Industry Notes

Designed for legal conceal-carry, Charter Arms' 327 Fed Mag Patriot features 6-shot capacity and a 2.2-inch barrel, slick target front ramp and groove channel fixed sights.

…Southwick Associates has announced the brands and products that hunters and shooters preferred most in 2007. This list has been compiled from the 19,288 surveys that hunters and target shooters returned from HunterSurvey.com and TargetshootingSurvey.com last year.

The New York Times has reported that a federal appeals court dismissed New York City's blanket lawsuit against the gun industry on Wednesday, ruling that a relatively new federal law protects gunmakers against third-party litigation. That law, the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, banned all third-party suits against the gun industry except for those in which a plaintiff could prove that gunmakers had violated other state…

U.S. Reps. Zack Space (D-Ohio) and Steve King (R-Iowa) have introduced the 'Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Reform and Firearms Modernization Act of 2007' (HR 4900), legislation which represents a major advance in protecting the rights of firearms dealers. HR 4900 is a bipartisan bill that will overhaul many of the administrative penalties for licensed firearms dealers, manufacturers and importers of firearms that currently treat simple paperwork mistakes as purposeful and willful violations of…

The Utica (NY) Dispatch reports that $4.2 million in state and local aid and 100 jobs announced this week for Remington Arms won't replace all of the 160 workers eliminated in the past 14 months. In announcing the grants and potential loan for the private company earlier this week, state and local officials did not discuss how employment levels at the Remington plant dropped from about 960 in February 2007 to slightly lower…

The U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance (USSA) has asked sportsmen to contact Meijer, a Michigan-based regional chain of retail superstores, and demand that it dissolve its partnership with the anti-hunting group, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), in an online pet photo contest. Meijer refused a U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance (USSA) request to abandon the partnership, said USSA senior vice president Rick Story. …

…Both candidates said they support and respect an individual's right to own guns, but the positions they endorsed -- an ‘assault weapons’ ban, expanded police access to federal gun-trace data, and keeping guns out of the ‘wrong hands’ -- are straight out of the gun-control play book.

…Barack Obama’s presidential campaign has worked to assure uneasy gun owners that he believes the Constitution protects their rights and that he doesn’t want to take away their guns.

…While Green Bay Packers fans continue to debate whether Brett Favre will ever come back to play, the iconic quarterback has just finished filming two new commercials that will debut nationally in a few months.

…Are the two Democrat candidates misrepresenting their positions on gun rights to gain an edge in the Pennsylvania Democrat primary?

April 9, 2008—Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. has recalled Ruger SR9 pistols manufactured between October 2007 and April 2008. Problem: Under certain conditions, the pistols can fire if dropped with their manual safeties in the 'off' or 'fire' position and a round in the chamber. The pistols will not fire if the manual safety is in the 'on' or 'safe' position. …

Wal-Mart has agreed to adopt a 10-point retailing system pushed by the anti-gun group Mayors Against Illegal Guns. Wal-Mart, the largest seller of firearms in the nation, cooperated in the drafting of and adopted what the Mayors Against Illegal Guns group calls the Responsible Firearms Retailer Partnership. …