President's Message: Thank You Seems Inadequate

Sometimes, words just don’t do justice to the way a person feels about his level of gratitude and gratefulness. I always try to be polite, to say please and thank you. But from time to time, it seems like such a shallow thing, like you just want to dig deeper and say more, because the people or the situation calls for “more words.”

There’s an old adage, “more is not always better.” So, while I want to write multiple paragraphs of stuff – the reality is, I’m not sure what I could say that would mean more than those two simple words – Thank You.

Thank You to the multitude of distributors, manufacturers, sales and service companies, industry partners and individuals who helped make the 50th Expo celebration in Kansas City one of the best ever.

FEATURED ARTICLES

NASGW Announces 2024 Appreciation and Caliber Award Winners

It was a night of appreciation in Kansas City as the National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers (NASGW) kicked off its 50th Expo with the Annual Appreciation Dinner. The festivities included honoring current and past board members, President Kenyon Gleason's 10th anniversary, and a farewell to NASGW's SCOPE program director Easton Kuboushek. 

"We had a lot of fun last night with a few surprises along the way," said NASGW President Kenyon Gleason. "The annual Appreciation Dinner is always a great way to kick off our week, honor some great partners in two-step distribution, and recognize some of the top new products in the industry."

Each year the NASGW Expo brings together wholesalers and manufacturers within the shooting sports industry to get a first look at new products and plan sales for the upcoming year.

2024 NASGW Expo Survey

The 2024 NASGW Expo survey will be sent out to both attendees and exhibitors very soon. Be on the lookout for the email invite. We ask that you please complete the survey to help us learn how we can make the Expo better for years to come. We rely on your feedback, both positive and negative, to make changes and adjustments to our annual event. Planning for the 2025 Expo is already underway so your response is critical for next year. 

 SCOTUS Updates from the Second Amendment Foundation 

On Tuesday, Oct. 8, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the Second Amendment Foundation’s (SAF) challenge to Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) regulation expanding what constitutes a “firearm.” The case is known as Garland v. VanDerStok.

In April 2022, the ATF published its Final Rule amending the regulatory definition of the term “firearm” to encompass precursor parts that, with enough additional manufacturing operations, would become functional firearms frames and receivers, but in their current state were non-functional objects.

In seeking to regulate these “non-firearm objects” the ATF’s Final Rule directly contradicted Congress’ definition of “firearm” set forth in the Gun Control Act of 1968.  

Future of SCOTUS and Second Amendment Rights on the 2024 Ballot

There’s been a fair amount of hyperbole bantered about in the run up to the 2024 election. Voters have been subjected to admonitions that former President Donald Trump is a “threat to democracy.” There have been warnings that this election could be the last free election and accusations that the military could be weaponized against political foes.

The notions are laughable but show the depths to which political opponents will go to inject fear to drive votes. There’s one threat that’s very real, however. And one that voters have had a significant effect on in previous elections.

That’s the composition of the U.S. Supreme Court.

SCOPE Shipment Trends

The last 12 months have seen challenges in the market and the data has become even more relevant for businesses in the Shooting Sports Industry. Please join us on Thursday during the Expo for a full update which will cover a market update from NASGW's Senior Data Analyst, Tom Hopper as well as updates on the SCOPE platform including the new API. The Annual SCOPE Update is sponsored by Business Solution Partners and will include lunch for all pre-registered attendees. Please RSVP by October 9th, to help us determine a headcount for the event.

Firearms Shipments

Ammunition Shipments

Optics Shipments

Kamala Harris and Her Gun Control Allies

America’s voters don’t care for gun control. That much is obvious even to the Democrats’ presidential candidate, Kamala Harris.

Harris previously campaigned for radical gun control laws and, as Vice President, oversees the “White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention,” which uses the power and funding of the federal government to further an anti-gun agenda. Now, in an attempt to gain political traction and distance herself from that toxic record, Harris has reinvented herself as a “gun owner” and “supporter” of the Second Amendment. (Whatever credibility that stance generated, though, likely evaporated after Harris was questioned about it during an online rally with Oprah Winfrey. A giggling Harris could not restrain her hilarity when saying that if “someone breaks into my house they are getting shot,” followed by the even more inept, “[p]robably should not have said that, but my staff will deal with that later.”).

Stay Up To Date on Current Bills Impacting the Shooting Sports Industry

There is a lot going on in the political world. Stay current on all bills impacting our industry at the state and federal level. 

The NASGW Bill Tracker monitors pending legislation that directly affects the firearms industry, at the Federal and State level. The bills are reflective of the current legislative sessions based on jurisdiction and include defeated, passed and pending bills until the current legislative session ends. Sort bills by their current progress, category, state or region and bill year. Stay informed about current legislation in the works before it impacts your business. 

Click below to view the latest bills of interest. 

The Handgun Segment

Coming out of the chaos caused by the COVID pandemic and social unrest, it’s not surprising handgun sales have slowed. When you combine a relatively calm period with economic uncertainty, there’s just not as much incentive for customers to buy more of what they already have.

Will this still be true in November and beyond? 

We find ourselves once again facing the potential for unrest and upheaval as we head into the nation’s next election — a trigger for the kind of news that can spook current and would-be customers. But is it possible we’ve reached a point where politics and breaking news have lost the seismic power to shift the handgun market?

ARTICLES OF INTEREST

• The FBI's Crime Data Revisions
• Factors Will Drive Supply Chain Management in 2025
• Giffords' NY Hypocrisy Shows Their Disdain for Voters
• Gun-Control Groups Outraise Opponents in Final Report Before Election
• Business Optimism is Up as Inflation Fades

UPCOMING EVENTS

October 30, 2024

American Suppressor Association Foundation Banquet

Austin, TX

January 21-24, 2025

SHOT Show

Las Vegas, NV