by Joseph P. Tartaro | Executive Editor
The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted more than 2.1 million background checks in June 2016, compared to about 1.5 million in June 2015, according to a government announcement release July 1.
CNN Money said “that’s an increase of about 40%.”
This means that 2016 is on track to break last year’s record for background checks. The FBI conducted 13,829,491 background checks in the first half of this year. Last year’s tally for the entire year was 23,141,970.
The National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS, does not necessarily equal the number of guns sold. Some purchasers actually fail the background checks, while other checks involve a single purchase of multiple guns. Also, there are no FBI background checks for gun sales that occur between private individuals with no federally licensed dealer involved.
But even though FBI checks don’t provide an accurate read on gun sales, they serve as an important proxy. It is clear, based on the FBI data, that gun sales are rising dramatically, CNN Money claimed, despite or because of media coverage of such violent crimes as the massacre in Orlando.
In other industry news:
Bruckmann, Rosser, Sherrill & Co. (BRS), a New York-based private equity firm, announced on July 6 that it has acquired Daisy Outdoor Products (Daisy).
The investment was made through BRS Outdoor Sports Holdings LLC, which also owns Gamo Outdoor SLU, the global manufacturer of high-quality airguns and other outdoor accessories and New Archery Products, the leading designer and manufacturer of fixed and mechanical broadheads, vanes and fletching and other archery related accessories. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Other shareholders of BRS Outdoor Sports include Frist Capital, LLC, Bixby Bridge Capital, LLC, Swift River Investments and Quilvest Private Equity.
Daisy, based in Rogers, AR, is the leading manufacturer and marketer of youth airguns and accessories. The company was founded in Plymouth, MI, in 1886 and throughout its history, has developed unparalleled brand recognition and a dominant position within the youth and entry-level airgun market.
Stephen Sherrill, co-founder and managing director of BRS, said, “We look forward to strengthening the company’s position in the youth market and are very pleased for BRS Outdoor Sports and Gamo to be involved with the next chapter of growth for Daisy. We are excited for the future, with a vision to grow both the Daisy brand and recreational shooting.”
“We cannot begin to express the excitement we feel with the addition of Daisy to our family of shooting and outdoor brands,” stated Keith Higginbotham, president of Gamo Outdoor USA, a subsidiary of Gamo Outdoor SLU. He continued, “We believe this is a great combination as Gamo is deeply rooted in the outdoors, Daisy is a part of Americana and we both share a passion for the shooting sports.”
Since 1965, Daisy and the US Jaycees have cosponsored a program that begins with shooting education in local hometowns and ends with an international event. Some 7 million young people have learned both firearms safety and marksmanship because of the Daisy-Jaycee program. Today, more than 2,000 Jaycee chapters across our country conduct supervised classes to teach boys and girls age 10-14 proper gun handling and marksmanship (a total of 250,000 kids annually). Beyond the local shooting education activities, kids can go on to compete in state and regional competitions. Then, each year, those winners are brought together for the International BB Gun Championship Match—the oldest and largest continuous airgun competition in the world.
Lifetime Brands, Inc. and Mossy Oak are teaming up to offer new insulated tumblers, cutlery and cutting boards, dinnerware, and kitchen tools and gadgets for those who want to bring their passion for the outdoors into the kitchen.
Mossy Oak and Lifetime Brands bring the outdoors into the kitchen in a variety of products, including four-piece place settings.
The Mossy Oak 30-Ounce Insulated Tumbler from Lifetime Brands is reportedly getting rave reviews! This double-wall, vacuum-sealed tumbler is BPA-free and cup holder friendly and has a retail price of $14.88 at Walmart. However, the Mossy Oak products by Lifetime Brands are available in department store chains and outdoor retailers.
Mossy Oak offers a wide variety of cutlery and cutting boards for all your food preparation needs. The Mossy Oak 12-piece Knife Block set has the Break-Up Infinity® Pattern on the handle and includes an 8-inch chef, 5-inch santoku, 6-inch boning, 5.5-inch serrated utility, 3.5-inch paring knife, 4 steak knives, all-purpose shear with bottle opener, sharpening steel, and natural finish block. This knife block set has the essential knives needed for everyday food prep and is available at Walmart for $39.97.
The Mossy Oak 11”x14” Cutting Board and Paring Knife set and three-piece Chef Cutlery set are available in the Mossy Oak Break-Up Infinity and Pink Break-Up® Patterns.
When it comes to serving your favorite food, Mossy Oak has you covered with dinnerware sets for the whole family that are great for dining indoors and out. The Mossy Oak Animal Print reactive glaze dinnerware set is inspired by nature and features striking outdoor scenes with a bear, moose, duck and deer. This microwave and dishwasher safe stoneware set is available as a 16-piece set (four 4-piece place settings) for a suggested retail price of $69.99 at retailers including Cabela’s, BedBathandBeyond.com, Boscov’s, Bonton, JCPenney, BiMart, Amazon.com, and Pfaltzgraff.com.
Mossy Oak melamine dinnerware captures the spirit of the great outdoors in wide range of products that are microwavable and dishwasher safe, including sets for the kids.
The Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers’ Institute® (SAAMI®), the firearms and ammunition industry’s technical standards-setting organization, recently announced the acceptance of a new cartridge and chamber standard, the 6.5-300 Weatherby, introduced by Weatherby, Inc.
In keeping with Weatherby’s DNA, this is a high-velocity centerfire rifle cartridge that, when combined with high Ballistic Coefficient (BC) projectiles, targets the bolt-action rifle, long-range shooting market.
“Our combined industries are driven by mechanical and ballistic engineering innovation,” said Randy Bimson, director of technical affairs and technical advisor of SAAMI. “SAAMI takes great pride in the fact that our industry’s engineers and ballistic laboratory staff are among the most knowledgeable and skilled in their field and continue to routinely bring new and innovative products to the market.”
6.5-300 Weatherby Magnum Cartridge
SAAMI was founded in 1926 at the request of the federal government and tasked with coordinating the industry’s technical data, creating and publishing industry standards for interchangeability, reliability, performance, quality and product safety and promote safe and responsible use of firearms.
At about the same time, SAAMI announced that six new companies have joined its member roster. Joining as new Associate Members are PolyCase Ammunition and Rio Ammunition, Inc. Associate members play an important role in providing input to SAAMI’s committee-based decision-making processes. New Supporting Members include Armscor Cartridge, Inc., BPI Outdoors, Inc., L-Tech Enterprises, Inc. and Specialty Cartridge, Inc.
“We are proud to welcome these six companies to the SAAMI network,” said Rick Patterson, SAAMI’s executive director. “The firearms industry will be facing many unique challenges in the months and years ahead. Our future successes will be influenced by how well the industry comes together to address these challenges.”
Barrett Firearms Manufacturing, Inc., makers of the finest long range rifle systems in the world, proudly announced recently that its Quality Management System (QMS) has received the prestigious ISO 9001:2015 certification by NQA, a leading global independently accredited certification body, for the design and manufacture of firearms, ammunition, integrated ballistics computers and accessories, and to provide training for those systems.
The ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management Standard is recognized by 95 countries for excellence in design, manufacture and delivery of quality products. It is the most widely used manufacturing standard in the world, and Barrett is one of the first companies in the firearms industry to receive certification in the new 2015 standard.
“This achievement is the result of years of dedication to continuous improvement, perfecting of processes, and the ultimate goal of exceeding our customers’ expectations,” said Chris Barrett, president of Barrett Firearms. “Along the way we have exceeded our own expectations. This certification is not easily achieved. I am so proud of what our team has built here; we have set ourselves up for years of future success.”
Barrett manufactures eight distinct models of rifles and recently launched a new line of shotguns under the Barrett Sovereign brand.
After many delays, the FBI NICS Section announced a New NICS go-live date of Aug. 9. Future communications from NICS will include access instructions to access the New NICS E-Check User Guide to allow FFLs to become familiar with the look of the NICS E-Check prior to deployment. The look of the NICS E-Check after deployment will change; however, the functionality will remain the same.
