To view this site you need Adobe Flash Player and your browser must allow javaScripts. Go here to get the latest Flash Player. Russ Thurman Preparing For The Anti-Gun Assaults he election of Barack Obama to change.gov, the new administration’s be the next president of the United agenda on a number of issues, includStates has the industry on high alert ing how it would “Address Gun Viofor a barrage of anti-gun assaults in 2009. lence in Cities.” In addition to repealing While the Obama administration will the Tiahrt Amendment, enacting “comhave an overwhelming number of high-pri- monsense measure” to keep guns away ority issues to deal with, like the economy, war on terror, national security and energy, it is obvious the president-elect is including his anti-gun position in the mix. Long before the recent sleight-of-Web-site episode, President-elect From www.barackobama.com. Obama made it clear that, while he says he supports the Second from children and criminals, the site said Amendment, he is dedicated to greatly re- the Obama-Biden team would close the stricting who may own a firearm and where “gun show loophole” and make guns such gun ownership is allowed. In addition, childproof. Plus, and here’s the part that Vice-President-Elect Joe Biden has con- grabbed a lot of attention, “make the ‘Astinuously boasted of his legislative work to sault Weapons Ban’ permanent, as such ban “assault weapons,” and has exhibited weapons belong on foreign battlefields disdain for gun owners. and not on our streets.” About the sleight-of-Web trickery, Two days later, the information was for those who may have missed it: The removed from the Web site. It has since week following the election, the Obama- been reposted, without the “as such weapBiden team posted on the Web site, www. ons belong on foreign battlefields and not T on our streets” portion. This position of the Obama-Biden team is not new. The new administration’s policy on gun issues has long been available on the Web site www.barackobama.com, which is still operating at this writing. Under “Issues — Urban Policy” is the original, un-edited antigun position. The election of the Obama-Biden team has energized the anti-gun organizations and their champions in Congress and in governments around the country. While a lot of attention will, and must, be focused on national gun issues, a great deal of harm can be inflicted at the state, regional level. All of us need to remain vigilant and involved. For those longtime veterans of battling anti-gun forces, you’re needed now more than ever. For those who have sat comfortably on the sidelines while others have fought the fight, now is the time to get off your six-o’clock. The anti-gun assaults are just beginning. Firearm Sales Brisk F irearm sales, already posting impressive numbers, jumped substantially following the national elections. Dealers throughout the nation report brisk sales, especially in black guns. Manufacturers making sales at the NASGW Expo in early November report very good sales overall, with a sale-out of ARstyle firearms. The sales continue a trend that has defied economic factors and set records in the number of firearm background checks during 2008. For the first 10 months of 2008, there was an 8.9-percent increase in background checks over the same months in 2007, according to the FBI’s NICS. As noted in our previous analysis of the NICS data, the increases this year are impressive since 2007 was a record-setting year in background checks. During the first 10 months of 2008, NICS conducted 9,655,962 background checks, an increase of 789,075 over the same period in 2007. For October, the number of background checks by NICS jumped 15 percent over October 2007, a strong indicator of the concern of gun owners at the prospect of an Obama administration. Continued on page 83 Visit Us At Booth # 6853 84 Also In The Law Enforcement Section Booth # 8781 Read SI DIGITAL www.shootingindustry.com • SHOT SHOW SUPER ISSUE 2009