Presidential candidate Rick Santorum with Miles Hall, president of H&H Shooting SportsComplex.

Fresh off primary victories in three states, presidential candidate Rick Santorum demonstrated his strong support for the individual right to keep and bear arms by visiting H&H Shooting Sports Complex in Oklahoma City en route to a rally today.

H&H is a NSSF Five Star member range owned by Miles and Jayne Hall.

The Santorum rally originally was scheduled to be held at H&H, but a surge of requests to attend the event forced a change to the Magnuson Hotel and Convention Center, where a crowd estimated at close to 2,000 gathered. The candidate delivered a speech that focused largely on energy, reported News On 6.

During his pre-rally visit at H&H, Santorum said, “I wish we could have had it here, this would have been perfect.”

He added, “I am very impressed. It is easy to see why gun ownership is so strong here, and I stand tall with the Second Amendment.”

Said Miles Hall, founder and president of H&H, “It was a great honor to show a small but important part of the shooting industry to one of our presidential hopefuls.”

We are pleased that the Virginia Senate and House of Delegates have recognized the importance of repealing one gun a month, legislation that rationed the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Virginians.   We look forward to Gov. McDonnell’s signature on this very important bill.

After Feb. 14, the House of Delegates will consider SB 323 and the Senate will consider its companion bill HB 940 before sending the legislation to McDonnell for his approval.

While the UFC has yet to make an official announcement, NSSF has confirmed that “absolutely no firearms, ammo, hunting or knife companies will be permitted as sponsors in any Zuffa-promoted events.”

NSSF is encouraging all gun owners, sportsmen and firearms enthusiasts to contact FOX today and urge them to rescind this anti-gun corporate policy.  FOX’s decision to ban advertisements for lawful products owned by more than 80 million Americans is nothing more than corporate gun control.  We expect better from FOX.  So should you.

Make sure your voice is heard.  Here’s how to contact FOX:

Corporate Headquarters FSN
10201 W. Pico, Bld. 103
Los Angeles, CA 90035
Phone: 310-369-1000
Web: www.FOXSports.com

“Yesterday’s vote was a great step forward in our campaign to allow Sunday hunting in Virginia,” said National Shooting Sports Foundation Senior Vice President and General Counsel Lawrence G. Keane.  “We applaud Sen. Ralph Northam (D-Norfolk) for his fortitude and resolve in championing this bill through the Virginia State Senate.”

NSSF is encouraging all sportsmen in Virginia to contact their state delegates and urge them to support SB 464.  This legislation is limited to private lands and public marshes only and excludes deer hound hunting.

Allowing sportsmen in Virginia to go afield on Sundays is part of larger effort to increase participation in hunting that also involves improving access and opportunity for sportsmen living in the state.  Since most hunters take to the field on weekends, removing barriers to Sunday hunting will effectively double the value of most hunters’ licenses.

The benefits of Sunday hunting, however, would not be limited to the sportsmen’s community. An economic impact report released by a coalition of America’s leading conservation, sportsmen’s and hunting organizations has found that removal of Sunday hunting restrictions would result in an estimated 3,927 new Virginia jobs. The report also notes that these jobs would pay more than $105 million in wages and contribute more than $296 million in additional economic activity to the commonwealth.  Given this potential economic boom, the coalition is moving forward rapidly.

“With yesterday’s victory in the State Senate, we are now moving our focus to the House of Delegates,” said NSSF Director of Government Relations Jake McGuigan.  “Given that hunting license sales in Virginia have dropped from 500,000 in the mid 1970′s to 300,000 today, we need to educate sportsmen that in order to save one tradition, we need to modify another.”

NSSF is a member of the Sunday hunting coalition which includes the National Rifle Association, Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, Archery Trade Association, Bass Pro Shops, Boone and Crockett Club, Cabela’s, Delta Waterfowl, Mule Deer Foundation, National Assembly of Sportsmen’s Caucuses, Pheasants Forever, Quail Forever, Quality Deer Management Association, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Safari Club International, U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance and the Wildlife Management Institute.

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About NSSF:  The National Shooting Sports Foundation is the trade association for the firearms industry. Its mission is to promote, protect and preserve hunting and the shooting sports. Formed in 1961, NSSF has a membership of more than 7,000 manufacturers, distributors, firearms retailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen’s organizations and publishers. For more information, log on to www.nssf.org

We need your help now in the State House of Delegates where we are facing very strong opposition in the committee and subcommittee — which has been intentionally stacked with delegates who oppose Sunday hunting.

SB 464 is limited to private lands only, public marshes and excludes deer hound hunting. Every hunter should support this measure if they want new generations to have the option to hunt in the future. Hunting license sales have dropped from 500,000 in the mid 1970’s to 300,000 today.

If we don’t increase license sales, our hunting tradition will be lost. The only way to promote license sales is by creating more time for sportsmen to hunt.

It’s time to modify one tradition in order to save another.

Please click here to contact your delegate today! Urge them to support Sunday Hunting!

If you reside in any of the following Delegates’ districts, your input could have even more of an impact.

Delegate Tony O. Wilt

Phone: (804) 698-1026
Email: DelTWilt@house.virginia.gov

Delegate C. Matthew Fariss

Phone:  804-698-1059

Email: DelMFariss@house.virginia.gov

Delegate Thomas C. Wright, Jr.

Phone: 804-698-1061
Email: DelTWright@house.virginia.gov

Delegate R. Lee Ware, Jr.

Phone: 804-698-1065
Email: DelLWare@house.virginia.gov

House Bill 1294 would ban most semi-automatic handguns, rifles and shotguns.  If this bill becomes law, it will also ban individual firearm parts as well as .50 caliber rifles and ammunition.

House Bill 1599 would re-classify a litany of semi-automatic handguns, rifles and shotguns as “assault weapons.” Furthermore, it would re-classify as “high capacity ammunition” any round chambered in .50 caliber or more.

House Bill 1855 would create penalties for victims of crime when they fail to report a stolen firearm in an arbitrarily determined time-frame. This means that anyone reporting a missing firearm will be investigated in order to determine whether they reported it in time. In other words, the victim becomes the suspect.

Please contact your state Representative TODAY.   Encourage them to oppose HB 1294, HB 1599 and HB 1855!  To find your state representative, click here.

Here is NSSF’s wrap-up news release:

Nation’s Passion for Firearms Reflected in Record-setting SHOT Show

Watch the video.

LAS VEGAS–Energized by unprecedented gun sales nationwide, firearms industry professionals turned out in record numbers to the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show^SM (SHOT Show^®), and many made a point of saying “the best is yet to come.”

“It’s a wonderful time to be in our industry,” said Sandy Chisholm of North American Arms, a handgun manufacturer. “We’ve seen tremendous enthusiasm on the part of sellers and buyers, and we see the prospect of a very good year ahead.” Many agreed with that assessment of the market and of the SHOT Show.

The largest trade show of its kind in the world and the fifth largest trade show in Las Vegas, a city of trade shows, the SHOT Show set an overall attendance record of more than 61,000, including new highs for buyers at 36,383 and media at 2,466. Though show organizers deliberately reduced the size of the show to better accommodate attendees at the Sands Expo and Convention Center, still some 1,600 exhibitors filled booth space covering 630,000 net square feet. The show attracted industry professionals from all 50 states and 100 countries.

The SHOT Show is owned by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the trade association for the firearms, ammunition, hunting and shooting sports industry. Revenues from the show support NSSF’s many programs that carry out its mission of promoting, protecting and preserving hunting and the shooting sports. “The SHOT Show allows NSSF to do many good things for industry, shooting and hunting,” said NSSF President and Steve Sanetti. Added Chris Dolnack, NSSF senior vice president and chief marketing officer, “We have worked hard to make sure SHOT is a great selling and buying experience, and it has resulted in our best show ever.”

Thanks to Americans’ passion for firearms, the $4 billion firearms and ammunition industry has been a bright spot in the down economy. The industry supports many small businesses and helps preserve the 180,000 jobs associated with the shooting sports. In 2011, company executives saw records set for background checks, a reliable indicator of sales, including the most ever in a single month (December) and single day (Black Friday). Many in the industry believe, however, that Americans’ interest in owning firearms will continue to grow in 2012, fueling their unabashed optimism about the year ahead. Many also said they would not be surprised to see supporters of the Second Amendment react as they did before the last presidential election when their fears over candidates who were unfriendly toward firearms ignited a sales surge.

From the opening bell, buyers filled the aisles to review products, many of them new offerings that will make their way to retail stores during the year. “Traffic is like we’ve never seen it before,” said Mark Malkowski, president of Stag Arms, maker of modern sporting rifles (AR-style rifles), a big seller over the past several years. “Retailers we’ve talked to are expecting a record year.”

One firearms retailer, Todd Vance of Vance Outdoors in Columbus, Ohio, agreed. “We had our best-ever year in 2011, and we’ve started off this year great and expect to be up.” In his store, Vance said buyers are interested in concealable handguns, home-defense firearms, ammunition and tactical rifles, particularly new .22 caliber models.

Another handgun manufacturer, Sig Sauer, reported having its best first day at SHOT since the company began keeping sales records. “The market is stimulated,” said Bud Fini, vice president of marketing, who added that the company’s shooting academy is seeing many new gun owners. “First-time buyers, that’s where the expansion is coming from,” Fini said.

Accessories, from holsters to rifle slings to optics, are an important part of the SHOT Show. “We are selling sights like you can’t believe,” said Aimpoint’s Roger Bell of the company’s pro staff. “We signed up a lot of new dealers, and that says to me the market is expanding.”

In the Mossberg booth, Tom Taylor, vice president of marketing, said, “This is about as much excitement as I’ve seen at a SHOT Show. People are buying optimistically, and we’re going to build optimistically.”

For first-time exhibitors, the SHOT Show can provide a big lift. “When you are a start-up company without a big marketing budget, the SHOT Show helps put you in front of the right audience,” said Jeane Stewart of U.S. RAC, maker of firearm safety products for law enforcement. Stewart said her company great valued the show’s New Products Center.

Any SHOT attendee will tell you the show is more than about selling and buying; it’s a powerful display of industry unity and its resolve to meet any challenge affecting the right to make, sell and own firearms. At the NSSF State of the Industry Dinner, NSSF President Steve Sanetti said, “I have never seen us so unified and united in our purpose.” As evidence, he pointed to NSSF’s fast-growing membership, which now tops 7,000, an all-time high.

More than 2,000 NSSF supporters filled the sold-out hall for the State of the Industry Dinner, which was sponsored by Outdoor Channel and included a review of NSSF’s accomplishment from the past year and entertainment from hugely popular comedian Larry the Cable Guy.

Opportunities abound at the SHOT Show, and some who attend are selling more than products. At South Dakota’s booth, representatives had a goal of convincing manufacturers they should be making products in the state. “Last year South Dakota connected with more than 50 companies. Within four months, two of those companies expanded their operations to South Dakota,” said economic development commissioner J. Pat Costello.

Many awards are presented at the show. NSSF presented Larry Potterfield of Midway USA with its Ken Sedlecky Achievement Award for his generous and longstanding contributions to programs that promote youth target shooting. The Professional Outdoor Media Association and NSSF honored veteran communicator and best-selling author S.P. Fjestad with the prestigious POMA/NSSF Grits Gresham Shooting Sports Communicator Award. Fjestad publishes “The Blue Book of Gun Values,” a widely consulted database.

The show continues to benefit from the broadbased press contingent that lavishes attention on newly released products. The media, of course, are usually the first to spot celebrities, who this year included American Idol judge and rock star Steven Tyler, and NFL Hall of Famer Lynn Swann. A big success was SHOT Show Media Day at the Range on the day prior to the show, where credentialed press reviewed and tested products. More than 1,100 press and 100 exhibitors attended Media Day–more than ever before.

NSSF ramped up its use of social media to keep its members and consumers informed about the show, making frequent posts to the SHOT Show Blog and providing Twitter updates that showgoers followed on “Twitterfall” screens placed throughout the venue. An expanded NSSF press room sponsored by Budweiser accommodated the record number of press with free Wi-Fi, a large working press area and other amenities.

In conjunction with the SHOT Show, NSSF sponsored the PGA Charities’ Birdies for the Brave golf tournament that raised funds for injured armed service veterans.

The SHOT Show will return to the Sands Expo & Convention Center next year January 15-18.

NSSF President Steve Sanetti delivers the State of the Industry address.

In his 34 years in the industry, NSSF President Steve Sanetti said he has never seen the industry more unified.

During the SHOT Show’s annual State of the Industry event, Sanetti said that membership in NSSF, the industry’s trade association, is more than double what it was just five years ago.

“Together we comprise a record number of more than 7,000 of America’s favorite firearms and ammunition manufacturers, wholesalers, importers, retailers, shooting ranges, gun clubs, conservation groups, outdoor media, safety instructors, and many others, who share our avocation and our passion for our industry and our uniquely American way of life,” Sanetti said. “Our membership has never been stronger or more engaged. We have had great success in recent years solidfying our industry’s base of support.”

While the nation’s economy has remained stagnant the past few years, the firearms and ammunition industry has been one of its few bright spots.

“Eighteen consecutive quarters of sales growth, as evidenced most recently by an all-time high number of mandatory point-of-sales background checks in December, and during the worst recession since the great depression, would be an enviable feat for any industry. Yet we have achieved it, and we have shared our prosperity by giving back,” Sanetti said.

Sanetti said the industry’s success has also helped fuel the nation’s conservation programs, and he pointed out that 2012 marks the 75th anniversary of the Pittman/Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act, which created the dedicated excise tax on firearms and ammunition. This year, he said, the industry will continue to spread the word to all Americans that hunters and shooters provide the vast majority of financial support for conservation.

With 2012 being a critical election year, Sanetti said, NSSF will ensure that candidates and voters are educated on all issues affecting the industry and firearm freedoms.

“We will not presume to tell any of you how to cast your vote. But I can promise you this. Your industry’s voice will be heard. We will educate voters and legislators and candidates alike as to our legitimate interests, and about our hopes and concerns regarding where this great nation of ours is going,” he said.

Watch the complete State of the Industry presentation here:

The $4 billion firearms and ammunition industry stands apart from other industries that are struggling in the slow economy. Demand for guns has continued at a robust pace since late 2008. NSSF estimates the industry is responsible for approximately 180,000 jobs and has impact on the U.S. economy of $28 billion.

Many indicators such as background-check statistics, firearms production and importation, firearm-retailer surveys and on-the-ground reports from retailers nationwide reveal that interest in firearm ownership is high.

Why are more Americans choosing to own firearms? Reasons range from citizens’ increased awareness of the Second Amendment protecting the individual right to own firearms that was reaffirmed in two recent Supreme Court decisions, to increased interest in personal and home protection, to increased interest in the shooting sports and hunting.

Read the NSSF press release, and check out what’s happening at the SHOT Show.

Our industry abhors the criminal misuse of firearms, whether on the streets of El Paso, Texas, or in Juarez, Mexico. Notwithstanding our forthcoming appeal, NSSF is continuing to encourage all retailers — not just those along the border — to cooperate with law enforcement and report any suspicious activity to the ATF. Members of the firearms industry take great pride in their longstanding cooperative relationship with ATF. Retailers have long been considered by ATF to be a vital source of information for law enforcement in combating illegal firearms trafficking.