SHOT SHOW OFFERS RETAILER SUCCESS PLAN

Workshops for Gun Shops. . . Just a few weeks remain before the next session of SHOT Show University, the continuing education program of the National Association of Firearms Retailers (NAFR) designed to provide the tools and information today's firearm retailer needs to start and grow a competitive business. Learn how to set up your operation to compete with large department stores offering discounted products, how to provide business records required by federal regulators, prevent illegal gun purchasers from using your store to break the law and how to make good use of exciting television advertising available at a special low price for NAFR members. Register for SHOT Show University before January 7 and receive a discounted price. Just e-mail or call Melissa Pergola at (203) 426-1320 or register online for sessions the day before SHOT Show opens, January 27.

• AVOIDING BACKGROUND CHECK DELAYS . . . Purchasers of firearms who find themselves the victim of erroneous information that wrongly delays or prevents a legal firearms purchase now have a remedy to speed up future gun buys. The FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check, or NICS system, will keep permanently on file documents and other information for lawful purchasers who have a name and birth date similar to those of prohibited persons or might otherwise be confused with someone who may not legally buy a firearm. For information about how to authorize creation of a Voluntary Appeal File to prevent wrongful denials, visit the Web site of the National Association of Firearms Retailers at http://www.nafr.org/NICS/. 

• TIME IS RUNNING OUT . . .The opening night SHOT Show gala features the annual State of the Industry video report, SHOT Business Awards and a concert by Grammy Award-winner LeAnn Rimes. You can still register for the SHOT Show or purchase tickets to the State of the Industry event at www.shotshow.org.

• NSSF MEMBERS SAVE UP TO 26% . . . Because you belong to NSSF, you can save up to 26% on select FedEx Express® and up to 24% on select FedEx Ground® shipments. It’s the FedEx Association Advantage® - another great benefit for members of NSSF. “Last year the average NSSF member saved $561 by enrolling in the NSSF FedEx shipping program,” said NSSF Managing Director of Program Development Chris Dolnack. Already have a FedEx account? Just complete a one-page enrollment agreement to start saving immediately. To enroll, simply contact NSSF Member Services Manager Bettyjane Swann  or visit the FedEx Booth #9530 in the Retail Services Pavilion at Shot Show 2005.

• CONSERVATION BILL BECOMES LAW . . . Congress and President Bush reaffirmed a commitment to the Wetlands Reserve Program and Conservation Reserve Program by enacting and signing into law Senate Bill 2856 on Dec. 23. The legislation ends a two-year stalemate between congressional agriculture policy leaders and budget experts by more clearly defining the intent of the 2002 Farm Bill to resolve conflicting interpretations regarding funding for technical assistance. Read more at the Web site of Ducks Unlimited.

AROUND THE STATES

• PENNSYLVANIA SAFETY STUDY . . . An article in The New Gun Week examines statistics gathered in Pennsylvania during a study to determine whether limiting deer hunters to shotgun slugs actually improves safety. The study casts doubt as to whether states that prohibit rifle hunting out of concern for safety in densely populated areas should expect to see fewer incidents of unintentional shootings downrange of persons and property.
• NEBRASKA . . .  The legislature has considered it before, but this year seems more likely than ever to create a concealed carry system for Nebraska, one of only four states in the U.S. without a provision to accommodate the right to bear arms, according to The Omaha World-Herald.

ENFORCING EXISTING LAWS

• ENFORCEMENT DROPS CRIME IN MAJOR CITIES . . . Some of the nation's biggest cities, with the strictest prohibition on lawful ownership of firearms, have had some of the worst crime problems for many years. Now, with a focus that targets illegal behavior and not the legitimate ownership of a legal product, crime-fighters are proving that controlling criminals is the key to controlling crime. Chicago's change in emphasis, including embracing the firearms industry-supported Project Safe Neighborhoods crime prevention program, resulted in about a quarter fewer murders in 2004. Read more in The Chicago Tribune and The New York Times.

• SAN FRANCISCO . . . Politicians in San Francisco promoting a ban on handguns are short-sighted and mistaken, according to a columnist at The San Francisco Chronicle. Joan Ryan, who forbade her children from even having a toy gun in her home, is no fan of firearms but analyzes the facts to determine that banning guns with new laws does not deter criminals who routinely disobey the law.

AROUND THE INTERNET

• WOLF PREDATION ON THE RISE . . . Wolf management, one of the hottest topics among Western hunters and ranchers, promises to get even hotter following a report showing the number of wolf-killed cattle and sheep more than doubled in 2004. The report comes from Defenders of Wildlife, the pro-wolf group that pays ranchers for confirmed livestock losses to wolves. The 2004 predation rate was triple what was predicted 10 years ago by the federal government. Wolf numbers are also a lot higher than predicted when the carnivores were first released in Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho in 1995. Growing populations have spread from core wilderness areas. However, Defenders of Wildlife claims that while wolf kills get most of the attention, they amount to a fraction of all livestock kills. In Montana, for instance, coyotes killed many times more sheep and lambs in 2003, according to state statistics. Read more in Bozeman Montana's Daily Chronicle.

• ARIZONAN TO PRESIDE OVER NRA . . . At its annual meetings in April, for only the second time a woman will take the office of President of the National Rifle Association. She's the NRA's current first vice-president, attorney Sandy Froman, of Prescott, and she tells The Arizona Republic that she's planning to change the impression people have of NRA's members.

• HAMMER NOMINATED . . . Marion Hammer, who preceded Charlton Heston as NRA's first woman president, was last week named to the Florida Women's Hall of Fame in recognition of her work to create and foster NRA's Eddie Eagle program, credited with teaching gun safety lessons to about 17 million children. Hammer, who at 65 now heads Unified Sportsmen of Florida, told The Tallahassee Democrat "That kind of recognition is something you don't think about -- but when it comes your way, it's very special. To be nominated by the attorney general and selected by Governor Bush, it doesn't get much better than that."

AROUND THE INDUSTRY

• SAD PASSINGS TO NOTE . . .The holidays brought word of tragic losses to the firearms and hunting community. Brad Rowse, manager of the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation State Caucus program and the new National Assembly of Sportsmen's Caucuses, died in his sleep of an aneurysm on Sunday, December 26, at the age of 26. Also that day, Don Nygord died in Prescott, Arizona. He was a member of the U.S. Shooting Team for 22 straight years, a member of the 1984 and 1988 U.S. Olympic Teams and a World Champion in air pistol. His U.S. Free Pistol record at 574 still holds. His widow, Donna, asks that donations be made in lieu of flowers to the Veteran's Administration Hospice Care Unit in Prescott, recognizing the wonderful care given there to Don and his family. In Colorado on December 29, Dr. Tom Thorne and his wife, Dr. Beth Williams, were killed in an auto accident during a snowstorm. Both were nationally prominent experts on chronic wasting disease, providing much of the expertise behind the NSSF-supported CWD Alliance.  Thorne, 63, was a prominent researcher of CWD in deer and elk, as well as of brucellosis in bison and elk. Williams, 53, was probably the foremost CWD authority in the country, according to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. “Beth, literally, was the foundation of everything that we really have learned over the years about CWD," said colleague Dr. Mike Miller. We at NSSF also mark the passing of Jerry van Dijk, who in 1979 became the first SHOT Show manager, a position he held for man years. Jerry, considered an icon in the trade show world, helped built the SHOT Show into one of the largest trade shows in America. Having retired to Florida, Jerry returned to the 25th Anniversary SHOT Show in Orlando and helped cut the ribbon marking the milestone of the show he cared so much about.

• MANUFACTURING STRONG . . . Reuters reports U.S. manufacturing activity expanded for the 19th consecutive month in December, despite a rise in unemployment, suggesting that the nation's industrial sector is entering 2005 with solid strength behind it.

• SHOT SHOW SPREE . . . When the SHOT Show concludes Monday, January 31, attending retailers would be wise to register between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. that day in the Lobby of the Las Vegas Convention Center. Names randomly drawn may win cash credits up to $10,000, sponsored by NSSF, to be used at any booth at the SHOT Show. Other prizes include a similar $5,000 cash credit, $5,000 credit toward advertising in the Original Outdoor Challenge campaign, two 2006 SHOT Show registration and lodging packages, $100 gift certificates for fine dining in Las Vegas and 20 shopping sprees worth $1,000 each to be used at the prize co-sponsor's booth. Co-sponsors include Hi-Point Firearms, U.S. Fire Arms, Smith & Wesson, Columbia River Knife, IST, Western Powder, Inc., Sentry Solutions, Elite Survival Systems, Stag Arms, Versatile Gun Rack Co., Atsko/Sn-Seal, Inc., Cutt Down Game Calls, Pentax Imaging, Inc., Python Holsters Col, Burris Company, Inc., Mustang Company, Safari Press, Inc. and Alpen Outdoor Corporation.
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America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system and too early to shoot the bastards.