NRA-ILA: Hunting Is a Second Amendment Issue, Too

There's nothing in the Second Amendment that says anything about hunting. We've all probably made this point more times than we care to count. The reason is that we keep being told we don't need this or that for hunting, as if that somehow invalidates that whole "shall not be infringed" thing.

However, hunting is an American tradition, and it's one that might not be specified in the Second Amendment, but it's one that's covered by it just like shooting competitions, plinking, self-defense, defense against tyranny, or just thinking guns are cool.

That's the message from the NRA-ILA:

For hunters especially, the stakes extend well beyond any single election. Across the country, political campaigns and advocacy organizations are working to engage hunters, recognizing their role in competitive congressional and statewide races. And for good reason. Hunters represent a politically engaged group whose interests span a broad range of important policy issues including public lands, hunting access, wildlife management, conservation issues, and the long-lasting preservation of traditional hunting opportunities.

But a critically important consideration that should unite all hunters regardless of where they live, what they hunt, or what firearm they carry into the field is that gun control is a hunting issue, too. All of these issues are shaped by political decisions. Often the debate over firearm restrictions is framed as though certain types of hunters have little reason to be concerned. A hunter who carries a bolt action rifle or muzzleloader may believe restrictions targeting semi-automatic firearms have little relevance to their hunting traditions, but nothing could be further from the truth.

The same political movement that seeks to prohibit commonly owned semi-automatic firearms also supports restrictions on all firearm purchases, ammunition types, and in general, lawful gun ownership. The Second Amendment does not distinguish between hunters based on their preferred firearm nor should the defense of our constitutional freedoms.

From time to time, anti-gun politicians will reach out to hunters and pretend that they're not coming after their hunting rifles, that they just want those evil assault weapons, and a lot of hunters buy into it.

However, as we saw at Bondi Beach, sooner or later, someone will use a bolt-action "hunting rifle" for a massacre, and suddenly they're throwing hunters under the bus.

They're not interested in preserving a hunting tradition. They're interested in pretending they're not anti-gun zealots.

As the wise man once said, we either hang together or we shall all hang separately.

In this case, it'll be our gun rights that will be hung out to dry, and it'll be because we didn't stand united in the face of anti-gun aggression. Let's not forget they went after handguns for years before they turned their sights onto the modern sporting rifle, a gun that most definitely can be used to hunt but can also defend our lives and liberty far more effectively than any other long gun available to us today.

Hunting is a Second Amendment issue.

It's time for hunters to recognize that if they don't defend our rights, we won't be around to defend theirs when it's their turn in the crosshairs.

Editor’s Note: The radical Left will stop at nothing to enact their extreme gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.

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