergence of factors, including an increasing number of first-time buyers seeking firearms for protection and women who are being drawn to sport shooting and hunting.” Confirming that view, Bloomberg.com states that more women, liberals, and Democrats are buying guns. Multiple factors are at work according to CNBC.com: “Uncertainty in a presidential election year. Warriors returning from the battlefields. The comeback of the hunter. These are just some of the reasons… why firearms makers are ringing in 2012 like gangbusters.”
Gallup Gun Ownership Poll Summary
“A clear societal change took place regarding gun ownership in the early 1990s, when the percentage of Americans saying there was a gun in their home or on their property dropped from the low to mid-50s into the low to mid-40s and remained at that level for the next 15 years. Whether this reflected a true decline in gun ownership or a cultural shift in Americans’ willingness to say they had guns is unclear. However, the new data suggest that attitudes may again be changing. At 47%, reported gun ownership is the highest it has been in nearly two decades — a finding that may be related to Americans’ dampened support for gun-control laws. However, to ensure that this year’s increase reflects a meaningful rebound in reported gun ownership, it will be important to see whether the uptick continues in future polling.”
The NSSF adjusts NICS data by subtracting out NICS purpose-code permit checks used by several states such as Kentucky, Iowa and Utah for CCW permit application checks as well as checks on active CCW permit databases. In addition to other purposes, NICS is used to check transactions of firearms sales and transfers on new and used handguns and long guns. For more NICS info visit the NICS website.
Photo by KapapCombative.com.
May 29th, 2011
 While the two trends are not necessarily linked, it is interesting that serious crime continues to decline while firearms ownership expands with each passing year. Last week, the FBI released its Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report for 2010, showing a decrease of 5.5 percent in the number of violent crimes brought to its attention in 2010 compared to the previous year. Violent crime, which includes murder, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault, decreased in all four regions of the country and in both cities and non-metropolitan areas. For decades, violent crime in the United States has been dropping. Final figures for 2009 showed violent crime at its lowest level since 1984. At the same time, firearms ownership and use has been increasing, as right-to-carry legislation has been passed in 80% of U.S. States. There are now 40 Right-to-Carry States: 37 have “shall issue” laws, requiring that carry permits be issued to applicants who meet uniform standards established by the state legislature. Two have discretionary-issue carry permit systems. Vermont respects the right to carry without a permit. Alaska and Arizona have “shall issue” permit systems and have allowed concealed carrying without a permit since 2003 and July 2010, respectively. The largest surge in firearms sales occurred from late 2008 into 2010, and, according to an NSSF report, an estimated 34.4 million people went target shooting in 2009, the largest number ever.
October 15th, 2010
 Acting on behalf of a Georgia resident and honorably discharged Vietnam War veteran, the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) has filed a lawsuit against Attorney General Eric Holder and the Federal Bureau of Investigation over enforcement of a federal statute that can deny gun rights to someone with a misdemeanor conviction on his record.
The lawsuit was filed in United States District Court for the District of Columbia. SAF and co-plaintiff Jefferson Wayne Schrader of Cleveland, GA are represented by attorney Alan Gura, who successfully argued both the Heller and McDonald cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.
In July 1968, Schrader, then 21, was found guilty of misdemeanor assault and battery relating to a fight involving a man who had previously assaulted him in Annapolis, MD. The altercation was observed by a police officer, who arrested Schrader, then an enlisted man in the Navy, stationed in Annapolis. The man he fought with was in a street gang that had attacked him for entering their “territory,” according to the complaint.
Schrader was ordered to pay a $100 fine and $9 court cost. He subsequently served a tour of duty in Vietnam and was eventually honorably discharged. However, in 2008 and again in 2009, Mr. Schrader was denied the opportunity to receive a shotgun as a gift, or to purchase a handgun for personal protection. He was advised by the FBI to dispose of or surrender any firearms he might have or face criminal prosecution.
“Schrader’s dilemma,” explained SAF Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb, “is that until recently, Maryland law did not set forth a maximum sentence for the crime of misdemeanor assault. Because of that, he is now being treated like a felon and his gun rights have been denied. No fair-minded person can tolerate gun control laws being applied this way.” Gottlieb added: “Mr. Schrader’s case is a great example of why gun owners cannot trust government bureaucrats to enforce gun laws.”
The Second Amendment Foundation (www.saf.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 650,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control.
September 14th, 2010
 As firearms and ammunition experienced record sales in 2009, the nation’s crime rates continued to fall, according to the FBI’s just-released report, Crime in the United States, 2009. During 2009, property crime continued to fall — for the seventh straight year — with an estimated decrease of 4.6 percent. Violent crime declined for the third year in a row, with an estimated 5.3 percent drop from 2008 figures. Each of the violent crime categories decreased from 2008—murder (7.3 percent), robbery (8.0 percent), aggravated assault (4.2 percent), and forcible rape (2.6 percent). The decrease in violent crime in 2009 occurred at the same time that firearm sales were surging.
The FBI’s crime statistics are based on reports from the 17,985 city, county, university and college, state, tribal, and federal agencies who participated in the Uniform Crime Reporting program in 2009. These agencies represent 96.3 percent of the nation’s population.
CLICK HERE to read full FBI 2009 Crime Report
February 3rd, 2010
Today we wrap up our coverage of the 2010 Shot Show. Jason and I visited scores of booths, inspected hundreds of new products and interviewed dozens of industry insiders and “old friends”. We can’t package all the highlights into a single blog post, but here are some “short takes” on SHOT Show items of interest — the new stuff we really liked and some odd but noteworthy elements of the “Shot Show Experience”.
Most Important New Technology — Burris LaserScope
AccurateShooter.com doesn’t give product awards, but if we did, the new Eliminator LaserScope from Burris would be a leading candidate for “Best in Show” honors. This unit employs modern technology to make the shooter’s job easier. A built-in laser rangefinder finds the distance to your target. Then the scope consults a ballistics table, pre-programmed for your cartridge. The scope’s “brain” calculates the precise holdover for your ranged target distance and displays a bright, red dot on the vertical cross-hair. That dot is your calculated correct point of aim. Just put the red dot on the target and squeeze the trigger. For a varmint hunter, this scope could be the best thing since sliced bread. Shoot all week and never touch the elevation knob. We just wish the Eliminator was offered in a higher-power version — say a 6-24×50. Currently the Eliminator is offered only as a 4-12x42mm optic. The Eliminator is far from perfect, but its technology really could render other conventional hunting riflescopes obsolete.
Important Brass Developments
For Benchrest shooters, the big news was Norma’s introduction of 6 PPC brass. According to Lou Murdica, who has tested the early production brass, this new brass is “outstanding” and is fully competitive with cases fire-formed from Lapua 220 Russian brass. Norma’s production of 6 PPC brass demonstrates that the Swedish company is very serious about benchrest shooting and the American market. We had a long, productive conversation with the CEO of Norma, and we could tell he is committed to expanding Norma’s place in the American market. Expect some major developments in the months ahead, including a joint project with AccurateShooter.com. Norma also showed us the 300 Norma case which we feel will eventually be an important chambering for long-range shooters. This case has “just right” capacity to drive the 200+ grain, high-BC 30-caliber bullets.
Unnoticed Excellence — The Barrel-Makers
Flashy new products get the media attention at SHOT Show every year. But we think the most important “back story” involves American barrel-makers. If you want to do a story on EXCELLENCE in today’s gun industry, you need to focus on the elite barrel-makers. Companies such as Bartlein, Broughton, and Krieger continue to make better barrels every year, with new features such as gain-twist rifling, and 5R rifling. Just this Friday, I witnessed a .308 “tactical” rifle with a new Krieger 5R barrel fire two successive three-shot groups that were each just a ragged hole — and the first two out of three shots in each group literally went through the same hole at 100 yards. And that was during barrel break-in with an untested load and untrimmed brass “right out of the box”. America’s top “boutique” barrel-makers are now producing extraordinarily good products, yet they are rarely mentioned by the popular print gun magazines. At a time when we see recall notices from companies such as Ruger and Remington on a regular basis, our American custom barrel makers are building the best barrels in the world, indeed the best barrels ever made.
A Contrast in Style — American vs. European Optics-Makers
Among the major optics makers, the difference between American and European marketing styles was painfully obvious. Leupold and Burris had fast-talking, glad-handing salesmen, who, for the most part, knew very little about their product line and even less about optics engineering. By contrast, Zeiss and Schmidt & Bender staffed their booths with real optics engineers with Ph.Ds, many of whom were directly involved in the design of the products on display. At Zeiss we spent nearly an hour talking with Stephan Albrecht, the German engineer in charge of the new 20-75X Diascope spotting scope and the new Diavari Flourite riflescopes. During our conversations with Stephan he actually solicited our feedback, took careful notes and promised to explore some of our suggestions. We also were able to share our field test results directly with Eric Schumacher, President of Carl Zeiss Optical, USA. By contrast, Leupold’s decision makers and top-level engineers were nowhere to be found, and when we voiced our (now annual) plea that Leupold stop building scopes with canted reticles, we were greeted with nothing but blank stares. Leupold’s reps couldn’t comprehend the canted reticle problem, even after I pulled a scope (with 3° canted reticle) off their display rack and showed them.
Federal FCPA Sting Rocks SHOT Show
In the mainstream media, SHOT Show 2010 will be remembered for one thing — the “Big Bust”. On January 20th, FBI agents arrested 22 gun industry employees and executives for alleged violations of the FCPA (Foreign Corrupt Practices Act). Those arrested, including one of Smith & Wesson’s Vice Presidents, were charged with trying to bribe FBI agents posing as African government officials. This “high-visibility” bust culminated a DOJ sting operation two years in the making that involved 250 federal agents.
Accuracy… Who Needs Accuracy?
There’s a curious thing about SHOT Show. It’s touted as the greatest gunshow in the galaxy, but one thing is sorely missing — really accurate rifles. Heaven forbid there would be a true benchrest rifle or rail gun on display! Many of our readers own more true 1/4-MOA rifles than you’ll find at the entire SHOT Show. We know this is a trade show, but still you’d think somebody would want to show off a really impressive rifle — say the National Championship-winning F-Class rifle or a record-setting rail gun. It would be like having a Top Fuel dragster on display at a car show. But no, what we have instead are acres upon acres of 1-2 MOA factory guns. That’s disappointing to say the least. It’s sort of like going to an air show only to discover the Blue Angles have cancelled and there won’t be any jets at all.
 Pop Stars vs. Legendary Marksmen
At every SHOT Show, I’m struck by some odd ironies. This year I walked past one booth which was absolutely mobbed with people trying to meet an attractive young female celebrity — a contestant from American Idol. Fighting through the throng, I continued down the aisle to the McMillan booth. There was David Tubb, quietly chatting with a McMillan rep. Mind you, David is an 11-time National High Power Champion. He has also won National Silhouette titles and scores of other matches. He is arguably the greatest competitive rifle shooter in American history. Yet hundreds of people walked by without even noticing David. Think of the irony. Imagine if Michael Jordan was sitting in a booth at a sports convention. The place would be mobbed. Yet David has certainly dominated his sport the way Jordan dominated basketball. Jordan won six NBA Championships. Tubb has won ELEVEN National Championships (and he’s not done yet). Yet the vast majority of SHOT attendees don’t seem to care about legends like David Tubb, or about shooting excellence in general… they would rather wait in line to meet a “wannabee” from American Idol than learn something from a truely legendary marksman. Sometimes I DO wonder about our priorities.
Too Many Black Rifles?
After Obama was elected in November 2008, there was a surge in demand for semi-auto, military-style rifles, partcularly AR-platform rifles. Manufacturers of all sizes, from Remington/Bushmaster, to small fabricators, ramped up production of AR uppers, lowers, and complete rifles. Now, 15 months later, demand is slacking off, and there is an over-abundance of ARs. We perceived a notable lack of interest in AR rifles at SHOT Show, unless they had some new bells and whistles. Retailers seemed much more interested in big-bore bolt guns and handguns, or in the completely new semi-auto designs such as Remington’s ACR.
Bring Back the Convention Center
For 2010, SHOT Show was hosted at the Sands Expo Center, behind the Venetian Hotel complex, instead of the Las Vegas Convention Center. On paper, this seemed like a good move. The Sands Expo is nearer the strip and closer to popular hotels. In practice, the Sands Expo proved a poor location for SHOT Show. Outside the main hall, booths were crammed into conference areas with low ceilings and bad lighting. A very large number of exhibitors were assigned to the first-floor “Dungeon”. There, access was difficult, the lighting was bad, and low ceilings and concrete floors worsened the background noise problem.
Just getting into SHOT show was a challenge. For the majority of visitors staying in hotels on the strip, one had to walk through the maze-like interior of the Venetian to get to the Show. This was annoying to say the least. On 3 out of 4 days I took at least one wrong turn, and on Day 2 I got thoroughly lost. I saw plenty of folks with SHOT Show badges walking in circles, completely disoriented — the Venetian is a building where you can’t walk in a straight line for more than 150 feet or so. And once inside the SHOT Show proper it was very easy to get lost as well. Pete Brownell was heard to say that he needed a map just to find his own booth.
January 23rd, 2010
 Culminating a 2.5-year investigation, on January 20th, FBI agents arrested 22 execs and sales employees at the 2010 SHOT Show, on allegations that the defendants, to secure lucrative arms contracts, had tried to bribe FBI agents posing as foreign officials. The FBI based its arrests on alleged violations of the 1977 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).
According to Outdoor Life: “Charged are people at companies in eight states and executives at companies in the United Kingdom and Israel. The defendants allegedly agreed to pay a 20 percent commission to a sales agent they believed represented the defense minister for an African country to win a multimillion-dollar deal to outfit the presidential guard. The sales agent was actually an undercover FBI agent, and no defense minister was involved at all.”
Over a two and a half year period, some 250 FBI agents were involved in the sting operation. Based on the length of the investigation, and the number of agents involved, this sting surely cost the taxpayers many millions of dollars, and also diverted manpower from much-needed investigations of suspected terrorists and big-time drug traffickers.
Can the Charges Stick?
At least one law professor thinks the Federal prosecutors may have great difficulty obtaining convictions. The reason is that object of the bribes was NOT a foreign official, but was instead an FBI agent. This may be similar to cases where store owners accused of selling alcohol to minors “beat the rap” because the “minors” were actually young-looking detectives well above the drinking age. Arguably, if there is no actual foreigner involved then there can not be an illegal bribe under the terms of the FCPA. However, there are some other crimes listed along with the alleged FCPA violations.
What Will Likely Happen?
We expect some of the less important defendants will plea bargain to stay out of jail. These “small fish” will be asked to turn States’ evidence to help the prosecution of the higher profile defendants, such as Smith & Wesson VP Amaro Goncalves. The big shots who were arrested will almost certainly mount a vigorous defense and appeal any convictions. The appeal process could go on for many years. Ultimately, the nation’s High Court might be asked to decide whether the FCPA can be violated when no actual foreign official was involved and the whole scheme was cooked up by American law enforcement.
Misguided Federal Priorities?
So far the mainstream media has missed the underlying question here — namely: “Why did the FBI, at the behest of the U.S. Dept. of Justice, commit millions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of man-hours to trick American arms salesmen, when their alleged ‘crime’ may not be an FCPA violation at all, and when there are other far more important priorities — such as real terrorists?” The Red Alerts blog declared: “When dealing with third world nations corruption is part of the price of doing business. Everyone knows that but the government wasted the time of at least 250 FBI agents while real Muslim terrorists were sneaking underwear filled with binary explosives on airplanes.”
January 13th, 2010
 Make no mistake about it, despite the tough economic times, gun sales are still going strong. In 2009, Americans purchased over 14,000,000 firearms, based on NICS Background Check statistics from the FBI. The FBI logged 14,033,824 NICS checks in 2009, a 10% rise from the 12,709,023 checks in 2008.
The raw number of NICS checks may actually under-count the total number of guns sold last year. This is because when a buyer purchases multiple firearms at the same time, a single NICS check can apply to multiple sales.
Shooting Sports Are Big Business
Let’s compare gun sales with other sporting items. According to the National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA), Americans spend more on guns than on ski equipment or tennis equipment. Moreover the $5.5 billion shooters and hunters spend each year on guns, ammo, and equipment dwarfs the $3 billion golfers spend on equipment. Given the BILLIONS of dollars that shooters spend, why are shooting sports largely ignored (or trivialized) by the mainstream media? The answer appears to be political/philosophical bias. The general news media simply refuses to acknowledge that sporting use of firearms is a widespread, popular activity in our culture.
The Important Truth Revealed by Gun Sales Statistics
Ironically, while the mainstream news media attempts to marginalize the shooting sports as a “niche” activity by “unprogressive” elements in society, Americans are buying more guns and ammo than ever. What is the message behind verified gun sales statistics? First, gun ownership is hardly a niche activity. Secondly, gun ownership is so widespread that gun owners need not be apologetic about exercising their Second Amendment rights. While the “talking heads” on news networks may mock “gun-totting rednecks”, the reality is that all segments of society own and use firearms for sport, hunting, and self-defense. Be proud to be a gun owner, along with tens of millions of other law-abiding Americans.
November 3rd, 2009
 The FBI’s National Instant Background Check System (NICS) hours of operation for federal firearms licensees (FFLs) will remain the same as their current hours of operation during this year’s NICS busy season. NICS Call Centers will be available daily from 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. Eastern. The only deviation to this schedule will be Nov. 27, the Friday following Thanksgiving, when the hours of operation will be 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. Eastern. These extended operational hours will be available only to those FFLs who use the FBI Call Centers. NICS is managed through the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division in Clarksburg, West Virginia.
The NICS Section will cease operation at midnight on Christmas Eve and remain closed on Christmas Day. The NICS will resume normal operations on Dec. 26 at 8 a.m. Eastern. NICS is managed through the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division in Clarksburg, West Virginia.
September 27th, 2009
These are tough economic times. We know a lot of folks who have lost their jobs or had their hours cut back as companies slash budgets. There’s a lot of belt-tightening going on as families, across the country, reduce their expenditures. Nonetheless, despite all the cutbacks, Americans are still buying firearms in record numbers. Americans may be able to live without luxuries, but not without their guns.
Over 1,000,000 NICS Checks in August
In August, 2009, Americans purchased over 1,000,000 firearms. According to the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), there were 1,074,757 background checks in August 2009, a 12.3 percent increase from the 956,872 reported in August 2008. And so far this year, there have been 9,076,205 NICs checks. Keep in mind that a NICS check may cover the purchase of more than one firearm at a time, so total 2009 gun sales probably well exceed the 9,000,000 mark. If we assume, probably conservatively, that 10 million guns were sold so far in 2009, that’s one for every 30.8 citizens, based on current Census data.
Gun Manufacturers’ Stock Prices Have Tripled Since November
By most indicators, we may be in a major recession, but times are good for the big gun-makers. The stock prices of both Smith & Wesson (SWHC) and Sturm, Ruger & Co. (RGR) have soared since the November Presidential election, reflecting the boom in gun sales. S&W stock, which bottomed at $1.79 on 11/20/08, traded for $5.14 per share on 9/25/2009 — nearly three times as high. On November 20, 2008, RGR traded at $4.52 and it closed at $12.91 this past Friday (9/25/2009). Now, don’t you wish you’d invested in some S&W or Ruger stock last year?
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