LAS VEGAS — Encouraging unity as the nation faces what many here believe will be a critical election, National Shooting Sports Foundation President Steve Sanetti made it clear that the association — while not presuming to tell its members how they should vote — will let its position on issues be known.
Sanetti, speaking to a sell-out audience at the NSSF’s annual State of the Industry dinner, noted that law-abiding American citizens will continue exercising their constitutional right to use firearms for “all legitimate purposes…including self-protection.” While NSSF cannot engage directly in election politics, nothing is going to prevent members from becoming grassroots activists as this column suggested, and while this week's trade show will see millions of dollars worth of business transacted, people roaming the miles of aisles represent a culture that is built on tradition, and willing to defend it.
The dinner was a highlight of the annual Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show, now heading into its second day of a four-day run here, at the Sands Convention Center.
Seated near the center stage to hear Sanetti’s remarks were National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre and Chris Cox, head of the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action.
On Tuesday, NSSF hit a milestone, passing the 7,000-member mark, which is significant for the firearms industry. The voting membership has doubled since 2007, and the message to those in the audience is simple: “Add your voice to ours.”
The firearms industry has enjoyed remarkable prosperity during a weak economy that Sanetti described as “the worst recession since the Great Depression.” While other industries may have been suffering, firearm and ammunition sales, hunting participation and the shooting sports have remained healthy and shown growth.
As this column reported Tuesday, among the thousands of firearms retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers attending the big trade show, there are murmurings everywhere about the 2012 election. There is little doubt the firearms community is preparing for a campaign during which America will be reminded that the shooting sports, including hunting, target and recreational shooting are wholesome and they have a huge direct benefit to both the economy and wildlife conservation and enhancement.
It is the 75th anniversary of the Pittman-Robertson Federal Aid to Wildlife Restoration program. The P-R program places a special federal excise tax on the sale of firearms and ammunition, and hunting/shooting-related products that has raised billions of dollars over the years for wildlife programs; more than $400 million annually and more than $2.5 million a day for conservation. Revenues from that fund are apportioned annually to state fish and wildlife agencies, which Sanetti noted are becoming more important because of shrinking government budgets.
Sanetti reminded the audience that hunters and shooters provide “the vast majority of conservation dollars” that support state wildlife programs, a fact that is not as widely known among all outdoors recreationists as one might suspect. On a large screen behind Sanetti, the message was clear: “We own guns and we vote.”
Sanetti’s comments were reinforced moments later by Tom Gresham, host of the nationally syndicated Gun Talk radio program. He sternly told the crowd that, “If you own guns and are not a member of the NRA, you’re sitting in the wagon and the rest of us are pulling your weight.”
Gun rights could become a critical issue in this year’s elections, at several levels, from the White House down to key state legislative races. The firearms industry is comprised of tens of thousands of individuals including wholesalers, distributors, retailers and their employees. And then there are the end users, their customers. They all have a stake in the outcome of the election. Leaving the dinner, one is impressed that together, they present a formidable force that could descend on the polls in November like a juggernaut.
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