NRA Convention

[Willie Earp, SASS#19022]

What follows is my first-hand report on my experiences at the NRA Convention and at the risk of getting seriously flame'd, let me offer that this is just my opinion on what I found.

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NRA Convention Report

May 3 to May 5, 2013, Houston, Texas

Let me first say that we had an AWSOME time, and I would heartily endorse this for anyone who has never been to the national convention. We actually got in as Conventioneers, because we were helping out with the SASS booth and rubbing elbows with the Cowboy Action Royalty, but that is another story. It was reported that the convention had over 70,000, and with the throng of crowds, I would believe it. It was also gratifying to see that many pro-gunners in one place, and one gets a better impression of the 5 million members that the NRA commands after fighting thru those crowds.

We had the opportunity of attending the NRA Leadership rally, which appeared to be more like a rock-concert (without the music) than a simple rally. The speakers included our own Texas Governor Perry, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, Louisiana Governor Jindal, and other noted political speakers, including outspoken New York Judge, Jeanine Pirro. The event was capped off by “that moose-killing, hockey-mom”, Sarah Palin. My impressions were thus: First, the mood and tone of the speeches were all up-beat. Secondly, we have won the recent political battle, but the war is far from over, echoing the convention theme of “Stand-Up and Fight”. Lastly, it made me proud to be from Texas, as the Texans appear at the forefront of this war.

The convention included over 9 acres of vendors (Yee Gods)! In between the time that we spent at the SASS booth, it literally took us 3 days to check it all out. Acres and acres and ACRES of gun makers, ammo makers, suppliers, dealers and TV personalities. We bumped into R. Lee Ermey, personalities from the TV shows “Red Jacket” and “Duck Dynasty” and pro-shooters from various disciplines, just to name a few. The floor was three days of sensory OVERLOAD for gun lovers.

I had a chance to chat with quite a quite a few gun and ammo makers with my lead-in question; “What the heck is going on with the supply and prices”? Without exception, the response was the same with ALL of them.

1) They are making and shipping as fast as they can, however only the bigger makers have been able to add significantly to their production. Hornady Ammo has increased their production by over 40%. The CCI dealer told me that he has no idea where their 22LR’s are going past the distributors, but they have doubled their production. "Stuff is going out the door as fast as they can".

2) For those who had US Government contacts, this was only a small part of their over-all, and there has been LITTLE-to-NO impact on their delivery to the civilian market. Again, Hornady Ammo quoted me as less than 5% of their total is government contracts to ALL entities. Remington-Peters (R-P) and Winchester would only say it was a “small portion” of their total ammo production.

3) Without exception, the makers have increased their prices from “not-at-all” to “minimal”, within the past year, in order to cover their increases in raw materials costs. One ammo maker described his minimal as on the order of 1% to 2%. In fact, the Federal Premium dealer was really pissed, when he described seeing their ammo for sale on the internet (and some retail dealers) at 5 to 10 times their cost and urged me not to buy from such “bottom-feeders”.

4) This current demand is viewed as a “bubble”, and given enought time this bubble will deflate. The most notable comment I heard was: “I have been in this business for over 30 years and I have NEVER seen a demand like this before”. No one seemed to have any idea how long the bubble will last, but they (being in this for a business) intend to ride it as long as they can. You can draw your own conclusions, but my personal opinion, for what it is worth, is that the bubble will keep pumped up as long as gun-control is in the national news.

In addition to the supply and prices question, I had a chance to chat with MagPul (Colorado), Remington-Peters (New York State) and Beretta USA (Maryland) about possible company moves. MagPul is considering a move to Texas and will make that decision by this summer. R-P and Beretta are getting heavy anti-gun pressure and are “considering” moves to a more “gun friendly” state, but they really don’t want to move unless they have to. As with Governor Perry’s keynote speech, I personally welcomed them to Texas (with a Texas friendly handshake) and told them that if they ever chose to move to Texas, that “we would treat ‘em right”, which was well received. As a side note, I understand in talking with those from states like Illinois, New York and California, that Gov Perry has taken out full page newspaper and radio adds, urging any gun-related manufacturing that they will be very welcome in the Lone Star State, and personal assistance from his office is only the beginning.

So, in this past year, I seem to have been bombarded by chicken-little nay-sayers (The Sky is Falling! The Sky is Falling!) and leftist media dribble that has been hard to ignore. Add to this the sticker shock from the gun and ammo prices, tends to make even the most devout optimist, doubt our future of the 2^nd Amendment and gun ownership. As a first hand reporter to this event, I am here to tell you that I could find no evidence of government conspiracy, and that what we are seeing in the prices and supply are just plain fear and hoarding, nothing more. In addition, our political leadership is working hand-in-hand with the NRA to make sure that they ALL understand what “Shall Not Be Infringed” really means.

God Bless their efforts and GOD BLESS TEXAS!

Regards,

Willie Earp

[Colonel Dan, SASS #24025]

Good report Willie. Thank you for sharing those detailed observations.

 

I couldn't attend personally this year but we had a significant representation there from SASS HQs. Hope you had the opportuniity to run into some of them.

 

Thanks again...

 

CD

[Gunner Gatlin, SASS 10274L]

Thanks for your report.

 

GG