Wayne T. Price
It seems once a year I put in a request to talk to the folks at Kel-Tec CNC Inc. in Cocoa.
And once a year, I usually get stiffed. Sometimes I might get lucky and get a statement via e-mail but by and large I’m like the awkward high schooler who faces rejection upon rejection by a girl and can’t grasp that “she’s just not into you.”
Sigh.
Well, what I wanted to talk to gun manufacturer about were a few things that popped up in the news recently. Also, the company is hitting its 25th anniversary so I thought maybe that would be interesting to note.
First some news items where Kel-Tec was mentioned.
A recent study by CBS News reviewed some of the most popular weapons in the United States, cross-referencing data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosiveswith sales data from GunBroker.com. What the report found was that in September 2015:
Kel-Tec’s PMR-30 was the most popular semi-automatic pistol in the United States, beating out Smith & Wesson’s M&P9 Shield and Sig Sauer’s P938.
Kel-Tec’s SUB-2000 was the best-selling semi-automatic rifle in 2015.
Kel-Tec’s KSG led in the pump-action shotgun category.
Now maybe one reason I can never penetrate Kel-Tec is the gun industry probably has a distrust for the media, often because we use wrong terminology and make unnecessary, broad-stroke associations. The CBS report I mentioned above tended to do that with its description of the Kel-Tec SUB-2000, writing: “It's generally considered a less pricey alternative to the popular (and controversial) AR-15, used in the San Bernardino shooting and the massacre at Sandy Hook.”
Huh?
Anyway, back to more Kel-Tec news.
Brevard Sheriff Wayne Ivey talks guns in Palm Bay
The Manchester Union Leader in New Hampshire in January reported on a 4 foot11 inch tall, 105-pound grandmother earning the nickname “Granny Oakley.” The 65-year-old woman was allegedly grabbed by a would-be mugger and Granny Oakley shot the male assailant in the chest. He wasn’t killed and and was able to stumble to a hospital for treatment before his arrest.
Her gun in all of this? A Kel-Tec P32. It was the first time she had fired it.
“I’m not happy about what happened,” Granny Oakley (whose real name wasn’t released) told the Union Leader. “I wish I didn’t have to dot it, but my safety was priority.”
And just last month Deputy Nicholas Worthy of the Brevard County Sheriff's Office received the honor of being named 2015 Law Enforcement of the Year. One of gifts for the receiving the honor was a Kel-Tec RDB rifle.
Brevard County, as FLORIDA TODAY has frequently noted, is a fairly notable place in U.S. gun circles. It’s just not talked about like aerospace and aviation and tourism. There are probably credible reasons for that.
I know behind the scenes some of the players like Kel-Tec and Knight’s Armament Company in Titusville do a lot for the community on the philanthropic side. They’re proud, just not loud.
Last week, the National Shooting Sports Foundation released a report that said the gun industry added 24,763 jobs in 2015 for a nationwide total of 287,986, an increase of nearly 10 percent from the year before in manufacturing and retail jobs for guns, ammunition and related supplies, like hunting gear.
The Newtown, Connecticut-headquartered NSSFsaid the jobs average $50,180 in annual wages and benefits. The top states for gun industry jobs are Texas, with about 21,386, followed by California, Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina and Missouri. Florida’s job total in the study came in at 13,994.
On a year-over-year basis, the industry’s economic impact rose from $43 billion in 2014 to $49.3 billion in 2015.
“Our industry is proud to be one of the truly bright spots in our economy as an unprecedented number of Americans have chosen to exercise their fundamental right to keep and bear arms and to safely enjoy the shooting sports,” Stephen L. Sanetti, NSSF president and chief executive officer, said in a statement.
Now as I write this I think it’s important to note that last week a 35-year-old Cocoa woman confronted and repeatedly shot her estranged husband, in front of her children, before driving her car into the river and turning the gun on herself.
And there were numerous shootings prior to that in Brevard County, and throughout the United States. No one, at least not me, is blaming Kel-Tec, or Knight Armament or I.O. Incorporated in Palm Bay, for any of this.
But it does indicate that with gun sales up, increases in employment and the economics at play, we’ll probably see this dichotomy for a long time.
And Kel-Tec folks:I’ll be ever waiting for a call so we can talk sometime about your company.
Price is Business Editor at FLORIDA TODAY. He can be reached at 321-242-3658 or wprice@floridatoday.com. You can also follow him @Fla2dayBiz.
