GTW
NEWS
America set for easier route to international market
fi rearms, including who eventually receives
exported guns. Larger arms exports are also
subject to scrutiny from Congress and the
public.
Export sales represent a small share of the
GUN SHOWS
UNDER SIEGE
08 www.guntradeworld.com
USA’s domestic gun industry. Sturm Ruger
and American Outdoor Brands, which owns
the Smith & Wesson label, both produce less
than fi ve per cent of their sales outside the
United States.
Guns imports far surpass exports in the
United States. In 2015 – the most recent year
available from the Justice Department –
5.1 million fi rearms were imported into the
United States while 343,456 were exported.
• Continued from page 3
Lawmakers in the American
state of California, at both state
and local level are turning up
the heat on gun shows held
in public venues on the West
Coast.
Th e Orange County Fair and
Expo Center Board of Directors
have discussed the future of gun
shows at the fairgrounds and
stalled a vote on rental contracts
for three gun events planned for
later this year.
Although the shows were
cumulatively valued at over
$278,000 for the county the
fair board said they are being
cautious.
“I think what we need to
do is be prudent, cautious and
sensitive … and wait until we
get some law enforcement
guidance about licensure
and those other issues that
were brought up,” said Nick
Berardino, who is on the board,
speaking to Gun.com.
Orange County is not the
only one pumping the brakes
on gun shows. At the stateowned
Cow Palace in Daly
City, state Sen. Scott Wiener
and state Assemblyman Phil
Ting — both Democrats from
San Francisco — are backing
SB 221, a bill that would
specifi cally bar the historic arena
from hosting events that would
involve the sale of guns or
ammunition.
“Our country is awash
in guns, and schoolchildren
are dying,” said Wiener in a
statement announcing the bill
earlier this month. “We need
fewer guns, and we need to stop
the proliferation of guns whose
only purpose is to kill as many
people as possible as quickly as
possible. We should not have
gun shows in the heart of the
Bay Area. Th e Cow Palace gun
shows should have ended a long
time ago. Better late than never.”
State Sen. Mark Leno is
warning that there will probably
be “conversations” about the
aging Cow Palace’s budget for a
new roof tied to the bill.
Moving further south, in San
Diego County, promoters of
the long-running Crossroads
of the West Gun Show, which
generates $500,000 in annual
revenue for the county, has been
in a protracted fi ght with over
their use of the county-owned
Del Mar Fairgrounds.
Targeted by local activists
for the past several years, gun
show organizers maintain that
they run a legal show and meet
all requirements and mandates.
Local Second Amendment
groups have presented the
fairgrounds operators with
thousands of signed petitions
urging them to keep the
popular gun show intact. Others
warn that action taken to put
county spaces off -limits for
legal activities could land those
behind such a move in court.
“Th ey are stepping into a
lion’s den here of potential
litigation over this,” gun rights
attorney Chuck Michel told Th e
San Diego Union-Tribune.
Unique stolen gun
register launches to all
A new specialist initiative to
help dealers, auction houses,
trade and public check if a
fi rearm has been stolen is being
launched in July.
Th e Gun Loss Register
is a searchable international
database of more than 5,000
stolen fi rearms, from modernday
guns to antiques, which has
been developed over the past
28 years.
Backed by the Art Loss
Register, the world’s largest
private database of stolen art,
antiques and collectibles, which
has recovered hundreds of
millions of pounds’ worth of
stolen art and antiques since
1990, the Gun Loss Register
provides a simple, effi cient and
cost-eff ective way to check
if a gun you are buying is
legitimately on the market or
stolen.
For nearly three decades,
the Art Loss Register has been
recording stolen guns including
fl intlock pistols, Wesley
Richards rifl es, shotguns from
names like Purdey and Holland
& Holland along with 17th
century antique fi rearms.
Already more than 400,000
searches are conducted each
year, through auction houses,
dealers and art fairs. Now the
concept is being extended to
the gun industry at large and
individual buyers.
Founder Julian Radcliff e
explained: “Using the same
principles and techniques
of the Art Loss Register’s
international loss recording and
worldwide searching of sales
and transactions, we can off er
a specialised service to those
buying or selling guns.
“Th e end result is to increase
recoveries, deter theft and
support the trade and law
enforcement agencies by
providing a recognised due
diligence service.”
Users simply sign up at
the dedicated website,
www.gunlossregister.com to
submit their search and get
an answer within 10 minutes
for subscribers or within two
working days for a one-off
query. Pricing is just £10 per
search or from £3 as part of a
subscription (exc. VAT), with
easy payment via PayPal.
Modern, vintage and antique
gun auctioneer Gavin Gardiner
supports the concept. Gavin
said: “As a leading and respected
sporting gun auctioneer, we take
due diligence very seriously. In
an increasingly international
market, it is vital to know that
every gun that we sell has been
checked against the database
of stolen and lost fi rearms.
Th is protects us and our clients
against any comeback as well as
providing confi dence and peace
of mind.”
Th e Register will be launched
at Th e Game Fair at Ragley
Hall, Warwickshire, on Friday,
July 27th.
To fi nd out more or to
submit a search for a fi rearm,
visit www.gunlossregister.com
/www.guntradeworld.com
/Gun.com
/www.gunlossregister.com
/www.gunlossregister.com
/www.guntradeworld.com
/Gun.com
/www.gunlossregister.com
/www.gunlossregister.com
/www.guntradeworld.com
/Gun.com
/www.gunlossregister.com
/www.gunlossregister.com