NSSF Opens 2020 Hunting Heritage Trust Grant Program Application Process
Our industry is invested in recruiting new participants, retaining current participants and re-activating lapsed participants in hunting and the shooting sports. These “R3” initiatives have gained traction over the past several years, including those supported by NSSF’s +ONESM Movement and National Shooting Sports Month.
To help further all R3 efforts in hunting and the shooting sports, in 2018 NSSF set aside $1 million and created the NSSF Hunting Heritage Trust Grant Program. Each year for 10 years starting in 2019, $100,000 in grants are made available for R3 projects across the country. Last year’s inaugural grant cycle awarded grants to five separate projects that focused on R3 programs as varied as building mentor databases, increasing participation by women, college-level recruitment efforts and building R3 marketing toolkits for state wildlife agencies.
The 2020 Hunting Heritage Trust Grant Program is now open for application. The deadline for submissions is May 15, 2020. Information on how to apply and grant requirements is available here.
Questions regarding the application process should be directed to Jim Curcuruto, NSSF Director, Research & Market Development, at jcurcuruto@nssf.org or 203-426-1320 ext. 234, or Melanie Knox, NSSF Marketing Assistant, at mknox@nssf.org or 203-426-1320 ext. 270.
NSSF: Firearm Industry Economic Impact Rises 213% Since 2008
The total economic impact of the firearm and ammunition industry in the United States increased from $19.1 billion in 2008 to $60 billion in 2019, a 213-percent increase, while the total number of full-time-equivalent jobs rose from approximately 166,000 to over 332,000, a 100-percent increase in that period, according to a report released by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the firearm industry trade association.
On a year-over-year basis, the industry’s economic impact rose from $52 in 2018 to $60 billion. Total jobs increased by 20,000 in the same period, from nearly 312,000 to over 332,000. The broader impact of the industry flows throughout the economy and supports and generates business for firms seemingly unrelated to firearms at a time when every job in America counts. These are real people, with real jobs, working in industries as varied as banking, retail, accounting, metalworking and printing, among others.
The firearm and ammunition industry paid over $6.74 billion in business taxes, including property, income and sales-based levies.
“Our industry continues to show the steady and reliable growth that is a hallmark of a healthy industry,” said Joe Bartozzi, NSSF President and CEO. “The workers who comprise our ranks are the fabric of our communities. They produce the highest quality firearms and ammunition that millions of law-abiding Americans rely upon to exercise their fundamental right to keep and bear arms and safely enjoy the recreational shooting sports. This growth translates to more jobs that add to our local economies, averaging $55,200 in wages and benefits. In addition, since 2008 we increased federal tax payments by 162 percent, Pittman-Robertson excise taxes that support wildlife conservation by 79 percent and state business taxes by 116 percent.”
The Firearm and Ammunition Industry Economic Impact Report provides a state-by-state breakdown of job numbers, wages and output covering direct, supplier and induced employment, as well as federal excise taxes paid. Access the full report here.
SHOT Show 2020 Range Day Highlights
Each year before industry insiders flock to the halls of the Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade Show – better known as SHOT Show – a contingent of firearm folks head out into the desert of southwest Nevada for a pre-show lineup of exhibitors. Live ammunition is forbidden on the SHOT Show floor and any firearms in the exhibit hall must be disabled and are inspected to ensure that they are non-functional.
This policy, however, is not in effect at the annual SHOT Show Industry Day at the Range in Boulder City. Not by a long shot.
At this pre-show demo day, invited members of the media and buyers have the opportunity to meet with manufacturers and vendors among smaller crowds than those at SHOT Show proper. Attendees also have the opportunity to get hands-on live fire trigger time with the latest guns and gear to hit the market and many that are yet to be released. The GunLink team has again been invited to this event and did just that.
We got to see some pretty great firearms and gear at Range Day that seem to indicate that the industry has actually been listening to consumers and developing some new products that fit their needs. And the show has not even begun yet! If this demo day is an indication of what else we will be seeing at SHOT Show 2020, we think this will be a great year for a firearms industry that has shown some signs of slowing down somewhat in the past couple of years.
Read on to see our Range Day highlights and be sure to watch the GunLink Blog and GunLink Forums for more. Continue reading
Project ChildSafe Announces New Donation Page Ahead of Giving Tuesday
With Giving Tuesday fast approaching on December 3, the National Shooting Sports Foundation’s firearms safety program, Project ChildSafe, is making supporters aware of its new donation interface, which now welcomes one of the most popular forms of giving — recurring donations. Think: set it and forget it!
This year marks the 20th year for the Project ChildSafe program, the leading voice in genuine gun safety education. To recognize this milestone, Project ChildSafe is asking supporters to consider monthly giving to help achieve the collective goal of reducing firearms accidents and misuse.
Project ChildSafe helps create a culture of firearms safety for everyone, gun owners and non-gun owners alike, because safety is everyone’s responsibility. Securely storing firearms when not in use is the number one way to help prevent accidents, theft and misuse, including suicide. Safe storage works: Fatal firearms accidents have declined by 50 percent in the last 20 years and represent less than 1 percent of fatal accidents from all causes.
“Over the past two decades, the notable impact of Project ChildSafe helping to save lives was made possible through the generous support from many in the firearms community – from individuals to organizations – and we are pleased to be able to provide a new way for partners to continue to give,” said NSSF President Joe Bartozzi.
Supporters who commit to giving $20 per month (in recognition of Project ChildSafe’s 20-year anniversary) will join the Partners in Safety Club. Your support is needed to help Project ChildSafe reach its goal of 2,020 new Partners in Safety. Join “the club” today to ensure an ongoing culture of safety.
Singular and monthly donations are made to the Project ChildSafe Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charity that helps support the NSSF Project ChildSafe program. Donations are tax deductible to the extent of the law.
More information about Project ChildSafe can be found at projectchildsafe.org.
Buyer Registration Opens for 2020 SHOT Show
Buyer registration is now open for the 42nd Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show (SHOT Show). Set for January 21-24 at the Sands Expo Center, the SHOT Show will attract more than 60,000 professionals to Las Vegas for the firearms and outdoor industry’s annual main event. Registration for media will open later this week. Exhibitor registration will open later this month.
Owned and sponsored by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the firearms industry trade association, the SHOT Show is the largest trade show of its kind in the world. The show is open to trade members only and not to the public.
Many official show events cluster around the four days of SHOT Show itself, creating “SHOT Week.” These include the 6th Annual NSSF/HAVA Golf Classic in support of Honored American Veterans Afield, a firearms industry-run charitable organization that helps the healing of disabled combat veterans and their reintegration back into normal life through participation in hunting and shooting sports.
The two-day Supplier Showcase is a show-within-a-show, with hundreds of OEM third-party suppliers meeting with exhibiting manufacturers and exploring their needs for extrusions, fabrication, fabrics, machinery, metal, plastics, software, logistical support and tools.
If you are unable to make it to the industry’s largest show of its kind, be sure to keep an eye on the GunLink Forums, right here on the GunLink Blog, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to get all the scoop on the latest products and all of the news coming out of SHOT Show. Our team will be providing our ninth year of coverage again from the opening shots of Industry Day at the Range through the closing of the show. Continue reading
