By Mark Oliva - Managing Director of Public Affairs, NSSF
Hunters settling into the woods for spring gobbler season are insulated from the cacophony of gun control noise bellowing from Congress, state capitols, and the media. After all, the soft “cluck” and “purr” of a slate call is nature’s music compared to the overheated rhetoric of the gun control debate.
It would be easy to give into the temptation that the issue of gun control doesn’t affect most hunters because those calling for gun control aren’t talking about “my guns.” If only that were true. Gun control threatens America’s hunting heritage and creeps into hunting blinds and tree stands across the country.
Hardware Bans
There’s no better evidence of the relentless campaign to threaten America’s hunting heritage than hardware bans. Those are legislative proposals to ban entire classes of firearms from lawful ownership. U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) introduced the Assault Weapons Ban on 2023 in the 118th Congress, legislation that does much more than propose a ban on the sale, import, manufacture, transfer, or possession of Modern Sporting Rifles (MSRs) or standard-capacity magazines. That’s more than an attempt to ban the most-popular selling centerfire rifle in America today. More than 24.4 million rifles are in circulation today, used for hunting, recreational shooting, and self-defense. Sen. Feinstein’s list of banned firearms and cosmetic features that she believes define the firearm, would net other popular hunting firearms.
Gone would be any firearm that can accept detachable magazines with a capacity greater than ten rounds, firearms with a pistol grip, telescoping stock, and threaded barrel that can accept a suppressor. That’s not just AR-15, but also AR-10s. It also includes shotguns with those features and those that can accept magazines with a capacity greater than five rounds – certainly affecting snow goose hunters.
Sen. Feinstein’s proposal includes a lengthy list of firearms exempted from her proposed ban but doesn’t include popular models that would be banned. The most recent legislation banned specific models of Benelli, Beretta, Winchester, Franchi, Stoeger, and Mossberg shotguns.
Illinois’ Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a similar ban on MSRs there, which NSSF is challenging. Washington State’s Senate just approved their version of this legislation that will likely have been signed by Gov. Jay Inslee by the time this column publishes. NSSF plans to challenge that law, too, immediately.
Divide and Conquer
Some might still be tempted to shrug their shoulders because they hunt with bolt-action rifles, pump or break-action shotguns unaffected by these bans. That temptation is folly. Look at those who advocate for these bans by labeling certain firearms as “good” and “bad.”
Ryan Busse, a little-known former firearm industry executive-turned-gun control advocate for Giffords gun control group, is one of those. He regularly rails against MSRs as those that are “bad” firearms but boasts of his firearms that are “good.” He wraps himself in camouflage, telling other hunters he’s like them.
Except he’s not.
Busse is a political operative. He was on President Biden’s “Sportsmen and Sportswomen for Biden” coalition. He’s also a Senior Advisor to Giffords, the gun control group dedicated to disarming the American public. It’s also the same gun control group that actively smears NSSF. Busse and Giffords support universal background checks, requiring every gun owner to be placed on a government registry and watchlist. They want to repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) to allow a new wave of frivolous lawsuits against firearm manufacturers for the criminal actions of remote third parties. That’s an attempt to run a favorite gunmaker out of business because a criminal misuses a gun. They back “red flag” laws to seize firearms without Due Process protections.
That could expose hunters to anti-hunting groups for harassment and abuse of the law.
He’s not alone. Recently, antigun activist David Hogg of March for Our Lives, the gun control group backed by antigun billionaire Michael Bloomberg, tweeted photos of himself at a sporting clays range. His latest push is to divide gun owners but doesn’t acknowledge NSSF’s Real Solutions. Safer Communities.® firearm safety initiative to ensure firearms stay out of the hands of those who cannot be trusted. He also retweets calls for firearm confiscation.
White House Pressures
Threats to hunters aren’t just coming from outside antigun groups. Policies are being pushed by the Biden administration that threatens the firearm industry and hunting too. First is The White House’s “zero-tolerance” policy regarding firearm retailer inspections by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
Inspections of firearm retailers before President Joe Biden’s election in 2020 were strict. Still, they meant as a way for firearm retailers to stay within the laws and regulations governing the lawful sale of firearms. Those are long gone. President Biden promised to use the ATF as a bludgeon against the firearm industry during his campaign. Inspections of firearm retailers that would normally result in “findings” that needed correction are now being used as grounds to revoke federal firearms licenses (FFLs). There have even been previously closed cases reopened to revoke licenses. Reports have shown that firearm retailers have seen license revocations skyrocket by 500 percent since this policy occurred.
That means the local mom-and-pop gun store where most Americans buy their favorite hunting rifles and shotguns is being forced out of business by an overzealous policy that revokes licenses for simple clerical errors.
The Biden administration also uses the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to push antigun and anti-hunting policies. USFWS Director Martha Williams signed a “bait-and-switch” policy that opened more hunting and fishing opportunities to sportsmen and women and restricted traditional lead ammunition use. The policy was supposed to prevent detrimental impacts to wildlife populations if wildlife ingested lead, but USFWS offered no scientific evidence to justify the new policy. The restriction was part and parcel of the USFWS’ active participation in a sue-and-settle scheme with the antihunting group Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) that settled a lawsuit to ban traditional ammunition on National Wildlife Refuges (NWRs). Immediately after CBD filed its meritless suit, the USFWS announced it had entered to settlement negotiations.
Conservation Funding Threat
The new policy and settlement aren’t just an attack on immediate access to public lands. They are also a threat to the long-term growth of hunting. Firearm and ammunition makers pay a 10 and 11 percent excise tax on every firearm and box of ammunition commercially sold. That money is directly funneled to the USFWS to apportion back to the states to fund wildlife conservation, hunter education, construction of new public shooting ranges, and improved public access. The move to mandate the use of alternative ammunition threatens future generations because the cost of alternatives is significantly higher and much less available. That creates a barrier to access for hunters on a budget. California mandated alternatives for hunting across the state and saw hunting license sales plummeting from over 750,000 in 1970 to 225,000 in 2019.
There are many other examples of policies and laws being pushed by antigun groups, lawmakers, and the Biden administration that serve as threats, from banning the sale of firearms to adults under 21 to California’s restriction of advertising firearms to parents in a manner that could be appealing to their children.
The cost of hunting’s heritage and future is constant vigilance. NSSF is at the forefront of blocking damaging legislation in the state and Congress. That effort can’t be made alone. All hunters must be aware and involved and make their voices heard. Without it, hunting in America would become just a memory.
Mark Oliva is the Managing Director of Public Affairs for NSSF, The Firearm Industry Trade Association.
The Voice of Leadership Panel is an appointed group of outdoor industry leaders who have volunteered to contribute their voices on crucial hunting and outdoor recreation issues to inform, inspire, and educate participants within our community.
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