To the Editor:

When entertainer Jay Leno chose to back out of his commitment to appear at our industry trade show, the National Shooting Sports Foundation posted the following statement at NSSF.org so news outlets could include our view of the matter in its stories. We wish The Bee had reached out to us or checked our website for comment to balance the story it printed (“In Response to Petition, Nov. 20”). Instead, readers saw only a one-sided press release issued by anti-gun lobbying groups.

Our statement:

We are clearly disappointed by Jay Leno’s decision not to perform at the 2015 SHOT Show State of the Industry Dinner. He unilaterally cancelled his promised appearance due to pressure from the anti-gun lobby, which included false statements about our industry and its commitment to genuine firearms safety, which we attempted to personally correct with him, but to no avail.

We are not deterred by their publicity seeking nor are we unfamiliar with the bullying political tactics of the gun control groups that seem to have as little respect for the First Amendment as they continually demonstrate with regard to the Second Amendment.

We are proud of the many programs that we run that meaningfully contribute to public safety including our longstanding Project ChildSafe and Don’t Lie for the Other Guy initiatives in addition to our members’ everyday work in compliance with comprehensive federal and state laws. We will not allow the lawful commerce in firearms nor our industry to be demonized, and we will continue to speak out for the Second Amendment rights of the millions of law-abiding citizens who are our customers.

Despite Mr Leno’s cancellation, we look forward to having our biggest and best State of the Industry Dinner to date with a performer that respects the contributions of our industry and the customers it supports.

Respectfully,

Stephen L. Sanetti

President and CEO, NSSF

11 Mile Hill Road, Newtown                    November 24, 2014