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September 20, 2012
Sportsmen’s Act: Urge Senators to Vote YES on Procedural Motion
Urgent Legislative Alert
Call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard Today at 202-224-3121
NSSF encourages all firearms owners, hunters and sportsmen to immediately call their U.S. Senators and urge them to vote YES on a critically important procedural motion that will allow the Senate to take up the Sportsmen’s Act (S.3525) after the November election.
The bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act is the most important single piece of pro-sportsmen legislation in a generation. This historic legislation includes the firearms industry’s top legislative priority, the Hunting, Fishing and Recreational Shooting Protection Act (S.838), which would clarify that ammunition is excluded from regulation by the Environmental Protection Agency under the Toxic Substances Control Act.
Anti-hunting groups led by the Center for Biological Diversity are suing the EPA to force a ban on traditional ammunition made with lead components that would devastate hunting and shooting sports participation, drive up ammunition prices on average by almost 200 percent and dry up conservation funding.
This historic, bipartisan legislation is strongly supported by the National Shooting Sports Foundation and over 40 of the nation’s leading sportsmen and conservation groups like the NRA, Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, Ducks Unlimited, U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance and the Boone and Crockett Club.
The Sportsmen’s Act is a package of 19 separate bills including the majority of sportsmen’s legislative priorities in this Congress. (See below for an overview of the components of the bill.) A similar package of bills — the Sportsmen’s Heritage Act of 2012 (H.R. 4089) — was passed by the House in April by a bipartisan vote of 276 to 146. Eventual passage of this unprecedented pro-sportsmen’s legislation will promote, protect and preserve our nation’s hunting, shooting and conservation heritage for generations to come.
But you must act now! The Senate can consider this important procedural vote at any time. Anti-hunting forces are aggressively trying to block the Senate from even considering the Sportsmen’s Act. So act now, call your U.S. Senators at 202-224-3121 and urge them to vote YES on this important step in getting the bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act the vote it deserves after the election.
Sportsmen’s Priorities in the Sportsmen’s Act:
The Hunting, Fishing and Recreational Shooting Protection Act — Specifically excludes ammunition and fishing tackle from the Toxic Substances Control Act, preventing unnecessary regulations that could devastate hunting, shooting, conservation funding and the firearm and ammunition industries.
Making Public Lands Public — Requires that the 1.5 percent of annual Land and Water Conservation Fund funding is made available to secure public access to federal public land for hunting, fishing, and other recreational purposes.
Target Practice and Marksmanship Training Support Act — Makes Pittman-Robertson funds available to states for a longer period of time for the creation and maintenance of shooting ranges. The bill encourages federal land agencies to cooperate with state and local authorities to maintain shooting ranges and limits liability for these agencies.
Call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 to urge your senators vote YES in procedural support of the actual vote later this fall on the Sportsmen’s Act.
Find complete contact information for your elected officials here.
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Visit NSSF’s Government Relations site at nssf.org/GovRel.
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