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Shooter Jessie Abbate Edges Out Francisco for Lady’s Open Win

Shooter Jessie Abbate Edges Out Francisco for Lady’s Open Win

U.S. Practical Shooting Association

SEDRO-WOOLLEY, Wash. --(Ammoland.com)- In what is sure to be a preview of October’s USPSA Nationals, Jessie Abbate of McDonough, Ga. narrowly edged out the reigning national champ, Megan Francisco of Gainesville, Va., to take the Lady’s Open division title at the U.S. Practical Shooting Association’s (USPSA) 2010 TechWear USA Area 8 Regional Handgun Championship this past weekend at the Fredericksburg Rod and Gun Club in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

The match, which also included Rebecca Jones, the 2008 national champion in the Open division, was the closest of any of the division battles at the Area 8 event with all three women winning stage titles.

Francisco took the early lead by winning the first stage and through strong, consistent shooting held the lead through the eighth stage despite giving up three stage wins to Jones and two to Abbate.

Abbate’s win on the seventh stage would be the first of three consecutive wins which proved to be the turning point in the match as she overtook Francisco after the ninth stage.

Going into the tenth and final stage Abbate held a slight lead of 3.8406 over Francisco. The reigning national champion outgunned Abbate by 3.5342 points but fell short of overtaking the winner by a mere 0.3064.

Abbate won the match with a score of 790.8709 to Francisco’s second place 790.5645. Jones, who won the final stage to close the gap with Abbate to 14+ points, finished the match with a score of 775.9025.

“The women’s Open match-up was one of the best of the Area 8 Championship with three extremely talented shooters, each of which could take the national title later this fall,” said Michael Voigt, president of the U.S. Practical Shooting Association.

“I congratulate Jessie on a well fought victory and look forward to seeing her, as well as Megan and Rebecca, compete in Las Vegas.”

Rounding out the top five in the women’s contest were Kaci Cochran of Stockbridge, Ga. in fourth with 641.9435 and Kelsey Price of Charlotte, N.C. in fifth with 607.4788.

In the men’s Open event, Team Sig Sauer’s Max Michel of Covington, La. continued his regional win streak with his seventh Area championship win of the season. Michel posted the top score of 1067.5632.

Nicholas Neel of Plano, Texas won the Junior Open title and finished eighth overall with 913.6272.

The Senior Open title went to Jim Hand of Collegeville, Pa. who shot 747.1390 while the Super Senior title went to fellow Keystone stater James Chestnut of Philadelphia with a score of 635.8497.

The TechWear USA Area 8 Championship drew 278 top competition shooters. It is one of the eight USPSA shooting regions in the country and is made up of Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

The run-and-gun sport of practical shooting was formally established in 1976 but traces its roots back to the 1950’s and the quick draw “leather slap” competitions that grew out of America’s love affair with the TV westerns of that era.

Today the sport represents the upper echelon of the shooting sports with many of its top shooters actively training law enforcement and military units on shooting techniques and equipment developed in competition.

The next major pistol competition on the USPSA calendar is the 2010 USPSA Handgun National Championships scheduled for October 8 through 16 in Las Vegas, Nev. For more information, visit www.USPSA.org or follow @USPSA_Shooting on Twitter.

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The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance is a national association of sportsmen and sportsmen’s organizations that protects the rights of hunters, anglers and trappers in the courts, legislatures, at the ballot, in Congress and through public education programs. Visit www.ussportsmen.org.

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Open Letter to All Federal Firearms Licensed Importers
Regarding Acquisition and Disposition Records Under 18 U.S.C. 923(G)(1)(A)

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Washington, DC --(Ammoland.com)- The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is committed to keeping industry members informed of statutory and regulatory developments affecting them.

In furtherance of this commitment, we have prepared this open letter, which contains information about a recent clarification on the “date of importation” required to be recorded in a licensed importer’s record of acquisition, often referred to as the “bound book.”

Records Maintained by Licensed Importers
Pursuant to 27 CFR 478.122, each licensed importer shall, within 15 days of the date of importation or other acquisition, record the type, model, caliber or gauge, manufacturer, country of manufacture, and the serial number of each firearm imported or otherwise acquired, and the date such importation or other acquisition was made. In addition, the importer is required to mark the firearm in accordance with 27 CFR 478.92 and to complete and forward a duplicate ATF Form 6A to ATF in accordance with 27 CFR 478.112(d). The duplicate Form 6A must include the serial number of the firearm if not previously reported on the original Form 6A filed by the importer with CBP at the time of release.

Due to questions recently raised by licensed importers, ATF believes it is necessary to precisely explain “date of importation” as it is used in the GCA. The date of importation is the date a firearm is released from the custody of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and brought into the United States. This interpretation is based on the GCA’s definition of “importation” in 27 CFR 478.11. The date of importation may not necessarily be the date an importer physically receives the firearm at its licensed premises. An importer located in New Hampshire may have its firearms imported through a CBP port of entry located in New York, and it may take several days for the firearms to be physically transported to the importer’s premises.

For example, if CBP releases a firearm on August 1, 2010, and the importer physically receives it on August 5, 2010, then the importer has until August 16, 2010 to mark the firearm, complete and forward the duplicate Form 6A to ATF, along with the serial number if not previously reported on the original Form 6A, and document the importation in its record of acquisition. The date of importation that is to be recorded in the record of acquisition is August 1, 2010, the date of CBP release and entry into the U.S.

The regulation’s reference to “other acquisition” as the possible starting point for the 15-day period refers to firearms acquired by an importer domestically, such as purchases from U.S. wholesalers, retail dealers, or nonlicensees.

If an importer is receiving a particularly large lot of imported firearms for which it does not have serial numbers in advance of physical receipt, it may sometimes be difficult to inventory, mark, and record the entire shipment within the 15-day period specified in the regulations. In such cases, importers may apply to ATF for a variance to extend the time period in which marks are to be applied, ATF Form 6A is filed, and the record of acquisition completed. Such variances should be submitted on a case-by-case basis in advance of a shipment’s receipt in order give ATF sufficient time to review and act on the request well before expiration of the standard 15-day period. The request also should identify and explain the amount of additional time needed by the importer to comply with marking and record-keeping requirements.

Maintaining open lines of communication with the import community is essential to ATF in carrying out its mission.

The Firearms and Explosives Industry Division staff is available to answer your questions about the issues addressed in this letter. You may reach them by phone at (202) 648-7090 or by fax at (202) 648-9640.

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