Ruger to donate $1M to NRA if it sells 1M firearms in a year

[surprise_i'm_armed]

http://ruger.com/news/2011-05-26.html

The above link is to the 5/26/2011 press release from Ruger.
Ruger will donate $1,000,000 to the NRA if it succeeds in selling 1,000,000 firearms in
the one year period between the NRA shows (the exact dates weren't provided).

Ruger believes that no other gunmaker has sold 1M firearms in a year. I believe the LCP is still selling
well, and the SR1911 should be moving well also.

But when I think of the gunmakers that move the highest number of firearms in a year, Ruger doesn't seem
like the obvious choice.

I tend to think the highest number of firearms sold in a year in the USA would be either Glock, Smith & Wesson,
Springfield Armory, or Taurus.

Does anyone know if the number of firearms sold by each company is available somewhere?
This data's availability may be dependent on whether a gunmaker is a publicly traded corporation or not.

TIA / SIA

[Steve M]

That's really lame. How about just give NRA a million upfront? That would generate a lot more goodwill than this gimmick.

[seamusTX]

Does anyone know if the number of firearms sold by each company is available somewhere?

Since all manufacturers and importers are licensed and must pay a per-unit tax, the data is available:
http://www.atf.gov/statistics/download/ ... report.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ruger is way up there in volume. BTW, about as many long guns are manufactured per year as handguns. Unfortunately this file is a PDF, and you can't easily sort it.

This file does not tell the whole story because it contains only U.S.-based manufacturers, not importers. I can't find a list of importers.

- Jim

[Dave2]

Does anyone know if the number of firearms sold by each company is available somewhere?

Since all manufacturers and importers are licensed and must pay a per-unit tax, the data is available:
http://www.atf.gov/statistics/download/ ... report.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ruger is way up there in volume. BTW, about as many long guns are manufactured per year as handguns. Unfortunately this file is a PDF, and you can't easily sort it.

This file does not tell the whole story because it contains only U.S.-based manufacturers, not importers. I can't find a list of importers.

- Jim

There's something funny about that... Ruger made 400,593 pistols in 2009, but only 120 rifles?

[The Annoyed Man]

That's really lame. How about just give NRA a million upfront? That would generate a lot more goodwill than this gimmick.

Agreed. Alternatively, they could have announced that they will donate X% of any firearms sales to the NRA, and let people decide for themselves to whether to participate or not. What if they whip up a frenzy and then sell "only" 999,950 guns? They'll pass on donating $1 million to the NRA because they fell 50 guns short of the goal?

[seamusTX]

There's something funny about that... Ruger made 400,593 pistols in 2009, but only 120 rifles?

Search the file for every occurrence of Ruger. Apparently each facility is licensed separately. There's one in New Hampshire that shows 359,885 rifles.

As for the terms of the gift, it's a gift. The giver has sole discretion over what to give and how to give it.

Companies don't make donations because the people who run the company are wonderful humanitarians (though they might be). They make donations to advance their interests. Often that includes publicity. Companies do this kind of thing all the time.

I tried to figure out if this donation is $1 per firearm sold up to $1 million. I couldn't find anything that explicitly said so. However, the company would be nuts to do what TAM suggested.

If you don't like it, you are free to buy any other brand of firearm and donate an extra dollar to the NRA the next time you write a check to them.

- Jim

[Dave2]

There's something funny about that... Ruger made 400,593 pistols in 2009, but only 120 rifles?

Search the file for every occurrence of Ruger. Apparently each facility is licensed separately. There's one in New Hampshire that shows 359,885 rifles.

Ah, I'd missed that.

[The Annoyed Man]

There's something funny about that... Ruger made 400,593 pistols in 2009, but only 120 rifles?

Search the file for every occurrence of Ruger. Apparently each facility is licensed separately. There's one in New Hampshire that shows 359,885 rifles.

As for the terms of the gift, it's a gift. The giver has sole discretion over what to give and how to give it.

Companies don't make donations because the people who run the company are wonderful humanitarians (though they might be). They make donations to advance their interests. Often that includes publicity. Companies do this kind of thing all the time.

I tried to figure out if this donation is $1 per firearm sold up to $1 million. I couldn't find anything that explicitly said so. However, the company would be nuts to do what TAM suggested.

If you don't like it, you are free to buy any other brand of firearm and donate an extra dollar to the NRA the next time you write a check to them.

- Jim

Certainly Ruger can do whatever they want, and certainly buyers are free to buy another brand if they don't like what Ruger is doing. No argument there. I just think it is cheesy to say "if you help me meet my overall sales goal....and I meet it.....then I'll donate $X to the NRA." But it is certainly their right to be cheesy. If no gun manufacturer has ever sold a million guns in one year, ever, then Ruger's promise of donating $1 million to the NRA is pretty safe from having to be fulfilled.

....."we wanted to donate $1 million to the NRA, but the buyers wouldn't step up. It's their fault we couldn't do it."

How about instead, they donate for this reason: "The NRA has consistently stood tall for gun rights in the U.S.A., and because of this, we are still in business. We want to reflect our gratitude by donating $1 million to the NRA."

[seamusTX]

I have no interest in Ruger, even as a customer. I am not an marketing expert. That said, it's obvious that getting a years' worth of publicity out of a campaign is better than a one-time donation that might not be noticed by most of the people that you want to notice it.

Do you know what Glock donated to the NRA last year? I don't. I vaguely recall seeing a blurb in one of the NRA magazines about it.

It would be better if Ruger made it clear that they are donating $1 per firearm sold, and the terms are not all-or-nothing as you suggest.

Many companies that sell firearms or related products donate some percentage of sales to the NRA. Some online vendors have "round up" features where you pay the next even dollar amount above the price of the purchase, and the change goes to the NRA.

These companies clearly benefit from the U.S. civilian market, and they know the NRA protects that interest. However, their bread and butter is government contracts. Even companies in countries where civilian firearms ownership is practically banned, such as communist China, do quite well in that market.

- Jim

[surprise_i'm_armed]

seamustx:

Thanks for providing the relevant data for this discussion.

I was somewhat surprised by the large number of manufacturers in the report.

Keeping in mind that this data is only for US manufacturers, there are 29 revolvers
produced for each 100 semi-automatics produced.

There are roughly 33 shotguns produced for each 100 rifles produced.

SIA

[seamusTX]

I was somewhat surprised by the large number of manufacturers in the report.

You notice that some produce only a few weapons a year. I don't know all the ins and outs of federal fireams law (far from it), but I suspect some of them customize weapons rather than making them from raw materials.

Keeping in mind that this data is only for US manufacturers, there are 29 revolvers
produced for each 100 semi-automatics produced.

That is surprising. Although I own revolvers, I don't see a lot of people shooting them.

Also mine are old. They don't represent current production.

- Jim

[The Annoyed Man]

I have no interest in Ruger, even as a customer. I am not an marketing expert. That said, it's obvious that getting a years' worth of publicity out of a campaign is better than a one-time donation that might not be noticed by most of the people that you want to notice it.

Do you know what Glock donated to the NRA last year? I don't. I vaguely recall seeing a blurb in one of the NRA magazines about it.

It would be better if Ruger made it clear that they are donating $1 per firearm sold, and the terms are not all-or-nothing as you suggest.

Many companies that sell firearms or related products donate some percentage of sales to the NRA. Some online vendors have "round up" features where you pay the next even dollar amount above the price of the purchase, and the change goes to the NRA.

These companies clearly benefit from the U.S. civilian market, and they know the NRA protects that interest. However, their bread and butter is government contracts. Even companies in countries where civilian firearms ownership is practically banned, such as communist China, do quite well in that market.

- Jim

I think we're saying the same thing.

[Jumping Frog]

Since all manufacturers and importers are licensed and must pay a per-unit tax, the data is available:
http://www.atf.gov/statistics/download/ ... report.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Maybe your search-fu is better than mine.

I have looked all over to find a similar report for firearms imported to the US. For example, it doesn't make sense to compare pistol market share without relevant import statistics to be able to factor in players like Glocks, XD's etc.

[seamusTX]

I agree, but I could not find that data either. It seems import data is acquired by the U.S. Census Bureau Foreign Trade Division: http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/data/index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Census? The federal bureaucracy is baffling.

The best thing I could find is a magazine article from 2007 that shows handgun imports around a million a year and rifle imports around half a million.

http://www.shootingindustry.com/Pages/07FAReport.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

- Jim

[OldCannon]

Count me out on helping them. I, for one, have not forgotten what Bill Ruger did, and the long-term joy it has brought to the anti-gun industry.

http://www.thegunzone.com/rkba/papabill.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;