Sandy’s Soapbox

Hello to all of Sandy’s Soapbox readers. My name is Amelia Thorn, I am the Marketing Manager for North American Arms. I introduced myself last year in 2018, so many of you are probably more familiar with me this time around. I would just like to reiterate right here at the beginning, I am a marketing team of one, so if you have any news, ideas, comments, questions, concerns, etc. I would be happy to personally take care of them or listen to what you have to say. You can email me directly at amelia@northamericanarms.com. I would love to hear from you.

This past week I was able to attend the SHOT academy. A summit for marketing managers and business owners, writers and more, to come and attend a meeting strictly about the upcoming SHOT Show. We talk about ways to be successful, things to keep in mind, new products that each company might be launching and much more.

This was my second year attending and as someone so new to the industry, I always have the best time meeting, reintroducing and learning more about what this vast industry has to offer.

SHOT show is the biggest event that the outdoor industry has to offer and if you have ever been, you know just the scale of it. Next year will be my third SHOT show, next to Sandy’s nearly 25 years attending, I have a lot to learn. But you will always see Sandy at our booth, and I know both he and I look forward to seeing all of you there next January for another exciting, and even more successful SHOT show.

I suspect many/most of you are at least somewhat aware of some of the difficult circumstances currently surrounding the NRA.  I expect you will become increasingly more so as the shitstorm continues to grow.  And it will.  And it’s serious

In a capsule (volumes of news stories in exhausting detail have been written of late which you can easily find), it began late last month when the NRA announced that it was suing its longtime advertising partner, Ackerman McQueen, claiming fraudulent billing practices and gross overcharges (AMcQ was paid in excess of $40 million last year by the NRA).  This claim additionally appeared to strain the relationship between NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre and titular NRA President Oliver North, who is paid $0 by NRA but reportedly in excess of $1 million by Ackerman McQueen.  Charges of self-aggrandizement by several NRA executives were leveled with North reportedly threatening to extort LaPierre unless he resigned.  In this struggle, LaPierre survived (momentarily) and North is gone.

The NRA also launched suit against the State of New York, claiming it was unfairly attempting to destroy the NRA’s recently created insurance product, CarryGuard, by unfairly using the State’s leverage with the insurance commission and other financial institutions.  Perhaps in response, the Attorney General of the State of New York (who recently branded the NRA a “terrorist organization”) announced a new investigation into the organization with an eye towards revoking the its non-profit status, the effect of which would literally destroy the organization.

All of the recent reporting – which has been voluminous – has been very damning indeed and paints a very dark picture of the future of the NRA.  I’m sure you can imagine how the likes of former Mayor Blumberg, Gabby Giffords and the rest of the anti-gun crowd are salivating over the prospect of the extinction of the NRA, which appears to be a very real possibility.  I expect we’ll be reading about this story for months to come.

The threat that the NRA is facing is real and the possible/likely consequences cannot be overstated.  Unfortunately, most of the wounds the NRA is suffering are self-inflicted.  Unlike the hyperbole the NRA typically spouts, this time – I believe – their future is in real doubt.  Stay tuned.

So, another SHOT Show has concluded and, notwithstanding the continued softness in the market, this one was “almost” bigger and “nearly“ better than ever before, approx. 700,000 sq.ft. of display space and 60,000 in attendance. Curiously, the Show will expend next year beyond the confines of the Sands Convention Center to include floor space at the MGM Grand, and then to include still more space at Caesar’s the following year. The logistics for managing the foot traffic are still not clear to me, but we don’t intend to budge from the location we’ve enjoyed for the past several years.

You’ll read that there was very little “new” introduced by NAA. A 2.5” barrel Ranger II (set for production in April, with a 4” model before year’s end, I hope), a truly black (coated) Black Widow http://naaminis.com/smf/index.php?topic=19005.0 , a “rainbow” mini for TALO http://naaminis.com/smf/index.php?topic=17974.msg170765#msg170765 come to mind. While not innovating very much, we continue to try to “do things” better and make better guns. While sometimes the progress seems glacial, I feel we’re making progress none the same.

I’ve noted some recent remarks on our Message Board regarding main spring tension. It’s very annoying that we (and you) continue to suffer from inconsistent heat treating of different batches of springs which is typically the culprit here. We would rather they be too stiff than too light, which typically results in misfires. We’ll be happy to send a replacement spring if yours is problematic.

I send loads of thanks to my team that travelled to Vegas to present NAA at the recent Show. While it can be lots of fun, it certainly is lots of work and frequently entails the risk of post-Show illness: “crud”, flu, cold and other assorted ailments which go hand-in-hand with large crowds, close spaces and lots of personal contact. As usual, I’m suffering as I’ve learned is much of my team. My apologies for their discomfort and my great thanks to them for another job well done.

– Sandy

Happy New Year!

-Sandy

It troubles me to share with you my very strong belief that the relatively brief respite from the threat of additional “gun control” legislation we’ve all enjoyed will soon come to a very abrupt end – probably early in the new year when the new congress begins its work.

Notwithstanding that the Republicans still control the Senate and the Presidency, the flip of the House of Representatives to Democratic control will be very problematic indeed. It doesn’t take much prescience to imagine what some of the first anti-gun initiatives are likely to be: those that have been discussed (and, in some cases/jurisdictions already enacted): magazine capacity restrictions, “assault weapons” bans and universal background checks.

It’s the House where most legislation begins and, with the ability to set the legislative agenda that their majority position entitles them, Ms. Pelosi and her crew are assuredly smacking their lips over what they doubtless see as such an easy target and certain success.  While there are certainly some pro-gun Ds, I think they are, in most instances, offset by anti-gun Rs, and so the bills will likely pass and then be forwarded to the Senate.  Can the Senate simply ignore these bills?  I don’t think so.  Do the necessary number of members (50) have the political will to fend-off these efforts? Again, I don’t think so.  And if this legislation is presented to the President for his signature, does he have the will to veto the bill(s)?  Again, I don’t think so. The outcry against any effort to oppose these “common-sense” measures “to do something” would be deafening, I believe.

The good news, if there is any, is that such threatening activity will probably give a sharp boost to the firearms industry that has been in the doldrums for the past two years. I wish this forecasted recovery didn’t come at such a high price.

I hope time proves me wrong but, again, I don’t think so.

Please enjoy the attached video highlighting several operations in the manufacture of mini-revolvers.