Vol. 4 No. 37 September 15, 2003
HUNTING HERITAGE PARTNERSHIP GRANTS $509,000 TO 18 STATES
The NSSF's Hunting Heritage Partnership awarded $509,000 in grants to 18 state agencies during the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies annual meeting. Jodi Valenta, NSSF's director of recruitment and retention, announced the grants which will be used on various programs that promote hunting and will increase the number of hunters and hunting opportunities. "When more hunters go afield, everyone benefits. The contributions hunters and anglers make in dedicated, unique taxes paid and the fees collected fund conservation efforts for all Americans to enjoy," said Steve Williams, director, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Doug Painter, president of NSSF, said “Officials in these grant recipient states have designed unique and dynamic recruitment tools and the Hunting Heritage Partnership is pleased to provide the funding that can help these new efforts become models of success in building the ranks of hunters across America."
A total of 36 states applied for grants. The winning proposals are available for review on the NSSF Web site. The 18 states awarded grants are Alabama, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and West Virginia.
SPORTSMEN AND LEGISLATORS UNITE . . . The Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation has hosted its first national conference of state legislative sportsmen's caucuses with a gathering in Illinois as part of a strategy to enable and coordinate legislative efforts at the state level in response to local issues. Such caucuses in Maryland recently opened Sunday to hunting and made handgun hunting widely available in Illinois. NSSF President Doug Painter addressed the gathering and conveyed NSSF's commitment and financial support to the concept. "Today's state sportsmen's caucuses are the critical force in providing unity and an effective voice in protecting and promoting our hunting heritage and firearms freedoms at the state level," said Painter.
NEW YORK DEMANDS . . . Big Apple mayor Michael Bloomberg has signed on with big city mayors from Chicago and Los Angeles in asking the 46 uncommitted U.S. Senators to vote against S. 659, the bill that would protect the firearms industry against junk lawsuits their cities have filed. According to The New York Daily News, Bloomberg also insulted retailers by likening them to drug dealers during his radio program on WABC. Bloomberg also wants additional restrictions on firearms in the Empire State, including a limit of one purchase every 90 days. The New York Times (free subscription required) reveals the flaw in another state proposal to enable lawsuits against dealers any time a gun is criminally used. It might leave New York's Finest without the means to protect themselves. "As a practical matter," John Feinblatt, the city's criminal justice coordinator, told the Times, "the threat of unlimited liability without fault will effectively prevent gun manufacturers from selling weapons to anyone in New York City, including the Police Department."
CONSERVATION GROUPS SUPPORT INDUSTRY . . . Wildlife conservation organizations representing millions of members have signed on to support the bill, with a letter to sponsoring U.S. Senators that says, "S. 659 only protects legitimate businesses that comply with federal, state and local firearm laws. It has no effect on true liability cases for defective products, breach of contract or warranty, negligent entrustment or other causes that are not related to third-party criminal misuse of firearms. Firearm manufacturers ought not to be held to a standard of liability that reaches to situations beyond their control, any more than any other product manufacturers are held to such a standard." Click here to see if the organization to which you belong supports your sport.
GOT ZUMBO? . . . The Outdoor Channel (TOC) announces Jim Zumbo, one of America's best known and respected hunters and outdoor writers, is bringing his vast outdoor knowledge and skills to TOC when Jim Zumbo Outdoors (JZO) joins its lineup in January 2004. The new series will be an original Outdoor Channel production. "Jim Zumbo Outdoors is a dynamic addition to our lineup and a perfect fit for the network that is the preeminent source of traditional, outdoor entertainment and programming. Jim has a storehouse of knowledge and he knows how to communicate it to others to help them become better hunters and outdoorsmen and -women. This is a program every hunter will want to watch every week." said TOC Executive VP and JZO Executive Producer Jake Hartwick.
WHEN IT ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY HAS TO GET THERE . . . The NSSF FedEx Program combines the purchasing power of over 2,000 NSSF members to provide substantial savings opportunities on FedEx Priority and Standard Overnight Letters and Packages, FedEx International Services, FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery. This program provides all NSSF members with real savings and the convenience of single billing for all their delivery needs. And if you already have an existing FedEx account, it's just a matter of completing a one-page enrollment agreement to start saving immediately. NSSF members may enroll by contacting Shane Hotchkiss at 203-426-1320.
SAFETY AND YOU . . . “Firearm Safety Depends on You” is an NSSF-developed video program that provides a comprehensive overview of the basic rules of firearm safety. Those with a high speed modem connection can watch the 13-minute-long video from a link on the NSSF Web site.
EPA RECOGNIZES SPORTSMAN'S CLUB EFFORTS ON LEAD . . . The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency gave the Peconic Rover Sportsman's Club a Certificate of Recognition for the club's environmental stewardship plan which formally adopted EPA-recommended best management practices for lead at an outdoor shooting range. The Suffolk Life Newspapers reports that Peconic is the first private club to receive EPA recognition. "We hope that many other private clubs in the country will follow the Peconic River Sportsman's Club's example and develop environmental stewardship plans for their ranges," said Jane M. Kenny, the regional administrator for EPA. "By following EPA best management practices, shooting ranges can effectively manage the lead on their properties -- with much less risk to the environment."
NATIONAL PUBLIC LANDS DAY . . . It's Saturday, September 20, and sponsored nationally for the fifth consecutive year by Toyota Motor Sales USA. Thousands are expected to volunteer at clean-ups in more than 500 sites in all 50 states, including national parks, monuments, wildlife refuges, forests, grasslands, marine sanctuaries, lakes and reservoirs managed by government agencies, but belonging to everyone. “Thousands of Americans demonstrate each year how much the nation’s public lands mean to them by contributing millions of dollars worth of labor and supplies on National Public Lands Day,” said Kevin Coyle, president of the National Environmental Education & Training Foundation, which coordinates the effort. “This event embodies the national focus on volunteerism and represents the country’s commitment to preserving its public places for future generations.” In Arizona, check out the Good Gun Web site, call Bryan Tucker or Debbie Backhaus at 928-776-8056, or e-mail volunteer@goodgun.org to receive volunteer information for a clean-up in the Prescott National Forest at a site used for informal shooting that's been turned into a messy illegal dumpsite by littering.
AROUND THE STATES
CALIFORNIA DREAMIN' . . . SB 489 has been passed and awaits Governor Gray Davis's signature to require magazine disconnects on semi-autos and a loaded chamber indicator (LCI) on new models of firearms to be sold in the state. This government mandate eliminates consumer choice on which product to buy. What is most unfortunate about such "feel good" attempts to legislate human behavior is the false hope that the same careless or ignorant person who would point a firearm at another and pull the trigger would somehow understand the significance of an obscure loaded chamber indicator. And since we've all been taught not to trust a mechanical device to take the place of safe firearms handling, the pitfalls of the magazine disconnect are obvious. There is no substitute for safe gun handling and responsible firearm ownership.
VIRGINIA OUTDOOR FESTIVAL . . . Unless Hurricane Isabel makes an unwanted appearance, tens of thousands of Virginians and others from surrounding states are expected at the premiere Ducks Unlimited Outdoor Festival near Petersburg at the Virginia Motorsports Park in Dinwiddie Friday through Sunday. NSSF plans to be there with an opportunity for youths to try the Scholastic Rifle program course of fire, with hands-on opportunities for reporters at an Aiming for Accuracy media day explaining the family fun of recreational shooting and firearm safety, and with the Project ChildSafe truck and lock giveaways.
BIG MO GOES FOR TWO . . . It's only happened seven other times in Missouri's history, but twice last week on gun-related matters the legislature voted to override a governor's veto. Residents of the Show Me State now have concealed carry, against the wishes of Gov. Bob Holden (D). The Republican-controlled House voted on Wednesday and the Senate on Thursday to override in dramatic fashion with State Senator Jon Dolan returning from active duty with the U.S. Army in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in time to help his GOP colleagues. The legislature also has joined 30 other states in enacting protection from lawsuits for companies whose products are misused without their knowledge in criminal acts, another law the Governor vetoed earlier. The city of St. Louis has a suit pending, and Lawrence Keane, NSSF vice-president and general counsel suggests "The city can save its taxpayers money and ask for voluntary dismissal rather than continue the court fight, now that the people have spoken."
ENFORCING EXISTING LAWS
GO GREYHOUND . . . The Provo, Utah Greyhound bus station is not the place to visit for those looking to pull a stick up. The Salt Lake Tribune reports that when a 27-year-old man tried to rob the clerk at the bus station, the clerk, who holds a CCW, took into custody the would-be robbery suspect at gunpoint in still another actual defensive use of a firearm that will go undocumented in crime statistics cited by anti-gunners -- because it's not illegal!
AROUND THE INTERNET
RIGHT FROM THE HEART: GUNS ARE GOOD . . . "The notion that guns are evil is one of the most dishonest and hypocritical arguments of the left. The fact that Rosie O'Donnell ranted and screamed about banning guns, then employed an armed bodyguard for her kids, should have given any intelligent person cause to distrust the anti-gun crowd." World Net Daily offers readers an inside look at radio talk-show host Phil Valentine's new book, Right From The Heart.
SAVE-YOUR-SPORT WEB CAMPAIGN . . . Webmasters, join the campaign to pass important legislation by adding the appropriate logo to your Web site, Save Our Industry, Save Your Sport, or Save Your Job by checking out http://www.heritagefund.org/stickers/index.cfm, and place the appropriate message on your site to help concerned consumers and industry members write their U.S. Senators in support of S. 659.
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