In order to participate in the GunBroker Member forums, you must be logged in with your GunBroker.com account. Click the sign-in button at the top right of the forums page to get connected.
Anti-Gun Forces Still WieldA Lot Of PoliticalPower
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
Anti-Gun Forces Still Wield A Lot Of Political Power
For those of you who had hoped Handgun Control Inc. (HCI-Brady) was loosing its power, think again. First, the anti-gun organization is not going away for two major reasons. Number one, they really believe in what they are doing. Number two, there are Americans who are willing to send them lots of money to fuel their anti-gun movement.
While the final months of 2001 where tough for HCI because of a lack of money, they are now back and swinging hard in the battle over guns and gun ownership.
"Victory! H&R Block has severed ties with the National Rifle Association," began an email from HCI in mid-March. The email gloated about the strong-armed action HCI took to force H&R Block to back out of an NRA promotion. H&R Block was to make a donation to the NRA every time an NRA member had his taxes done by the company.
Nothing wrong with that, right? Good for H&R Block. Good for the NRA. Not good, according to HCI. The anti-gun group launched a massive campaign, claiming thousands of "activists joined in the fight by calling, faxing and emailing H&R block to protest this agreement and to educate the company on the extremist positions that the NRA has taken in the past."
Strong stuff: "activists," "protest," "educate," "extremist." So strong that H&R Block withdrew from their NRA agreement.
"I want to assure you that H&R Block does not and will not take a position on social issues outside of tax and financial services. Therefore, we are dissolving the Memberdrive agreement to remove ourselves from a debate we don't belong in and to prevent outside groups from using H&R Block to promote their agendas," wrote Linda A. McDougall, H&R Block's vice president for communications.
Sadly, H&R Block doesn't realize, or won't admit, that their withdrawal promotes an agenda.
So, HCI is not going away and they still wield power. But that's not a problem if we understand this. Too often, the industry forgets that HCI and others are devoted to their causes. In doing so, we let our guard down. This is not a fight that is going to go away.
How can you keep track of what HCI is up to? That's easy. Sign onto Shooting Industry's Website: www.shootingindustry.com, and click on the "Breaking News" button in the upper left-hand corner. This will take you to Yahoo's site devoted to gun matters. Under "Related Websites" you'll find a link to HCI.
How often should you check on HCI? Hint: They go to work everyday to put you out of business.
Who's Who In Academy of Excellence?
The 2002 Shooting Industry Academy of Excellence awards will be presented later this month at a special reception in Reno, Nev. Thirty-six Final Nominees were considered for the academy's 12 awards. Those 36 came from a record 187 Potential Nominees.
We often get calls from companies and dealers asking who was on the Potential Nominee list. Since only academy members see the Potential Nominee ballot, many in the industry are curious about the products that didn't make the Final Ballot.
You can now view the entire Potential Nominee list online at www.shootingindustry.com. Click on the Academy of Excellence logo on the left side of the home page. This will take you to a special section where you can view this year's Potential Nominees and Final Nominees, and take a historical trip through the academy's award archives going back to 1992, its first year. It's interesting to note which companies have received awards - it's a who's who of the industry.
Top 10 Industry Websites
Which industry Websites are the most visited? We thought you'd never ask. AllVertical Inc., the giant webmaster with such sites as www.shooters.com, www.hunters.com and www.allarchery.com, keeps track of such things.
"The `Top10.shooters.com" ranks are based on `total page impressions' because it can be measured exactly and it measures, in our judgement, the overall attractiveness of a Website to end users," said Bert Bourgeois, chairman and co-founder.
Such information is invaluable to a business looking to maximize every aspect of their marketing effort, including Web-driven sales.
To check and see if your company is in the latest Top 10 as monitored by AllVertical, sign onto www.shooters.com and click on the `Top10' button.
AllVertical Top 10 Websites
(March 24, 2002)
Rank Company Website
1 Heckler & Koch www.hecklerkoch-usa.com
2 Smith & Wesson www.smith-wesson.com
3 Shooters.com www.shooters.com
4 Sturm, Ruger & Co. www.ruger-firearms.com
5 Creedmoor Sports www.creedmoorsports.com
6 Savage Arms www.savagearms.com
7 U. S. Practical Shooting www.uspsa.org
8 Collectors Firearms www.collectorsfirearms.com
9 Fulton Armory www.fulton-armory.com
10 Kahr Arms www.kahr.com
http://www.shootingindustry.com/
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
For those of you who had hoped Handgun Control Inc. (HCI-Brady) was loosing its power, think again. First, the anti-gun organization is not going away for two major reasons. Number one, they really believe in what they are doing. Number two, there are Americans who are willing to send them lots of money to fuel their anti-gun movement.
While the final months of 2001 where tough for HCI because of a lack of money, they are now back and swinging hard in the battle over guns and gun ownership.
"Victory! H&R Block has severed ties with the National Rifle Association," began an email from HCI in mid-March. The email gloated about the strong-armed action HCI took to force H&R Block to back out of an NRA promotion. H&R Block was to make a donation to the NRA every time an NRA member had his taxes done by the company.
Nothing wrong with that, right? Good for H&R Block. Good for the NRA. Not good, according to HCI. The anti-gun group launched a massive campaign, claiming thousands of "activists joined in the fight by calling, faxing and emailing H&R block to protest this agreement and to educate the company on the extremist positions that the NRA has taken in the past."
Strong stuff: "activists," "protest," "educate," "extremist." So strong that H&R Block withdrew from their NRA agreement.
"I want to assure you that H&R Block does not and will not take a position on social issues outside of tax and financial services. Therefore, we are dissolving the Memberdrive agreement to remove ourselves from a debate we don't belong in and to prevent outside groups from using H&R Block to promote their agendas," wrote Linda A. McDougall, H&R Block's vice president for communications.
Sadly, H&R Block doesn't realize, or won't admit, that their withdrawal promotes an agenda.
So, HCI is not going away and they still wield power. But that's not a problem if we understand this. Too often, the industry forgets that HCI and others are devoted to their causes. In doing so, we let our guard down. This is not a fight that is going to go away.
How can you keep track of what HCI is up to? That's easy. Sign onto Shooting Industry's Website: www.shootingindustry.com, and click on the "Breaking News" button in the upper left-hand corner. This will take you to Yahoo's site devoted to gun matters. Under "Related Websites" you'll find a link to HCI.
How often should you check on HCI? Hint: They go to work everyday to put you out of business.
Who's Who In Academy of Excellence?
The 2002 Shooting Industry Academy of Excellence awards will be presented later this month at a special reception in Reno, Nev. Thirty-six Final Nominees were considered for the academy's 12 awards. Those 36 came from a record 187 Potential Nominees.
We often get calls from companies and dealers asking who was on the Potential Nominee list. Since only academy members see the Potential Nominee ballot, many in the industry are curious about the products that didn't make the Final Ballot.
You can now view the entire Potential Nominee list online at www.shootingindustry.com. Click on the Academy of Excellence logo on the left side of the home page. This will take you to a special section where you can view this year's Potential Nominees and Final Nominees, and take a historical trip through the academy's award archives going back to 1992, its first year. It's interesting to note which companies have received awards - it's a who's who of the industry.
Top 10 Industry Websites
Which industry Websites are the most visited? We thought you'd never ask. AllVertical Inc., the giant webmaster with such sites as www.shooters.com, www.hunters.com and www.allarchery.com, keeps track of such things.
"The `Top10.shooters.com" ranks are based on `total page impressions' because it can be measured exactly and it measures, in our judgement, the overall attractiveness of a Website to end users," said Bert Bourgeois, chairman and co-founder.
Such information is invaluable to a business looking to maximize every aspect of their marketing effort, including Web-driven sales.
To check and see if your company is in the latest Top 10 as monitored by AllVertical, sign onto www.shooters.com and click on the `Top10' button.
AllVertical Top 10 Websites
(March 24, 2002)
Rank Company Website
1 Heckler & Koch www.hecklerkoch-usa.com
2 Smith & Wesson www.smith-wesson.com
3 Shooters.com www.shooters.com
4 Sturm, Ruger & Co. www.ruger-firearms.com
5 Creedmoor Sports www.creedmoorsports.com
6 Savage Arms www.savagearms.com
7 U. S. Practical Shooting www.uspsa.org
8 Collectors Firearms www.collectorsfirearms.com
9 Fulton Armory www.fulton-armory.com
10 Kahr Arms www.kahr.com
http://www.shootingindustry.com/
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878