The Government Relations Team of the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the trade association for the firearms industry, dedicates its time and resources to supporting legislation beneficial to our industry and fighting those bills that infringe on our rights to legally conduct business and compromise everyone’s 2nd Amendment rights. Team members attend legislative hearings on the federal, state and local levels year-round across the nation, keeping their finger on the pulse of those issues affecting us. They are pleased to provide a monthly summary of legislation that directly affects and impacts the business of NASGW members.

The 2020 SHOT Show highlighted the official launch of the Gun Owners Care^SM program. The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) launched the Gun Owners Care initiative because it believes members of the firearms-owning community deserve respect for being good, concerned citizens and proud defenders of a unique American heritage.

The National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers (NASGW), the association representing shooting sports wholesalers, manufacturers, and their trade partners, is pleased to announce that Kenyon Gleason, the President of NASGW, was elected by members of the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributor's (NAW) Association Executive Council (AEC) to serve as the Chairman-Elect. In this capacity Gleason will also serve on the NAW Board of Directors.

During the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation (CSF) Leadership Dinner on February 10, Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus (CSC) leaders from the 116th Congress, former CSC leaders, and sporting industry partners gathered in Washington, D.C. to celebrate the CSC and to foster conservation priorities in the new year for sportsmen and women across the nation.

On the farm where I grew up, in a very rural part of North Dakota, summers were hot, and the winters were brutally cold. In the spring and fall of the year you enjoyed a few days of spectacular weather and boy did we appreciate them.

That’s a pretty big exaggeration, but those of you from the northern U.S., and rural communities in particular, likely understand just how difficult the winters can be and how quick the summers fly by. As I’ve grown older, I’ve come to believe it takes a certain type of person, generally a very optimistic person, to deal with the wild swings in weather and the inherent seclusion that comes from living where you mostly have to do it yourself, and you sometimes just need to do without. There were no YouTube instruction videos to help!

Wow, what an exciting time to be a member of NASGW. Our organization is really taking some major steps forward to position two-step distribution at the forefront of the shooting sports industry. In Las Vegas last week, we announced the recent acquisition of CLX and the upcoming integration with our SCOPE platform.

The National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers (NASGW) recently announced the acquisition of CustomerLink Exchange (CLX) and the upcoming integration with their existing SCOPE data program. SCOPE CLX, powered by eComSystems, will offer retail sales data to benefit shooting sports businesses.

The Government Relations Team of the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the trade association for the firearms industry, dedicates its time and resources to supporting legislation beneficial to our industry and fighting those bills that infringe on our rights to legally conduct business and compromise everyone’s 2nd Amendment rights. Team members attend legislative hearings on the federal, state and local levels year-round across the nation, keeping their finger on the pulse of those issues affecting us. They are pleased to provide a monthly summary of legislation that directly affects and impacts the business of NASGW members.

Trade show “silly season” is upon us. Many of you reading this have already taken part in a whole host of trade show activities and you’ve been traveling like mad as the 2020 sales season gets into full swing. I wish I could alleviate that pain for you all, but it won’t get much better until after IWA in March, and then only just a slight reprieve before we’ll be back at it for the annual NRA event in April. As I’m writing this, and surely as you read this, many of you are putting the final touches on your 2020 Shot Show preparations.

As you do that, I want to take just a moment to wish you all a Happy New Year! I know a number of you, who had a difficult year last year, would prefer to never think of 2019 again. So, let’s all resolve to make 2020 a fantastic year in our industry and put 2019 into the dustbin of history.