First-Time Gun Buyers Grow to Nearly 5 Million in 2020

NSSF, the trade association for the firearm industry, updated retail survey-based estimates and concluded that nearly 5 million Americans purchased a firearm for the very first time in 2020. NSSF surveyed firearm retailers which reported that 40% of sales were conducted to purchasers who have never previously owned a firearm.

NSSF tracks the background checks associated with the sale of a firearm based on the FBI’s National Instant Background Check System (NICS). NSSF-adjusted NICS checks for January through July 2020 is a record 12.1 million, which is up 71.7% from the 7.1 million NSSF-adjusted NICS January through July 2019. This equates to nearly 5 million first-time gun owners in the first seven months of 2020.

NSSF surveys revealed that 58% of firearm purchases were among African American men and women, the largest increase of any demographic group. Women comprised 40% of first-time gun purchasers. Retailers noted that they are seeing a 95% increase in firearm sales and a 139% increase in ammunition sales over the same period in 2019.

Each month since March, NSSF-adjusted NICS background checks have set a record as the strongest ever recorded for that month.

Joe Daugirda Joins Davidson's As Customer Relationship Manager

Davidson’s, one of the nation’s top firearms wholesalers, has strengthened its national Customer Relationship Manager (CRM) force with the addition of Joe Daugirda.

Daugirda has several years of experience in the industry via service with both Blackstone Marketing and Maschmedt & Associates. During his time with these companies, Daugirda was responsible for B2B sales, promotions, events and trade shows. Daugirda has represented Sig Sauer, Gerber, OSM and Lansky.

An avid outdoors enthusiast, Daugirda can often be found shooting, hiking, backpacking and paddle boarding with his family.

Daugirda’s territory will be Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Southern California. Daugirda’s appointment rounds out Davidson’s national CRM team that provides coast-to-coast in-store service to our dealers.

Dealers can visit the Communications Center on www.DavidsonsInc.com for more information.

Jon Lene Joins Bear Archery as General Manager

Bear Archery recently announced the hiring of Jon Lene to serve as general manager for its Bear Archery portfolio brands. As general manager, Lene’s primary objective will be providing leadership to the Bear Archery team to allow its archery brands to deliver meaningful innovation to the consumer and create value for its customers.

“Bear Archery is a legendary brand and is accompanied by an extremely successful portfolio of brands including Trophy Ridge, Fletcher Archery, Cajun Bowfishing, SIK Broadheads, and Rocket Broadheads,” saiud Lene. “My entire career has been devoted to the archery industry, and I am excited to bring my previous experience to deliver world-class products to our dealers and consumers.”

Lene most recently served as VP of sales for Arcus Hunting and brings over 15 years of hunting and archery industry experience.

MonsterMeal Signs ProActive Sales & Marketing

In an effort to sustain the continued growth of their brand and better service every level of distribution and customer support, MonsterMeal wildlife attractant and supplements has entered into an agreement with ProActive Sales and Marketing.

Brand Manager Blake Davis said, “The time has come for MonsterMeal to engage the market with a focus on retail distribution. Over the last five years, we have developed the most effective and nutritionally complete line of attractants and supplements for wildlife and recreational wildlife managers. No product can be successful without access to the customer at the retail level. We knew we needed to bring in an outside asset to help, and the team at Proactive brings 40 plus years of experience in sales and brand support to the table. The ProActive team has the experience, relationships, geographic coverage in key markets, and a multi-dimensional approach to providing our customer with retail access to expand our sales. We have been looking for a group with the right mix of people and perspective for a long time. We are very confident that our strengths will complement each other and that we will both achieve unprecedented levels of success.”

S3DA Modified Instructor Training Course Now Available Online

Scholastic 3-D Archery currently provides three levels of coach certifications: Basic Instructor, Advanced Instructor and Advanced Instructor Trainer. To become a coach in the S3DA organization, any interested party must attend and complete the Basic Instructor Training Class.

The S3DA Modified Instructor Training Course was specifically designed to bridge the gap and allow anyone with a USA Archery Level 2 or above certification to become an S3DA Basic Instructor without physically attending a Basic Instructor Training class. This modified course costs $25 and provides coverage on: Chapter 1 (Intro to S3DA), Chapter 3 (Set-up 3-D Range) and Chapter 11 (Pope & Young Clear Path Bowhunting Initiative) of the Basic Instructor Course Manual and is 100% accessible from the comfort of your own home.