Shot Show: Gun Retailers Urged to Get Political, Connect with Grassroots

In the wake of local, state, and federal pushes to further regulate the firearm industry in the United States, National Shooting Sports Foundation’s (NSSF) Jake McGuigan told attendees at the trade organization’s annual SHOT Show in Las Vegas that it is imperative for more firearm retailers to be politically active.

While the NSSF and National Rifle Association (NRA) have worked together on various issues regarding Second Amendment protections, the NSSF focuses on the business policies of the firearms industry, while the NRA’s focus is on the right to own a firearm.

“Retailers really need to wake up. I can’t tell you how many states I’ve been in where I asked a retailer, ‘Hey, can you put this alert out? Can you do this?’ [The retailer responds,] ‘I don’t want to get political.’ I don’t want to get political?” asked McGuigan, who is NSSF’s Director of Government Relations and State Affairs.

“That unfortunately hurts us, but people that depend on the firearms [for whom it’s their] livelihood, I think, really need to wake up. It’s not getting political. The opponents made it political. It’s not political. It’s your livelihood and it our constitutional right,” he emphasized.

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