Category: Business

SHOT Show: FBI NICS Update

SHOT Show: FBI NICS Update

At SHOT Show University, the FBI provided an update on the Nation Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). What they shared was staggering and sure to make the anti-gunners throw up their hands in frustration.

For those unfamiliar with NICS, it is a system used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to conduct background checks on individuals who want to purchase firearms from a licensed firearms dealer in the United States.

The NICS system was created in response to the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993, which required background checks for all firearms sales made through licensed dealers. The NICS check is done by a firearms dealer when a customer wants to purchase a firearm. The dealer will contact the FBI or a state point of contact through a toll-free telephone number or an online system and provide the customer’s information. The FBI or the state point of contact will then check the provided information against records in the NICS database and inform the dealer whether the sale can proceed or not. If the check is delayed for more than three business days, the dealer can proceed with the sale but is required to keep records of the transaction.

While many of these numbers were released previously, it’s helpful to look at the growth in background checks and firearms purchases over the past 20 years. For example, in 2020 and 2021, the FBI conducted almost 39 million NICS background checks each year. The most checks were conducted in 2020, with over 39.7 million, a record high, which the FBI attributed to pandemic buying, but we all remember the social unrest during the Summer of Love – a more likely explanation for the record number of firearms purchases.

As you can see from the chart shared by the FBI, the number of checks has been increasing since the implementation of the background check system in 1998 (chart shows 2003-2022) and has seen a marked increase in recent years. Although 2022 numbers are down from 2020 and 2021, it’s following the trend line and is up from 2019.

Can you guess which months of the year are the most popular for NICS checks – at least over the past couple of years? Well, if you guessed March and November, you’re right. The FBI shared the top 10 days for NICS checks between 1998 and 2022. The volume of NICS checks in March 2021 is staggering. Six of the top 10 days over the past 24 years occurred in March 2021.

Overall, the NICS system has processed over 443 million (443,172,700) requests since its inception. Almost 74 million of those NICS checks were done via the NICS E-Check system. And that number will only grow as the online system is much faster than making a call to the NICS contact center.

Not every state participates in the FBI NICS system. A Point of Contact (POC) state is a state that has agreed to conduct background checks for firearms purchases on behalf of the FBI through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). POC states can access the NICS database and have additional state-specific information available to them, allowing them to conduct more comprehensive background checks. In a POC state, when a firearms dealer initiates a NICS check, the dealer contacts the state point of contact (POC) instead of the FBI. The POC conducts the check using the NICS database as well as any additional state-specific databases and records that the state has access to and informs the dealer whether the sale can proceed or not.

Some states, like California, Colorado, and Oregon, are designated as POC states and are responsible for conducting background checks for firearms purchases within their state. They use the NICS system to perform the check but also have additional state-specific laws, regulations and databases that they check against before allowing a sale to proceed.

It’s worth noting that all states participate in the NICS, but not all states are POC states. Some states have chosen to use the FBI to conduct their background checks and not have a state-specific point of contact. In 13 states (in red), state law enforcement is the “point of contact” for background checks. In four states (in blue), FFLs contact the state for handguns and the FBI for long guns. Two states (in yellow), Nebraska and North Carolina, use state-issued permits in lieu of NICS for handguns.

All in all, it was a fascinating look at how the FBI conducts NICS checks and a decent reminder that just many Americans are exercising their Second Amendment rights by purchasing a firearm at retail every month.

DID GUN CONTROL JUST ADMIT FIREARM MANUFACTURING IS A NET POSITIVE FOR COMMUNITIES?

A recent column in The Atlantic on the decline and despair of New Haven, Conn., caught my attention. It’s an area that many of those associated with the firearm industry are, at least, aware of. For me, it’s a little closer to home. It’s where my family’s roots run deep – both in the city and in the firearm industry.

When I read the author, Nicholas Dawidoff, lamented the decline of the city and pined for the days when Winchester Repeating Arms Company had a solid presence, it caught my eye. It was curious to me that a left-of-center publication made the tacit admission that a firearm manufacturer was a pillar that held the city up. When it was gone, the city fell into decay.

It was even more curious when The Trace, the mouthpiece of billionaire Michael Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety gun control group, echoed the author’s understated findings. Solid manufacturing jobs were good for New Haven. Dawidoff spoke glowingly of the immigrant and African American heritage that comprised the community and filled the factories. It was a working-class community. It had its struggles, but it was home and it was safe.

“Nobody locked their doors,” Dawidoff wrote.

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Florida Bill Would Prohibit Financial Institutions From Tracking Gun and Ammo Purchases

Florida lawmakers announced legislation this week that would prohibit financial institutions from tracking firearm and ammo purchases in the state.

State Sen. Danny Burgess and Rep. John Snyder, both Republicans, said they will introduce the “Florida Arms and Ammo Act” with the backing of Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson.

“The ‘Florida Arms and Ammo Act’ draws a line in the sand and tells multi-national progressive financial institutions, and their allies in Washington, that they cannot covertly create a backdoor firearm registry of Floridians – or else,” Simpson said in a statement.

Gun control advocates have argued that the separate merchant code for firearm and ammo purchases could help curb gun violence.

“When you buy an airline ticket or pay for your groceries, your credit card company has a special code for those retailers. It’s just common sense that we have the same policies in place for gun and ammunition stores,” New York City Democratic Mayor Eric Adams said last September when the new code was first announced.

A dozen Republican U.S. Senators sent a letter to the CEOs of Visa, Mastercard and American Express last year, arguing that the separate category is “the first step towards backdoor gun control on law abiding Americans.”

“Any change that seeks to impact a United States citizen’s ability to legally purchase a firearm belongs with Congress, not payment networks, international standard setting organizations, or the financial institutions that some of you serve,” the senators wrote in the letter.

I’d say Bloomberg is cutting funding since MDA turned into a useless black hole that never accomplished anything.

Bye, Shannon Watts. We’re going to miss ya

Over the years, Shannon Watts has done a lot.

In her mind, she’s championed gun control and pushed for countless new regulations. She would argue she’d done untold good for the world.

In our mind, she’s been a clown who illustrates just how little she understood the guns she wanted to regulate.

Now, she’s announced she’s retiring from Moms Demand Action.

Shannon Watts, one of the country’s most influential gun-safety activists, says she will retire later this year from Moms Demand Action, the grass-roots advocacy group she began in her kitchen a decade ago and grew into a political juggernaut.
“I have asked myself, honestly, every year since I started this organization: Is it time for me to step back and let other people step forward?” Watts, 52, said in an exclusive interview with The Washington Post to announce her decision. “And I think this is the right time.”
Watts’s success stems from an uncommon blend of qualities and experience that made her ideally suited for the job’s challenges. Her previous work as a communications executive gave her a deep understanding of how to attract media attention and market ideas. She turned a severe case of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder into what she called a “superpower” that allowed her to hyperfocus for many hours straight, a skill she’s harnessed hundreds of times to live-tweet details and context after shootings…
Watts says she won’t stop after resigning either, and though some around her have suggested she run for public office, the mother of five has yet to decide what will come next.

Really, this is a puff piece that seeks to do nothing but lionize Watts.

It doesn’t talk about any of the negative, such as how she strives to block pretty much every pro-gun voice on social media she thinks she can get away with. It doesn’t note that she’s freaked out over firearms that would survive just about any bit of gun control legislation she cares to say she supports and would only be restricted in a near-total gun ban.

So, with all of that, shouldn’t we be happy Watts is leaving?

I’m not.

For one thing, while Moms Demand Action likes to claim they’re effective, they tend to only get results in areas where anyone would manage to get results. Watts hasn’t really accomplished all that much with the organization she founded.

What if someone who can actually do something takes control next?

We’re already in a fight for the very life of the Second Amendment. The Bruen decision helped significantly, but whether that will be enough long-term or not remains to be seen.

Watts is a joke, but the person who takes over Moms Demand Action–either the next or the one after that–may not be.

Besides, Shannon Watts is comedy gold. She’s guaranteed to say something colossally stupid. One should always be so blessed as to have opposition as “gifted” as Watts.

Not that the Washington Post will acknowledge such a thing.

So yeah, I’m legitimately sorry to see her go. I hope wherever she lands next, we have an opportunity to hear more stupid from her that we can mock endlessly and I pray her replacements at the gun control group named like an adult film channel is just as mockable.

But I’m realistic enough not to hold my breath.

Polymer80 Statement Regarding Recent ATF Letter to FFLs

DAYTON, Nev. (December 29, 2022) 

Polymer80 Family,

As you may have seen or heard, on Tuesday ATF published an open letter to FFLs declaring that certain Polymer80 blanks are considered “Firearms” under their latest – and unprecedented – interpretation of Final Rule 2021R-0F5. I wanted to personally address this with all of you, our loyal customers, many of whom have been with us since we started in a rundown old maintenance shop on Callen Street in Vacaville, CA.

Over the past several years, Polymer80 has shouldered a considerable amount of legal expenses fighting egregious, unwarranted, and naked assaults on us, our products, and the natural and inalienable rights embedded in the Second Amendment and enshrined in our history.

I want to make three things VERY clear.

1. Polymer80 is not – and I am not – taking the bait. While Polymer80 vehemently disagrees with the open letter, we will take appropriate steps to ensure we continue to remain in compliance with applicable laws or regulations.

2. In addition to continuing to produce quality products and innovate, we are also modifying existing product lines taking into careful consideration – as best we can given ATF’s constantly changing interpretations of its own rules – ATF’s various positions, statements, and guidance, as well as the Final Rule and challenges to it across the country.

3. Finally, we are going to fight, as vigorously and fervently as ever, using every resource available to us in the legal system, against the open letter and reclaim our rights.

My ask: Polymer80 has been beyond blessed with the best customers in this industry, hands down, bar none! Out of our respect for you, we have never asked you to donate to assist us or crowdfunded to support our mounting legal expenses. We have always felt that we will prevail because people buy our products and believe in their quality and the outstanding service and support we provide. I stand behind that philosophy – and continue to put you first – to this day. In the coming days, you will see more promotions and activity from our retail website than usual, and I ask that you support us by buying our products and being active and engaging customers. In return you will get great products at great prices, and we will use those funds to fight each of the outrageous attempts made to shut us down, including the open letter. I am calling this sales campaign “The War Chest,” because it will enable us to continue to fight and take legal action.

Please join us. Buy our products and support Polymer80. Together, we can take lawful action to stop the continuous encroachment on our lives, the American way of life, and the Second Amendment.

Thank you all and may God bless you all.

Loran Kelley
Founder, CEO

OREGON Wants M114 Background Check Now; Judge Says Wait

U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- The State of Oregon wants the “completed criminal background check” tenet of Measure 114 to take effect now. Harney County Circuit Judge Robert Raschio put the brakes on again, saying he would decide by Jan. 3 whether to continue blocking that part of the measure, according to KGW News.

The requirement that a gun may not be sold or transferred until a background check is completed replaces the long-standing federal time frame of three days. A sale may be completed if a check is not completed within that 72-hour window. But according to KEZI News, ‘That’s how the gunman in a Charleston, South Carolina, mass shooting in 2015 bought his gun and killed nine people at a church.”

“The state requested that the Judge ignore the thousands of people waiting to take possession of the firearms they have already paid for and eliminate the one safeguard they have to obtain them…The Oregon Department of Justice wants to end this safeguard so they can prevent thousands of people from legally acquiring the firearms they have already purchased.”

He said the three-day provision is considered a “loophole” by proponents of the measure.

“Apparently,” Starrett wrote, “any policy that actually allows law-abiding Oregonians to legally obtain firearms is a ‘loophole.’”

According to Oregon Live, attorney Tony Aiello, Jr.—representing Gun Owners of America, which brought the lawsuit now in Raschio’s court—contended the three-day rule is a “relief valve” inserted in the federal gun law “to make sure a gun buyer isn’t waiting indefinitely for their background check to be completed.”

Special Assistant Attorney General Harry B. Wilson argued for the background check mandate to take effect.

Aiello countered, “This is infringement because … they have the ability to slow-walk background checks or to not do them whatsoever,” KGW noted.

Measure 114 is being challenged not only in state court, but by four federal lawsuits which have brought virtually every major gun rights organization onto the playing field. The Second Amendment Foundation filed two of those lawsuits, one challenging the magazine ban portion of the measure and the other targeting the requirement for training and obtaining a permit-to-purchase before an Oregon citizen can legally buy a firearm.

Then came the National Shooting Sports Foundation with a lawsuit, partnering with the Oregon Sport Shooting Association, a state affiliate of the National Rifle Association.

OFF filed the first federal action in November and a federal judge in Portland decided against issuing any kind of injunction or restraining order.

Starrett, who founded OFF some 30 years ago, said the effort to create an open-ended background check is “a potential bar on the purchase of a gun.”

“As many thousands of Oregonians have learned in recent months, the State Police simply cannot fulfill the duties assigned to them by Oregon law,” he said in the OFF update.

Adding to the drama, Oregon.live noted the Oregon State Police currently have “about 37,000 background checks waiting to be reviewed” so staff has been reassigned to assist with the backlog. The report said, “through Dec. 20, the state police have received about 43,000 requests for background checks.”

Starrett posited that putting background checks on delay, and ultimately denying citizens to buy firearms, has been the “ultimate goal” of Measure 114 backers, who call themselves “Lift Every Voice Orgon (LEVO).” He said there have been cases of qualified buyers “sitting in limbo waiting for the state to do its job and complete the ‘instant’ background check” for, in some cases, years.

Aiello contended some Oregon residents, if Measure 114 takes effect, “will have no guarantee that their background checks will be processed in a timely manner.”

Starrett predicted the fight over whether Measure 1145 is constitutional is going to take a while, and in the meantime, “Some of the people who are being prevented from getting the guns they are legally entitled to, and have paid for, are at great risk because LEVO and the State of Oregon have prevented them from having the means to protect themselves.  Any harm these people suffer is on the hands of…LEVO and the state.”

He asserted LEVO has no legal bills to pay because the state is defending the new law.

Judge Raschio said he would decide by Jan. 3, which could mean he will rule earlier, perhaps sometime during the next week.

2023 Industry Predictions: Market Analysis Says . . .

Southwick Associates—a market research and economics firm specializing in the outdoor recreation markets for more than 30 years—released its 2023 outlook for the firearm industry shortly after Black Friday. Skyrocketing interest rates, inflation and the risk of some another variable on the horizon, however, makes any prediction risky.

“The factors driving sales are certainly more numerous and complex than we’ve seen before,” said Nancy Bacon, vice president at Southwick Associates. “However, looking at past years, current conditions remain reasonable for the 2023 firearms and accessories market. Different areas of the trade will do better than others, however, given inventory build-ups and interest rate impacts.”

The report claimed, perhaps prematurely, that a reduction in political rhetoric aimed at the Second Amendment will lead to leveled gun sales volume in 2023. It notes, “…a better balance in Congress will reduce consumer concerns about future sales restrictions.”

President Joe Biden apparently didn’t get the memo. On Thanksgiving Day, he said, “The idea we still allow semi-automatic weapons to be purchased is sick. Just sick,” according to Associated Press. “I’m going to try to get rid of assault weapons.” On Black Friday—the very next day—the FBI handled 192,749 background checks; a 2.8 percent increase compared to the same 24-hour period in 2021. Biden reiterated the same threat on Dec. 7.

Southwick’s report predicts the increase in gun and ammunition inventory at retailers will reduce scarcity-driven purchases next year. The increased availability will be a welcome change, along with the anticipated continuation of the discount, rebate and incentive trend that hit the market in mid-2022.

“…[W]e expect 2023’s retail firearms market to ease back to 2017 levels,” the report predicts. “2017’s sales were above 2019’s volumes and one of the trade’s best years. Ammunition demand will also decline slightly, but likely not as much as firearm sales.”

Retail sales drop sharply at start of key holiday shopping season

Americans cut back sharply on retail spending last month as the holiday shopping season began with high prices and rising interest rates forcing families, particularly lower income households, to make harder decisions about what they buy.

Retail sales fell 0.6% from October to November after a sharp 1.3% rise the previous month, the government said Thursday. Sales fell at furniture, electronics, and home and garden stores.

Americans’ spending has been resilient ever since inflation first spiked almost 18 months ago, but the capacity of Americans to continue spending in a period of high inflation may be beginning to ebb. Inflation has retreated from the four-decade high it reached this summer but remains elevated, enough to erode the spending power of Americans. Prices rose 7.1% in November from a year ago.

“The weakness in sales … suggests that higher borrowing costs, slower employment growth and an unusually low saving rate are now catching up with consumers,” said Andrew Hunter, senior US economist at Capital Economics.

Consumer spending is still likely to grow at a solid pace in the final three months of the year, Hunter said, but he expects a sharp drop early next year.

Monthly sales data can be volatile and one negative report is often followed by a rebound, other economists said.

Sales plunged 2.3% at auto dealers, and slipped 0.6% at sporting goods stores and 0.1% at general merchandise stores, a category that includes large chains such as Walmart and Target. Sales at online and catalog stores fell 0.9%.

The steep 2.5% decline in sales at home and garden stores likely reflects the sharp decline in home sales due to rapid interest rate hikes in the US, which have put homes increasingly out of reach for more Americans.

Solid hiring, rising pay, and enhanced savings from government financial support during the pandemic have enabled most Americans to keep up with rising prices. Yet many are now digging into their savings to maintain the same level of spending. The saving rate declined to its second-lowest level on record in October.

Americans are also putting more purchases on their credit cards. Total credit card debt jumped 15% in the July-September quarter, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the biggest jump in 20 years.

Shopping at a Walmart in New Jersey, Eric Cruz, said he planned to cut his holiday shopping budget by roughly 20% this year, to about $800. The 33-year-old Jersey City entrepreneur said rising costs for utilities and rent now take a bigger chunk of his income. He is trying to offset rising costs by seeking out credit cards with greater rewards, like 5% back on spending.

“I am looking for extra incentives and credit cards allow me to do that,” he said.

Symptoms of economic stress are beginning to appear, retailers have noted.

Craft supplies chain Jo-Ann Stores this week announced a pause in quarterly dividends for investors after comparable store sales fell 8% during its most recent quarter, which ended in October.

Shotgun Sales Shifting, Trending Upward, Analytics Reveal

Handguns represent the largest percentage of firearms sold annually, followed by rifles, but according to a National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers (NASGW) report released last month, shotgun sales are claiming more market share. In 2019, the last complete year before the pandemic and social unrest suspended normalcy, 8.5 percent of the National Instant Criminal Background System Checks conducted by the FBI were related to the sale of a shotgun. During the first nine months of 2022, by comparison, that figure was up to 9.7 percent.

A shift of 1.2 percent may sound minor to the average enthusiast, but the figure reflects total volume of firearms sold. From a shotgun manufacturer’s perspective, it translates to more than a 10 percent increase in orders at a time when ramping up to meet demand remains plagued by a labor issues, shipping backlogs and raw material price increases.

There’s also been a decided shift in the type of shotgun purchased. In 2021, tactical/home defense shotguns accounted for 55.8 percent of sales. This year, the figure has dropped to 40.4 percent, so far, according to the NASGW Scope report.

Field models suitable for hunting are selling fastest this year, holding the advantage at 59.6 percent of all shotguns sold. Those looking for a semi-automatic version to put under the Christmas tree this year may find it hard to find the right model, though.

“Participant growth and consumer demand continues to be elevated in semi-auto shotguns coming out of the COVID period,” Ryan Link, GMM/Director of Merchandising at Big Rock said in the Scope report. “The supply in the semi-auto segment to meet this new demand, while improving, continues to be constrained.”

Home and self-defense concerns fueled record-breaking firearm sales during 2020 and 2021, but the swing back to field shotguns reflects a renewed focus on sporting applications, according to the report. It also notes models suitable for the pursuits run roughly $200 more than pump-action tactical shotguns.

Our food bills indicate there’s another catalyst NASGW failed to mention. When the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates the price of food has risen 10.7 percent in the past 12 months, nationwide, deer, duck and turkey hunting’s ability to put meat on the table makes them much more than simply a recreational pursuit.

UPS Statement to AmmoLand News’ Reporting on Gun-Shipment Tracking Clarification

U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- AmmoLand News on December 8, 2022, received the below statement from logistics company – United Parcel Service or UPS. The statement addresses the recent news reporting that eighteen (18) state Attorney Generals, led by Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, were asking major shipping companies, including UPS, to clarify new policies that appear to allow common carriers to track firearm sales. And if or to what extent were shipping companies cooperating with Federal Agencies like ATF?

Statement from UPS December 8, 2022, to AmmoLand News

Your recent article about UPS tracking firearm shipments contains some information that we feel needs to be corrected. While we were not contacted for a statement, UPS would like to provide information in response to the piece and ask that you update your story. Thanks so much.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (“BATFE”) issued a final rule that expanded the definition of parts that qualify as a firearm “frame” or “receiver” and thus as a firearm. UPS updated its policy to reflect the rule that states UPS cannot accept firearms without serial numbers or any partially complete, disassembled, or nonfunctional frames or receivers that qualify as “frames” or “receivers,” as defined by the new BATFE regulations, that have not been identified and given a serial number in compliance with federal law. UPS does not track gun purchases, nor does it have access to customer data that would detail such information. UPS has not, nor will it ever, track the purchase of guns. In addition, UPS would only provide information about firearm shipments when required to do so by law, such as in response to a subpoena or warrant.

This year, UPS updated the firearm products policy as a result of increased regulation of firearms and certain firearm parts, including complying with federal regulations that went into effect in August 2022. UPS also updated its policy to bring firearm products shippers in line with other highly regulated goods shippers by requiring the shipper to enter into an approved firearm products shipping agreement and provide copies of applicable licenses. These changes help ensure that shippers of firearm products have the appropriate expertise to move these items safely, securely and lawfully through our network.

In addition, UPS would only request shipper information to resolve compliance issues, and the shipping agreement permits the shipper to identify when a request would require information that the shipper believes it cannot lawfully provide and suggest alternate information sufficient to resolve the compliance question.

Thanks for your help,

Michelle

Michelle Polk
UPS Public Affairs
Policy Communications
Twitter | @UPSPolicy

BLUF
Clearly, the firearms industry—from the most iconic names in firearms down to the level of small retailers and distributors—faces new legal challenges from very talented, well-funded and motivated litigators, elected officials and gun control advocates. Although some of the most iconic names in firearms have been sued, risk exists for even the smallest retailers, manufacturers, distributors and others.

Assessing and Mitigating Legal Risk: Emerging Trends and Challenges to the PLCAA

Recent developments may cause firearms manufacturers to reevaluate their business and marketing practices to lessen their legal exposure.  As we wrote previously, the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) provides only limited immunity to firearms manufacturers.  Claims that the PLCAA provides blanket immunity, unique to the firearms industry, are both factually and legally inaccurate as found by multiple fact checkers, including the Associated Press and CNN.

The PLCAA does include several important exceptions, some of which are the subject of recent litigation with additional lawsuits imminent. The PLCAA negates any protection in the following circumstances:

When the transferor of a firearm or ammunition is convicted of knowingly transferring a gun or ammunition to a person who will use it in a crime. 15 U.S.C. § 7903(5)(A)(i).

When a seller negligently entrusts a gun or ammunition to someone, as was at issue in the Badger Guns case. 15 U.S.C. § 7903(5)(A)(ii). This is a crucial exception, because “straw purchases” that are not identified by sellers can subject sellers to liability.

When an industry member knowingly violates State or Federal law and the violation of law caused a person’s injury.15 U.S.C. § 7903(5)(A)(iii).

When a buyer sues for breach of warranty, such as when the product does not operate as promised or as intended. 15 U.S.C. § 7903(5)(A)(iv).

When someone is injured from the negligent design or manufacture of a product. 15 U.S.C. § 7903(5)(A)(v).

The last three exceptions are the subject of several forward-leaning lawsuits. These lawsuits seek to fit certain fact patterns within one or more exceptions to immunity and thereby to provide private parties and municipalities with viable legal claims. Such claims are, no doubt, intended to create liability for industry participants when firearms are used by third parties to commit crimes.

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New Fronts in the War on Gun Owners

What our adversaries lack in logic, integrity and public support, they make up for in determination, underhandedness and cunning.

With the American people rejecting the radical gun-ban agenda through their elected representatives and a U.S. Supreme Court that respects Second Amendment rights, restless gun-control activists and anti-gun politicians are no longer satisfied with confining their campaign to the legislative process and are increasingly taking alternative steps to pursue their failed policies. In some cases, this means marshalling ostensibly private actors to enact firearms restrictions. In other instances, gun-control advocates advance ever-more-dubious legal theories to curtail access to firearms with frivolous lawsuits.

Since at least 2018, anti-gun activists have pressured the major payment processors, such as Visa, Mastercard and American Express, to restrict how gun buyers and firearm retailers could use the payment networks. That year, gun-control activist Andrew Ross Sorkin, who styles himself a journalist, wrote in The New York Times that the payment processors and banks could “set new rules for the sales of guns in America.” Rather than leave it to the U.S. Constitution or democracy, Sorkin proposed that these companies deny their services to gun stores that sell certain commonly owned semi-automatic firearms. The result, Sorkin boasted, would be that these guns “would be eliminated from virtually every firearms store in America.”

The payment processors weren’t receptive to the notion of becoming the moral arbiters of which lawful products Americans can buy. So, gun-control activists hatched a new plan to leverage the payment networks to their ends.

Retailers on the major payment-processing networks have a Merchant Category Code (MCC) that corresponds to the type of business they conduct. Firearm retailers are typically classified under the MCC for “sporting goods stores” or “miscellaneous retail stores.” As Visa has explained, payment processors “use MCC data for a range of purposes, including activity tracking, reporting, and risk management.” MCCs are set by the Geneva, Switzerland-based nongovernmental International Organization for Standardization (ISO), typically with some input from the payment-processing industry.

For years, gun-control advocates and their political allies pressured the payment processors to support an MCC specific to firearm retailers. The goal of such a code is to enable the payment processors and banks to compile and track data on gun and ammunition sales and even potentially block so-called “suspicious” sales.

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18 State AGs call on UPS, FedEx to clarify gun-purchase tracking polices

In an effort led by Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, 18 state attorneys general are asking major shipping companies to clarify new policies allowing them to track firearm sales with unprecedented specificity and bypass warrant requirements to share that information with federal agencies.

Reports from Montana federal firearm license (FFL) holders made to Knudsen’s office indicate that UPS and FedEx are now requiring them to ship separately and track firearms, firearms parts, and firearm products. This is done allegedly so gun purchases can be tracked and retain documents about what specific items those shipments contain and make that information available to the companies upon request, according to an announcement from Knudsen’s office.

The coalition of attorneys general sent letters Tuesday to leadership at both companies requesting additional information on their new policies and the possibility that the effort was coordinated in part with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

“These demands, in tandem, allow [UPS/FedEx] to create a database of American gun purchasers and determine exactly what items they purchased… In doing so you, perhaps inadvertently, give federal agencies a workaround to normal warrant requirements. This allows [UPS/FedEx] to provide information at will or upon request to federal agencies—information detailing which Americans are buying what guns,” Attorney General Knudsen’s letters state. “Additionally, we recommend that you consider taking actions to limit potential liability moving forward, including the immediate cessation of any existing warrantless information sharing with federal agencies about gun shipments.”

In addition to requesting updated FFL-related shipping policies from the two companies, Knudsen asked them to clarify the following:

  • Did UPS/FedEx enact these policies with the goal of information sharing with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) or any other federal agency;
  • Did UPS/FedEx enact these policies at the request of officials in ATF, a different federal agency, or on its own initiative;
  • If UPS/FedEx implemented these policies at the request of a federal agency, please identify that agency, the officials who made that request, the nature of that communication, and any legal authorization cited by those officials;
  • If UPS/FedEx changed its policies on its own initiative, please explain why it made those changes;
  • Did UPS/FedEx communicate or coordinate with each other in making these changes; and
  • Did ATF or other federal agency employees help draft the updated shipping agreements?

In addition to Knudsen, state attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming signed one or both letters.

Gun Boom Continues: FBI Ran 192,749 Background Checks on Black Friday
Numbers released Monday show that the FBI ran 192,749 National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) background checks on Black Friday 2022.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) noted that the 192,749 NICS checks on Black Friday 2022 “[rank] it third in the Top 10 Highest Days for NICS checks and…[represent] a 2.8 percent increase from Black Friday 2021.” The FBI conducted 187,585 NICS checks on Black Friday 2021 and 186,645 checks on Black Friday 2020, Breitbart News reported.

The NSSF observed that there were 711,372 NICS checks “during the week leading up to and including Black Friday.”
The strong Black Friday NICS check numbers come after surges in gun sales during recent years.
For example, on October 6, 2022, Breitbart News reported retailers had sold over one million guns a month for 38 consecutive months.

Mark Oliva, NSSF managing director for public affairs, spoke to Breitbart News about the gun sales, noting the “38 continuous months of when background checks for firearm sales have exceeded 1 million” and added, “That’s a remarkable sustained trend and demonstrates that the firearm industry is meeting this continued increased demand for firearm ownership.”

Who’s on first?

Biden claimed 9,000 oil drilling permits are unused. That’s true, but all work can’t begin ‘right now’

WHAT WE FOUND

Only about 10% of domestic oil and gas drilling occurs on federal land. The rest happens on private and state property, Ed Hirs, energy fellow at the University of Houston, said. At the end of 2021, there were 9,173 approved applications for drilling permits on federal and tribal lands, according to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

Jennifer Pett with the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA), which represents independent oil and natural gas producers, told VERIFY that more than 9,000 approved permits aren’t producing oil and gas right now. Joshua Axelrod with the National Resources Defense Council also confirmed that more than 9,000 approved permits are unused.

However, that doesn’t mean oil companies could just start drilling right now and produce oil and gas.

According to the IPAA, some of these leases are going through a “complex regulatory process or are held up in litigation.” Western Energy Alliance, which represents hundreds of companies involved in the exploration and production of oil and natural gas, says on its website that it is defending more than 2,200 leases in court, most of which cannot be developed while the cases are ongoing.

Hirs explained that a variety of factors can halt the oil drilling process for unused permits.

“Federal leases…are subject to environmental studies. They’re also subject to lawsuits filed by neighbors, by municipalities, by counties and state governments. And so it’s become a more arduous process,” he said.

Companies often need to have separate permits secured for multiple well sites before they can bring in an oil rig, the IPAA says. But just because the government approves the permits doesn’t guarantee the well will produce oil and gas, as some never do. This means approved permits may go unused.

“If you’ve gone, like most companies do, and filed a dozen or two dozen [permits] at a time, and your first well turns out to be a dry hole, you’re not going to go ahead and drill the rest of those,” Hirs said.

It’s true that companies will sometimes sit on unused permits until it makes more financial sense. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that since there isn’t a penalty for not using a drilling permit, some companies wait to begin drilling until oil prices are high enough to make it worth their while. One operator told the GAO that they would add a drilling rig if the price of oil increases and may suspend one if it decreases. Another said a permit may go unused if oil and gas prices are too low for them to turn a profit.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to pose challenges for oil companies, too. Some are facing a six-month waiting period for piping materials needed to drill and are still short-staffed after layoffs spurred by the pandemic-induced drop in demand for oil, Pett said.

California Mulls Ban On All Gas And Diesel Truck Fleets

California’s Air Resources Board has laid out a plan to ban all diesel-powered trucks that would cause inflationary ripples throughout the entire economy.

The plan would mandate that all new trucks operating around busy railways and ports be zero emission vehicles by 2024 – while all diesel trucks would be phased out by 2035, and eventually, banishing every truck and bus fleet from California roads by 2045, where feasible, according to SFGATE.

The proposed Advance Clean Fleets regulation first targets the busiest trucking areas in the state — around warehouses, sea ports and railways. The board says the pollution in these areas affects communities disproportionately.

“Many California neighborhoods, especially Black and Brown, low-income and vulnerable communities, live, work, play and attend schools adjacent to the ports, railyards, distribution centers, and freight corridors and experience the heaviest truck traffic,” wrote the board, which asserts that this type of pollution creates health risks for those communities.

Representatives from the trucking and construction industries were livid at a recent hearing on the issue – where over 150 public commenters voiced their opinions ranging from the state’s woefully inadequate grid, to a general lack of charging capacity to handle a massive shift to zero-emission vehicles so quickly (whose electricity would in part be generated by coal).

“The infrastructure cannot be established in the timeframe given,” said American Trucking Association representative Mike Tunnell. “Fleets will have to deploy trucks that cannot do the same job as their current trucks.”

Another speaker, construction company CEO Jamie Angus, pointed to logistical issues involved with charging electric vehicles.

“This will do damage to us. We don’t really understand how to charge these vehicles,” he said, adding “Those pieces of equipment go home with those men every day, so they’ll need to be charged from home? How do you compensate that person for that?”

On the other side of the fence, environmentalists – including the Sierra Club, argued in favor of an expedited timeline to rid California roads of internal combustion engines as quickly as possible.

Maybe they can also figure out how to solve the massive logistical and economic issues that would surely ensue, as well as what to do with all that lithium when the batteries eventually go bad?

Texas gun shop owner sues ATF, accuses agency of abusing federal law

Central Texas Gunworks owner Michael Cargill has filed a federal lawsuit agains the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives alleging that the government agency is abusing its powers under the Gun Control Act of 1968 to shut down federally licensed firearm retailers for minor clerical and paperwork errors; a practice that Cargill’s attorneys say ignores the actual law.

According to the text of the GCA, the ATF has to find evidence of “willful” misconduct on the part of these FFLs; something that Cargill and his attorneys say is missing from many of the recent revocation notices the ATF has been handing out.

According to the lawsuit, the new policy under President Biden’s team at ATF has turned longtime record-keeping requirements that are supposed to prevent criminals and other dangerous people from buying guns into a weapon against the firearm industry.

“The act allows the federal government to revoke gun dealers’ license to sell firearms — commonly called federal firearms licenses or FFLs — when dealers willfully violate federal or state gun laws,” Mr. Curtis said.

In a statement to The Washington Times, the ATF said it would not comment on specific litigation but defended the agency’s use of the Gun Control Act.

An ATF spokesman maintained that the agency can only revoke a license for “willful violations” of the Gun Control Act.

“The GCA does not define ‘willful,’” the spokesman said, citing a statement from its website. “Federal courts have held that a willful violation of the GCA’s regulations occurs when the FFL commits the violation with an intentional disregard of a known legal duty or with plain indifference to their legal obligations.”

For decades, Cargill says, license revocations were an “exceedingly rare” step reserved only for the “worst actors,” noting, for instance, that in 2013 the ATF recommended license revocations for just 81 of the more than 10,000 shops that were inspected. Starting in the summer of 2021, however, things changed, and Cargill points to Joe Biden’s White House announcement that the GCA would be enforced against “rogue” gun dealers, even those who never willfully intended to make minor paperwork mistakes.

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