by Bill Miller
The Senate finally did something right! At least they’ve agreed to think about talking about doing something right.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation reports the U.S. Senate agreed to debate and vote on final passage of the Sportsmen’s Act of 2012 (S.3525) as the first item of business after the November election. Eventual passage of this pro-sportsmen’s legislation will promote, protect and preserve our nation’s hunting, shooting and conservation heritage for generations to come.
A recent NSSF blog concludes this is an important step toward the act’s final passage. The bipartisan leadership of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus, especially co-chairman Senator Tester, deserves great credit for their tireless efforts to shepherd these historic sportsmen’s bills through the Senate.
According the NSSF, the Sportsmen’s Act is the most important single piece of pro-sportsmen legislation in a generation and includes the firearms industry’s top legislative priority, the Hunting, Fishing and Recreational Shooting Protection Act (S.838), which would clarify that ammunition is excluded from regulation by the Environmental Protection Agency under the Toxic Substances Control Act.
Anti-hunting groups led by the Center for Biological Diversity are suing the EPA to force a ban on traditional ammunition made with lead components that would devastate hunting and shooting sports participation, drive up ammunition prices on average by almost 200 percent and dry up conservation funding.
This legislation is strongly supported by the NSSF and more than 40 of the nation’s leading sportsmen and conservation groups including the NRA, Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, Ducks Unlimited, U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance and the Boone and Crockett Club, and if you’re a hunter or a shooter, you need to get behind it, too.
The Sportsmen’s Act is a package of 19 separate bills including the majority of sportsmen’s legislative priorities in this Congress. A similar package of bills — the Sportsmen’s Heritage Act of 2012 (H.R. 4089) — was passed by the House in April by a bipartisan vote (276 to 146). If the Senate passes S.3525 it will go to a conference committee with H.R. 4089.
NSSF says that while we can now expect that a vote on the legislation will take place in the lame duck session, it is important to maintain momentum toward final passage. Call your U.S. Senators at 202-224-3121, or send them an email and urge them to vote YES on final passage of the bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act and against any anti-sportsmen amendments.
