Changes in the Heritage Fund

Since 1998 the "Heritage Fund," administered by the Hunting and Shooting Sports Heritage Fund, Inc. (HSSHF) (formerly the Hunting and Shooting Sports Heritage Foundation, Inc.), has provided the critical resources to help the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) meet our industry's legislative, legal and regulatory challenges. The Heritage 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^™.

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 NSSF, rather than by Heritage Fund participants only. As a result, the boards of NSSF and HSSHF voted to dissolve HSSHF as a separate company by merging it into NSSF and to make the Heritage Fund a program of NSSF whose activities are funded by all NSSF members through a portion of their 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 Christopher Dolnack, Senior Vice 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.