crapshoot
Well-known member
A great article was written in this months American Hunter magazine put out by the NRA. It is filled with facts that most non-hunters(and probably hunters also) don't know about how gun/hunting related taxes are used for conservation. I believe the author hit the nail on the head when he shows how to non-confrontationally inform the ignorant, ill-informed, and antagonistic anti's with facts and kindness.
Article below.
Quote: Oh, you hunt,” said a professor, her fork poised in the air with chicken Caesar stuck on its prongs. “Haven’t we visited enough violence on nature?”
I had tried to keep the conversation on other things, but this professor wanted to find a stereotype to judge me by and so she worked to tease what I do out of me. When I told her what I investigate and write about she raised her chin as she grew the usual moral vanity that so often numbs the brains of the modern intellectual elite.
The seven people around the white-linen-covered table in the elegant restaurant all grew quiet. They all have Ph.D.s. I don’t. My wife, a college professor, was stepping on my foot.
I smiled. I like directness, as it provides a chance to debate, but I needed to come at this from a friendly angle, so I asked her, “Have you heard about the wood bison that were reintroduced in Alaska?”
Her eyes narrowed.
“The state trapped and transferred 150 of them from Canada,” I said. “The bison had calves this spring—the first bison calves born in Alaska in a long time.” I paused for emphasis before saying, “The state paid for the reintroduction with money raised from taxes on guns and ammunition.”
She put down her fork.
“Some of the funds also came from hunting license fees,” I said, “as, according to the 1937 federal law, the state must match 25 percent of the funds they receive from the Pittman-Robertson taxes on guns, ammunition and such things, and states typically do that with funds raised from the sale of hunting and fishing licenses.
“These taxes paid for the return of elk, antelope, white-tailed deer, wild turkeys and have been used to buy or lease 68 million acres for conservation purposes,” I said, knowing that this professor was likely from the left side of the political spectrum. Such types tend to be fond of taxes that other people pay, and they prefer federal experts to manage everything. In this case she had both of those things, and, of course, this was an example of individual Americans taking freedom in their own hands to make it all work.
Her expression told me this was too much reality for her. She would have probably been more comfortable in the opaque topic of climate change.
I stopped even though I hated stopping—it would have been fun to talk about the chicken she was eating and how hunters manage game populations for the good of the environment, and so much more. But my wife hadn’t stomped on my foot yet. If I could avoid giving this professor a public shaming, it would be much better all around.
The professor’s eyes searched the expressions around the table and then looked down. I could almost see her looking into the deep chasm of her ignorance in regard to the environment. She glanced back up and her eyes were glassy. She said, “Good to hear the money is helping the natural world.”
Certainly, as hunters, these are conversations we must be prepared for with the facts—facts we should also be teaching our children.
https://www.americanhunter.org/articles/2017/7/24/first-light-our-gun-taxes-pay-for-it/
Article below.
Quote: Oh, you hunt,” said a professor, her fork poised in the air with chicken Caesar stuck on its prongs. “Haven’t we visited enough violence on nature?”
I had tried to keep the conversation on other things, but this professor wanted to find a stereotype to judge me by and so she worked to tease what I do out of me. When I told her what I investigate and write about she raised her chin as she grew the usual moral vanity that so often numbs the brains of the modern intellectual elite.
The seven people around the white-linen-covered table in the elegant restaurant all grew quiet. They all have Ph.D.s. I don’t. My wife, a college professor, was stepping on my foot.
I smiled. I like directness, as it provides a chance to debate, but I needed to come at this from a friendly angle, so I asked her, “Have you heard about the wood bison that were reintroduced in Alaska?”
Her eyes narrowed.
“The state trapped and transferred 150 of them from Canada,” I said. “The bison had calves this spring—the first bison calves born in Alaska in a long time.” I paused for emphasis before saying, “The state paid for the reintroduction with money raised from taxes on guns and ammunition.”
She put down her fork.
“Some of the funds also came from hunting license fees,” I said, “as, according to the 1937 federal law, the state must match 25 percent of the funds they receive from the Pittman-Robertson taxes on guns, ammunition and such things, and states typically do that with funds raised from the sale of hunting and fishing licenses.
“These taxes paid for the return of elk, antelope, white-tailed deer, wild turkeys and have been used to buy or lease 68 million acres for conservation purposes,” I said, knowing that this professor was likely from the left side of the political spectrum. Such types tend to be fond of taxes that other people pay, and they prefer federal experts to manage everything. In this case she had both of those things, and, of course, this was an example of individual Americans taking freedom in their own hands to make it all work.
Her expression told me this was too much reality for her. She would have probably been more comfortable in the opaque topic of climate change.
I stopped even though I hated stopping—it would have been fun to talk about the chicken she was eating and how hunters manage game populations for the good of the environment, and so much more. But my wife hadn’t stomped on my foot yet. If I could avoid giving this professor a public shaming, it would be much better all around.
The professor’s eyes searched the expressions around the table and then looked down. I could almost see her looking into the deep chasm of her ignorance in regard to the environment. She glanced back up and her eyes were glassy. She said, “Good to hear the money is helping the natural world.”
Certainly, as hunters, these are conversations we must be prepared for with the facts—facts we should also be teaching our children.
https://www.americanhunter.org/articles/2017/7/24/first-light-our-gun-taxes-pay-for-it/