Need a Place to Hunt? Find it at WingshootingUSA.org

Web site visitors also can enter to win one of nine free bird hunts

A new web-site gives hunters “a place to hunt for bird hunting places,” and offers visitors a chance to win one of nine giveaway hunts valued together at more than $34,000. The services and sweepstakes are free.

The site, www.wingshootingusa.org, is from the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), a nonprofit trade association working to keep sportsmen safe and active.

Anchoring the site is an easy-to-use search tool for daily-fee bird hunting preserves. The leader in listings for hunting and shooting destinations, Black’s Wing & Clay, Waterfowl, in print for the past 12 years, provided data on over 1,000 preserves nationwide. By clicking on a U.S. map, visitors can find a bird hunting spot close to home or across the country.

That today’s hunting preserves are convenient and numerous is a message reinforced by Wingshooting USA’s Dream Hunts Sweepstakes.

Nine hunts will be given away. Each will give two people a totally unique bird hunting experience in a different part of the country. The North American Gamebird Association, an organization that promotes quality standards for hunting preserves, arranged the hunts. A winner could land a quail hunting adventure at a Southern plantation, or a high-plains excursion for pheasant and chukar.

See complete sweepstakes prize descriptions, official rules and entry form at www.wingshootingusa.org. (No purchase necessary. Sweepstakes open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia age 21 or older. Ends Feb. 28, 2006.)

“With Wingshooting USA, we’re reaching out with a message that highlights the wide range of benefits offered by today’s hunting preserves. Whether it’s a group of hunting buddies looking for an action-packed day afield, or someone searching for an ideal place to introduce a newcomer, that ‘best hunt of the year’ is really only a phone call away,” said Doug Painter, president of NSSF.

Painter explained that modern preserves offer knowledgeable guides, good cover, great dog work, strong-flying birds, and a wide range of services and accommodations.

In a national survey, hunters identified their top five issues as 1.) Not enough access to places to hunt, 2.) Not having enough places to hunt, 3.) Work obligations, 4.) Poor behavior of other hunters, and 5.) Too many hunters in the field.

“Aside from work obligations, all of these problems disappear when you book a customized hunt with today’s hunting preserves. And with many facilities within an hour or so from big cities, a quality hunting experience can be enjoyed on a weekend morning or afternoon,” said Painter.
Bob Bledsoe, a bird hunter and outdoor writer from Oklahoma, agrees, predicting that preserve hunting is, “the wave of the future for most of us.”

“With wild quail populations seriously declined in much of the country, and with lease fees rising and access getting more and more difficult to obtain, preserves are a great way to get in a day or two of shooting. I know of several nearby preserves priced within reach of a working guy. It costs far less to go shoot a half-dozen pheasants or a dozen quail at a preserve than it does to drive to western Kansas on $2.75 gasoline, rent a motel room for a couple of nights, buy a $70 hunting license, and walk 15 miles for less shooting,” explained Bledsoe.

The web-site is basically a toolbox to help hunters overcome these obstacles, said Painter.

Many preserves also offer a wide variety of outdoor activities including sporting clays, 3D archery, fishing, youth hunter safety classes, family events, dog training, handicap business meeting areas, lodging, dining, and camping.

In 2003, the gamebird farming and hunting preserve industries injected over $1.6 billion into the nation’s economy, stimulating nearly $5 billion in total commerce.

The conservation impact is significant, too. Hunting preserves protect wildlife and habitat in otherwise shrinking landscapes. In 2005, hunting preserves maintained over 16 million acres, protecting them from development, safeguarding landscapes, and keeping the land in the hands of families who have worked it for generations.

Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act

U.S. House of Representatives Passes Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act

President Bush expected to sign common-sense legal reform to stop "junk" lawsuits against firearms industry.

Congress took a historic step today toward ending "junk" lawsuits. With a 283-144 bi-partisan vote, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a landmark bill to block lawsuits that seek to hold firearms manufacturers liable for the criminal misuse of their lawfully sold products. The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (S. 397) will prevent wrongful civil liability lawsuits against law-abiding companies and end years of abuse of America’s legal system by industry opponents.

The bill will now head to President Bush, who has said he would sign it if it reached his desk. The U.S. Senate passed the bill in July with a 65-31 bi-partisan vote. “The overwhelming bi-partisan support of this bill in both the Senate and House demonstrates Congress’s ability to work together when it comes to protecting America’s law-abiding businesses, in turn protecting thousands of jobs nationwide. Our industry sincerely thanks Sen. Larry Craig and Rep. Cliff Sterns for introducing this much-needed legislation and President Bush, who has continuously promoted legal reform in order to protect our nation’s businesses and economy,” said Doug Painter, president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the trade association representing firearms and ammunition manufacturers.

Painter praised the National Rifle Association for its tireless efforts in helping to secure passage of the legislation. “The NRA made this bill its number one priority over the past two years. For that dedication, the firearms industry is very grateful to the NRA and its many members who voiced support for the bill. The results are far-reaching, protecting law-abiding companies from financial ruin and, by extension, ensuring a positive future for our hunting and shooting traditions and our firearms freedoms.”

The bill provides protection for manufacturers, distributors, retailers and importers of all legally sold firearms and ammunition. Since 1998 more than 30 municipal lawsuits have been filed against the makers and sellers of firearms by anti-gun organizations and anti-gun politicians. The misguided efforts attempted to blame firearm companies for the illegal actions of criminals—the equivalent of attempting to hold a car manufacturer liable when a criminal uses an automobile in a crime. These illegitimate suits have cost the firearms industry hundreds of millions of dollars in legal defense fees and threatened to bankrupt companies.

“No industry should be threatened by ‘junk’ lawsuits based not on established legal principles but driven by extreme political agendas. This legislation restores and reaffirms the common-sense notion that no manufacturer should be held liable for the criminal misuse of its products. We are pleased that the House of Representatives has passed this important reform measure,” Painter said.

Even though 30 states have passed similar legislation preventing such lawsuits, the federal legislation will provide the full protection sought by the firearms industry and nullify pending lawsuits and prevent future illegitimate lawsuits from being filed. Among those cases nullified are suits from New York City and Washington, D.C., the latter filed under the onerous District of Columbia’s Assault Weapon Manufacturing Strict Liability Act that, incredibly, assigns automatic and absolute liability to a manufacturer whose firearm is used in a crime in the District.

“These lawsuits put thousands of jobs at risk and attempted to drive an entire industry out of business. Such abuse of our judicial system invited this historic legal reform,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF’s senior vice president and general counsel.

Opponents of the bill attempted to scare the public into thinking it would no longer have the right to file civil liability actions, but the bill’s language is very clear on the subject, allowing legitimate lawsuits to be filed against companies that sell defective products or against firearms dealers who break the law. As pointed out by many elected officials, the lawsuits represented a serious threat to the industry that provides America’s military with small arms and ammunition.

“While many of these suits have been rejected in court, just one verdict for the plaintiffs could bankrupt our small industry and destroy those companies that arm our law enforcement and our military for defense against terrorism at home and overseas,” said Keane.

Realizing that any industry, not just the firearms industry, could be the target of such harassing lawsuits, America’s business community weighed in strongly for the bill, with letters of support coming from the National Association of Manufacturers, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Federation of Independent Businesses, National Association of Wholesalers-Distributors, National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers, United Mine Workers of America and other business groups and unions. The Department of Defense also encouraged passage of the bill because of national security concerns.

Editorial - Nov/Dec 2005 issue

Protecting our Rights
Editorial by Chucky, Editor-in-chief

That right is important to you? The right to keep and bear arms, the right to freedom of speech, or is it the right to practice the religion of your choice? It could be your right not to be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law. Maybe it’s your property being taken for public use, without just compensation or your right to be secure in your person, house, papers, and effects, against unreasonable search and seizure.

Each of the rights that you are guaranteed by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights is just as important as any other. If even one is changed, modified, or put aside by the Government, it would be the beginning of a slow erosion of them all. Many people do not understand this, nor do they realize what the 10 rights put forth in the Bill of Rights are. The Government that our forefathers put in place was one of compassion, consideration, deliberation, and a belief in freedom.

The other item that most people do not realize is that this country was founded in faith and the belief in God. The word “God” appears throughout our forefather’s historic documents, our monuments, and our culture. I am disturbed by the efforts of some to remove the word “God” from our pledge of allegiance, from courthouse steps, from the paper and coins we use as money, and from our national monuments. For those that don’t believe, remember this, in spite of the fact our forefathers believed in God they made sure the First Amendment specifically guaranteed that each and every citizen had the right to worship how and where they please, or not at all if that is their desire.

I believe in God, but I also believe in your right as an American to worship whomever and however you wish. I believe you have the right to live your life in freedom as long as you are not hurting others. It is your choice. It is also your choice to either support what our forefathers believed in or not. In this country it is even your choice to speak out against our rights and the country in which you live.

However, if the right to keep and bear arms to protect yourself and your family, or the beliefs that our forefathers fought for is degraded and put aside, those people that use the right of free speech to disparage others and our Constitution will soon find themselves without rights and the dissolution of the basis of the greatest governmental effort toward freedom the world has ever seen.

You might say, “Hmm, why is he talking about this in SHOOT! Magazine?” It is simple, many of us have become too complacent. We may think that, “Gee, as long as we still have our cowboy guns, its okay.” Who cares if they ban assault rifles (many semi-auto hunting rifles fall into that description). ANY ban on ANY firearm impacts your rights! More gun laws erode your rights. It has been proven that rather than being a deterrent to crime, they actually encourage crime. Firearms are used over two million times a year in this country to protect life and family; how often do hear about that in the news? I did recently see on the national news that a Katrina survivor, a woman, fired a warning shot as intruders entered her home. I was ecstatic to see it aired. Boy, was that unusual. If we lose our right to own guns and continue to let criminals out of prison I guess we are just telling them to commit more crimes against us. The police can’t always protect or reach you in time and if you can’t legally own a gun, the criminal can illegally posses one and he doesn’t care about the law in the first place. Do you think I am preaching to the choir? If so, have you ever thought, “Well, as long as the new law doesn’t affect my guns or the sport I participate in, I guess it isn’t too bad”? If you have thought that then, yes, definitely, I am talking to you and hoping that you think about what happened in World War II , Cambodia , Bosnia , and Rwanda . Don’t make the mistake of thinking that can’t happen here. It won’t happen here if we believe in and protect our rights, and continue to vote for those who are willing to protect the constitution and what its framers believed in, not just the second amendment but each and every one of them.

Visit our web site at www.ShootMagazine.com. Email Chucky at editor@shootmagazine.com.