Changes in the Heritage Fund

Since 1998 the Hunting and Shooting Sports Heritage Fund has provided the critical resources to help the National Shooting Sports Foundation meet our industry's legislative, legal and regulatory challenges. The Fund's achievements are many, with highlights including passage by Congress of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, defeats of politically motivated municipal lawsuits designed to bankrupt our industry, the Vote Your Sport^® voter education and mobilization campaign that helped define a new power in American politics-the sportsmen's voting bloc, and the award-winning educational programs Project ChildSafe^® and Don't Lie for the Other Guy^TM.

All credit is due to the far-seeing, dedicated companies that stepped up to the plate to establish and sustain the Heritage Fund, which became a trailblazing model of industry unity, commitment and support.

Recognizing that these successes have had an industry-wide benefit, the NSSF Board of Governors at its annual 2007 meeting decided that our industry's government relations and legal initiatives should be supported by every member of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, rather than by Heritage Fund participants only. As a result, the board voted to dissolve the Heritage Fund and include its key funding activities within the NSSF membership dues. "This ensures that all of our members are partners in our efforts to protect our industry's rights and the firearms freedoms of all Americans," said Doug Painter, president of NSSF.

Visit the NSSF Web site at www.nssf.org to learn more about the progress of NSSF's legal, legislative and regulatory initiatives and the many other programs whose purpose is to ensure a positive future for our industry, our traditions and our freedoms.