Industry Notes

According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) Section will be extending its hours of operation on the day after Thanksgiving. The NICS Section will be available on Nov. 28 at 6 a.m. EST. The NICS Section will return to its regular hours on Nov. 29.

DENVER — John Faulkner and his wife, Brenda, thought Wednesday was a good day to buy a handgun. 'I'm 37 years old, and this is the first time in my life that I am really scared for our future,' said Faulkner, an oil field worker, as he perused the collection of weaponry in A Pawn Shop.

SALT LAKE CITY -- The Salt Lake Tribune reports, 'As polls and pundits in recent weeks increasingly pointed to the election of Barack Obama as the next president, scores of Utahns flocked to gun stores.'

WASHINGTON, Oct. 30 -- The following is from an Op-Ed article by Chris W. Cox, executive director of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action, that was published in The Washington Times:In speech after speech, Barack Obama has claimed he would 'uphold the Second Amendment.' Mr. Obama, of course, is a polished speaker who says 'words matter.' But records matter more. And while Mr. Obama is short on experience on most issues, he's long on anti-gun votes and even longer on rhetoric. ...

MINNEAPOLIS — Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK) has received a total of $88.5 million in new medium-caliber gun and ammunition orders. These orders are in addition to the previously announced $53 million contract to produce Mk19 Mod-3 Grenade Machine Guns. The orders were received from a variety of domestic and international customers.

Here's a brief synopsis of what the president-elect's www.Change.gov website says the Obama/Biden transition team is working on:

The National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers has named Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. the Firearms Manufacturer of the Year award for the second year in a row.

NEWTOWN, Conn. -- The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) - the trade association for the firearms, ammunition, hunting and shooting sports industry - issued the following statement in response to study results from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), released by the North Dakota Department of Health, showing no evidence that lead or 'traditional' ammunition pose any health risk to those who consume game harvested meat:

Buckeye Firearms Association: Much has been said on www.buckeyefirearms.org about the shortcomings of John McCain on the gun issue, and it is clear that his weaknesses among this voting block had an effect on this election. Around 52% of American voters have selected a man the NRA has described as the most anti-gun candidate in history to be our next President.

In Oregon magazine, Sandy Froman, former president of the National Rifle Association of America, writes of the election of Barack Obama as president: 'Senator Barack Obama says he will respect gun owners, but campaign talk is cheap. What gun owners must know … is that Obama promises to appoint a U.S. Supreme Court that will eradicate the Second Amendment from the Constitution.

The U.N. General Assembly has overwhelmingly endorsed the idea of an unprecedented treaty regulating the global arms trade. Only the U.S. and Zimbabwe voted against it. U.S.-based gun groups point out that an Obama administration would likely not oppose such a treaty for the first time.

Sturm, Ruger & Company has announced an “Inaugural Special” for Mini-14 20-round magazines that runs through Inauguration Day.