August NICS.
Looks like the ‘slowdown’ is continuing, but this is only in comparison to the 2020 blowout. ‘Controlling’ for 2020 would have last month almost undoubtedly being another new record.
Category: Business
– Record Gross Margin of 47.3%
– Record Q1 Net Sales of $274.6M
– Two-Year Compounded Sales Growth of Nearly 170%
– EPS of $1.57/Share and EBITDAS of 39.9%
SPRINGFIELD, Mass., Sept. 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ Global Select: SWBI), a U.S.-based leader in firearm manufacturing and design, today announced financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2022, ended July 31, 2021. Unless otherwise indicated, any reference to income statement items refers to results from continuing operations.
(Only $6.5 million)
Covered Bridge Ranch (aka Thunder Ranch)
Property Description
Important Announcement: NRA Annual Meeting Cancellation
Due to concern over the safety of our NRA family and community, we regret to inform you that we have decided to cancel the 2021 Annual Meeting & Exhibits. This cancellation applies to all events and meetings that were scheduled in Houston. We will provide future notification regarding a rescheduled date for the annual Meeting of Members.
We make this difficult decision after analyzing relevant data regarding COVID-19 in Harris County, Texas. We also consulted with medical professionals, local officials, major sponsors & exhibitors, and many NRA members before arriving at this decision. The NRA Annual Meeting welcomes tens of thousands of people, and involves many events, meetings, and social gatherings. Among the highlights of our annual meeting are acres of exhibit space featuring the latest and greatest firearms, the display of countless accessories, and the offering of adventures and group gatherings that many travel hundreds, and some even thousands, of miles to experience. We realize that it would prove difficult, if not impossible, to offer the full guest experience that our NRA members deserve.
The NRA’s top priority is ensuring the health and well-being of our members, staff, sponsors, and supporters. We are mindful that NRA Annual Meeting patrons will return home to family, friends and co-workers from all over the country, so any impacts from the virus could have broader implications. Those are among the reasons why we decided to cancel our 2021 event.
We would like to thank our members, attendees, exhibitors, and staff for their understanding and support. We are grateful for the many contributions of the George R. Brown Convention Center, state and local officials, community organizers, area hotels, and countless event venues across Houston. We receive enormous support from Houston and the State of Texas – and we hope to return to the Bayou City for a full annual meeting experience.
The NRA looks forward to a Celebration of Freedom in Louisville in May 2022. In the meantime, we will support many other NRA local events and smaller gatherings – in a manner that is protective of our members and celebrates our Second Amendment freedom.
We wish continued health and safety to our entire NRA family.
The president has the power to ban the important of guns and ammunition. If you think that ammunition is already very costly and difficult to find, this new rule will make it worse. This is part of Biden’s policy to reduce gun ownership by making it more costly.
From Biden’s State Department:
“New and pending permit applications for the permanent importation of firearms and ammunition manufactured or located in Russia will be subject to a policy of denial.”
While the new policy mentions prohibiting the importation of both firearms and ammunition, importing Russian-origin firearms was already extremely restricted under past executive policies. The new rule will primarily affect the importation of ammunition.
Zoning, Outliers, and the Second Amendment
Earlier this week, in Drummond v. Robinson Township, the Third Circuit concluded that a Pennsylvania township’s zoning changes plausibly violated the Second Amendment. At issue in the case were two changes that Robinson Township made to the rules governing property on which a shooting range had previously existed and on which a new owner wanted to resurrect one: (1) barring the use of center-fire rifle practice on that particular type of property, and (2) requiring gun ranges on that type of property to have non-profit ownership. The court remarked that its task in the case was “to apply Heller’s familiar approach in an unfamiliar setting” as “[u]ntil now, neither the Supreme Court nor our Court has confronted a Second Amendment claim challenging a restriction on firearms purchase or practice.”
The district court had dismissed the case on the pleadings without taking any evidence. In reviewing the decision, the court of appeals applied the customary two-part framework. At step one, which asks whether the challenged regulation burdens conducted protected by the Second Amendment, the court described Heller as guiding the search in a parallel manner to free speech doctrine.
In First Amendment cases, the Supreme Court defines categorical exceptions—for “obscenity,” “defamation,” and “fraud,” for example—by looking to “historical evidence” and “long-settled tradition[s].” United States v. Stevens, 559 U.S. 460, 468–69 (2010). In Second Amendment cases, likewise, we trace the right’s reach by studying the historical record.
Even though the Township took no position on step one, the court decided to make the historical inquiry necessary to understanding the scope of the right. In doing so the court noted that it should not look for historical analogues at too narrow a level, and so deprive officials of the ability to regulate in new settings, but also not look at too general a level and so under-protect the right. “Instead, each challenged rule triggers an inquiry into a distinct type of regulation.” Looking to history, the court could find no analogue to a bar on training with common weapons or to categorically restricting commercial gun sales or training opportunities.
The effort by the Civilian Disarmament Industrial Complex to get around the Protections of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act continues, as the state of New Jersey has won an important fight over producing discovery documents. This is all part of anti-gunners’ efforts to deal a body blow to gun makers, in this case by conducting a fishing expedition and sifting through Smith & Wesson’s internal documents.
Last year, then-New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal subpoenaed Smith & Wesson, trying to force the manufacturer to hand over internal information regarding its marketing practices. The Civilian Disarmament Industrial Complex’s is conducting a coordinated effort to try to skirt the PLCAA’s protections by claiming gun makers are engaging in allegedly false and deceptive advertising.
Smith & Wesson refused to cough up the documents and sued the Garden State to block them. That suit was tossed out and the state filed their own suit to enforce the subpoena. This week, the New Jersey Supreme Court denied Smith & Wesson’s request to stay a lower court’s order to produce the documents, in effect ruling the manufacturer has to produce the documents.
AG Grewal — now working in the Biden administration — made no attempt to disguise what the strategy here.
Mexican Government Sues U.S. Gun Makers over Cartel Crime
The government of Mexico is suing six U.S. gun makers and one Boston-area wholesaler, claiming “massive damage” created by “unlawful trafficking” of firearms to cartel and criminal elements.
while in other news………
Mexico near deal to buy Sig Sauer automatic rifles from U.S.
The small arms maker Sig Sauer Inc has sought U.S. approval to sell millions of dollars’ worth of automatic assault rifles to the armed services of Mexico in a deal that will help to modernize the country’s military, people familiar with the situation said.
The U.S. Congress was notified last week that the Mexican Navy and Naval Infantry are in line to purchase as much as $5.5 million worth of automatic rifles made by Sig Sauer.
Biden’s gun grabber bureaucraps in the Bureau of Industry and Security are going to try and bypass a court ruling to attack 3D printed gun manufacture.
U.S. BUREAU OF INDUSTRY AND SECURITY IMPOSES ‘EAR’ RESTRICTIONS ON 3D PRINTED GUNS
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has announced a transfer in jurisdiction over certain technologies that could be used to 3D print firearms.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a preliminary injunction that removed such technologies from the U.S. Munitions List (USML) and made them exempt from International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).
In response, the BIS has now declared that anyone engaged in manufacturing, exporting or ‘furnishing’ 3D printed firearms, are subject to Export Administration Regulations (EAR) instead. To help those currently in possession of the software and machinery needed to produce these munitions stay compliant, the bureau has therefore issued a detailed FAQ, which it “strongly encourages” them to read.
The BIS calls the shots
In essence, the BIS’ decision to subject 3D printed firearms to EAR regulation was triggered by an injunction issued by a U.S. District Court in Washington back in March 2020, which prevented it from enforcing ITAR rules on any “technical data and software directly related to the production of firearms or firearm parts using a 3D printer or similar equipment.’’
World’s Largest Food Company Will Raise Prices Amid Inflation
Nestlé, the world’s largest food and beverage company, announced it would hike prices in response to inflation.
As of June, inflation in the United States reached a year-over-year rate of 5.4%. Businesses and consumers are therefore seeking to retain their margins in the face of the diminishing purchasing power offered by the dollar.
As Nestlé CEO Mark Schneider explained to journalists on Thursday: “What we’ve seen this year is some kind of a turning point, where after several years of low inflation, all of a sudden it accelerated very strongly.”
CNN Business reports:
Schneider said he believes that inflation is transitory. But the owner of brands including Nescafe, Gerber and Cheerios said it would need to raise prices by roughly 2% to offset cost increases of 4%. Nestlé hiked prices by 1.3% in the first half of 2021.
The company can hedge against some cost increases, such as rising coffee prices, said Schneider. But it can’t avoid the rising cost of things like transportation, which puts pressure on the company’s margins.
Nestlé is not the only company to raise prices. CNN Business adds that General Electric, Unilever, and other large firms in a variety of industries are seeking to hedge against an increasingly salient inflation risk.
Meanwhile, many businesses are selling their items in smaller packages while maintaining the same price, a phenomenon known as “shrinkflation.” For instance, Walmart’s Great Value Paper Towels did not alter prices while reducing the number of sheets per roll from 168 to 120; Frito-Lay cut the typical bag of Doritos from 9.75 ounces to 9.25 ounces; and General Mills shrank its “family size” boxes from 19.3 ounces to 18.1 ounces.
A recent CNBC survey of leading CFOs revealed that at least one-third will be forced to raise prices if inflation continues. No financial executive said that they trust the Federal Reserve to effectively manage inflation over the next year.
Consumers are likewise feeling the effects of rising prices.
According to a survey from accounting firm KPMG, Americans are forecasting a 9% year-over-year increase in their back-to-school spend. Last year, they anticipated spending $247; this year, they anticipate spending $268.
Despite a strong economic recovery from COVID-19 and the lockdown-induced recession, inflation is counteracting a hike in Americans’ wages. The Bureau of Labor Statistics found that “average hourly earnings” rose by 3.6% over the past year. After considering inflation, however, “real average hourly earnings” have diminished by 1.7%.
Remington offers $33 million to Sandy Hook families to settle lawsuits
This just in from Reuters: Remington has offered to pay $33 million to nine families to settle lawsuits that allege their marketing contributed to the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting that killed 26 people.
“The proposed settlements would provide $3.66 million to relatives of each victim, subject to approval by the federal judge overseeing Remington’s bankruptcy case in Alabama,” the wire service reported.
In a previous court filing, lawyers for the families estimated that the wrongful-death and punitive damages could exceed $1 billion.
“Since this case was filed in 2014, the families’ focus has been on preventing the next Sandy Hook,” an attorney for the families said in a statement. “An important part of that goal has been showing banks and insurers that companies that sell assault weapons to civilians are fraught with financial risk.”
Adam Lanza, who used a Remington Bushmaster rifle, shot and killed 20 students and six adults after shooting his mother to death. Lanza killed himself when he heard sirens approaching.
“Another Explosive Week” – Coffee Futures Hit 7-Year High Ahead Of Next Cold Snap
Arabica coffee futures surged more than 9% to $2.094 per pound, the highest since October 2014, on Monday after forecasts call for more cold temperatures in Brazil, the world’s top grower.
Weather models show that another cold snap is imminent for Brazil and likely to produce crop-killing frost across southern Minas Gerais through central Sao Paulo, east-central, and south Parana, from Wednesday to Friday, Maxar meteorologist Donald Keeney told Bloomberg.
“….from our sources from deep within the Bureau.”
It appears that some personnel in the ATF don’t like what they see going on behind closed doors and are taking steps to get it out in the open.
CAUGHT: Biden’s ‘AFT’ Secretly Changing Rules To Revoke Firearms Licenses
A Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) leak shows that the organization is changing its secret rules regarding guns sellers to make it easier for the government to strip firearms dealers of their federal firearms license (FFL).
In 2020, Gun Owners of America (GOA) filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the ATF. The gun-rights group asked the agency to provide a copy of ATF O 5370, entitled “Federal Firearms Administrative Action Policy and Procedures.” This document lays out the administrative remedies for violations found during an ATF inspection of a licensed firearms dealer.
The ATF has long tried to prevent the document from seeing the light of day.
After much stalling, the ATF begrudgingly turned over the heavily redacted version of the document to GOA. Still, the federal agency redacted almost all of the valuable information the FOIA request. Some of the missing information includes what violations could cause the dealer to lose their FFL.
ATF Response ATF O 5370 Federal Firearms Administrative Action Policy and Procedures 1D – Redacted
The ATF did not know when it turned over the document to GOA that AmmoLand News had already obtained an unredacted copy of the secret document from our sources from deep within the Bureau.
The right of the American people to make their own arms, from scratch or from kits, was never questioned and even affirmed by ATF bureaucraps until it became apparent that such guns could be made in vast quantity and excellent quality, then the goobermint realized their powers to control things was slipping.
POLYMER 80 SUES NEVADA OVER NEW DIY GUN BAN
Nevada-based Polymer 80, maker of both “80 percent” products and complete serialized pistols have taken emergency legal action against the state’s new law targeting so-called “ghost guns.”
Nevada’s Gov. Stephen Sisolak, a Democrat, signed state Assembly Bill 286 last month after it passed the legislature on largely party-line votes. The pending law established a confiscatory ban on all unserialized, self-manufactured firearms in the state as well as all “unfinished frames or receivers.” With that, P80 filed for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to bar enforcement of this law, pending further legal action.
“Polymer80 was forced to take this extraordinary action because, among many other reasons, AB 286, which was hastily and improvidently written and enacted, purports to curtail and criminalize products that are legal to own under federal law, and it does so through vague and unintelligible proscriptions,” notes the company. “At its core, AB 286 strips lawful citizens of Nevada of their basic, constitutionally protected rights, and targets corporations, such as Polymer80, for lawful activities that greatly contribute to the Nevada economy and support the rights of Nevadans.”
A hearing on the temporary restraining order is set for July 14 before Lyon County District Judge John P. Schlegelmilch.
The case by P80 is not the only litigation taking aim at AB 286. The Firearms Policy Coalition, along with two individuals, has also filed for a preliminary injunction against state officials in the U.S. District Court for Nevada, pending a trial challenging the new law.
“Nevada’s broad ban on the possession and construction of constitutionally protected firearms and precursor materials violates Nevadans’ Second Amendment rights and unlawfully deprives them of their property, in violation of the Constitution,” said Adam Kraut, FPC’s senior director of legal operations. “In order for a law-abiding individual to exercise their Second Amendment rights, they must have the ability to possess firearms, including those they build themselves. As our complaint explains, the right to self-build one’s own arms has been enjoyed, and at times absolutely necessary, since the founding of our country. We will aggressively litigate this action and seek an injunction to prevent this law from depriving individuals of their rights and property.”
In 2018, Bloomberg-backed Everytown announced it would spend $3.5 million in support of then-gubernatorial candidate Steve Sisolak and attorney general candidate Aaron Ford in Nevada, citing that the two were “gun-sense champions.” Sisolak was also strongly endorsed for his current job by Giffords and the Brady Campaign.
Ammo Inc. Builds Factory To Feed America’s Insatiable Demand
Ammunition manufacturer Ammo Inc. is building a new factory as American consumers deal with an ongoing ammunition shortage caused by unprecedented demand for guns.
While a new factory is welcome news to gun consumers, it won’t go online fast enough to solve this year’s problem of overwhelming demand versus limited supply.
Arizona-based Ammo Inc. broke ground on a 160,000 square foot factory on June 21 in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. A new plant from an upstart U.S. manufacturer is a ray of hope for gun enthusiasts, who have been scouring gun stores for ammunition and finding bare shelves, especially for popular calibers like .22 for target shooting, 9mm for pistols and .223 for AR-15s.
Ammo Inc Chief Executive Officer Fred Wagenhals joked at the groundbreaking that he was the only one of his co-founders who “knew what a gun was,” according to a local news broadcast, which said the company plans to finish the project in 2022, bringing 300 jobs to the town.
Wilson Combat Announces Expansion of Facilities and Production
Jacksonville ammo plant to grow
Sig Sauer frees up space to raise production amid scarcity
Sig Sauer employees work at the company’s ammunition plant in Jacksonville. New Hampshire-based Sig Sauer, which makes firearms, ammunition and accessories, centralized its ammunition production in Jacksonville in 2017. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Thomas Metthe)
Sig Sauer is expanding the ammunition making capacity at its Jacksonville plant, investing millions of dollars and adding jobs as the nation’s year-long ammo shortage drags on.
Sig Sauer recently shifted its shipping, receiving and storage operations to 53,000 square feet of nearby office space to make room for more production at its plant. The off-site operation employs 15 workers.
The move frees up about 20,000 square feet of vital manufacturing space to increase production of pistol ammo significantly. The ammo maker is also gearing up to add a primer making facility at its plant to make its operation, which produces bullets, brass and finished ammo, even more self-contained.
Ammunition of all types has been nonexistent or scarce on retailer’s shelves for over a year, driven by a record number of new shooters, industry experts and analysts say.
Analysis: Are We Seeing a New Normal for Gun Sales?
A trend has begun to emerge in gun sales.
June saw 1.2 million gun sales. That’s down from a year ago, but it’s up from every other June on record. March and May told the exact same story. So did the second quarter overall.
It seems the United States may have found its new normal for gun sales.
The recent 2021 numbers are down significantly from 2020’s all-time record numbers, which makes sense. As the coronavirus swept the country, incredible uncertainty followed behind it. Mass layoffs, prisoner releases, lockdowns, and meat shortages drove Americans to the gun store at an all-time record rate.
June 2020 saw severe unrest sparked by the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Ultimately, that boiled over into nationwide rioting, which pushed the masses back to the gun store.
The election of President Joe Biden and his continued pursuit of restrictive new gun laws are likely helping keep demand for guns at an elevated level. However, with vaccination rates rising and the virus subsiding, it shouldn’t be surprising that 2021 sales are not quite matching 2020 anymore. It’s difficult to sustain an all-time record sales rate for more than a year and a half.
The fact the new normal is below the all-time records doesn’t mean you should run out and sell your Smith & Wesson stock or expect the ammo shortage to let up anytime soon. In fact, this is exactly the result the industry expected.
“When coming off a new high the valley floor is always higher than before the spike,” Larry Keane, senior vice president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, told me.
And they’re happy with the new normal because sales are still far beyond anything else we’ve seen before.
With the political situation unlikely to change significantly anytime soon, it’s doubtful sales will fall below their second-best pace. If anything, politics are likely to drive sales up again soon. If President Biden follows through on his attempt to expand the ATF’s power to regulate unfinished firearms or ban and register tens of millions of guns equipped with pistol braces, that will likely drive many to buy more guns before the hammer drops.
With deadlines for those two executive actions running out at the end of the summer, gun control will probably break back into the broader media landscape. More attention on new restrictions is likely to drive new interest in buying.
So, what will fall 2021 look like?
Last fall didn’t have the nationwide rioting of the early summer, and Americans had already adjusted to the pandemic as best they could. The toilet paper and meat shortages had subsided. Many of the factors that drove the earlier gun-buying had waned. Even still, the all-time records carried on.
This fall will be on more of an even footing in terms of motivation. But Biden’s gun-control moves could push it over the top. We’ve reached a new normal for now, but September or October could push things right back into record territory. That’s the next big event to watch for.
Gun Ownership Steadily Increasing Among US Women
ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA – In 2020, Americans battled a pandemic, social injustice and a contested election — conflicts that led many people to become gun owners.
And, consistent with a slow trend over the past decade, more of those gun owners are women.
Beth Privette, who helps run the Women Arm Yourselves Safety program in Brevard, North Carolina, said she added two classes to her calendar in 2020 “because there was such a need for it.”
“In the last year and a half, we’ve seen quite an uptick,” she told VOA.
Preliminary data from Harvard’s School of Public Health suggest that women accounted for about half of all gun purchases between 2019 and 2021, and that new gun owners are more likely to be female.
The Texas Supreme Court ruled the families of victims killed during a mass shooting cannot sue the gun store where the suspect purchased the weapon he used.
The lawsuit was brought in 2019, nearly two years after Devin Kelley gunned down 25 people at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, before killing himself after a chase. It was the deadliest mass shooting in Texas history.
Family members of the victims filed a lawsuit against Academy Sports & Outdoors, a sporting goods chain, where Kelley had purchased the AR-556 semi-automatic rifle, ammunition, and high-capacity magazine used in the shooting. The lawsuit argued the store wrongfully sold him the gun because he presented an ID from Colorado, where it’s illegal to sell high-capacity magazines.
After two lower courts declined to dismiss the case, Academy Sports appealed to the Texas Supreme Court, which ruled the lawsuit couldn’t go forward due to the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which protects gun retailers and makers when their products are used to commit crimes.
The court also said the sale was legal despite Kelley’s Colorado ID. The US Gun Control Act required the retailer to comply with Colorado laws, but the court said it only applies to firearms, not the magazine.
Families of the victims are also suing the US Air Force. Kelley was convicted of domestic violence in a military court while serving in the Air Force. The Air Force later admitted it failed to divulge the conviction to the proper FBI crime database, which would have prevented Kelley from purchasing the weapon.
The Air Force said at the time it launched a review into how the records were handled.