SHOOTER Gets Two Bullets Up!

Okay, I finally got myself to the movie theater last weekend to see SHOOTER, the movie adaptation of Steven Hunter's POINT OF IMPACT, and I'm gonna come down once again on the side of the Slate reviewer who said, "Bob Lee Swagger for President!"

Yeah, they tried to "lefty" the movie up...sneaky bad guys who kill people for...oil...but on the whole SHOOTER is the best "gun movie" since WAY OF THE GUN, and much more comprehensible. Steven Hunter sent me an e-mail and said that whether they realized it or not, the makers of SHOOTER had created a movie that captured the true intent of the Second Amendment.

Speaking of Mr. Hunter, I asked Steve whether he'd like to join me at a Barrett 1000-yard training class taught by former military snipers or up at the SIGARMS Academy for a weekend carbine class. Be fun to do some training with him, and he's a great hangaround buddy!

In a few minutes I've got to go upstairs to my office, which has come to resemble the command deck of the Starship Enterprise, although I don't have one of those cool chairs like Kirk...I'm also a little short on photon torpedoes, but I'm working on it. I'm trying to get ready for the NRA Members Meeting on several levels. Obviously, I'll be there representing the Outdoor Channel — I'll be signing at the Outdoor Channel booth Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I'll also be filming for DOWN RANGE and working on setting up more and better Internet video. I also will be sittign down with the Powers-That-Be at the NRA to discussing the growing crisis centering around recreational shooting on public lands...the disease is spreading, as leftover Clintonistas in the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management, emboldened by the successes in the Front Range and a Democratic Congress, are moving quickly to shut as much land to recreational shooting as they can.

I have succeeded in obtaining credible statements that the Boulder District Ranger Christine Walsh, one of the founders and prime movers of the USFS antigun jihad, bragged repeatedly over the last two years that she planned to shut down all shooting in "her forests" before her retirement next year. This is important because it shows that the whole USFS public meetings, etc., were nothing more than a ruse for her to pursue her private agenda — that is the definition of misfeasance ("Performing a legal action in an improper way").

Secondly, District Ranger Walsh has ignored a memorandum from the Department of Agriculture — her bosses — stating that her office's "interpretations" of federal law regarding USFS multiuse were flatly wrong...again, misfeasance on the part of a public official.

I believe that District Ranger Walsh and her staff are also guilty of malfeasance, performing an illegal action, for the following reasons:

1) The misappropriation of funding, to wit, using USFS funds to pursue a private agenda in direct contradiction to USFS national policy.
2) Lying to public officials from the Colorado Congressional group, an ethics violation for a government employee.
3) Lying to the media, another ethics violation.
4) Lying repeatedly about the "driver" for the antigun jihad, for example trying to place the blame for the closings on the USFS Enforcement division, which has flatly denied any involvement.
5) Lying about the USFS responsibilities for environment clean-up.

Finally, if she is taken at her word, District Ranger Walsh and her staff are guilty of running a spectacularly shoddy operation, for which she needs to be held accountable for the following reasons:

1) Initially, USFS "public meetings" on recreation shooting were not publically announced as specified by law; the firearms community only found out about the meetings through an emergency bulletin from the NRA.
2) USFS officials led by District Ranger Walsh were not able to provide any quantitative information on alleged complaints regarding recreation shooting, stating that no such quantitative information exists.
3) Despite the costs of the public meetings, USFS officals have made no attempt to quantify the information from those meetings. I have attended a majority of those meetings, and it is clear that there is no problem with recreational shooting other than District Ranger Walsh's personal problem. However, by enforcing an often ridiculous set of rules, including the refusal to quantify incoming comments, USFS officials have so far been able to ignore their own findings.
4) By their own admission, Boulder Ranger District makes no attempt to enforce existing laws for littering, illegal dumping, or any other illegal activities on USFS land. Yet they seek a wholesale ban on recreational shooting, which they clearly intend to enforce.
5) District Ranger Walsh disregards input from anyone who doesn't agree with her agenda, including law enforcement personnel in the areas affected by the range closures.
6) I have personally observed USFS employees having sex in a USFS truck on a public road...essentially, that's the kind of shop District Ranger Walsh runs.

Range closures in the Roosevelt and Arapahoe forest — those under the "stewardship" of District Ranger Walsh — have already suffered numerous "unintended consequences" because of the closures...all of them bad:

1) Local law enforcement in the affected areas no longer have convenient places to train and qualify, which can potentially harm all of us who live in the areas.
2) Closing of traditional range areas have pushed many more shooters into increasingly smaller areas, which are now suffering from overuse. More shooters in smaller areas means more impact...a situation that did not exist before Distict Ranger Walsh began her antigun jihad.
3) Recreational shooters are also being dispersed throughout a larger area...the very situation District Ranger Walsh alleged she did not want. In short, District Ranger Walsh is trying very hard to create a problem where one did not exist before.

As I've stated many times before, District Ranger Walsh's illegal and unethical actions are disasterous for hunters and shooters in Colorado's Front Range. Because there is so much public land, a public range system has never taken root in Colorado. Most shooting ranges are private clubs, usually with very long waiting lists. The Boulder Rifle Club, for example, has a 7-10 year waiting list for membership. Competition shooters no longer have any places to practice; hunters no longer have a place to sight in for hunting season; plinkers no longr have the opportunity to learn firearms and firearms safety in an unpressured environment.

District Ranger Walsh has said numerous times, including to my face, that, "I am the law in my district."

I don't believe that. I also don't believe that public lands are "my forest," either District Ranger Walsh's or even mine.Federal statutes are quite specific on mixed use, and USFS headquarters has made it very clear that recreational shooting is a long-established and legal use of the public lands.

I dont think it's unreasonable to require government employees to obey the law, both federal statutes and ethical guidelines. I don't think it's unreasonable for federal employees to account for how they're spending my money.

District Ranger Walsh doesn't need to retire...she needs to be held accountable for her personal and her office's misfeasance and malfeasance, misappropriation of public funds for a personal agenda and her repeated lying to concerned individuals, the media and public officials.

I will be sending a copy of this post certified to the Undersecretary of Agriculture in charge of USFS issues, the heads of USFS, the NRA legal department and members of the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus and Foundation.

District Ranger Walsh isn't "the law," but she is accountable under the law!