Honeoye Falls, NY –(Ammoland.com)- Another busy month, with all kinds of things going on at once.
We started the month down in Texas for a couple of weeks preparing for our move and attending the NRA Annual Meeting, back to New York for the ARFCOM Going Away Party last weekend, and in the meantime making progress on a number of new projects online and with all our products, detailed below.
NRA Annual Meeting
More than 86,000 Second Amendment supporters attended the NRA’s annual meeting in Houston this month, shattering the previous attendance record.
While we were down in Dallas working on our moving plans, we drove down to Houston to check out the exhibits and to attend the NRA-ILA Celebration of American Values Leadership Forum.
This to me is one of the biggest attractions of the weekend, with a long lineup of A-list speakers. Highlights included Sarah Palin, Ted Cruz, Bobby Jindal, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Jeanine Pirro, and Dan Rooney.
The most powerful speech however, linked below and on the AR15.com homepage, was the moving speech by Taya Kyle; widow of Navy SEAL Chris Kyle. Her story of one family’s relationship with firearms and how they impacted their lives is a must-watch and represents a true American family.
We were not able to stick around more than a day, so we missed out on many of the other special events, but I cannot recommend enough for all to attend next year’s meeting in Indianapolis, particularly if you’ve never been to one.
- New memberships and upgrades : $1,340,107 (an 86% increase over last year)
- NRA Store Sales : $672,762 (54% increase over last year)
- Foundation Banquet : $511,761 (largest ever)
- ILA Dinner : $800,000+ (new record)
- Women’s Leadership Forum : $1.2 million (largest ever)
- Total attendance : 86,228 (12,488 more than the previous record of 73,740)
ARFCOM HQ Going Away Party
Just this last weekend we hosted the informal ARFCOM Going Away Party here. Attendees from all over New York and neighboring states including New Jersey, Vermont, and Pennsylvania spent the weekend and due to limited hotel space in town many camped here overnight.
There are a number of threads out there with pictures, including these:
- ARFCOM GoodBye Party
- The Art of Pitching a Tent As Demonstrated by Arfcommers
- Official After the Party Thread
The food was excellent, special thanks to our brothers from LI and NJ that brought up authentic Cuban food, those that brought the clams, and we even had a bolt face logo cake that was delicious. The weather was perfect, and we enjoyed the chance to spend time with many long time friends and some new ones and their families.
The most significant part of AR15.com over the years has been the friends we’ve made all over the country, and this was just another chance to get together with some of those. We’re looking forward to doing the same down in TX later this summer, so get those BBQs ready!
Store Products
We’ve continued to put new products together and get them out the door in anticipation of our move. These include the now in stock complete billet uppers and lowers, as well as forged uppers and lowers. Also our latest batch of Benelli 3-Gun Shotguns is now ready for sale and immediate shipping, just in time for the 3-gun season to start.
We still have inventory of AP Customs shot shell carriers, lower receiver parts kits, barrels, rails, stocks, and many other AR-15 parts that have been tough to find lately. All the inventory that was originally meant for the retail store is being sold online.
We’ve also been working to clear out related inventory so we don’t have to move it, so the sale continues on rifle cases and web gear with 30% off. In addition there are a number of products in the retail store for you locals that we only have a few of, including handguns, rails, lights, and optics. Come on in and get moving sale prices on all of these!
Site Updates
Online, this month we began migrating our databases into a brand new architecture including new servers. This should provide us with added power, flexibility, and help ensure our move to Texas goes smoothly when the time comes to relocate the servers.
On the web site side of things we have been working on a new registration process as well as user account tool updates. These will open the site up to mail services such as gmail while increasing security on the back end to keep abuse down.
New tools have been added for admins and are integrated tightly with account history to quickly find and remove repeat offenders. They should go live in the next week or two.
Perhaps the largest project is the Gunstruction builder; that is a long term project, but we figured we’d give you a preview this month.
So there you have a summary of last month so far. Work continues on many fronts, and things are only going to get busier next month as we begin the physical move out of New York, just in time to enjoy the warm Texas weather…
This weekend (May 30th 2013) also marks the beginning of the summer vacation period. Enjoy the time with your friends and families, enjoy the nice weather, the cookouts, and remember the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces so that we can enjoy the things we have. Happy Memorial Day Weekend to all and stay safe.
About:
AR15.Com originated in 1996 as a mailing list for firearm enthusiasts. As the years passed and interest grew, a website came into existence to present those same enthusiasts with a means to collect, share, and explore information. Shortly afterwards, a bulletin board was added to create a more interactive experience for the growing list of users. The site was still in it’s infancy, but was growing in popularity. Visit: www.ar15.com