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American Hunters and Shooters Association

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Suntree (talk | contribs) at 04:50, 5 October 2007 (Adding back material regarding the ongoing controversy associated with this group). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

The American Hunters and Shooters Association (AHSA) is an association of hunters and shooters in the United States that was founded in 2005. As an advocacy group, it presents itself as a force of moderation and "common sense" in the debate over gun politics in the United States. Its critics point to AHSA members' bias against private ownership of the most popular modern sporting firearms, and note AHSA leaders have both donated money to gun control groups and maintain close ties to individuals and organizations focused exclusively on restricting citizens' rights guaranteed by the second amendment. Its detractors have accused AHSA of acting as a front group, purposely driving a wedge into the gun rights movement and misrepresenting issues in commercials and advertisements.

History

In June 2006, Executive Bob Ricker formally introduced AHSA at a press conference at the annual conference of the Outdoor Writers Association of America[1] [2]. Mr. Ricker proclaimed at this conference that the NRA and other 2nd Amendment rights organizations did not address the specific concerns of hunters - protecting hunting lands and wildlife habitats - which led to the creation of AHSA[3] [4]. In 2007, President Ray Schoenke addressed the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition [5].

Goals

The AHSA has four stated goals:

Leadership

The leaders of the AHSA are:[6]:

  • Ray Schoenke, founding president [7] A former football player for the Washington Redskins, Schoenke ran for Governor of Maryland as a Democrat and has given "millions" to Democratic politicians and causes according to a January 19, 1998 Washington Post article.[8] Among the groups that Schoenke has donated to are two that actively lobby to ban firearms: Handgun Control, Inc.[9][10] and America Coming Together. Schoenke was on the Governor's Commission on Gun Violence in 1996.
  • Bob Ricker, executive director [11]
  • Joseph J. Vince, Jr., a member of the Board of Directors is the former chief of the BATF's crime guns analysis branch. Currently, he is a principal of Crime Gun Solutions. HCI has hired Crime Gun Solutions in order to support numerous gun control laws,[12][13] to support HCI's lawsuits against firearm dealers[14] and he was a signer on a letter submitted to Congress opposing the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act[15]
  • Jody Powell, co-chairman of the AHSA Advisory Board
  • A. Austin Dorr, co-chairman of the AHSA Advisory Board

Criticism

In August 2005, the National Rifle Association said about the AHSA [1]:

  • "... they want to allow the FBI to keep records on law-abiding citizens who buy guns and put an end to gun shows as we know them. Not to mention the fact that they want to regulate .50 caliber rifles in the same way that machine guns are regulated."
  • "The most telling thing about AHSA is its leadership. Bob Ricker ... is a former NRA employee who switched sides and has actively worked for gun control groups for many years now. ... John Rosenthal ... is one of the founders of the Massachusetts based group Stop Handgun Violence, a group that has been a major force in passing some of the most Draconian state gun laws in the nation."
  • "With leadership like that, there is no doubt about the true goals of AHSA. They are trying to fool hunters and gun owners with a soft sell ... while working behind the scenes to end the sport that we all love."
  • President of AHSA, John E. Rosenthal, is one of the founders of the Massachusetts anti-gun group, Stop Handgun Violence, a group instrumental in having many anti-gun laws in Massachusetts passed.
  • ASHA officials have testified in favor of gun control legislation, such as Washington State bill SB-5197 which aims to restrict sales at gunshows.[16]
  • ASHA opposes the views of the BATFE and Fraternal Order of Police concerning the Tiarht Amendment. These law enforcement groups claim ASHA's perspective would jeopardize both lives and law enforcement operations.[17] [18]

Notes

  1. ^ http://www.newwest.net/index.php/main/article/saving_hunters_from_the_nra/
  2. ^ https://ssl.tnr.com/p/docsub.mhtml?i=20060904&s=blanding090406
  3. ^ http://www.newwest.net/index.php/main/article/saving_hunters_from_the_nra/
  4. ^ http://www.tonydean.com/issues2.html?sectionid=7648.
  5. ^ http://www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org/downloads/misc/2007_summit_schoenke300k.asx
  6. ^ http://www.huntersandshooters.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=32&Itemid=44
  7. ^ http://www.huntersandshooters.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=87&Itemid=44
  8. ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/longterm/library/mdstateleg/govrace/schoenke1.htm
  9. ^ http://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/search.asp?key=YVYY6&txtName=schoenke,%20ray&txtState=(all%20states)&txtAll=Y&Order=N
  10. ^ http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/pacgave.asp?strID=C00113449&Cycle=2000
  11. ^ http://www.huntersandshooters.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=94&Itemid=44
  12. ^ http://www.bradycenter.org/xshare/pdf/reports/on_target.pdf
  13. ^ http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=26943
  14. ^ http://www.gunlawsuits.org/xshare/pdf/reports/lethal-lous.pdf
  15. ^ http://www.govtrack.us/congress/record.xpd?id=109-h20051020-23
  16. ^ http://www.leg.wa.gov/pub/billinfo/2007-08/Pdf/Bill%20Reports/Senate/5197.SBR.pdf (Senate Bill Report of SB-5197)
  17. ^ http://www.fop.net/servlet/display/news_article?id=411&XSL=xsl_pages%2fpublic_news_individual.xsl
  18. ^ http://www.nraila.org/media/PDFs/DOJ_Bloomberg_ltr.pdf
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