Newtown’s NSSF Steps Into The Spotlight Of The Gun Control Debate

By Steve Bigham

Since 1995, Newtown has been home to the National Sports Shooting Foundation (NSSF) – a 40-year-old organization originally established to promote the sport of shooting guns.

Until recently, the NSSF simply encouraged the safe use of guns for recreational purposes. It remained apolitical and relatively obscure. However, in recent months the group has redefined itself. No longer will it simply encourage hunting and other shooting sports. It is now joining ranks with the National Rifle Association (NRA) in an effort to protect the entire shooting sports industry from a revitalized gun-control movement, which has been making political gains in the wake of several high-profile tragedies involving guns. The future of NSSF members like Remington, Winchester, Smith & Wesson, and other gun manufacturers is at stake.

The NSSF, the world’s largest trade association for the firearms industry, is using its newfound voice to fight back against numerous lawsuits and to lobby against gun control laws proposed by the Clinton Administration that are seen as threats to the shooting sports industry. 

The NSSF has had to change with the times. Lawsuits are attempting to hold gun manufacturers liable for gun violence. Many of these manufacturers are NSSF members, whose livelihood depends upon the sportsman’s right to bear arms. Many gun control laws, according to NSSF President Bob Delfay, are often misguided and only put more stringent restrictions on the responsible gun owner. The laws usually have little or no impact on the criminal use of a firearm. The NSSF believes safety education is the best way to prevent criminal and accidental discharge of a weapon.

Mr Delfay announced his foundation’s new direction at the January SHOT Show in Las Vegas. Almost overnight, the NSSF found itself on the pages of the nation’s largest newspapers and in front of the cameras from CNN, ABC, CBS and NBC. Network camera trucks can often be seen parked outside the NSSF offices located at the corner of Queen Street and Mile Hill Road. Gun control has become an issue in the 2000 Presidential campaign. The timing of the NSSF’s sudden change in mission is no coincidence.

A Watershed Election

“I personally believe this upcoming election in November will be one of the most important in the history of our industry,” Mr Delfay said during an interview with The Bee Tuesday. “Al Gore would be delighted to put in legislation and regulation that would in effect put much of our industry out of business.”

This is not a good thing, Mr Delfay added, and his 25-member staff plans to keep that from happening. So does the NRA and its massive membership of firearm consumers. Just this week, NRA leader Wayne LaPierre lashed out at President Clinton’s recent vow to put stricter gun control laws into place. “President Clinton is willing to accept a certain level of killing to further his political agenda, and his vice president, too,” he said during an interview on NBC’s Today.

The White House labeled those comments sad and shameful, but Mr Delfay took a different position.

“The NRA is saying some unpopular things that need to be said. A lot of people thought what he said was way out of line, but I know Wayne and know his frustration in getting government to do something to enforce the laws on the books rather than to try to pass new ones,” Mr Delfay said.

“We’re working very hard to create opportunities and to look at what barriers there might be to participation – and to remove those,” noted NSSF executive director Doug Painter.

Mr Delfay pointed to several laws – like the tough-on-crime Project Exile Law in Richmond, Virginia – that are very effective in curbing the criminal misuse of a firearm. However, the current administration refuses to promote them, he said.

The politicians aren’t the only ones in the gaze of the NSSF. The other battleground is in the hearts and minds of the American public, and to reach it, the NSSF is in daily contact with the media.

“This is an industry that has been a responsible industry for a lot of years. We have a story to tell and we’re being more aggressive at telling that story. Otherwise, others – with a different agenda – will tell it for us,” said NSSF editorial director Bill Brassard.

The NSSF has distributed an estimated 50 million pieces of literature during its 40-year history. It is proud of the fact that firearm accidents are at their lowest since 1902. Its Project Homesafe will eventually distribute millions of gun locks and gun safety information across America. As Mr Delfay points out, promoting the use of guns is only part of the NSSF’s goal. The other part is trying hard to stop their criminal use and the deaths that occur when firearms are put into the wrong hands.

Last year’s tragedy at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado prompted Mr Delfay to write a memo to his staff.

“Because firearms were used and because we represent firearms manufacturers… it is understandable that the NSSF staff may feel more concerned and more disturbed by this tragic incident than our fellow citizens,” Mr Delfay wrote. “Incidents such as this have no logical explanation and perhaps no means of explanation. Our society has had firearms, troubled people, and a sensationalist media for generations.”

Another Voice

While Newtown is home to the NSSF, it is also the hometown home of Josh Sugarmann, a leading advocate for gun control.

Mr Sugarmann grew up on Taunton Ridge Road and graduated from Newtown High School in 1978. Like Mr Delfay, Mr Sugarmann can often be seen commenting on gun control issues on national news broadcasts. During an interview Tuesday, he commented on the NSSF’s new role.

“I think the NSSF’s willingness to get involved in the gun control debate is a gauge of how concerned they are,” Mr Sugarmann said. “I think they realized the NRA has not protected their interests. They’re battling against time and facing a demographic meltdown. The number of gun users is decreasing.”

Mr Sugarmann, executive director of the Violence Policy Center in Washington, DC, said the NRA has done a good job of “shielding” the industry from the media and political spotlight. He believes the NSSF will effectively join those ranks, but focus more on the interests of the gun industry. The NRA, he said, “is not in bed for industry, but for the love of guns.”