It was a cold, dreary and somewhat blustery late-fall day in North Dakota in the late ’80s. I was on the back of a horse, and there were cattle to be driven home for winter. I was in charge of getting the last stragglers out of the pasture and on the road to home.

Our industry is actually small.  We’re powerful, but we’re small.  Outsiders to the industry know us as a force to be reckoned with, but the insiders recognize the fact that we must stick together to make things happen and that we rely on everyone’s participation to accomplish our goals because of our small size.  That’s OK though.  We get our business done inside of the trade so that we are prepared to introduce our products outside to the marketplace.

It was an interesting April tracking industry legislation across the state capitols.  While there were no blockbuster bills passed restricting firearms or firearm parts or accessories, many bills were signed into law this month or were passed by state legislatures that impact how FFLs conduct business across the country.  Some of this month’s legislative activity that directly impact the industry are highlighted below, separated by status:

On April 10, the U.S. Senate passed the Target Practice and Marksmanship Training Support Act (S. 94) on a voice vote without amendment – a significant milestone in advancing priority legislation for the sportsmen’s community.

Over the past couple months, I’ve been writing in this column about the power and importance of strengthening human relationships, with articles about the Power of Partnerships and the Power of People, or the power of your team.

Today, I want to turn the tables just a bit, and talk about the Power of You. I want to talk about the importance of your personal voice at this critical time in our industry and in our nation.

Our friends at Shooting Industry Magazine took some time over the last year to dig into what makes partnerships with NASGW wholesalers so valuable. Here's a quick video that covers some of those benefits including NASGW's new SCOPE™ program. 

On any given day, NASGW distributors, collectively, are extending millions of dollars in credit to retail partners across the country. The extension of credit is probably one of the greatest benefits a distributor partner can offer to retailers, but possibly one of the most underrated.

As spring takes hold across the country, we are all thinking ahead and looking forward to our summer plans.  For my family and me, it’s Aspen.   There is no better place to be in the summertime than the cool Colorado mountains (and it’s a great escape from the brutal summers in Louisiana).  Aspen provides a full menu of outdoor activities from hiking, walking, bike riding, and it hosts the most spectacular fly fishing landscape you’ve ever experienced.  It’s my “happy place.”  Besides the beauty it provides, the biggest benefit of this wondrous escape is that of quiet thinking time outside of the hustle and bustle of the office.  It creates time to clear my mind and it affords me the opportunity to brainstorm and generate new ideas to bring back to our team.

The past month has seen a lot of activity on legislation in many states that will impact the sale and distribution of firearms across the country.  We continue to see movement on bills that restrict certain firearms (e.g., “assault weapons”) or firearm parts (e.g., bumpfire stocks, binary triggers, etc.), as well as bills that impact the process surrounding the retail sale of firearms, which ultimately affects distribution.  This month we list bills that had action beyond committee hearings or assignments.  Below we have listed many important pieces of legislation we are tracking, grouped by their status.

The Hunting and Shooting Sports Conservation Council (HSSCC), a federal advisory council of 18 conservation leaders who provide recommendations and advice to the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior, met on March 21 to receive agency reports and provide guidance on behalf of the sportsmen’s community.