Call Your Representative at (202) 224-3121

Due to outdated U.S. export regulations, the firearms and ammunition industry and many other U.S. industries that export products are at a severe disadvantage when competing with foreign companies. Now some in Congress are going to try and stop export control reforms that are critical to helping U.S. companies compete globally so we can restore and grow the U.S. economy and create more jobs right here at home.  That’s why the firearms industry fully supports the ongoing effort to update and modernize our export controls.

Some in Congress are trying to derail those much-needed reforms by offering amendments to National Defense Authorization Bill (H.R. 4310).  We urgently need you to call your member of Congress and urge them to oppose any amendments to the National Defense Authorization Bill that would undermine the Export Control Reform initiative.

Modernizing our export controls will help to create jobs here in America, make American companies more globally competitive, increase U.S. national security and allow America to better strengthen and support its key allies.

A strong and growing firearms industry helps protect the Second Amendment. Call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 to reach your Representative.

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Read the complete letter.

Urge your representative not only to support the 2013 Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Spending Bill (the bill does not have a number) but also to oppose any amendments to strip out any provisions in the ATF rider.

To reach your legislator, call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121.

Thank you for helping NSSF preserve our firearms freedoms.

First, however, we must correct some statements the writer has made. The writer suggests that both gun owners and private ranges would be paying a tax to provide funding for public shooting ranges. In truth, this funding mechanism has been in place for 75 years at the request of the firearms and ammunition manufacturing industry, and it is paid for by those companies. The excise tax authorized by the Pitman-Robertson Act was imposed to support wildlife conservation and hunter education and to provide for public access and opportunity for members of the public to exercise the Second Amendment!

Second, the author, Barry Fagin, suggests that it is the federal government that would be building shooting ranges with passage of the proposed legislation. That is incorrect. It would be the states, using the funds reallocated to them, along with their own funds, to build and enhance shooting facilities available to the public.

The legislation criticized by Barry Fagin simply would provide states more flexibility to be better able to use the Pittman-Robertson funds for one of the purposes for which the excise tax on manufacturers exists: provide the public with shooting opportunities. Shooting sports participants and manufacturers are the largest financial supporters of wildlife conservation throughout the United States, having contributed more than $7 billion since 1937 to habitat conservation, recreational shooting and wildlife management through Pittman-Robertson excise tax payments. Target shooters are a significant purchaser of the firearms and ammunition for which manufacturers pay the excise tax. Don’t they deserve a return on their investment in the form of more access and opportunity? And when they do get that opportunity, it will lead to more purchases and more funding for conservation, hunter education and, yes, recreational shooting opportunities. It is an unending cycle that benefits all.

In recent years, opportunities for Americans to safely engage in recreational and competitive shooting have declined on both public and private lands. In addition to impacting recreational shooters, these declines have also reduced opportunities for hunters to sight in their firearms and practice shooting before hunting season. This legislation would help address this loss of access and opportunity by allowing states to allocate a greater proportion of their federal Pittman-Robertson wildlife funds to the development of shooting ranges.

Despite the unqualified success of this historic “user pays” system, Pittman-Robertson receipts have traditionally been allocated in a manner that disproportionately underfunds the creation of recreational shooting opportunities. The Target Practice and Marksmanship Training Support Act will fix this inequity. By encouraging states to develop new shooting ranges that will encourage participation in the shooting sports, S. 1249/H.R. 3065 will ensure that a major component of the Pittman-Robertson Act — to maximize funding for wildlife conservation — continues to be fulfilled for generations.

NSSF encourages all hunters and shooters to learn more about this important legislation and contact their lawmakers to encourage support for it.

The mainstream media has consistently falsely claimed that 90 percent of all firearms recovered in Mexico come from the United States. The “90 percent myth” stems from a misstatement by then-ATF Deputy Director Billy Hoover during congressional testimony in 2009. The myth spread like wildfire and the smoke from that firestorm still obscures the facts. We have put the lie to the 90 percent myth in past blog posts.  A report by the independent research group STRATFOR has shown that it is erroneous and grossly misleading to say the majority of firearms recovered in Mexico came from the United States.  In fact, only 12 percent of the firearms misused in Mexico were originally sold at retail in the United States.

In 2009, a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) showed that only about 80 percent of firearms recovered in Mexico and submitted for tracing were originally sold at retail in the United States, not the 90 percent the media keeps reporting.

But it shouldn’t surprise anyone to learn that many of the firearms recovered and traced come from the United States. That is because U.S. law requires markings on firearms precisely so they can be traced by law enforcement through commerce.  It is sort of like tracing the VIN number on cars on a Ford dealership lot and be surprised to learn that most are Fords. What the 90 percent myth does not account for, and the media turns a blind eye to, and what yesterday’s ATF report does not shed light on, is the fact that you know nothing about the firearms recovered in Mexico but were never traced — like the firearms that the 150,000 or so Mexican soldiers took with them when they defected to go work for the drug cartels over the past several years.

Logically, Mexican officials wouldn’t bother to trace the U.S.-made firearms they know belonged to the Mexican government or law enforcement, the results of which would be highly embarrassing to Mexican officials. Nor does yesterday’s report account for guns that have been smuggled into Mexico from South and Central America.

As Professor Gary Kleck has observed, “It’s likely that police in Mexico submit for ATF tracing only those crime guns that they believe originated in the U.S. This would be reasonable, since those are the ones that the ATF is likely to be able to trace, but it is not a sample from which to generalize. Even if guns of American origin account for only a small share of all Mexican crime guns, they would comprise nearly all of those submitted by the Mexican authorities for tracing by the ATF.”

It is important to note that these percentages do not reflect the total number of firearms recovered.  In fact, in 2009 then-ATF Acting Director Kenneth Melson sent a letter to Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) admitting, “There are no United States Government sources that maintain any record of the total number of criminal firearms seized in Mexico.”

Yesterday’s ATF report shows that this “vast majority” continues to shrink.  According to ATF, of the firearms recovered and traced by Mexico during the time period covered by the report, as few as 65 percent, and most recently just 71 percent, of the firearms Mexico asked ATF to trace were determined to have come from the United States.  But even the information in yesterday’s report is not entirely new information. In a report titled, “Halting U.S. Firearms Trafficking to Mexico,” released in June of 2011 by a trio of anti-gun senators, Feinstein, Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), showed the number of firearms that have been recovered in Mexico and traced to the United States were actually declining in recent years from the mythical 90 percent to an unsubstantiated 70 percent.  The June 2011 figures have now been substantiated.

A deeper dive into yesterday’s report reveals that even a smaller percentage still were actually successfully traced to the first retail purchaser, ranging from only 37 percent to as low as just 25 percent.  It is important to heed ATF’s caution that “[a] crime gun trace alone does not mean that [a firearms retailer] or firearm purchaser has committed an unlawful act. Crime gun trace information is used in combination with other investigative facts in regulatory and criminal enforcement.”  — ATF Crime Gun Trace Reports (introduction, p. 4 of the Youth Crime Gun Interdiction Initiative).

Perhaps ATF should also heed its own warnings. Its report cautions that “firearms selected for tracing are not chosen for purposes of determining which types, makes or models of firearms are used for illicit purposes,” that “[f]irearms selected [for tracing] do not constitute a random sample and should not be considered representative of the larger universe of all firearms used by criminals, or any subset of that universe,” and that “firearms traced do not necessarily represent the source or methods by which firearms in general are acquired for use in crime.”  Yet, that is precisely what ATF said in its press release yesterday, declaring that the trace data “shows a trend in recovered and submitted crime guns from Mexico shifting from pistols and revolvers to rifles.”

Auturo Sarukhan, the Mexican ambassador to the U.S., once made the absurd claim that Mexico seizes 2,000 guns a day from the United States — that amounts to 730,000 a year. Calderon claimed just the other day to support his call for Congress to reinstate the ban on modern sporting rifles that Mexico had recovered 140,000 firearms in the past four years and that “the vast majority have been assault weapons, AK-57s (sic), etc.  And many, the vast majority of these weapons, were sold in gun shops in the United States.”

According to ATF, Mexico only submitted 68,000 firearms over five years, many of which did not come from the United States.  More interesting, however, is the fact that of those firearms submitted for tracing less than half, and in some years as few as 28 percent, were rifles of any kind. The report does not break out the number or percentage of so-called “assault rifles,” i.e. AK-47 look-alikes (Like M-16s, AK-47s are automatic firearms. While civilian versions of M-16s are AR-15s, there is no corollary name for civilian versions of AK-47) or AR-15 variants.  The report also doesn’t tell us what percentage of the rifles submitted for tracing were determined not to be of U.S. origin and it also doesn’t tell us what percentage were not successfully traced to the first retail purchaser.

Perhaps what is most interesting about ATF’s report is the fact that it does not discuss the “Time to Crime” (TTC) for the Mexican traced firearms.  ATF always gives TTC when it issues a tracing report (click here for an example).  Why did ATF omit this piece of information? Because it knows that on average firearms (of all types) recovered in Mexico and successfully traced were on average originally sold at retail after a background check more than 15 years ago.

It is increasingly clear that this rapidly shrinking “vast majority” of firearms allegedly flooding over the border into Mexico are moving at a glacial pace.

We can all agree that there are serious crime problems in Mexico, and notwithstanding his factual misstatements, we do applaud Mexican President Calderon’s courage for cracking down on the drug cartels and rampant corruption in his country, that has even reached inside his inner circle. However, laying the blame for Mexico’s crime at the feet of the U.S. firearms industry is more an act of frustration than a crime-fighting strategy, and, as we’ve said before, sacrificing the constitutional rights of law-abiding Americans as a means of addressing this issue is neither an option nor a solution.

As one of those “gun owners’ rights organizations,” the National Shooting Sports Foundation, representing more than 7,000 firearms and ammunition industry manufacturers, distributors, retailers and others, would like to point out some of the inaccuracies in Oppenheimer’s column.

First, he says that President Calderon called for a renewal of the “assault weapons ban,” quoting Calderon as saying that when there is an “availability of weapons in any given society, there is an increase in violence.” In this case the inaccuracy is Mr. Calderon’s. During the ban to which he refers, which existed from 1994 to 2004, violent crime in the United States did not go down—because the arms Oppenheimer refers to as “assault weapons” generally were not used in crime. In the years since the ban expired, Americans have purchased millions of modern sporting rifles, maligned as “assault rifles,” and violent crime has declined in the United States to its lowest level in decades, demonstrating that there is no correlation between the number of guns in circulation and the level of violence.

Oppenheimer further quotes Mr. Calderon as stating that his government has seized more than 140,000 weapons in four years. Oppenheimer further has Calderon asserting that the vast majority were sold in guns shops in the United States, where there are an estimated 8,000 such shops along the U.S.-Mexican border. The number of gun shops is only relevant if you incorrectly believe federally licensed firearms retailers are somehow responsible for guns going to Mexico. They are not, of course. This is really like saying there are “too many” Ford dealers in the state where there are X number of DWI arrests in which the vehicle driven was a Ford. This also ignores the fact that firearms are only transferred by a firearms retailer after a background check has been performed on the buyer. The independent research group STRATFOR has corroborated NSSF’s longstanding belief: it is erroneous and grossly misleading to say the majority of firearms recovered in Mexico came from the United States. In fact, only 12 percent of the firearms misused in Mexico were originally sold at retail in the United States. The proof can be found in the U.S. government statistics in a report released by STRATFOR.

Furthermore, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive’s (ATF) data show that firearms recovered in Mexico and successfully traced as coming from the U.S. were originally lawfully sold in the United States an average of 15 years before they were seized and traced in Mexico. So that means they were sold long before the “assault weapon ban” sunset in 2004.

As if Oppenheimer’s piece has been presented as reportage, though he editorializes throughout and minimizes the rebuttal of an NRA spokesman to a few short paragraphs, he does conclude with a section of his column called, “My opinion” (as if the whole column had not been his opinion) by stating, “…the Second Amendment doesn’t say that Americans have the right to buy bazookas, or AK-47s, or other military-style weapons, or purchase dozens of them and sell them to whomever they want.” Really, are you to believe that bazookas and automatic weapons are purchased in large quantities at U.S. firearms retailers and then trafficked to Mexico? This is ridiculous and patently false. It has been widely documented by such news sources as the L.A. Times, Washington Post and CBS News, that the drug cartels are acquiring firearms and serious weapons like grenades from Central America and black market sources. Also, more than 150,000 Mexican soldiers have defected to go work for the cartels, clearly taking their U.S. made firearms with them.

Our industry abhors the criminal misuse of firearms, whether on the streets of Miami or Juarez, Mexico. That is why the public should know America’s firearms industry cooperates with law enforcement to prevent the illegal purchase of firearms, most recently working with ATF along the border on a program called Don’t Lie for the Other Guy that warns the public about the serious penalties for straw purchasing.

We can all agree that there are serious crime problems in Mexico, and notwithstanding his factual misstatements, we do applaud Mexican President Calderon’s courage for cracking down on the drug cartels and rampant corruption in his country, which has even reached inside his inner circle. However, laying the blame for Mexico’s crime at the feet of the U.S. firearms industry is more an act of frustration than a crime-fighting strategy, and, as we’ve said before, sacrificing the constitutional rights of law-abiding Americans as a means of addressing this issue is neither an option nor a solution.

Click image to read full report.

NSSF today released a newly commissioned report detailing double-digit gains in jobs and other data showing the industry has been a leader in the nation’s economic recovery. The report can be viewed at http://nssf.org/impact.

Firearms industry members on Capitol Hill were briefed on such remarkable statistics as the 30.6 percent increase in jobs between 2008 and 2011, a 66.5 percent increase in economic impact and a 66.5 percent increase in federal taxes paid by industry companies.

Armed with the good news of the report and recognizing that jobs and the economy are of major importance in the November elections, industry executives are meeting today with elected officials during the NSSF-sponsored Congressional Fly-In.

“During difficult economic times and high unemployment rates nationally, our industry actually grew and created more than ten thousand new, well-paying jobs,” said NSSF President Steve Sanetti. “Our industry is proud to be one of the bright spots in this economy.”

The firearms industry has stood apart from other industries by thriving in a down economy. Indicators such as background-check statistics, firearms production and importation, firearm-retailer surveys and on-the-ground reports from retailers nationwide reveal that Americans are purchasing firearms in record numbers. For example, federal background checks for March totaled nearly 1.2 million in adjusted figures, representing an increase of 20 percent over a year ago and the 22nd straight month-over-month increase. (NSSF adjusts figures from the National Instant Criminal Background Check System to remove purpose-code checks associated concealed carry applications and permits. Though not a direct correlation to firearm sales, adjusted NICS figures provide a more accurate picture of market conditions.)

This year’s robust sales are a continuation of the economic growth the firearms and ammunition industry experienced last year that was driven by an unprecedented number of Americans choosing to exercise their fundamental right to keep and bear arms and purchase a firearm and ammunition. This increase in firearms ownership coincided with the continued decline in accidental firearm-related fatalities–a more than a 60 percent decrease in the last 20 years–and a continued drop in crime rates nationally.

Also cited in the economic impact report were the significant taxes paid by industry member companies to federal and state governments and the Pittman-Robertson excise tax the industry pays on the products it sells. The latter tax is the major source of wildlife conservation funding in America.

“Last year our industry increased its contribution to wildlife conservation by over seven percent, which translates into sportsmen contributing more than 1.3 million dollars daily to conservation efforts,” said NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Lawrence G. Keane.

“Ours is an industry with a rich history and heritage that remains vital and important to the American economy today,” continued Keane. “To millions of Americans our industry’s products represent liberty, security and recreation. We look forward to speaking with members of Congress today about important legislative and regulatory issues that will allow our industry members to continue to grow their businesses and create even more new jobs in their communities.”

Pictured left to right: NSSF President Steve Sanetti, Sen. Jon Tester, Rep. Jeff Miller and NSSF Senior Vice President Lawrence G. Keane.

NSSF honored Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) as NSSF’s 2011 Legislators of the Year at an NSSF Political Action Committee (PAC) reception this evening in Washington, D.C., on the eve of the firearms industry’s annual Congressional Fly-In.

In presenting the awards, NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Lawrence G. Keane praised the leadership qualities of the two lawmakers.

“Sen. Tester’s leadership in the United States Senate has helped to ensure and protect our shooting sports, hunting and firearms freedoms,” said Keane. “NSSF is pleased to present to Sen. Tester NSSF’s 2011 Legislator of the Year Award and looks forward to continuing a constructive dialogue with him on public-policy matters affecting the industry.”

“Rep. Miller’s leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives reflects his commitment to protecting the shooting sports, hunting and our firearms freedoms,” said Keane. “NSSF is pleased to honor Rep. Miller as its 2011 Legislator of the Year.”

Last year, Sen. Tester and Rep. Miller, who are co-chairs of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus in their respective chambers, introduced the Hunting, Fishing and Recreational Shooting Protection Act (S. 838/H.R. 1558) in order to protect the right of hunters and sportsmen to use the ammunition of their choice. Anti-hunting organizations, as well as extreme environmental groups, continue to push for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ban traditional ammunition made with lead components. These groups falsely claim a ban is needed to protect wildlife populations, despite incontrovertible evidence wildlife populations are thriving, and to protect hunters, even though the science is clear using traditional ammunition poses no human health risk to hunters.

Tester is the author of the Making Public Lands Public Access Act, S. 901, a bipartisan bill will ensure that a certain portion of the Land and Water Conservation Fund would be spent acquiring public access for sportsmen and women. The measure was included in the transportation bill that recently passed the Senate.

“Sportsmen and women need strong advocates for gun rights and access to public lands to keep hunting traditions strong,” Tester said. “I’m proud to fight for more access and protect gun rights so that our kids and grandkids will forever enjoy our outdoor traditions.”

Rep. Miller sponsored the Sportsmen’s Heritage Act, H.R. 4089, which was passed by the House of Representatives on Tuesday. The bill combines four legislative priorities that will expand recreational hunting, shooting and fishing opportunities and also reaffirms existing law and heads off determined bureaucratic efforts to deny hunters and shooters from using traditional ammunition. This important legislation is supported by more than 35 national conservation and sportsmen’s groups.

“Outdoor activities like hunting and fishing are an important part of our heritage and way of life. I feel it is important to preserve these traditions and promote them to the next generation of outdoorsmen at every opportunity, especially in our nation’s capital,” said Miller. “I am humbled to be able to do a small part to help preserve the traditions of the great outdoors, and I am honored by this recognition from the sportsmen’s community.”

Sponsored by Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.), the bill combines four legislative priorities that will expand recreational hunting, shooting and fishing opportunities and also reaffirms existing law and heads off determined bureaucratic efforts to deny hunters and shooters from using traditional ammunition. This important legislation is supported by more than 35 national conservation and sportsmen’s groups.

“NSSF thanks Rep. Miller for his exceptional leadership in helping to expand access and opportunities for sportsmen and in protecting and preserving America’s hunting and shooting heritage,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF senior vice president and general counsel. “We look forward to seeking passage of the bill in the Senate.”

Said Rep. Miller, “I think it is important to recognize the contributions that sportsmen make to protect our nation’s most precious resources. Outdoor activities like hunting and fishing are a central part of our heritage and way of life, but they also help fund a good portion of our conservation efforts. We must remain ever diligent to ensure the rights of sportsmen. Thanks to the members of the sportsmen’s community, Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus and the House Committee on Natural Resources, H.R. 4089 will be able to address some of the most pressing concerns the outdoors community faces.”

Included in H.R. 4089 is the Hunting, Fishing, and Recreational Shooting Protection Act. The bill amends the Toxic Substances Control Act to clarify the original intent of Congress to exclude traditional ammunition — ammunition containing lead-core components — and fishing tackle from regulation by the Environmental Protection Agency.

H.R. 4089 includes other key legislative priorities of the sportsmen’s community:

• The Recreational Fishing and Hunting Heritage Opportunities Act, which requires federal land managers to support and facilitate use and access for hunting, fishing and recreational shooting.
• The Recreational Shooting Protection Act, which requires National Monument land to be open to access and use for recreational shooting.
• The Polar Bear Conservation and Fairness Act, which will allow the importation of polar bear parts taken in a hunt in Canada, if legally harvested before certain dates.

The bill combines four legislative priorities that will expand recreational hunting, shooting and fishing opportunities while also protecting the ability of hunters and shooters to chose the ammunition of their choice by stopping anti-hunting and environmental zealots from having the Environmental Protection Agency ban traditional ammunition.

This important legislation is supported by more than 35 national conservation and sportsmen’s groups.

Please call your Representative today (202-224-3121) and encourage them to support H.R. 4089.

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Visit NSSF’s Government Relations site at nssf.org/GovRel.