If you just so happen to find yourself perusing through the Washington Post’s opinion section, you might stumble upon this gem: “The NRA’s idea of recreation: Assault rifles, armor-piercing bullets and silencers.”

As you’d expect based on the snide headline, the piece tears into the NRA for supporting sport-shooting. More specifically, the author takes issues with the NRA’s backing of the Sportsmen’s Heritage and Recreational Enhancement Act of 2017, also known as the SHARE Act, which was recently revived by the House.

In fact, the (bipartisan) bill was advanced by the House Committee on Natural Resources on Wednesday. According to the committee, the act “expands opportunities for hunting, fishing, and recreational shooting; increases safety and hearing protection for sportsmen and women; and protects Second Amendment rights.”

Upon passage out of the committee, Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) said, “The SHARE Act removes bureaucratic roadblocks that inhibit Americans’ access to outdoor sporting activities on federal lands and reigns in federal encroachment on Second Amendment rights. Members also adopted important amendments that improve upon this package, including provisions to address cumbersome permitting processes for guides and outfitters, which will result in more jobs and more Americans recreating outdoors. I look forward to advancing this package through the House and working with our Senate colleagues on a final bill that can be signed into law.”  

However, in the eyes of the Washington Post, if the bill is passed, it means  hunters will soon be able to “load their automatic weapons with armor-piercing bullets, strap on silencers, head off to the picnic grounds on nearby public lakes — and start shooting.”

Thankfully, the NRA wasn’t going to let this one go. It decided the best way to address this poorly-researched, fear-mongering article would be with, well, facts (via the NRA Blog):

Washington Post Fake News:

Under the Share Act, hunters “will load their automatic weapons with armor-piercing bullets, strap on silencers, head off to the picnic grounds on nearby public lakes — and start shooting.”

The Facts:

Automatic Weapons

It is against the law in every state to hunt with fully automatic firearms. Such weapons are highly restricted and very rare due to the 1986 ban on their manufacture or importation.  The SHARE Act doesn’t change this.

“Armor piercing bullets”

All shotgun and rifle ammunition is so-called armor piercing. Congress never intended to place restrictions on all shotgun and rifle ammunition. The SHARE Act simply clarifies congressional intent and limits interpretations that are contrary to that.

Picnic grounds and public lakes

Laws restrict hunting and shooting to designated areas on public lands. You can’t just go to any casual “picnic ground” and “start shooting.”

Washington Post Fake News:

The SHARE Act would allow people to “bring assault guns and other weapons through jurisdictions where they are banned.”

The Facts:

Since 1986, federal law has allowed a person in lawful possession of any firearm to transport it from any place where they can lawfully possess a firearm to any other place where they can lawfully possess the firearm. But prosecutors in anti-gun states such as New York and New Jersey have ignored this federal law, and arrested individuals who were lawfully travelling with firearms.  The SHARE Act would put a stop to that.

Washington Post Fake News:

The SHARE Act would “[r]oll back decades-old regulations on the use of silencers.
The Facts:

The SHARE Act would simply make it easier for law-abiding gun owners to protect their hearing with suppressors, sometimes called silencers in Hollywood movies. Current federal law requires registration, the paying of a $200 tax, and up to a 12 month wait to acquire a firearm suppressor. The SHARE Act would replace that antiquated 1934 system with the modern NICS system used for acquiring firearms in the United States.

According to the Center for Disease Control,“The only potentially effective noise control method to reduce students’ or instructors’ noise exposure from gunfire is through the use of noise suppressors that can be attached to the end of the gun barrel.”  The SHARE Act recognizes that we must give law-abiding sportsmen and women greater options for protecting their hearing.

Washington Post Fake News:

The SHARE Act would: “Eas[e] importation of foreign-made assault rifles.”

The Facts:

Due to a quirk in federal firearms import law, firearms that are perfectly legal to manufacture, acquire, and possess in the United States are nonetheless prohibited from importation.  The SHARE Act would simply allow for the importation of firearms that are already legal within the United States.

Washington Post Fake News:

The SHARE Act would “[protect] the practice of baiting birds with grain as they migrate and then [mow] them down.

The Facts:

Currently, if a person happens to hunt migratory game birds near a cornfield, they could be cited for “baiting” the animals.  This law leaves hunters open to fines whenever hunting near any agricultural operations. The SHARE Act would clarify that such activities are only unlawful where the agricultural operations are manipulated in some way to entice the game birds into the area.

Well done, NRA, for putting this WaPo columnist in his place.