Firearms industry lying to us -- again

Mark Twain famously said that "there are three kinds of lies: lies,
damned lies, and statistics."

In an article posted on InfoZine, the National Sporting Goods
Association (NSGA) claimed that hunting and shooting gear sales topped
even golf, and are second only to "exercise equipment" in total sales
in the U.S. in 2006.

The National Sporting Goods Association reported $3.71 billion in
sales of hunting and firearms products, compared to $5.22 billion in
sales of exercise equipment which claimed 1st on the list. Sales of
golf supplies and products, 3rd on the list, came to $3.66 billion.

But the problem is that the National Sporting Goods Association is
"counting" far more than just guns and shooting equipment.

According to InfoZine: "Included in the hunting- and shooting-related
equipment category are firearms ($2.18 billion in 2006 sales), airguns
($224.1 million), ammunition ($977.1 million), knives ($51.8 million),
paintball guns/packages ($220.9 million), and reloading equipment
($52.0 million).

If the NSGA only counted gun sales -- instead of adding airguns,
knives, paintball guns and other categories -- the gun industry's
ranking would drop from their alleged 2nd place to 5th place, behind
even "fishing and tackle" sales at $2.22 billion."

If the NSGA added gun sales, ammunition and reloading equipment
together, then the gun industry could claim 3rd place, but still
behind golf.

Why is this important? Well, as GunGuys has reported, the gun industry
is quickly losing ground, both in the numbers of gun owners but also
in overall sales.

Our post on Dec. 21st, 2007 "Hunting Shops and Gun Dealers are Having
a Bad Year", as well as our post on April 11th, 2007, "Gun Ownership
is at 35 Year Low and Dropping" shows just how out of shape the gun
industry is.

In response, the gun industry appears to be fighting a little public
relations war to convince the American people that the gun business is
healthier than it really is. InfoZine reported that hunting and
firearm sales grew by 4% in 2006. But the overall trending is not in
the gun industry's favor.

"These statistics demonstrate the importance of America's 40 million
hunters and shooters to the nation's economy," said Doug Painter,
president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation. "The increase in
projected sales reported by NSGA corresponds to other increases we saw
between 2005 and 2006 in production, excise taxes on firearms and
ammunition, background checks related to the purchase of firearms, and
hunting license sales."

Below is a listing of the top 10 areas of sales of athletic and sports
equipment for 2006:

1. exercise, $5.22 billion;

2. hunting and firearms, $3.71 billion;

3. golf, $3.66 billion;

4. athletic goods team sales, $2.62 billion;

5. fishing tackle, $2.22 billion;

6. camping, $1.53 billion;

7. optics, $1.01 billion;

8. snow skiing, $615.0 million;

9. billiards / indoor games, $570.9 million; and

10. tennis, $419.8 million.


http://www.gunguys.com/?p=2923

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Of course, another fallacy is the use of $$$ amounts to rank sales --
firearms are far more expensive than most other sporting and
recreation equipment. I pay $80-90 for running shoes -- which I buy
at discount from an Internet source -- but a decent rifle will cost
$800 - $1,500 without a scope -- handguns start at $400 and shotguns
are as expensive as rifles. You can buy a perfectly good, complete
set of fishing tackle from under $200 -- try to find a decent firearm
for that price.

.

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