Anyhow, I wanted to make a couple of notes on my previous post about ESPN as the primary sponsor of the State of the Industry gala at SHOT next year. No, there's nothing intrinsically wrong with taking money from folks who air hunting and fishing shows even if they're not 100% with us, and it wouldn't bother me in the least, if only...
• The industry supported handguns, the handgun sports, black rifles, the black rifle sports, .50 BMGs, the .50 BMG sports the way they supported hunting.So, in short, I'm more worried about us than about them. Hard times are coming, folks. I have been on the front lines during hard time, and I can assure you it is not a laugh riot. It is hard, ulcer-inducing, at time scarifying work. I do not like the idea of heading into hard times with the tail wagging the dog, which is the case with our hunting-obsessed industry. Remember our answer to Bill Clinton's and John Kerry's tales of daring-do in the game fields — the Second Amendment isn't about hunting. It still isn't.
• The industry didn't try to hard so pretend that the sport shooting, self-defense and training side of our culture didn't exist.
• The industry didn't spend 99.99% of our money trying to shore up the hunting accessories market.
7 comments:
Mike, so who do we put pressure on to move away from the hunter oriented culture that seems to come from such groups as the NSSF?
I have been reading your blog for some some time now and agree that it's not the hunters that are supporting the gun industry but the sport shooters and self defense shooters who spend the majority of the money.
Change will only come from those that put money into the NSSF bank account. If hangdun companies like Glock, S&W, Kimber, Kahr, HK, Sig, STI and others don't ask pointed questions like, "what's in it for us?" then nothing will change. They put a lot of money into the industry and they are the companies that are growing yet NSSF is looking to help the next Winchester.
How many of the AR/black gun makers are members of nssf? Any? What do they think?
Too many people think the 2nd Amendment is about hunting. I think all of us that read your blog understand that it is not. Too many gun owners have the mentality of "why does anybody need an assualt weapon" and similar uninformed views. I have had people that hunt a lot say such things to me. They do not have enough brains to realize that if they ban one type of gun, they can and eventually will ban all guns.
Our conundrum essentially rests between the first and second comments...we would like to make our voices heard, but the fact is (and always has been) that the voices of those green pieces of paper speak far louder than we can.
Here's an example...we organize a letter-writing campaign to our industry reps expressing our discontent with the direction they're taking. At the same time, several big money guys organize a two week luxury safari to East Umgawahstan to whack sheep who look uncannily like Elvis, all expenses paid, all gear provided — and yes, the gear is their to keep.
Who wins?
Part of the conundrum is that our industry organizations actually do a world-class job at SOME things...NSSF's masterful handling of the city lawsuits; the NRA's ramrodding of the pre-emption bill, are two quick examples.
So we're faced with a classic "baby and bathwater" situation. When I was "inside," I worked hard — and failed — to convince the Powers That Be that they needed to listen to all segments of the industry. As I've written before, I drafted a proposal to create a "Sport Shooting Coordinator" who would be the voice of the shooting sports. My next step would have been a "Training/Self-Defense Coordinator," who would perform the same function for that segment of the industry.
The intent was simply to make sure our voices got heard.
Remember the old line, "What's good for General Motors good for America"? That's where we are now.
Michael B
PS: Virtually all arms manufacturers are members of the trade organization.
If you look at the whole market (guns ammo clothing and accessories) do you have any breakdown of the profit figures.
Are the majority of the industry profits on the hunting or non-hunting shooting sports?
If you look at the whole market (guns ammo clothing and accessories) do you have any breakdown of the profit figures.
Are the majority of the industry profits on the hunting or non-hunting shooting sports?
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