WASHINGTON — Taking advantage of National Hunting and Fishing Day, Sen. Mark Udall will announce proposed legislation today that would funnel more federal dollars to help states build public shooting ranges.
Public target ranges are in short supply across the West, and informal ranges that pop up in their stead can create safety hazards.
Udall has taken some substantial heat for being insufficiently committed to gun issues; I personally ripped him hard when he was a Congressperson for being too tied to the coattails of the reprehensible Diana DeGette.
However, since he was elected Senator Udall has stood with us on a number of issues, including national park carry and the Thune Amendment on reciprocity (and yes, I know the charge that Colorado's Senators made sure the Amendment didn't have the votes before they cast theirs). He has been a steady voice for more opportunities for shooting and against USFS restrictions on shooting on public lands.
I've said before that we need to reach out to Democrats because, in the pinch, far too many Republicans took us for granted and ultimately failed us. I wish that all our "friends" believed in the Second Amendment the way that we do, but I'm also pragmatic enough to accept friends wherever I find them.
So thank you, Senator Udall!
Hear! Hear! (or is it Here! Here!)
ReplyDeleteAnyway, you go, Udall!
As a libertarian, my question is, "What the f*** is the Federal government doing spending money on shooting ranges"?
ReplyDeleteI would hope conservatives have the same question.
Better shooting ranges than Acorn but I agree, the less federal money is spent the better.
ReplyDelete"Better shooting ranges than Acorn but I agree, the less federal money is spent the better."
ReplyDeleteYep, I know that folks will say, "Well, the Feds waste money on X, Y and Z, so what's a few million for a range." But that's not the point. That's the kind of thinking that helped get us in this mess. Just because there are other piggies in that pile doesn't mean we have the right to a tit.
I'm a bit disappointed, Michael.
You people opposing Federal money for shooting ranges are foolish. They are an investment in National Defense, just like the CMP.
ReplyDeleteIf the Govt. is going to sell Surplus weapons and ammunition to advance the shooting sports with the objective of having reasonably trained marksman available for a potential draft doesn't it make sense to your "Libertarian" ideals for them to have a place to practice ?
I have a lot of so called Libertarians around me as NH was chosen by the Free State Project and the impression I get is that their ideas are shallow and poorly thought out, most are simply an excuse for rudeness, smoking dope and having sex with farm animals.
Tom Bogan
In a word, we pay them in the excise tax on guns and ammunition. Right now, 99.9% of the funds go to fish and wildlife, even though sport shooters are now paying more than half the taxes, Taxation without representation is tyranny (now, where have I heard that before?).
ReplyDeleteI like ducks as much as the next guy, but we pay the taxes, we should have a say in where they go.
mb
"I like ducks as much as the next guy, but we pay the taxes, we should have a say in where they go."
ReplyDeleteSo why not work on opposing the tax?
"Taxation without representation is tyranny"
And expecting extra-Constitutional government services in return for excessive taxes is being a Democrat.
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ReplyDeleteI deleted an earlier post of mine because I found a lapse in syntax and could find no way to edit a correction. So here goes a second effort:
ReplyDeleteI've voted for Libertarian candidates in my younger days, but have since come to understand that simply feeling good and righteous after exiting the polling place doesn't always help get the job done.
Sometimes [more and more oft'times, it seems] the "pure" vote helps the worst of the two major parties of the moment prevail.
Taxes, it seems, are here to stay, unless a grassroots movement builds such momentum [which would mean foregoing the entitlements most of us take for granted - Social Security, Medicare, student loans, etc.] that we evolve into something different.
Not sure what this would be, or even if it would be any better than what we have, considering that human nature, when all the veneer of civility is stripped away [which can be done quite easily], is essentially the nature of the beast.
Meanwhile, it helps to have people in elected office who think and act like Mark Udall.
I wants my money ! I be watching Best Defense in black and white and I wants my money so's I can buy me a nice one of them color tv's. Send me my damm money !
ReplyDeleteFrom my perspective this is a great idea! Besides fulfilling, in part, it's responsibility in national defense, aka civilian marksmanship training, it also encourages more people to get out there and use those guns in a safe manner.
ReplyDeleteThe fun part is watching how they manage to construct those ranges near the larger population areas. I can hear the developers SCREAM! LOL
OK, you guys have convinced me. My position on extra-Constitutional government spending during an era of multi-trillion-dollar Federal debt is now this:
ReplyDelete1) I support spending for things I agree with and/or enjoy;
2) I oppose spending for things I don't agree with and/or enjoy.
Now, what is my best option for standing and holding a sign at a Tea Party? Because it seems like it's gonna be difficult with my moral and ideological backbone gone. How do you guys do it?
My wife always has to have the last word. Maturity for me has been learning to let her have it.
ReplyDeleteThat's the kind of thinking that helped get us in this mess. Just because there are other piggies in that pile doesn't mean we have the right to a tit.
ReplyDeleteBut it's OUR tit. Paid for with OUR taxes on ammo and firearms. Pittman-Robertson was supposed to pay for fish and wildlife AND shooting ranges.
It's time to cough up the cash for some actual shooting ranges - just like they're supposed to but haven't!!
BTW - manufacturers have paid over 3 billion dollars to this fund.(as of last July last year)
Let the SHOOTERS use some of their own money.
"I've said before that we need to reach out to Democrats because, in the pinch, far too many Republicans took us for granted and ultimately failed us."
ReplyDeleteIf you lived where Dems rule, you'd have been screwed by them, too.
Competition whether at the range or in the poling place is what makes everyone who wants to participate work harder and get better.