The idea has been kicking around Washington State’s gun rights landscape for a few weeks, but now that a bill has been introduced to create an “NRA license plate” with funds going to hunter education, the battle lines are drawn and the gloves are definitely off.
Sponsored by State Rep. Dean Takko, House Bill 2202 seems on the surface to be a good-intentioned idea.
To read some of the comments left on the Seattle Times’ feedback pages, however, one might surmise that Takko’s bill is the Devil’s spawn. One guaranteed way to bring out the social bigots is to mention the National Rifle Association.
Sickening and insane. What's next, KKK plates? Anti-abortion plates, pro-alcohol plates? Why should the state support any kind of plates for special interests, especially highly controversial ones? A big, big no on this one. The only good thing about it would be that we would at least see who is on the road that might be apt to start shooting in the event of the slightest road rage situation.—“skeer” Seattle, WA
Several people, including Alan Gottlieb, founder and executive vice president of the Bellevue-based Second Amendment Foundation, believe a more generic “Second Amendment” license plate that would not single out a specific organization, might gain broader appeal. Like it or not, to people who dislike firearms and are opposed to private gun ownership and the Second Amendment, “NRA” is a four-letter word. They are already pouncing on this proposal with bared fangs, using their dislike of the NRA to beat down what appears to gun owners to be a pretty good idea.
Some people obviously do not understand what the bill is all about. They erroneously believe this amounts to some sort of fund-raiser for the NRA, and they also apparently think hunter education is funded by that group.
With the tens of millions the NRA spends each year on political ads and lobbying campaigns, are you telling me that they need extra cash to fund hunter safety?
BWAHAHAHAHAHA
This is an obvious attempt to create a revenue-generator for the NRA in Washington state. They want to use this as a way to generate funds for political campaigns.—“Ho Ho Ho” North Pole
That is hardly the case. Hunter education was, indeed, started by the NRA back in 1949 in the State of New York in cooperation with that state’s wildlife and natural resources agency. Soon, other states began adopting the plan, and within a few years, courses were springing up all over the place. NRA eventually turned over hunter education to state fish and wildlife agencies. Those agencies are funded by hunting and fishing license sales, and revenues from the federal Pittman-Robertson wildlife restoration act. As a result, firearms accidents in the field have steadily decreased over the past three generations.
Pittman-Robertson was created back in the 1930s to place a special excise tax on firearms and ammunition to be apportioned back to the states to support state-level wildlife programs. So, comments like this one are behind the curve:
I have a better idea. Tax gun and rifle sales and/or hunting licenses and use that money for pay for hunter safety. Better yet, have people pay for their own lessons and require proof of lessons before being allowed to get a hunting license.
The car license plate is pure agenda politics and has nothing to do with gun safety.—“padfoot” Portland OR
But Takko’s bill raises a question that voters may want addressed. Ten percent of the P-R funding is supposed to be set aside for hunter education, or at least available for that, which should also be getting funds from general hunting license, tag and stamp sales. According to figures from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Washington’s apportionment of those funds during FY 2011 was just over $12.19 million, and ten percent of that is roughly $1.219 million.
The question: Is this enough to fund the state’s modest hunter education program? How much is needed?
Many Seattle Times readers appear supportive of hunter education; anything that promotes firearms safety. In the past, this column has suggested making firearms safety part of the public school curriculum, an idea that anti-gunners disdain.
Takko’s bill seems a step in the right direction, though specifically linking this to the NRA may not be the best approach.
The Legislative Hotline may be reached at 1-800-562-6000. This is an opportunity for gun owners and hunters to call, leave a message for their state representatives, and be part of the process.
PLEASE FORWARD the link to this column and share with all of your chat lists and forums
PLEASE SUBSCRIBE by clicking on the link above
And Don’t forget to visit:
VISIT THESE GUN RIGHTS EXAMINERS ON-LINE:
Atlanta Ed Stone | Austin Howard Nemerov | Boston Ron Bokleman | Charlotte Paul Valone | Cheyenne Anthony Bouchard | Chicago Don Gwinn | Cleveland Daniel White | DC Mike Stollenwerk | Denver Dan Bidstrup | Des Moines Sean McClanahan |Detroit Rob Reed | Fort Smith Steve D. Jones | Knoxville Liston Matthews | Los Angeles John Longenecker | Minneapolis John Pierce | National David Codrea | Seattle Dave Workman | St. Louis Kurt Hofmann | Tucson Chris Woodard | Oakland Yih-Chau Chang | Gaithersburg Gary Roehm
ALSO VISIT:
‘Winning Firearms Freedom One Lawsuit at a Time’
CITIZENS COMMITTEE FOR THE RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS
READ:
America Fights Back: Armed Self-Defense in a Violent Age
These Dogs Don’t Hunt: The Democrats’ War on Guns
Assault on Weapons: The Campaign to Eliminate Your Guns
Comments