It’s insane to me people in the thread are saying most people that hunt are complicit. Unless we have different definitions of the word.
Hunting is a hobby for the vast majority of hunters and it (along with other shooting sports) is used as an excuse to keep gun laws lax. It’s NPC’s second sentence in his first post:
Well we can’t possibly ban a gun people use for deer hunting, how can they hunt deer for sport then?!?!
I mean it in that they are complicit in the inability to push functional gun reform through to become law due to their bad faith arguments and/or inability to admit that gun control and hunting can coexist.
One person is saying that. #notallhunters However, it isn’t uncommon for hunters to have been suckered into the alt-right paranoia of the NRA and believe that any gun regulation means no more hunting.
Limiting legal firearms to single shot weapons wouldn’t impact hunters at all and is an easy enough rule to write that it won’t provide any loopholes for the gun nuts to wriggle through.
Post 163. I hate guns and won’t have one in my home, but you seem to imply that anyone who purchases one is making a contribution to the NRA.
NPC, google any measure of freedom by country and we in Canada beat you in the “land of freedom” and we have significant gun regulation.
This article is from 2013 but it has some examples:
Since 2005, the gun industry and its corporate allies have given between $20 million and $52.6 million to it through the NRA Ring of Freedom sponsor program. Donors include firearm companies like Midway USA, Springfield Armory Inc, Pierce Bullet Seal Target Systems, and Beretta USA Corporation. Other supporters from the gun industry include Cabala’s, Sturm Rugar & Co, and Smith & Wesson.
The NRA also made $20.9 million — about 10 percent of its revenue — from selling advertising to industry companies marketing products in its many publications in 2010, according to the IRS Form 990.
Additionally, some companies donate portions of sales directly to the NRA. Crimson Trace, which makes laser sights, donates 10 percent of each sale to the NRA. Taurus buys an NRA membership for everyone who buys one of their guns. Sturm Rugar gives $1 to the NRA for each gun sold, which amounts to millions.
It’s not every gun maker and it’s not the bulk of their revenue but I’d say “the gun industry funds the NRA” is mostly true.
I don’t disagree and might take it a step further to “The gun industry IS the NRA”. But I don’t think equating people who love to hunt to NRA supporting wingnuts because they bought a tool for that specific purpose is wise.
I don’t think hunters per se are really to blame for the insanity of US gun politics. Hunting rifles aren’t the guns that people use to rob liquor stores or shoot up schools. OTOH, hunters are also going to almost exclusively have right-wing political takes for cultural reasons, so I guess it’s all kind of a wash. Like, they’re not supporting the NRA because of their sport, they’re supporting the NRA because that’s a part of the reactionary white guy tribal culture they grew up in.
I think strategically it’s good for the Dems to try to court hunters by pointing out that the NRA has scammed the fuck out of them for years and ~no one is seriously talking about taking away 5-round sporting rifles from actual responsible owners who are willing to jump through some simple hoops. Basically, tying themselves to the guys who want teeagers to be able to own AR-15s with 100-round drums is a suicide pact for hunters.
It’s kind of a not well thought argument and I don’t think it translates well to other things.
If I get a mcdouble at mcdonalds, am i complicit in the obesity epidemic? Of course I’m not.
I’m pretty progressive I like to think. I also love the outdoors in general and really like fresh pheasant. I think it should be much, much harder to get guns especially if you’ve never hunted, don’t intend to hunt or use a gun as a sport (target, trap, skeet, etc.), passed a hunter safety course or any other training (there is no other training currently really).
ETA: I have never used a semi-auto for hunting, all my shotguns have been pump because of the increased cost and all deer rifles have been bolt action. I’d feel like a doofus hauling out an AR to a deer hunt and probably get made fun of. I did buy a 20 gauge semi-auto for pheasant hunting though at a pawn shop. I haven’t fired it yet. In my states you can only have 3 shells in the gun at a time anyway. It’s a fine to remove the plug that allows for 5 shells.
I’d say that for the sake of arguments Ofcourse not.
I get it, I’ve been there as a young teen and had a bad experience with someone with a gun who decided to scare us as 14 year old kids, but I get it (I from the UK BTW) and we don’t have guns at all unless a license is granted and a lot of safety measures including an enhanced police check.
I’ve also had good experiences with guns, shooting ducks with shotguns and my cousins do archery at a pretty high level.
Imo A wake up call is needed as was intended in 1 of my posts earlier, in that its not a pretty fight to put restriction American guns away, its the hardest tasks of all I’d say and no one’s bending unless some shock tactics are used.
Am I biased? Yeah no doubt 100% because of my bad experience. And guns really scare me. I have a natural instinct to reject them and whoever holds them. And protested to get the guns back of our police force when on normal patrol.
I’ll bow out now, gracefully I hope 
Edit: changed take to restriction… And what those restrictions are will be difficult to achieve.
Aren’t you from MN? From just over the border your hunting culture is close to ours but also just a little off.
Yeah. I hunt in MN and ND. SD pheasant also some years. Mostly have only bow hunted in MN though.
I mean you could even keep your typical SA shotgun legal that shoots 3-5 rounds before reloading legal and not infringe on hunting rights. I’ve never owned a gun or hunted but definitely know duck hunters who hunt with a SA shotgun.
I will say i know zero deer/elk hunters with a SA rifle so that excuse is completely bs.
I bought the semi-auto 20 gauge to lighten the load on my shoulder from kick (the gas release from semi-auto when ejecting the shell reduces kick) and a 20 gauge is lighter to carry but does the same work on pheasants. It wasn’t for ability to shoot shots fast.
The problem with trying to do feature specific gun bans is that the gun guys find ways to get around them, which is why I’m in the “ok, no semi-automatic weapons for civilians” camp. Otherwise, I’d be fine with saying nothing that imitates military weapons or whatever was the rules in the 70’s.
It just seems like such an easy play to let the hunters of Michigan know that the NRA has been grifting the fuck out of them for generations.
I’d also like to add that making the country a police state where there are cops or armed guards in every school, mall or other public place makes this country a lot less free for minorities. They end up facing some pretty tough times for your “freedom.”
I don’t hunt, but I eat the food of those that do. I have no problem with hunting deer, duck, or whatever. bolt action is the only okay rifle for a civilian to own. Shotguns and hunting rifles are okay, but they have to be locked up in your home or in a case with a lock when transported. No handguns or semi autos, and you need a license for rifles and shotguns.
I fired an AR-15 at a gun range, along with other weapons and I have to say it was way too easy. I immediately thought there is no way any non military person should have their hands on this ( maybe heavily trained SWAT teams). It seemed easier than video games, especially with a red dot sight, it has no recoil. At a bachelor party I don’t think a single person missed the centre of the target from 25 yards on any shot by more than 12 inches (90% of shots were within 4 inches of the centre of the target.
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