Digger's Corner -- Beware 'American Hunters and Shooters Association'
7/28/2005 12:13:50 PM
Some of you might have recently heard of a new organization claiming to
represent hunters and gun owners. As is often the case this organization builds
a nice website and claims to be a friend of hunters when the reality is they are
nothing more than the enemy in camouflage.
The new group calls itself the American Hunters and Shooters Association, a
friendly sounding name designed to part unsuspecting hunters and shooters from
their hard earned dollars. They claim to be a rational voice in the hunting
and gun rights policy debate, implying that groups like NRA are irrational.
Everything about AHSA sounds warm and fuzzy, that is unless you take the time to
look deeper into their website. Quickly you realize that they want to regulate
certain calibers of guns, allow the FBI to keep records on people who buy guns
and put an end to gunshows as we know them.
The most telling thing about AHSA is its leadership. A quick look at the
website shows that Bob Ricker is listed as AHSA Executive Director. Hunters
will remember that Ricker is a former NRA employee who switched sides and has
actively worked for gun control groups for many years now. Most recently Ricker
was paid by a Virginia based anti-gun group, where he lobbied to shut down gun
shows and put further restrictions on gun owners.
John Rosenthal is listed as President of the AHSA Foundation. 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. I fully expect that next year we
will see anti-gun Congressional candidates boasting their AHSA endorsements.
Unfortunately, some gun owners will be fooled by this rhetoric, so help us
spread the word that AHSA isnt what they claim to be.
