It is reported in the 01/01/07 edition of Firearms Business newsletter that Sturm, Ruger & Co.:

     much of which is doubtless caused by production drops of "about half" from peak levels of the early 90s.

     Ruger is one of the largest, most innovative and resource-rich firearms manufacturers in the world. As a publicly-traded company (RGR), its performance and standing is clearly available for everyone to see. The judgement of the market, based on its share price over the past decade, has not been very kind.

     The purpose of these remarks is not to stick my finger in the eye of an industry icon, whose people and products I have the greatest respect for. Instead, it is to suggest that there are a variety of ingredients in the recipe of managing a company in the best interests of all its stakeholders - owners, employees, customers, etc. While innovation is an important element, one in which NAA often lags, it is not the only one. The point, instead, is to suggest that there are a variety of other initiatives that the NAA management has undertaken. Foremost amongst those are last year's commitments to production and quality improvements and improved financial management, which are similarly important to sustaining the health and longevity of a company, but which tend to be far less evident to the general public.

     As we've said so often, ours is a small company with limited resources. Our goal, however, and one I believe we are achieving, is simply to outperform our size towards the end of maintaining a balanced and healthy business operation. Innovation is something important and a goal we will continue to pursue, but it is not everything.

     We are examining the future of the 32H&R project, which I will report on next month. Happy New Year to all.