Airborne Combat Engineer

A day at the anti-gun rally

"A protest rally was held outside the gun store yesterday. It turns out that Realco, according to federal data, is the Washington region's biggest source of firearms used in crimes. Apparently guns purchased legally from the store have been resold to or stolen by people who aren't supposed to have them. So several dozen protesters gathered to chant: "Stop the violence! Save the children!" Some even believed that forcing Realco out of business would help to accomplish those things.

Excuse me, but I just don't see why any black person would expect gun manufacturers and dealers to help us stop killing ourselves."

Courtland Milloy, Washington Post

Firearms auctions is growing business

"Our firearms division is the largest [firearms] auction house in the world, in certain respects," said Jim Julia of James D. Julia's of Fairfield, Maine. While other firms may sell more firearms for less money per item on average, Julia's has distinguished itself by specializing in rare firearms and its average sale value per lot and total auction gross are uncontested.

Wes Dillon and Bill Taylor, who both worked for the renowned Cabela's Gun Library for a long time, recently joined Julia's staff as sales coordinators, where they will work with buyers and consignors.

With the new staff in place, Julia's will up its firearms auction schedule next year from two sales a year to three, and will have a greater presence at gun shows across the country, he said. Other innovations are planned to spur creative interaction with clients, both consignors and buyers.

Antiques

Beretta USA growing in Maryland

About two years ago Beretta U.S.A. [the US arm of the Italian firm] competed for and won 13 military contracts for pistols and spare parts. As a result, the company increased its employment at the Accokeek factory, said Jeff Reh, vice general manager.

Beretta U.S.A. has more than 330 employees in the country, with about 280 at its 20-acre headquarters in Accokeek, Reh said. Craig Rovelstad of the county Planning Department and the former planner for Accokeek said he believes Beretta is the largest employer in the area.

Gazette

Georgia firearms dealer convicted

Special Agent in Charge Vanessa L. McLemore of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) announced that a former federally licensed gun dealer from Athens, Ga., reported to federal prison today following his conviction for the illegal sale of a gun and ammunition to a known criminal.

The start of a 37-month sentence for Michael Carl Oakley, 46, marks the final chapter in ATF's 10-month investigation into the illegal business practices of the northeast Georgia federal firearms licensee.

According to documents filed in court, police received information in December 2005 that an employee of Oakley Outdoor Sports in Colbert, Ga., had allegedly sold firearms to a convicted felon. That employee turned out to be Oakley himself, the man listed as the "responsible person" on the ATF-issued firearms license.

Earth Times

Amscor

Amscor is a Philippine-based gun manufacturer whose products are also exported abroad where its biggest market is the US.  Amscor chair Demetrio Tuazon at The Marco Polo Hotel’s Club 888 forum said they saw a 30 percent growth in the world market.

Tuazon said that of their $10 million revenue in 2006, the US market is about $6 million.

The Philippine market he said is very slow with only about 10 percent and the past six months was a bad time for the industry in the country. “The imposition of the gun ban in time for the May elections contributed a decline in our sales here,” he said.

Tuazon however cited that they export about 20,000 pistols to the US and they consider America as their strong market. He said Amscor is also doing good business in South Central America and they are looking at Europe as their other market.

PinoyPress

Firearms industry news

Microstamping advocates keep trying

Representative Xavier Becerra of California and Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts are working to introduce a federal microstamping bill in the U.S. Congress that would require new semiautomatic handguns to be equipped with microstamping technology.  A similar bill has been introduced in the California General Assembly. [VOA News]

The California microstamping bill (AB 1471) would require manufacturers to micro laser engrave, in two separate locations, the gun's make, model and serial number so, in theory, that information would be imprinted on any cartridge casing fired in the gun. Opposition to the legislation has intensified as firearm manufacturers have indicated that passage of microstamping legislation would force them to
stop sales into the state because completely reconfiguring their manufacturing and assembly process would be cost prohibitive. A similar bill (AB 352) failed last year over concerns about reliability, cost and the fact that it is a patented sole-sourced technology. [PR Newswire]

Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa calls the CA bill useless and expensive.

Wikipedia entry on Microstamping (see photo)

Let's hope it's killed again in CA, so Kennedy will not bother introducing it at the federal level.

Shelby Amendment in the continuation

Bushmaster execs move into Remington

When we announced, in this Bulletin, that Cerberus Capital Management, a multi-billion-dollar holding company, acquired Remington Arms, we predicted there would be shake-ups in management, plus a re-vamping of the product lines with increased emphasis on military and “tactical” markets. Cerberus also owns Bushmaster Firearms and we predicted there would be a merging of the two companies’ operations. Well it looks like all that is coming to pass. Among other things, Bushmaster’s former CEO is now President of Remington’s Firearms Operations, and Scott Blackwell, former Bushmaster President, will now direct Remington’s Sales and Marketing efforts. Expect to see a Remington-brand AR15 in the near future.

By putting Bushmaster execs in the “drivers seat”, Cerberus is sending a clear message that it is betting on military-style rifles to boost Remington’s bottom line.

Accurate Shooter   Remington Wikipedia entry

Bushmaster has had some quality control problems of late. Hopefully they'll not infect Remington with them.