GTW DOING BUSINESS WITH... USA Part Two
Doing business with... FACT FILE
The United States of America (USA) Capital: Washington DC Language: English Area: 9,833,517 sq km (3,796,742 sq miles) Population: 324,720,797 (2016 estimate) Currency: United States Dollar (USD) GDP: $18.558 trillion (2016 estimate) Time Zone: UTC -4 to -12, +10, +11. Summer (DST) (UTC-4 to -10) Internet Domain: .us, .gov, .mil, .edu International dialling code: +1
Geography: The land area of the USA’s 48 joined states is 2,959,064 square miles (7,663,940 square kilometres). However, Alaska, separated from the rest by Canada, is the largest state at 663,268 square miles (1,717,856 square kilometres), while Hawaii, a Central Pacific archipelago (island group), measures 10,931 square miles (28,311 square kilometres). There are also populated territories totalling 9,185 square miles (23,789 square kilometres) – including Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands and the US Virgin Islands.
Climate: The United States, with its large size and geographic variety, includes most climate types. To the east of the 100th meridian, the climate ranges from humid continental in the north to humid sub-tropical further south. The Great Plains are semi-arid, while much of the western mountains boast an alpine climate. Couple this with arid, desert and
oceanic areas, not to mention the sub-Arctic or polar region of Alaska and factor in the tropical regions covering Hawaii and the southern tip of Florida, plus territories in the Caribbean and the Pacific.
I
t is estimated there are up to 40 million target shooters in the USA, although the figure
may be higher, given that many people will shoot on their own land rather than at a recognised range or club. However the figures are
worked out, it is clear that these participants generate around $9.9 billion each year for the economy through their purchases and support hundreds of thousands of jobs in the sector.
Tat sum equates to each shooter spending around $493 each year on their sport – the vast majority of this is on equipment
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(82 per cent) although trip-related expenditure is also factored in here. Tis makes sense, given that a great deal of shooting is done at nearby ranges of shooting or even on their own land, where permitted. Data from Southwick Associates’ HunterSurvey/ ShooterSurvey suggests that roughly 65 per cent of shooters use rifles and a similar percentage handguns for their target sports, with just under half using shotguns while muzzleloaders account for less than a fifth of participants. In other words, many shooters
own more than one type of firearm, which is good news for manufacturers and retailers alike.
ANNUAL SALES
In the last few years, gun sales have enjoyed strong growth, due in part to President Obama threatening tighter gun controls, notably in 2013. Tis also resulted in shortages of guns and ammunition as shooters sought to gather as many firearms and as much ammo as possible, especially on the AR platform, amid fears of bans or restrictions. However, the election of
USA PART TWO
The conclusion of our DBW USA feature focuses on the hunting sector, import and export figures, plus participation rates in this vast market.
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