Why the gun industry secretly loves Obama
Rick Perry’s emergence as the front runner for the Republican Presidential nomination would seem like a coup for the gun industry. The Texas governor’s enthusiasm for firearms rivals Yosemite Sam’s. He has an A+ rating from the Texas State Rifle Association and packs a laser-sighted Ruger pistol when he jogs. Last year, he famously shot a coyote that threatened his dog during a run. To commemorate his act of valor, the manufacturer, Sturm, Ruger & Co., produced a lightweight, limited-edition “Coyote Special” with the words “A True Texan” emblazoned on the barrel. Collectors snapped them up. Perry would be as ardent a champion of gun rights as has ever occupied the White House.
And yet he still may not do as much for the industry as Barack Obama already has. In the time since he took office, gun sales have soared. The government doesn’t track individual sales. But the FBI criminal background check required to purchase a gun is considered a reasonable proxy, and these have hit record numbers each year Obama has been in office. This year, they’re on track to surpass 15 million for the first time.
Ruger has done especially well. Since Obama’s inauguration the company’s stock price has risen more than 400 percent, making it a better investment than gold, which is up 113 percent. “They’ve been outstanding in offering new products, especially in the concealable handgun segment,” says Jim Barrett, an analyst at CL King who tracks the gun industry and rates the company a “strong buy.”
Bloomberg Businessweek: Glock: America's gun
Analysts anticipated a brief jump in firearm sales after the election as many gun owners, fearful that a new Democratic President would move to ban assault weapons, fortified their home arsenals. “Initially, what spiked were the tactical rifles, the stuff Rambo might use,” says Barrett. As a result, 2009 was “a blockbuster year.”
So was 2010. And so is 2011. The strong numbers go beyond Rambo-type firepower to include the compact pistols that Perry prefers, although joggers and fans of the governor won’t have an easy time finding his signature model. “We were almost sold out before the press ever caught wind of it, and now that he’s running for President the calls have intensified,” says Brent Samperi, sales manager at Hill Country Wholesale, a distributor in Pflugerville, Texas. No one is entirely certain why sales are still surging. “Gun owners don’t like to be surveyed,” Barrett notes.
Dealers and analysts have several theories. One is that hardcore gun enthusiasts fear the lousy economy will set off a crime wave. Another is that political upheaval over the federal debt may lead to riots like those in Greece and London. Still another popular, if paranoid, belief that’s taken hold among gun-rights advocates: that Obama is waiting until he is reelected to separate Americans from their firearms, prompting worried gun owners to stock up in anticipation.
Even as the industry pumps money into the National Rifle Association, which is intent upon defeating Obama, some gunmakers wonder if these fears — and the sales they generate — will dry up if a gun-friendly Republican like Perry wins the White House. Sturm, Ruger & Co. CEO Michael O. Fifer alluded to this concern in a July sales call. “I think half of the people in the firearms industry, if asked, would hope [Obama] is not President, but then will secretly go out and vote for him again,” Fifer said. Talk like that won’t win Fifer any plaudits from the NRA. But it does capture the industry’s strange predicament: If gunmakers work too hard to defeat Obama, they may be shooting themselves in the foot.
The bottom line: Since Obama took office, Ruger’s stock has climbed more than 400 percent, outperforming gold.
Bloomberg Businessweek: A 'bring your gun to work' movement builds
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44375021/ns/business-us_business/
The space junk is falling...
Huge Defunct Satellite to Plunge to Earth Soon, NASA Says
Heads up! That's the word from NASA today (Sept. 7) given the impending re-entry of a 6.5-ton satellite through Earth's atmosphere.
The huge Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) is expected to re-enter Earth's atmosphere in an uncontrolled fall in late September or early October. Much of the spacecraft is expected to burn up during re-entry, but some pieces are expected to make it intact to the ground, NASA officials said.
The U.S. space agency will be taking measures to inform the public about the pieces of the spacecraft that are expected to survive re-entry.
"It is too early to say exactly when UARS will re-enter and what geographic area may be affected, but NASA is watching the satellite closely and will keep you informed," NASA said in a statement released today (Sept. 7). [Worst Space Debris Events of All Time]
The satellite launched to Earth orbit in 1991 aboard NASA's space shuttle Discovery and was decommissioned on Dec. 14, 2005. It is 35 feet (10.7 meters) long and 15 feet (4.5 m) wide.
Small risk to public
One analysis of re-entry survivability for UARS components was performed several years ago with a software program called Object Re-entry Survival Analysis Tool, or ORSAT for short.
That computer analysis showed that about 150 component types, including the parent body of the satellite, will demise during re-entry, and 12 types (26 counting multiple components) would endure the fiery fall to Earth.
That appraisal indicated a surviving mass of 1,170 pounds (532 kilograms) falling within a debris footprint length of some 500 miles (800 kilometers).
"The risk to public safety or property is extremely small, and safety is NASA's top priority," noted a NASA website dedicated to the re-entry. "Since the beginning of the Space Age in the late-1950s, there have been no confirmed reports of an injury resulting from re-entering space objects. Nor is there a record of significant property damage resulting from a satellite re-entry."
Nonetheless, there is a chance that pieces of debris from the satellite will crash in areas accessible to the public.
According to NASA, on UARS re-entry day, "if you find something you think may be a piece of UARS, do not touch it. Contact a local law enforcement official for assistance."
NASA will host a press conference on Friday (Sept. 9) to discuss the anticipated re-entry.
Public to be informed
The actual date of re-entry is difficult to predict because it depends on solar flux and the spacecraft's orientation as its orbit decays. As re-entry draws closer, predictions on the date will become more reliable.
NASA plans to post updates weekly until about four days before the anticipated re-entry. The agency will then share daily updates until about 24 hours before re-entry, when it will begin even more frequent postings.
The updates will come from the Joint Space Operations Center of U.S. Strategic Command at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, which works around the clock to detect, identify and track all man-made objects in Earth orbit, including space junk.
Debris in Earth orbit, including broken satellites, spent rocket stages and other trash, is a growing problem, both because of the threat it will collide with working spacecraft, and the chance that it will re-enter Earth's atmosphere and crash in populated areas.
According to a recent National Research Council report, we have now reached a tipping point, called the Kessler Threshold, at which there is already enough orbital debris that even if no more were added, new debris will continually be created through collisions between existing objects.
UARS was used to study Earth's atmosphere by observing numerous chemical components through multiple instruments. Before it ended its scientific life in 2005, UARS data marked the beginning of many long-term records for key chemicals in the atmosphere. The satellite also provided key information on the amount of light that comes from the sun at ultraviolet and visible wavelengths.
http://www.space.com/12859-nasa-satellite-falling-space-debris-uars.html
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