2015 NSSF Industry Summit Hits High Notes
Keynote presenter Seth Mattison at the 2015 NSSF Industry Summit.
The 2015 NSSF Industry Summit, held this past week in Savannah, Georgia, is one that will go down on the books. Setting a new attendance record and sold to capacity, firearms industry professionals met for two days of presentations that garnered a wealth of accolades from those who traveled from all across the country to engage in discussions aimed at increasing hunter and shooting sports participation in America.
The central theme of the 2015 Industry Summit, diversity, is one that proved the industry is preparing to significantly change the way it does business.
“We’ve talked loosely about diversity for years,” said Chris Dolnack, NSSF Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, “but there’s never been a cohesive effort across the industry as a whole to address this subject and innovate change. This year’s Industry Summit showed us that we’re about to experience a ground-swell shift in that attitude. Summit attendees came fully prepared, arriving with focused, on-point questions about what changes they need to make in their businesses to embrace a new consumer audience. Rewarded with a panel of speakers who presented numerous models of success that that are replicable from manufacturer to retailer, wildlife agency to public range, Summit attendees took away viable avenues of change that will positively impact our industry in the months to come.” Continue reading
NSSF Launches New Premium Range Membership
NEWTOWN, Conn. — The National Shooting Sports Foundation® (NSSF®) is pleased to announce that it is now offering a Premium Range membership to add to its array of membership options.
Modeled after the success of the Premium Retailer membership, the new category will provide a variety of benefits and tools to range owners and operators seeking to improve how they do business, grow their customer bases and successfully meet the challenges of safety and environmental issues today’s modern firearm ranges face.
“Over the past year, we’ve talked with many of our member range owners who expressed an interest in having a membership level that offered the additional benefits offered to our Premium Retailer members but was tailored to the concerns of shooting range operations,” said Zach Snow, NSSF Manager, Shooting Promotions. “We think the comprehensive list of benefits in the new Premium Range membership addresses those needs and will prove to be a foundation for all ranges seeking to run successful and safe enterprises.”
Members signing up for or upgrading to the new NSSF Premium Range membership will have several important tools and programs available to them. These include:
- OSHA/State OSH Compliance Program Review
- 24/7 EPA and OSHA Compliance Phone-in Hotline
- Professional Media Consulting
- On-site OSHA Mock Auditing
- Access to NSSF’s Legal Defense Fund
“Mirroring the Premium Retailer membership’s focus on ATF compliance, our range owners wanted their membership upgrade to focus on OSHA compliance,” explained Snow. “They expressed strong interest in maintaining their range environments and the health and safety of their staff and customers at the highest levels, and we think this package of tools will help them do just that.”
NSSF range members can learn more about the Premium Range Membership, including eligibility requirements, at nssf.org/ranges/premium.
And don’t forget that getting listed in the GunLink Directory is a great resource for shooting ranges, gun stores, online retailers, manufacturers and other businesses related to the firearms, hunting, and shooting industries. Free listings are available.
What Will We See at SHOT Show 2015?
It is hard to believe, but SHOT Show 2015 is less than four days away. The eagerly anticipated Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show is the largest show of its kind, featuring more than 1,600 exhibitors and drawing tens of thousands of industry-member attendees as they seek out the next trend setting products and services in the shooting industry. Simply put, this is the show to find out about new firearms and gear product launches.
As usual, GunLink will be covering the show again this year – from the SHOT Show Range Day before the official show opening to the 170,000 square feet of show floor exhibit space. There will no doubt be many great product unveiled this year and GunLink will be covering them live during the show and continuing coverage after the show closes.
So, what can we expect to see from SHOT this year?
Heckler & Koch is rolling out several new updates to the handgun and long gun categories, including new HK45 Cerakote colors, the brand new USP9 Tactical, and the now-shipping MR556A1 rifle – a semi-auto version of the HK416. Range day attendees will also have a chance to get their hands on the new striker-fired VP9 pistol.
Charter Arms adds another model to its Pitbull line of rimless cartridge revolvers. The stable will now include a .45 ACP model in addition to the existing 9mm and .40 S&W models. IWI US will be showing off their $1200-range UZI Pro pistols, one of which features a now-ubiquitous arm brace.
A perennial hot topic is what new products Glock will unveil at SHOT. Rumors of a single-stack 9mm pistol have been Continue reading
LaserMax Named To 2014 Inc. 500 List Of Fastest Growing Private Companies
Three Year Sales Growth of 207 Percent
Ranks No. 44 in Manufacturing and No. 3 in New York
LaserMax, leading producer of premium weapons-related laser systems for personal protection, law enforcement and the military markets, today announced it has been named to the prestigious 2014 Inc. 500|5000 list of fastest-growing private companies in America. This is the second time LaserMax has made the list, which has become the hallmark of entrepreneurial success recognizing innovation, leadership and revenue growth.
Ranked 1,964 nationally, Rochester, NY-based LaserMax reported a three year revenue growth of 207 percent from 2010 to 2013. Such considerable growth finds LaserMax ranking 44 in the nation in manufacturing and number 3 in New York State.
“LaserMax is excited and honored to have been recognized for the dynamic growth we have achieved,” said Susan Houde-Walter, PhD., CEO of LaserMax, a Certified Women-Owned Small Business. “We will continue to provide relevant and effective solutions that offer the ‘good guys’ the upper hand,” she added. Continue reading
Gun Industry Sales Reflect a ‘New Normal’
Last year was an extraordinary one for firearm sales, a year unlike any other in the industry’s history. That’s a fact to be mindful of when comparing estimated sales through the first seven months of 2014 with those of the previous year, notes Steve Sanetti, President and CEO of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the trade association for the firearms and ammunition industry.
Remove the extraordinary 2013 from the rear-view mirror and sales of firearms in America still show an almost uninterrupted rise over the past 10 years, according to national background check figures adjusted by NSSF to reflect market activity. For the first seven months of 2014, total firearm sales rank as the highest in the last decade, with the one big exception of 2013 (see chart).
(A background check is mandatory for retail purchases of firearms. NSSF adjusts background check data from the FBI’s National Instant Background Check System to remove non-sales activity such as checks conducted for concealed carry permits. This results in NSSF-adjusted NICS data being a better indicator of market conditions than overall NICS data, though NSSF-adjusted NICS figures do not correlate one to one with firearm sales.)
From January through July 2014, NSSF-adjusted NICS figures total 6.95 million background checks against 6.85 million for 2012 and 5.64 million in 2011. In 2013, the seven-month figure was 8.81 million and the annual total was a record 14.8 million. Multiple factors account for last year’s sales surge, including a fear of additional firearms-ownership restrictions, which came to pass in states such as New York, Connecticut and Maryland, as well as increasing interest in owning firearms by women and former servicemen and women.
“Those who are hostile to firearms ownership are trying to suggest Continue reading
List your Firearms or Gear Related Business in the GunLink Directory
If you are reading this post, you obviously already know about the GunLink Blog. You might also visit the GunLink Forums to read or participate in discussions, firearms related or otherwise, with fellow firearms enthusiasts. But are you familiar with the original heart of GunLink?
GunLink’s origins (and name) come from the GunLink Directory – a yellow pages of sorts for firearms, hunting, shooting and gear related businesses. It is no secret that many popular search engines, social media outlets, auction sites and similar websites are rabidly anti-gun, so we wanted to provide an online resource to help firearms-friendly businesses connect with customers and potential customers. Thus, the GunLink Directory was born. Continue reading
