Firearm Industry Helps Idaho Recruit Hunters

Press Release
July 19, 2006
For more information contact:
Steve Wagner (203) 426-1320

Firearm Industry Helps Idaho Recruit Hunters
Idaho Department of Fish and Game Receives $112,000 Grant

NEWTOWN, Conn.—The firearm industry says it wants more hunters in Idaho, and it's putting money where its mouth is.

The industry's trade association, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), has awarded $112,000 in a grant to the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. NSSF says the grant recognizes the agency for developing one of the nation's most promising ideas for recruiting and retaining hunters.

"We rewarded the strongest concepts for strengthening America's hunting and conservation system into the future. Recipients this year have developed proposals that are creative and far-sighted and resolve some of the real barriers facing hunters today," said Doug Painter, president of NSSF.

Idaho's proposal: Survey hunters, landowners, program coordinators and steering committee members to evaluate overall success of Idaho's ACCESS YES! program. ACCESS YES! creates public hunting opportunities on and across private lands, with a goal of using easements and leases to acquire access to 700,000 acres of public land through private property by March 2007.

"The National Shooting Sports Foundation is a wonderful partner, and I know we will convert that support into significant and direct benefits for sportsmen through long-term public land access and for landowners with our Responsive Management Survey. We sure appreciate this opportunity," said Jim Unsworth, wildlife bureau chief for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.

The grant was made through NSSF's Hunting Heritage Partnership program, which this year awarded $365,000 in grants to nine state conservation agencies. This is the fourth year of the granting program. To date, the program has allocated more than $1.7 million to 33 states.

Painter said, "More and more, state conservation agencies nationwide are getting into marketing, youth programs, responsive management and human dimensions research. Our industry believes that's vital and we're willing to help pay for it."

Included among 2006 grantees are Idaho and Maryland which received a grant for the first time; Wisconsin which received a grant for the second time; Nebraska, Tennessee, Vermont and Wyoming which received a grant for the third time; and New Hampshire and Ohio which received a grant for the fourth time.

Nineteen proposals from 15 states were submitted this year to the Hunting Heritage Partnership judging committee of NSSF.

Formed in 1961, NSSF is celebrating its 45th birthday in 2006. The organization recently reached important new milestones, topping 3,000 members and hosting the largest annual trade show (SHOT Show) in the history of the firearms industry.

July/August 2006 Editorial

Have you got your guns ready? The next big match is almost here and it is time to play! Sixguns, rifles, shotguns, side match guns, what do I choose? Calibers, models, barrel lengths, and more, so many decisions to make! Don’t forget the clothes and gun rigs. Should I shoot cross-draw or straight-draw? Should the calibers of my sixgun match the caliber of my rifle? Maybe I should see if I can buy that new Cimarron 1876 for side matches available this fall. What class should I shoot – black powder cartridge, traditional, duelist, gunfighter, classic cowboy, etc., etc.? There seems to be decision after decision. This was starting to become very confusing!

I spent some time thinking about all of these items and then realized that maybe I better check my guns and make sure they are clean and ready to go with smooth actions, no burrs, and full hammer impacts to ignite the primers. While doing this along with some shooting in the months before and talking and observing fellow shooters, I began to realize something else. We were becoming complacent about the most important item of all. What is that you say? Yep, you guessed it – SAFETY! We talk about it at the safety meetings, we try to ensure it on the line, and think about it while we are shooting. But what about when we get off the line? What about when we are sitting around the camp fire talking with our buddies or showing someone our new sixgun? I’ve got to tell you, I am concerned. Being complacent when it comes to gun safety is not a good idea. More and more I see people that should know better when handling firearms. While they are looking at them or showing them off, they have the muzzle of the firearm pass over a person. When you do this, you are breaking one of the most important safety rules of all – never point a gun at something you don’t want to see destroyed! It should not matter if you just checked the chambers and the person you handed the gun to did the same. Make sure that when handling the firearm the barrel never, ever points toward another person!

I know people who are around guns all of the time that know gun safety and yet they continually forget about this fundamental aspect because they checked the firearm to make sure it was safe. How many times has a gun gone off that was supposedly unloaded? Not only is letting the gun barrel point at another person unsafe, it is also rude.

Lets play it safe - don’t get complacent when it comes to gun safety.

Visit the Shoot Magazine website at www.shootmagazine.com