ATTENTION CALIFORNIA GUN OWNERS! STAY UPDATED ON CURRENT LEGISLATION!

The below bills were signed into law:

Assembly Bill 1135 and Senate Bill 880 would make changes of monumental scale to California’s firearm laws by reclassifying hundreds of thousands of legally owned semi-automatic rifles as “assault weapons.” This legislation effectively outlaws magazine locking devices, more commonly known as “bullet buttons”. These are constitutionally protected firearms that have no association with crime. These changes would happen quickly with great individual costs to many gun owners and without public notice. Governor Brown vetoed similar legislation in 2013. (more…)

Chris McInally
2/17/2019

The American right to own a gun is guaranteed to us in the Bill of Rights. Young men fight everyday all around the world to protect this right. Gun control is attempting to illegally tie our hands and will lead to more innocent bloodshed.

Guns are necessary for personal security and hunting. We should make no apologies for backing a right explicitly stated in the Constitution, and Americans are making a stand. Beyond that, we do not need to make any apologies for exercising a right that is in the Constitution. (more…)

Smith & Wesson: Americans are buying fewer guns
by Aaron Smith

Shares of the gunmaker plunged nearly 10% Friday morning as it dawned on investors that the once high-flying gun industry is coming down to Earth.

The gun industry has experienced an intense run-up in demand over the last couple years, fueled by concerns of more rigorous gun restrictions in the wake of President Obama’s reelection and a series of mass shootings including the Sandy Hook massacre in Newtown, Conn.

Related: Gun silencer sales are booming

Gun enthusiasts stockpiled the military-style semiautomatic assault rifles, exhausting the supply and driving up the prices. But Obama failed to get a bill through Congress that would have placed restrictions on these guns, alleviating concerns that they would be hard to come by. As a result, rifle sales are suffering.

But there are still signs of growth. Smith & Wesson reported a hefty increase in handgun sales, buoyed by growing consumer interest in self-defense. Chief Executive Officer James Debney said Thursday that unit sales for handguns jumped 30% in the most recent quarter.

Still, Debney said the gain in handgun sales was offset by soft demand for “modern sporting rifles” — industry parlance for semiautomatic rifles.

Related: Gun range with a bar opening soon

Debney blamed the weakness in rifle sales for the company’s overall slump in revenue. But analysts who follow the company see hope in burgeoning handgun sales.

“Compact guns and polymer guns are selling really well,” said Brian Ruttenbur, gun analyst for CRT Capital. “They are ramping up production dramatically.”

Ruttenbur said that Smith & Wesson’s latest line of M&P compact pistols is so popular that retail supplies are running thin.

“You can’t find an M&P gun on the shelf,” he said. “This is their competitor to Glock.”

Related: Buy your own tank, or missile launcher

For the fourth quarter, Smith & Wesson (SWHC) reported a decline in net sales of more than 4% to $170 million and a 13% drop in income from continuing operations to about $25 million.

Company executives preferred to emphasize record sales of $626 million for the fiscal year, up 6% from the prior year.

“We are very pleased with our record results for fiscal year 2014, which include the highest sales, gross margin and profits in the company’s history,” said Debney, in a press release. “Our successful performance was driven by robust consumer demand for our products, combined with carefully managed increases in our manufacturing capacity.”

Smith & Wesson projects that net sales for fiscal year 2015 will dip to a range of $585 million to $600 million.

Shares of rival gunmaker Sturm Ruger (RGR) also fell Friday, but its drop was less dramatic.

NEWTOWN, Conn. — Outdoor Channel, America’s Leader In Outdoor TV, has committed to a Pinnacle-level sponsorship for the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade ShowTM (SHOT Show®) for the fourth consecutive year.

Pinnacle is the highest sponsorship level associated with the SHOT Show, which is the largest trade show of its kind in the world, attracting more than 60,000 attendees and 1,600 companies exhibiting firearms, ammunition, outdoor apparel, law enforcement equipment, optics, cutlery and related products and services.

The SHOT Show is owned by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the trade association for the firearms, ammunition, hunting and shooting sports industry, and is produced and managed by ConvExx. -Reported By The NSSF

Rock Island Armory, the world’s largest seller of 1911 pistols, has introduced a new look for their entire line of popular handguns. Guided by customer feedback and a shift to provide a more streamlined look, Rock Island Armory has moved their logo from the side of the slide to the back of the slide displaying the distinctive Rock Island Armory logo. The company is now shipping all 1911 pistols with the new look.

“Two of the things that are important to us are staying true to the legendary standard platform of the 1911 and the second is listening to our customers,” said Martin Tuason, President of Rock Island Armory. “We were ready to refresh the look of our pistols and we heard a lot of feedback that the subtle change to a smaller logo at the back of the slide would give our 1911’s a more distinctive and streamlined look.”

The new visual change to the company’s 1911 pistols follows on the heels of the addition of rubber grips to the 1911 Tactical Series. Rock Island Armory’s global lineup of 1911 pistols includes the GI, Tactical, 2011 Tactical, Match, MAP/MAPP and the company’s revolutionary TCM series.

In order to fulfill a new contract from the Marine Corps’ special operations, Colt will manufacture more than 10k new CQB Pistols to be put to use by some of our nation’s best and most elite servicemen. Along with this new contract for the 1911 based pistols, they plan to phase out the M45s currently used by the Corps.

As was announced on Military.com, “The July 19 [2012] contract, which has a total value of $22.5 million, brings an end to the Corps’ exhaustive search for the top .45 caliber, 1911-style pistol to replace the fleet of worn-out Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command, or MARSOC, M45 pistols.”

“We picked the best-performing pistol,” said Charles Clark III. Clark is in charge of overseeing infantry weapons requirements and research at the Corps’ Combat Development and Integration office in Quantico, Va. “There were three candidates that made the final round of consideration.”

In addition to Colt, Springfield Armory’s Full Size MC Operator and Smith & Wesson’s 1911 design were also contenders, said the sources on Military.com.

The economic impact of the gun industry has climbed over 66 percent since the beginning of our latest economic downturn, providing an unexpected boost for the economy, according to a recently released study.

The NSSF (National Shooting Sports Foundation) states the economic impact of firearm sales reached $31 billion in 2011, which was a huge jump up from $19 billion in 2008. Note that this figure includes jobs, taxes and sales. In 2011 the firearms industry paid $2.5 billion in federal taxes, which is up 66 percent in three years.

Jobs reported in the firearms industry climbed 30 percent from 2008 to 2011, with the industry employing over 98,750 people.

“Ours is an industry with a rich history and heritage that remains vital and important to the American economy today,” NSSF Senior Vice President Lawrence G. Keane said. “To millions of Americans our industry’s products represent liberty, security and recreation.”

After speaking with many in the industry, they can point this climb to the fear of new legislation or backwards progress from the Obama Administration, as is view also held by Mr. Keane.

“There’s a concern that in the second term the Obama administration would lead an attempt to restrict gun ownership,” Mr. Keane said. “Some people jokingly refer to [President Obama] as the salesman of the year for the industry,” Mr. Keane said.

While the Obama Administration can be accredited with causing part of the climb in recent sales, many note the huge jump in youth activity in shooting sports, as well as a greater interest from the younger generations.

“A federal judge has upheld a rule proposed by the ATF to track multiple gun sales in Texas, California, Arizona and New Mexico in a lawsuit brought by the National Shooting Sports Foundation and two gun dealers in Arizona…”

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