| College Shotgun Event Hits the Mainstream
MORE STUDENTS COMPETING AT COLLEGIATE LEVEL . . . Shooters from 32 colleges and universities competed in San Antonio Thursday through Sunday at the 39th annual ACUI Intercollegiate Clay Target Championships. Powerhouse Lindenwood University was crowned national collegiate champion for the fourth straight year. ESPNU, with sponsorship from NSSF, will televise the competition throughout the months of June and July. ESPN2 will also offer a special airing in July. Seeing that the annual competition had not been given much attention by mainstream media in years past, NSSF, the event's title sponsor, volunteered its support in distributing results and news releases to media for the event, resulting in some great stories in daily newspapers and online. As youth development programs like NSSF's Scholastic Clay Target Program continue to gain popularity, more and more students are going on to compete in college. Over the past 10 years, the number of individual competitors at the event has increased more than 10 percent. View a wrap-up and results from this weekend's action.
REMINGTON SOLD TO PRIVATE EQUITY FIRM . . . Remington Arms Co. announced Thursday it will be acquired by New York-based private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management L.P. The deal is estimated at $370 million. Cerberus, which also owns Bushmaster Firearms International, will buy Remington for $118 million and assume $252 million of debt. Remington said the sale will strengthen its growth and will provide capital to further develop its presence in the international market. No changes are reportedly planned for employees in any of its manufacturing facilities or its Madison, N.C., headquarters. Remington operates firearms plants in Ilion, N.Y., and Hickory, Ky., an ammunition and components plant in Lonoke, Ark., a target plant in Findlay, Ohio, and a technical center in Elizabethtown, Ky. Read the company's announcement.
NSSF ON THE LEGISLATIVE FRONT . . . A bevy of e-mails, letters and phone calls by firearms enthusiasts, sportsmen and firearms retailers was aimed at thwarting two Sacramento City Council proposals that would target law-abiding businesses and gun owners. Consideration of the proposals is being held over until an undetermined time in the future, following an exceptionally strong response from an NSSF legislative alert and grassroots efforts led by NRA and the California Rifle and Pistol Association. Full Story.
AESCHLIMAN NAMED TO NSSF PUBLIC RELATIONS POST . . . NSSF has appointed Tony Aeschliman to the position of director of public relations. Aeschliman will be responsible for a broad-based effort to promote positive messages about the shooting sports and responsible firearms ownership, with special emphasis on the outdoor writer community. An industry veteran, Aeschliman was previously marketing and public relations manager of Marlin Firearms Co. Aeschliman replaces Steve Wagner, who recently accepted a position with Blue Heron Communications.
ALBANY MAYOR BACKPEDALS ON ANTI-GUN PROPOSALS . . . Following a strong public outcry by sportsmen and gun owners, including a legislative alert from NSSF, Albany, N.Y., Mayor Jerry Jennings, a member of anti-gun New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's "Mayors Against Illegal Guns" coalition, appears to be backpedaling on his anti-gun proposals that would mandate registration of all firearms, outlaw private sales, require firearms dealers to report all sales to police, ban various types of ammunition and mandate how gun owners must store their guns. The package of proposals was never voted on and referred to an unnamed committee. Jennings did not even attend the meeting.
TIME CHIMES IN ON LEAD DEBATE; NSSF PRESENTS INDUSTRY'S SIDE . . . Following legislative and regulatory threats to ban lead ammunition in California, Time.com, the online version of Time Magazine, ran a story last week presenting both sides of the contentious debate. NSSF director of public affairs Ted Novin, who was interviewed for the story, was quoted as saying, "I think it's certainly possible that the gun-ban lobby and anti-hunting groups will use the unwarranted fear of lead ammunition to help achieve their goal." He added, "Similarly flawed legislation has failed in each of the past two years in California. We are working to make sure lawmakers, regulators and the general public understand the facts. Once they do we are confident common sense and sound public policy will prevail and the legislation will again be defeated." Public testimony on the issue will be heard by the state Fish and Game Commission Friday in Bodega Bay.
ROMNEY RIPPED OVER 'LIFELONG HUNTER' COMMENT . . . Republican presidential contender and former Arkansas Gov. Michael Huckabee took rival Mitt Romney to task following a statement by Romney that he is a "lifelong hunter," a seemingly erroneous claim as the former Massachusetts governor has only hunted twice before. "It'd be like me saying I was a lifelong golfer because I played putt-putt when I was 9 years old and I rode in a golf cart a couple of times," Huckabee said.
CONNECTICUT RETAILERS GROUP PRESIDENT RESPONDS TO EDITORIAL . . . In response to a Hartford Courant editorial praising legislation targeting law-abiding gun owners, Scott Hoffman, president of the Connecticut Association of Firearms Retailers (CTAFR), submitted his thoughts to the newspaper. Hoffman's letter, printed in today's Courant, focused on why it would be "better to educate rather than legislate" when it comes to preventing straw purchases. CTAFR is an affiliate of NSSF's National Association of Firearms Retailers (NAFR). Read Hoffman's letter (third down).
RANGE NAMED BUSINESS OF THE YEAR . . . Any business honored by its local Chamber of Commerce must be doing things right, and Openrange, "Premier Indoor Sport Shooting and Paintball," near Louisville, Ky., received such affirmation when the Oldham County Chamber of Commerce presented the range and retail operation with its 2007 Small Business of the Year honor. "Openrange's vision was to build one of the most attractive, best designed and friendliest indoor firearm facilities in America," said Barry Laws, Openrange CEO. "We also set out to combine the shooting sports with the youth driven sport of paintball."
RETIRED MARINE CORPS GENERAL JOINS BUSHMASTER BOARD . . . U.S. Gen. Michael W. Hagee, who retired early this year after serving as the 33rd Commandant of the Marine Corp, has joined Bushmaster Firearms International's board of directors, the company announced Thursday. Hagee retired from the Marine Corps in January, following a distinguished 39-year military career. He served as Marine Commandant from January 2003 through November 2006.
SAVAGE RANGE SYSTEMS ACQUIRES PORTA TARGET . . . Savage Range Systems today announced its acquisition of Porta Target, a manufacturer of ranges, targets and shoot houses. Paul Scholem will remain with Porta Target until the end of this year to help with the transition and participate in procuring future business. Savage Range Systems is a subsidiary of Savage Sports Corporation, which includes Savage Arms.
EDITORIAL PLAYS PART IN POLICE CLOSING LIST OF GUN OWNERS . . . After a Roanoke Times editorial writer encouraged his readers go online to see who in the area was "packing heat," state police closed the once open list of 135,000 state residents licensed to carry concealed handguns, the newspaper reports.
U.S. STRIKES GOLD IN FINAL EVENT . . . If good things are worth waiting for, then Matt Emmons perfectly timed his performance in the men's prone at Ft. Benning, Ga. That is where theWorld Cup USA 2007 had been held from March 31-April 8, and it was in the final event of the competition that Emmons' shooting earned the first American gold medal. The next stops in the World Cup schedule are for shotgunners in Changwong, Korea, from April 13-24, and for the rifle and pistol disciplines from April 25-May 2 in Sydney, Australia.
MEMBER COMPANIES ENCOURAGED TO TAKE PART IN FREE TELEPHONE SEMINARS . . . The NSSF-endorsed Sporting Firearms Business Insurance program is encouraging member companies to take part in a series of telephone loss control seminars presented by AIG Consultants Inc. The telephone seminars, one of which will be held Tuesday at 1 p.m., are free to those insured under the Sporting Firearms Business Insurance Program provided by Joseph Chiarello & Co. and AIG Programs. Upcoming topics include safety training and severe summer weather protection. All seminars are presented free as an added service to businesses insured through the Sporting Firearms Business Insurance Program. Those interested may e-mail info@jcinsco.com for more information.
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