Despite the cancellation of the 2020 NASGW Expo, the 2020 Caliber Awards Finalists and Appreciation Award Nominees have been selected.

As a young man, I came across publicly as a pretty outgoing guy. But on the inside, I was often terrified of facing rejection, of being wrong, of failing. When it came to dating, my hands would sweat and I’d turn into a nervous wreck. Asking a girl out on a date was very hard for me.

So imagine my shock and surprise when I first saw the woman I would eventually marry on a volleyball court prior to my senior year of college and I leaned over to a buddy and said, “You see that blond, I’m going to marry her.” I was dead serious, but he laughed at me hysterically. He knew full well that I hadn’t even met her yet.

As you can see, now I had some figuring out to do in order to make that statement come to fruition.

There are positive signs of 2020 starting to peak around the corner if you are looking for them. First of all, it’s Fall y’all. I recently traveled back to Aspen to experience the changing of the leaves and inhale some fresh, cool mountain air. That alone was enough to re-energize the soul. Fly fishing was another. The best part was bringing my father with me as we drifted along the Roaring Fork, observing the incredible gold and red trees while catching numerous beautiful rainbow trout. Upon my return back home, even Louisiana was experiencing some cooler temps that touched the 50’s at night. Another good sign.

Many, if not most, US firearm distributors have live data feeds connecting their on-hand inventory and one or more eCommerce platforms. Those online shopping destinations become more popular every day, especially with the increase in drop ship capabilities reducing the time from order submission to product receipt. But connecting distribution facilities to an eCommerce provider involves various state and local laws that have direct and indirect considerations. The following is a fresh look at how those laws affect the distribution channel.

On September 14, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) and roughly 30 partners from the sporting-conservation community sent a letter to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) thanking the Bureau for their efforts to improve opportunities for recreational shooters.

NSSF’s Government Relations Team 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 Second 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.

Today I’m wondering, how exactly is it that television news operations are still in business? When last I worked in television news, revenues were derived from advertisers. And businesses only part with marketing dollars to advertise during programs actually being watched. There was a very sophisticated way of measuring viewership and costs of ads varied depending on just how popular the show was.

At least that’s how it used to be. I know I’m starting to get old (I’m reminded of it often by “family and friends”), but I’m not THAT old.

I imagine there’s a very similar advertising structure in place today. But can someone please explain how they pay all these reporters and know-it-all commentators on TV today? If ratings still determine advertising revenue, there can’t be much profit.

As I write this column, those of us in Louisiana and Texas are bracing for Hurricane Laura. By the time you read this, let's hope we've all come out of it unscathed. Of course, we had a hurricane coming; it's 2020. I suppose Laura wanted to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Katrina (almost to the date). We are used to hurricane season down here and often have time to prepare. We buy lots of food, dry goods, paper goods, bottled water, and plenty of alcohol. It's the same grocery list as the COVID-19 quarantine. We've now transitioned from quarantine drinking to hurricane drinking.

But, as we transition out of the summer months and into the fall with COVID still lingering, things look a little different than they have in the past. We should all be asking ourselves, "Had we known this pandemic was coming, what could we have done differently?" Or better yet, "What can we do in the future to better prepare us for such uncertainty?"

NSSF^®, the trade association for the firearm industry, updated retail survey-based estimates and concluded that nearly 5 million Americans purchased a firearm for the very first time in 2020. NSSF surveyed firearm retailers which reported that 40 percent of sales were conducted to purchasers who have never previously owned a firearm.

Last week, the Department of the Interior announced a final rule to increase public access opportunities for sportsmen and women across more than 2.3 million acres, marking the largest opening and expansion of hunting and fishing opportunities on federal refuges and hatcheries in the history of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.