Selling Safety Priority #1

Shooting Industry, Nov, 2000 by Roger Combs

This Hot Area Of The Industry Provides Dealers With Increased Opportunity -- Plus, It's smart Business!

The importance of safety accessories and storage equipment increases daily. National and local legislators are intent upon passing more and more firearms "safety" laws. Many such laws include mandatory safety gear for your customers' guns.

Recently, the city of San Diego spent a lot of taxpayers' money on a trigger lock giveaway program. Unfortunately, the trigger locks proved faulty and all of them had to be recalled. Wasted tax dollars! Astute dealers will recognize these situations as additional business opportunities to sell "quality" safety products.

There are hundreds of products that will interest safety-conscious gun owners and shooters.

Electronic hearing protection is becoming a trend. These muffs allow shooters to clearly hear range commands and conduct normal conversations even at indoor shooting facilities, while protecting their hearing ability from damage. Even those shooters who do not purchase these high-tech products are becoming more aware of the importance of better hearing protection.

At the same time, many dealers will want to show their customers how modern shooting glasses have become more stylish as well as offering greater protection.

Keys to successfully selling safety:

* Consistent advertising to let customers know where you're located and what you sell.

* Advertise on a variety of mediums.

* Expand your shop to the Internet. Take advantage of the Web Site Program sponsored by Shooting Industry magazine and Shooters.com to get on the web.

* Stock a "healthy" inventory of the latest safety products.

* Conduct special safety events with demonstrations of the latest products. Make these events "family friendly."

Here is a sampling of the many products available for the dealer's safety inventory.

STORAGE AND LOCKS

AMERICAN SECURITY PRODUCTS

American Security Products (AMSEC) has been making safes since 1948. The more than 400 models of gun and document safes range from those weighing thousands of pounds with Underwriters Laboratory certification for fire ratings, to small, portable handgun safes of only 10 pounds. Interiors may be configured to hold long guns, handguns or both, in addition to other valuables. Various exterior colors, decorations, interiors and finishes are available.

ARMADILLO

Armadillo offers inexpensive firearm security products such as trigger locks, cable locks and portable handgun boxes. The locks fit most pistols, rifles and shotguns.

BIANCHI

Long known for its line of holsters, Bianchi also has several soft and hard hand-guns and long gun cases. Thick foam padding protects the guns and the tough nylon exterior makes for easy transportation.

BROWNING

Browning offers dozens of types and styles of gun cases: soft, hard, floating, waterproof, lockable, fitted, traditional and modern. Many of them are specifically designed for rough handling by airlines, small planes or boats, for handguns, rifles and shotguns. Browning also offers several high-quality safe models that have been tested and approved for fire and burglar protection. The sports-man has the choice of many colors, sizes, external and internal designs and locks.

CCL SECURITY PRODUCTS

Four gun-locking products from CCL include the combination lock CAl2 Sesamee CableLock for lever action and pump shotguns, the K38 Gun Blok, the K39 Trigger Lock and the K40 Trigger Blok. The new K40 Trigger Blok fits most firearms with a keyed locking mechanism. The K38 fits most pistols, rifles and shotguns with a combination locking system. The K39 is designed for most pistols, rifles and shotguns, using a key lock mechanism.

FIREARMOUR

The Firearmour Gunlock safely locks the firearm, but leaves the muzzle and grip exposed. The stainless steel construction and pin-lock system customizes for almost any handgun or long gun. The press of the coded buttons opens the combination lock, easily re-set by the owner, even with no visible light.

FORT KNOX

Fort Knox has several patented security features in its safes, including a rack and pinion locking mechanism and 45-degree corner locking bolts. The safes are UL and fire protection certified. Handles, locks and hinges are specially designed to help defeat unauthorized attempts to open.

FRANZEN SECURITY

Franzen markets a series of keyed trigger locks, combination trigger locks, wall-mounted trigger locks, combination cable locks and keyed cable locks. The Armloc II handgun safety system case locks onto any standard bed frame or wall to prevent theft, although it is easily portable. Fast and easy to open in an emergency, the case weighs about eight pounds. In addition, Franzen has a colorful series of combination padlocks with resettable codes.

GRANITE SECURITY

Granite Security has more than a dozen gun safe models, some weighing more than half a ton, of various sizes, gun capacities and colors. All are UL listed for residential security gun safes, as well as certified fire protection listings. The line features a choice of exterior colors and finishes, as well as interior configurations to fit gun-owner needs.