NSSF: Aiming for Accuracy

Hunting with ARs--The New Paradigm

Ed Rasimus on his Thunder Tales blog draws attention to the rising popularly of hunting with AR-15-platform rifles. He calls it "The New Paradigm."

We agree. See NSSF's recently launched educational campaign on Modern Sporting Rifles, and pass on the fact card and the video on the campaign's Web site. A four-page insert runs in major sporting magazines such as Field and Stream, Outdoor Life and Petersen's Hunting this month and next.

Thanks to Say Uncle for the reference to Ed's blog post.

What Happened Yesterday in U.S. v. Stevens

For a good overview of the U.S. Supreme Court justices' comments yesterday in the United States v. Stevens case, read Jim Shepherd's account in today's Outdoor Wire. Justice Scalia made a number of informed references to hunting. Also, see the SCOTUS blog. For background, read NSSF's news release and the amicus brief that NSSF submitted to the court.

 

 

New NSSF Long-form AR-15 Educational Video

The National Shooting Sports Foundation's educational campaign on modern sporting rifles has added a new long-form video (long for the Web anyway, five minutes) to accompany its 30- and 60-second messages. The campaign is designed to reach a wide audience in the hunting and target shooting community, with emphasis placed on educating sportsmen whose preference for traditional-looking firearms can lead them to misunderstand AR-15-platform rifles and to even describe them as "assault weapons," which inadvertently lends support to elected officials and organizations who want to ban these rifles.

Some hunters or target shooters may not care to use AR-15-platform rifles. That's OK; we all have our preferences for certain firearms and the right to own the guns we choose. What's damaging to all gun owners, however, is when sportsmen label ARs as "evil" or "bad" guns because they look different from traditional rifles. In doing so they assist gun-ban initiatives that could affect the rights of others to own the type of firearm they prefer--AR-platform rifles--which are favored by younger hunters and shooters, precisely the group on which the future of those activities rests. Traditionalists should be aware that legislation that could ban AR-15-type rifles could sweep up traditional-looking semi-automatic rifles and shotguns (and even handguns) in its net.  

The campaign's four-page educational insert on the modern sporting rifle, which tracks how military rifles of a certain era became popular civilian sporting rifles, will hit in sporting magazines ranging from Field & Stream and Outdoor Life to Petersen's Hunting and Gun Dog, among others. The point is that today's modern sporting rifle is just another step in the long history of the military-to-civilian sporting rifle evolution.

For this campaign to have a widespread effect on changing attitudes toward AR-15-platform rifles and to clear up misunderstanding about them (for example, their operation is semi-automatic, not full automatic, with only one round fired with each pull of the trigger), the campaign needs advocates who are willing to correct individuals—your friends, reporters, elected officials—who are misinformed about these rifles. A helpful pocket fact card available at www.nssf.org/msr can assist that effort. Consider sending the fact card to your local, state and Congressional representatives. 

As NSSF President Steve Sanetti has said, "We ask everyone who values their gun ownership rights to correct misunderstandings about the use and operation of these modern sporting rifles. If we let misinformation go unchecked, we only assist those who would ban ownership of these and other types of semi-automatic firearms, like your duck-hunting shotgun. We can't let that happen."

Expanding Our View at the Gun Blogger Rendezvous

It's easy to get tunnel vision by reading only familiar magazines, newsletters and blogs, watching only the best-known television shows and frequenting only the most-visited Web sites. We were reminded of that after attending the fourth Gun Blogger Rendezvous (GBR-IV), where we met bloggers of different voices and enthusiasms and where our experience has indeed expanded our view.

The bloggers we met in Reno--from an 11-year-old champion pistol shooter to a 78-year-old grandmother who took up handgun shooting a year ago, and a lot of bloggers in between those ages and interests--have dedicated followers in the worlds of competition shooting, Second Amendment activism, gunsmithing and personal protection. One of them was Phil, who does not blog about firearms but regularly comments on various gun blogs and who made the trip all the way from Oxford, England, to be at GBR-IV. Say Uncle, a veteran blogger with a big audience, was among the bloggers in attendance.

It was Mike Gallion, a Steel Challenge competitor and author of The Mr. Completely blog, who reached out to NSSF, and we're pleased he did. NSSF provided dinner one evening and shared presentation time at the conference with the National Rifle Association and Alan Gura, the attorney who won the District of Columbia v. Heller case. In its presentation, NSSF emphasized how it can be a resource to all bloggers by providing research and statistics, and how potential content can be found in NSSF’s Bullet Points weekly newsletter, legislative alerts on federal and state firearms issues, and on this blog. Additionally, we provided an overview of NSSF high-priority issues, such as the AR-15/Modern Sporting Rifle education campaign that is about to launch (stay tuned for more on that).

And we listened. In freewheeling discussion (bloggers like to give their opinions), we received good suggestions about how to increase the effectiveness of this blog, and we will be acting on some of those suggestions.

Days were spent at the Washoe County Shooting Facility, where there was no lack of equipment to shoot and where a lot of photos and video were captured that are now on blog sites. On Saturday evening we listened to compelling keynote speaker Captain Charles "Chuck" Ziegenfuss, who suffered serious injuries in a roadside bomb blast in Iraq and who today champions Project Valour-IT, a project of Soldiers Angels. Project Valour-IT provides laptops and voice-recognition software to wounded vets so they can continue blogging and sending e-mail even though they may be temporarily or permanently unable to use a keyboard.

NSSF has made a donation to Project Valour-IT, which has provided 3,000 laptops to date to wounded soldiers. After watching Captain Chuck give a demonstration of the voice-recognition software and the benefits it provides to wounded veterans, we encourage readers to visit the Project Valour-IT Web site to add their support for this worthy program.

Industry that was represented either in person or by providing product or service support included  Brownell's, Crimson Trace, Para Ordnance, Hi-Point, Glock, Dillon Precision, Front Sight Training Academy, Hi-Cap Gun Works, Lucky Gunner, Cowboy Fast Draw Association, Western Nevada Pistol League, Steel Challenge Shooting Association (USPSA/SCSA) and Springfield Arms.

The gun blogger community is large, passionate, independent-minded, opinionated and influential. There are many who have felt its sting on occasion, including NSSF, but we also recognize its ability to drive messages that help educate and ultimately unite firearm owners. We’re learning.

We refer you to the Mr. Completely blog for a list of gun bloggers (not all who are listed there attended GBR-IV but many did) and to Derek at The Packing Rat for photographs.

Report: New Women Shooters Say They're Interested in Personal Protection

From NSSF's weekly e-newsletter Bullet Points:

The National Shooting Sports Foundation's First Shots program has helped introduce thousands of first-timers to shooting at their local ranges. Nearly half of these participants have been female. A new report from NSSF shows a snapshot of these new women shooters. For example, after attending a First Shots seminar at their local range, 47 percent of women have met their local requirements to purchase a handgun, 26 percent said they have already purchased a handgun and 58 percent said they are planning to purchase a handgun in the future. When asked what their primary reason for purchasing a handgun would be, 86 percent said personal protection.

Read the rest of the Bullet Points e-newsletter.

Bullet Points is sent free of charge to subscribers each Monday and provides a roundup of news related to the firearms industry, the shooting sports and Second Amendment. To receive Bullet Points weekly subscribe here.

A Sheriff Who Dislikes the Second Amendment

When a sheriff gets so many facts wrong about gun ownership, as does Juan M. Perez of Hudson County Jersey City in a recent op-ed piece on NJ.com, it underscores the need for this blog and at the same time makes us recoil in disbelief as to how far off base a member of the law enforcement community can be about the Second Amendment and what it means to citizens of this country.

Sheriff Perez writes, "It is most certain that handguns and other types of weapons only belong in the possession of law enforcement and military personnel." If the sheriff lived in a country run by a dictator or a totalitarian regime, that would be the case, but in the United States the Constitution's Second Amendment provides the fundamental right for citizens to keep and bear arms, and the vast majority of law enforcement officers and military officials we've ever met strongly support that right. It’s certainly a right they enjoy when they leave those professions. We wonder if the law-abiding, gun-owning citizens of the communities that Sheriff Perez is responsible for know that their sheriff thinks this way, and if so, we wonder why they would re-elect him?

We sympathize with Sheriff Perez over the loss of an officer who was slain by "career criminals," and we share his frustration over the criminal acquisition of firearms, yet blaming the right of law-abiding citizens to own firearms as the cause of that tragedy and wanting to strip citizens of their Constitutionally guaranteed freedoms is not the answer to reducing gun crime.

Characterizing the gun used in the crime (a pump shotgun) as an "automatic type of shotgun" mislabels a type of firearm commonly owned and used for sporting purposes and home protection. Mr. Perez is off base when he says "these types of weapons should be prohibited from being manufactured, imported, or sold in the United States of America." Such firearms are widely manufactured and sold under the regulation of the federal government and are responsibly owned by millions of Americans.

The sheriff opposes legislation that would modernize the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' regulation of federally licensed firearms retailers. The ATF Reform bill would revise penalties for violations of firearms laws and the outdated procedures for determining such penalties. This legislation has in the past been co-sponsored by a majority of the House and passed that chamber. It is sponsored this year in the Senate by liberal senator Pat Leahy (D-VT), who chairs the Judiciary Committee. None of the legislation's proposed changes would hinder the ATF from performing the duty that Congress has charged it with--that of regulating the sales of firearms and ammunition through licensed retailers.

Mr. Perez demonizes firearms and says that guns harm humanity, when in fact firearms have for centuries helped protect people from the inhumanity of criminals and oppressors who attempt to prey on people they assume are weak and defenseless until they learn otherwise.

We remind the sheriff of a national survey conducted by Dr. Gary Kleck that revealed approximately 2.5 million defensive gun uses per year by law-abiding citizens.

NSSF to Attend Gun Blogger Rendezvous

As it has for many years, NSSF sends representatives to conferences sponsored by outdoor media organizations for a variety of reasons--to maintain good relationships with their members, to stay abreast of the fast-changing media landscape, to brief media on key issues that NSSF is engaged in and to remind media that NSSF is available as a resource, offering research, statistics and, for example, this blog to help promote accuracy in their reporting about firearms and firearms-related issues.

It seems only right then that NSSF should make the same effort to reach out to bloggers who write about these same topics, and so we are. Later this week NSSF will attend the Gun Blogger Rendezvous in Reno, an annual gathering of bloggers that promotes social networking, sharing information and, of course, having some fun at the shooting range. This year's event also features a raffle to raise funds for Project Valour-IT, where every cent raised goes directly to the purchase and shipment of laptops and other technology for severely wounded service members. NSSF will be sponsoring a meal and making a presentation to the bloggers similar to what it has done this year for the Outdoor Writers Association of America and the Professional Outdoor Media Association, among others.

From our experience vetting and registering media who attend the SHOT Show, we've noticed a significant rise in attendance by bloggers who write about nearly every subject associated with the firearms industry--competitive shooting, recreational shooting, hunting, products and services, Second Amendment issues, regulatory matters, legislative issues, and, of course, because it's in the nature of bloggers, just about anything that comes to mind that begs for commentary. It goes without saying that the blogger community is growing, and while we've met many bloggers at past SHOT Shows, there are many more we look forward to meeting at the Gun Blogger Rendezvous.

We thank blogger Mr. Completely, the Rendezvous' organizer, for the invitation.

Two Major Newspapers, Which One Got It Right?

When it comes to knowing the difference between fully automatic and semi-automatic firearms, the mainstream media can't seem to get it right. As one reporter, who in a recent story wrote "machine gun" to describe a semi-automatic rifle, said, "I was using the term loosely." Maybe we are using the term "reporter" loosely to describe that individual.

Read these differing accounts of patients slain at a drug rehab center in Mexico that appeared in today's issues of The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal:

The Times: "Several masked men armed with automatic weapons stormed into a drug rehabilitation center . . . ."

WSJ: "Gunmen armed with semi-automatic rifles burst into a drug rehabilitation center . . . ."

Well, which one is it, automatic or semi-automatic?

Reporters who want to know the difference (and there is a big difference) can refer to NSSF's "Writer's Guide to Firearms and Ammunition," available online or as a printed booklet, both free of charge.

Reporters confuse these two terms most often when attempting to describe a modern sporting rifle based on the AR-15 platform, which has a semi-automatic action capable of firing only one round with each pull of the trigger. These civilian rifles look like military rifles capable of fully automatic fire--a machine gun--but their similarities are cosmetic only. The modern sporting rifle one of today's most popular rifles and used for hunting and target shooting.

We believe that professional reporters want to get their facts correct and that mistakes of this sort happen because America’s urban-based media has little contact with firearms and, consequently, does not fully understand their uses or operation. NSSF offers itself as a resource to all media who want to report accurately about firearms and firearms-related issues and makes a number of resources available in the Media Resources Section of its Web site.

Here are the definitions:

ACTION, AUTOMATIC
A firearm that loads, fires and ejects cartridges continually as long as the trigger is depressed and there are cartridges available in the feeding system (i.e., magazine or other such mechanism). Automatic action firearms are machine guns. Note: Since 1934 it has been unlawful to sell or possess an automatic firearm without special permission and licensing from the federal government, in addition to other requirements.

ACTION, SEMI-AUTOMATIC
A firearm in which each pull of the trigger results in a complete firing cycle, from discharge through reloading of the chamber. It is necessary that the trigger be released and pulled for each cycle. These firearms are also called “auto-loaders” or “self-loaders.” The discharge and chambering of a round is either blowback operated, recoil operated or gas operated. Note: An automatic-action firearm loads, discharges and reloads as long as ammunition is available and the trigger is depressed. A semi-automatic firearm only discharges one cartridge with each squeeze of the trigger.

NSSF and NRA Already Have the Programs

A right-on column by Dave Workman, who writes the Seattle Gun Rights Examiner, shines a light on the 400-member Mayors Against Illegal Guns, founded by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, a group that has more to do with restricting legal gun ownership than keeping illegal guns out of the hands of criminals. The writer points out that NSSF and NRA already have the programs the mayors claim are needed to reduce the criminal acquisition of firearms and to promote firearm safety:

"MAIG has made a big deal out of partnering with Wal-Mart to prevent illegal gun sales, but the National Shooting Sports Foundation beat them to the draw with its highly acclaimed “Don’t Lie for the Other Guy” program.
   It claims to support “gun safety” measures, but the National Rifle Association already wrote the book on that subject, and has a nationwide network of firearms safety instructors whose services have never been enlisted by anti-gun metropolitan mayors."

NSSF has offered the Don't Lie for the Other Guy program to MAIG's members several times but has never received the courtesy of a reply. Meanwhile, the program, a ten-year joint effort with ATF that educates retailers on how to detect and prevent illegal straw purchases and which warns the public that engaging in a straw purchase carries stiff penalties, has been very active along the U.S.-Mexican border in Brownsville, Houston, San Antonio, Tuscon and (soon) San Diego.

The Necessity and Pleasure of Owning Firearms

Two major newspapers this week have published stories that accurately capture the varied reasons why people choose to own firearms.

In The Washington Post yesterday, reporter Christian Davenport does a good job of showing how difficult it is to purchase a handgun in Washington, D.C., even after the U.S. Supreme Court, in District of Columbia v. Heller, struck down the city's longstanding ban against handgun ownership. It took Davenport four trips to the police department, two background checks, being fingerprinted, taking a five-hour class and passing a 20-question test--a total of nearly 16 hours--to purchase his handgun. Certainly, no one can claim that it's "too easy to buy a gun" in this city. About 550 D.C. residents so far have endured this purposely prohibitive process to become handgun owners, with many more, no doubt, unwilling to put in the time to overcome such a significant barrier to ownership. In the process of exercising his Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms, the reporter overcomes his apprehension about handling a firearm, discovers the enjoyment of shooting and wrestles with his feelings about whether to keep his newly acquired handgun in the home to protect himself and his family. Read "Get a Gun in D.C.--Do You Feel Lucky? and watch the video that features a segment filmed at Maryland Small Arms Range, Inc.

Today in The New York Times, Caitlin Kelly, author of the book "Blown Away: American Women and Guns," leads off her story, "For the Stressed Business Owner, a Range of Pursuits to Revive the Spirit," with a woman contractor who finds that shooting trap is a way to renew her energy in these challenging economic times for small business owners. “You’re not thinking about anything else, and when I come out of there I feel refreshed,” said Diane Slovak of Connecticut. NSSF assisted the author in finding her subject. Read the story and see the author's blog.