DIIA$TIIIG TIID TINII:
VS. SIDOTBT
UIIITAIIY According to the National ShootingSports Foundation,SteveSanetti,the presidentof the SportingArms andAmmunition Manufacturers' Institute,addressed the United NationsOpen-Ended Working Group in early August. His objective was to explain the legitimate use of firearmsand ammunitionfor sportingpurposesand hunting, pursuitspracticedby millions of law-abiding citizensnationwide.Sanetticalled for a distinction betweenfirearmsusedby civilians for sporting purposesand fully automaticweaponsusedby the variousbranchesof the U.S. military. Sanetti pitchedhis argumentto some 300 delegatesof the United Nations Open-EndedWorking Group at its headquarters in Manhattan.For more information: http:llsaami.org.
What We've Known All Along:
Humane Society's
Name ttMisleadingtt SafariClub International'sIn the Crosshairsnewsletter reportsthat accordingto new researchfrom the non-profit Centerfor ConsumerFreedom(CCF),the HumaneSociety of the United States(HSUS)contributedlessthanfour percentof its $91.5 million budgetto hands-ondog and cat sheltersin 2007.CCF is criticizingthe nation'slargest animal rights group for not doing more to help hardworking local humanesocieties,callingHSUS'sname "misleading."Accordingto its mostrecenttax return(filed on Nov. 14,2008),HSUS contributedabout$3.1 million of its $91.5million operatingbudgetto hands-onpet shelters. CCF Director of ResearchDavid Martoskoexpressed a growing sentimentamonganimalloversthat the Humane Societyisn't living up to its name:"Pet loversdonated over $85 million to HSUS in 2007,but only a tiny sliver of that went to helpinghomelessdogsand cats.That's nothingcomparedto what HSUS spendshasslinghunters, complainingaboutcircuselephantsand trying to remove meatand dairv foods from the Americandiet."
Hunters Pull Their Own Weight Firearmand ammunitionmanufacturerspaid $109.8million in excisetaxesin the first quarterof 2009,up 43 percent over the sameperiod last year.Releasedby the U.S. Dept. of the Treasury,excisetax figuresare one of the industry's best indicatorsof performance.Manufacturerspay the tax - a major sourceof wildlife conservationfunding - on all firearmsand ammunitionsold (l I percenton long guns and ammunitionand l0 percenton handguns).Between Jan. I andMarch 31, $33 million was collectedfor pistols
andrevolvers,$38.9million for long gunsand$37.8million for ammunition.Comparedto the samequarterin 2008, percentfor ammunitionand28.3percentfor long guns.Usingthe collectionswereup 65.5percentfor handguns,42.9 latestcollectionsasan indicatorof sales,a projectionof $1.03billion wasgenerated in the firstquarter.Note:These statisticsdo not reflectretailmarkupor final retailsalesandarebasedsolelyon U.S.civilian sales. THE UPLAND ALMANAC