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Chuck Schumer, a friend of hunters?
Despite rumors of global warming, Hell may actually be freezing over. I base that speculation on U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer’s sensible, sportsman-friendly proposal to use federal incentives to open farmers’ gates to hunters.
Unless you’ve been counting glow worms in the bottom of a cave for the last decade, you know that Schumer, a New York Democrat, is possibly Washington’s most consistent, effective and diabolical enemy of hunters and gun owners. The architect of the Assault Weapons Ban and the Brady Act, Schumer has voted against a ban on lawsuits on gun manufacturers and supported background checks at gun shows.
So it’s more than surprising that Schumer has backed a proposal in the 2007 Farm Bill that would establish a voluntary public access program that could compensate landowners for opening their gates to hunters. It’s a timely and welcome idea. While the nation’s deer herd – especially white-tailed deer east of the Mississippi – has grown to nuisance levels in many places, hunters find fewer places to hunt as deer habitat is either leased or converted to subdivisions and strip malls.
This Farm Bill title recognizes hunters as effective wildlife managers, and it could substantially increase the amount of land available to us if the bill becomes law. According to the Schumer proposal, state and tribal governments could apply for federal grants to pay private farmers, ranchers and forest managers who allow anglers, hunters and wildlife watchers to use their property.
It’s not unlike the Open Fields initiative, congressional legislation that promotes public hunting on private land. And it’s not unlike the access programs of several Western states, including Wyoming’s Access Yes!, Montana’s Block Management and South Dakota’s Walk-In Program. But the Schumer proposal would use federal money, not state hunting-license dollars, to fund the incentives. That’s an overt admission that hunters matter, even that we are doing a public service by harvesting does and bucks, and that – along with private landowners – we hunters are the best resources to manage wildlife and conserve wildlife habitat.
We deer and turkey hunters owe Chuck Schumer a nod and a thanks. Just don’t tell our senator from Brooklyn that we’ll be using guns to control the nation’s deer herd.
Andrew McKean
Hell did just freeze over, or did it?
Schumer is just trying to divide hunters vs shooters. Remember the big stink over zumbo's comments? Schumer and his cronies saw the way that some of the AR gang and some of the so called "fudds" fought like hell over the zumbo's comments.
This is just a way to suck up to hunters and then drop a new assault weapons bill on shooters. Schumer and the other anti's hope this will make them seem more reasonable to the rest of the country when it comes to gun ownership and hunting.
Posted by: jstreet | November 16, 2007 at 03:42 PM
I don't know for sure what Shumer has up his sleeve, but I will say that in the end, he plans disaster for we the people.
Posted by: Shaky | November 17, 2007 at 12:52 AM
A leopard doesn't just change spots that easily.
Posted by: endolane | November 17, 2007 at 07:11 AM
Shumer, like all political animals is pragmatic, if nothing else. Ask yourself that if you had your eye on the presidency down the road, would you want 40 or 50 million pissed off gun owners out to get you. He's schemeing something or other. He does not love us.
Posted by: William Giordano | November 17, 2007 at 11:24 AM
One step at a time, fellas. Upstaters vote for Senate, too, and this is bound to help the farmers in the North Country who are watching the milk check shrink and shrink and shrink.
When Chuck comes back with a bill shooters/hunters don't like, then we can go after the bill. Hate the sin, love the sinner. Politics is the art of compromise, after all.
Posted by: Gman | November 17, 2007 at 03:22 PM
Gman wrote:
Politics is the art of compromise, after all.
Gman,
Politics is "supposed" to be the art of compromise. This guy isn't compromising anything when it comes to guns. I still say he's trying to divide the ranks.
If you look back @ the Zumbo posts, so many AR guys said that if black rifles were banned they would turn against the "Fudds" and hunting.
Schumer and his gang see this stuff and wonder if they can divide us and pass a new "common sense" assault weapons ban. If Hillary wins the White House, that ban will be pushed hard. You can bet on that.
Posted by: jstreet | November 18, 2007 at 04:00 PM
Passing a hunting subsidy bill is not the same as passing a pro-gun bill at all. Presumably landowners would receive subisidies for hunters weilding knives, bows, rifles, or handguns. So this bill is not a "pro-gun" bill and that makes it much easier for Schumer to vote for.
It is always easier to for politicians to pass pro hunting bills than it is for them to pass pro-gun bills (the exception being for predatory animals like wolves, bears, and mountain lions). By passing these bills they can say they support the "American Sportsman" (I think they'd use the more PC "Sportsperson") on the one hand and on the other they can say they support "The Children" (though we're never sure which children) by working to ban any gun that is capable of accomplishing the task for which it was built - lobing projectiles out of a tube (accurately I should hope).
Now then, I don't pay much attention to Schumer so I can't pretend to know his motives - but I would guess that he is smart enough to realize that this is a bill that will be popular with farmers and hunters in his state, and completely inoffensive to most everyone else who neither farms nor hunts. Of course it will still irritate the real hardcore Animal Liberation Front types - but there really no pleasing them, short of the human population participating in one mass suicide.
I'm not going to proofread this, but I hope it makes sense. If not I'll elaborate further once one of you yahoos disagrees with me.
Posted by: ben | November 19, 2007 at 03:10 PM
We're here to tell the NRA their nightmare is true!... We're going to hammer guns on the anvil of relentless legislative strategy. We're going to beat guns into submission!-- Rep. Charles Schumer on NBC Nightly News Nov. 30, 1993.
"It would be the greatest mistake, certainly, to think that concessions mean peace. Nothing of the kind. Concessions are nothing but a new form of war." -- Vladimir Ilyich Lenin [Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov] (1870 - 1924), First Leader of the Soviet Union
"Politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed." -- Mao Tse-Tung Premier of China (1893 - 1976)
Chuckie Schemer is a marxist, we are war with the Amerikan Communist Insurgency, and the govt. has no business using tax dollars to pay farmers to let people use their private property as 'public' land.
Wake up people. When you dance with the devil you don't change him, he changes you.
It's way past time to stop dancing with these devils and start treating them as what they are, our blood enemies.
Posted by: Barry Bright | November 29, 2007 at 10:19 AM
CHUCK A FRIEND OF HUNTERS? WOW! WHAT NEXT? HILLARY GETS RELIGION?!! OH YEAH, JUST HAPPENED YESTERDAY. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,314023,00.html
MANNNN, DO I SENSE ABSOLUTE DESPERATION?!!!!
Posted by: GR8GUY | November 30, 2007 at 01:26 AM
Andrew, you are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Naive!!!
With Federal Money comes Federal REGULATIONS...
Get it?
Chuck Schumer is a slimy liberal lying suckweasel.
Posted by: Mongo | November 30, 2007 at 12:18 PM
Pro-hunters? In the article it NEVER said guns - so he could slip in bow and crossbows? He is using subterfuge to start putting some people to sleep.
And he will be using FEDERAL dollars to BUY general voters and some hunters, but it is another form of control, becuase "MONGO" is correct - Federal Regulation which Schumer will direct and control.
And where will he get the additional funding? MORE TAXES!
I would still like the free market to control hunting.
Posted by: Harding | December 06, 2007 at 05:46 PM
Andrew,
I'll go ahead and give Chucko a nod, but let me just get a tighter grip on my gun first. I trust that guy as far as I can throw him.
Posted by: Pete | December 28, 2007 at 12:41 PM