American Hunters and Shooters Association Responds to its Critics

[one...two...tree 2,762]

AHSA says ignore NRA-generated attacks and concentrate on common sense gun laws and conserving wildlife habitat.

Editor’s Note: If you visit NewWest.Net regularly, you know I’ve frequently written about the gun issue, the National Rifle Association (NRA), and the rival organization, the American Hunters and Shooters Association (AHSA). Every time I mention AHSA, commenters claim the group is nothing but a front for anti-gun groups or the ultra-liberal wing of the Democratic Party, or both. To address these concerns, I asked the ASHA to respond in detail to these claims. The Advisory Board of the AHSA prepared the following guest commentary exclusively for NewWest.Net.--Bill Schneider

Quite simply, the NRA has lost touch with American hunters and shooters. What was once a mainstream organization that represented the views of a majority of gun owners has lost its way. Had NRA been fulfilling its stated responsibility there would be no need for an alternative organization like AHSA. The NRA leadership knows we are right and that is why their attacks are based upon half-truths, innuendo and character assassination.

....

...if you are a hard-core NRA supporter you are probably not going to like AHSA. AHSA’s base is made up of those gun owners yearning for something more than the tired old “my way or the highway” philosophy. AHSA’s leadership understands NRA’s slash and burn tactics and we believe most straight-thinking hunters and shooters do, too.

http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/ameri...ritics/C41/L41/

[justashooter 430]

AHSA is a troll set up by the brady bunch, and we all (those in shooting sports) know this. Gun Owners Of America (GOA) is the real threat to NRA status. GOA finds a less "fuddy" position and isn't all about "duck huntin'", like today's NRA. The NRA used to be a shooting sports association with broad appeal. today it's just a "fudd club".

[one...two...tree 2,762]

AHSA is a troll set up by the brady bunch

Proof?

[justashooter 430]

AHSA is a troll set up by the brady bunch

Proof?

http://www.nraila.org/Issues/FactSheets/Re...2&issue=011

http://www.nraila.org/Issues/Articles/Read...1&issue=011

http://dustinsgunblog.blogspot.com/2008/04...i-gun-ahsa.html

http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:ubBINY...=clnk&gl=us

http://www.nssf.org/share/PDF/AHSA.pdf

Founders / Executives

While AHSA purports to be a pro-hunting, pro-conservation and pro-gun organization, its leadership and board would qualify as a blue ribbon committee of activists who are anything but friends to the hunting, shooting sports and firearms community. Let’s take a look at who runs this “hunters and shooters” organization:

Robert Ricker (Executive Director, AHSA)

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Paid witness against the firearms industry for cases where plaintiffs attempted to hold gun manufacturers liable for the criminal misuse of their products by third parties.

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Monthly salary of $3000; AHSA claims no more than 150 members who pay $25 dues. The rest of the money comes from “individual contributions” with the largest contributors on the AHSA board of directors.iv

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Paid an hourly fee of $225 to $250 dollars for testimony, depositions, and meetings with the Brady Campaign.v

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Consults for the Educational Fund to End Handgun Violence (the “educational” arm of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence).vi (http://www.csgv.org/)

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Consults with Virginians for Public Safety (http://www.vapublicsafety.com/) (lobbying for additional restrictions on law abiding gun owners).vii

Ray Schoenke (President, AHSA)

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Mr. Schoenke, his wife, his daughter and son have been generous donors of anti-gun candidates including: Al Gore, Barbara Boxer, Bill Clinton, Dianne Feinstein, Ted Kennedy, Carolyn McCarthy and John Kerry.viii

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Mr. Schoenke and his wife donated $10,000 to Handgun Control, Inc. (HCI) in 2000.ix

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Mr. Schoenke’s daughter and son each contributed $5000 to HCI in 2000.x

John Rosenthal (Former President, AHSA Foundation)

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Rosenthal is the leader of Stop Handgun Violence, the principal anti-gun group in the state of Massachusetts (credited with being the “political force behind the strict gun control laws of Massachusetts”xi)

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Rosenthal is a former member of the HCI board of directors, now known as the Brady Campaign.

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Rosenthal has most recently focused his energy on voicing opposition to firearms’ advertisements during sporting events < http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional...rticleid=154057 >

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Rosenthal resigned from AHSA in May 2007 following his continued public involvement with gun-ban groups – activities that drew unwanted attention to the clandestine anti-gun agenda of the AHSA.

Jody Powell (Co-Chairman, AHSA Advisory Board)

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Press Secretary for one of the most anti-gun U.S. administrations, President Jimmy Carter.

Richard Feldman (Paid Consultant to AHSA)

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Author of “Ricochet” – a book denouncing the National Rifle Association

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Paid consultant to anti-gun New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg

Joe Vince (Board Member, AHSA)

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Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) architect of the Clinton-Gore regulatory assault on the Second Amendment.

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His company Crime Gun Solutions (CGS) employs a number of other ex-ATF officials including Gerard Nunziato, who told the Houston Chronicle that “If it wasn’t for criminals, there wouldn’t be a gun industry in this country.”

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Crime Gun Solutions provides consulting services for the lawyers at the Brady Campaign, frequently appearing as paid expert witnesses in lawsuits against the firearms industry.

[Ban Hammer 13,355]

i'd call that a slam dunk.

[Caladan 19]

That shows they disagree. It doesn't show that they're a troll. (I'm not sure what that would mean, here. That they're really pro-handgun? They seem to be pretty straightforward about what they support.) They're not the NRA, obviously, but the NRA is not the only permissible gun owners' organization. It sounds like these guys are pro-regulation on handguns.

In any case, the new political movement is real, because there's a natural alliance between sportsmen who like to hunt and conservationists who like to preserve places where people can do hunting. (And sport shooting has become popular among some liberal DC pundits. Gun control just isn't the heart of any national campaigns these days.)

[almaty 19]

i looked into joining

[almaty 19]

i looked into joining