(Columbus, Ohio) If you feel you are being squeezed as a hunter or angler, you are not alone. More and more hunters, anglers, recreational shooters, and trappers are facing more restrictive laws, less access, reduced opportunities, and fewer options.
The restrictions and attacks have occurred at the local, state and the national levels. Much of this has been caused by subversive laws passed in part because of back-door politics and deep funding by the animal rights lobby. Among these groups that are working against YOU are the Humane Society of the United States, PETA, ASPCA, Center for Biological Diversity and many others.
Thanks to the newly formed Sportsmen’s Issue Defense Fund (SIDF), developed by the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance (USSA), the future of hunting and angling looks much brighter. The SIDF was launched during a recent USSA board meeting in Columbus, Ohio.
This fund will provide the “on-the-ground” dollars necessary to initiate efforts to protect the rights of sportsmen and sportswomen from attacks. The SIDF will support direct lobbying, grassroots coalition building, ballot issue campaigning, and legislative and government relations. In short, it’s a working fund, or war chest, designed to insure the future of hunting, angling, trapping, and recreational shooting across America.
“Every year I have been involved with the USSA, the animal rights lobby has attacked our hunting heritage,” said Mason Lampton, vice-chairman of the USSA’s board of directors. “This year is no different as we’ve seen no signs that they are letting up. As history is my judge, we will not let up either.”
This fund will work in many ways and at many levels. It will defend against local dog laws affecting sporting dog owners and breeders, against trapping restrictions, against efforts to reduce hunting seasons, against unnecessary lead sinker and traditional ammunition restrictions, fishing-focused issues, plus other issues as they arise. As the anti-hunting forces are planning their next move and securing the funds to push their agendas, the SIDF is a chance to build a wall of protection against these attacks.
It’s important to note that all sportsmen and women will benefit from this unified fund that will pool financial resources for the defense of our outdoor heritage. The SIDF will draw resources from the entire sportsmen community and provide the strongest –and most immediate—defense for each facet of our hunting heritage.
“The SIDF will provide immediate seed money whenever and wherever the animal rights lobby attacks our great hunting heritage,” continued Lampton. “Whether in the states, in Washington D.C., or at the ballot.”
The SIDF fund is open for support by all sportsmen and women.
Fighting for our heritage is not cheap. State and national campaigns are expensive to launch and carry out. The SIDF goal is to secure $1 million to ensure funding is available at a moment’s notice to defend all hunting, fishing, recreational shooting and trapping activities. This is an on-going fund that sportsmen and women across America are urged to donate generously in their defense.
This SIDF fund needs your input immediately. The time is now as a hunting community to circle the wagons to defend the smallest segments of hunters, trappers, shooters, and anglers. If smaller segments of hunters and anglers are forced out, you could be the next group in the sights of the anti-hunting and animal rights lobby. The anti- forces are already whittling away your rights, access, opportunities and options. A fully funded SIDF’s mission is to turn back these attacks. Donate now!
“We must ban together, pool all our resources, and stand up for our sport, our heritage, our fight!” concluded Lampton.
About the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance: The USSA is a national watchdog organization that protects the rights of hunters, anglers and trappers in the courts, legislatures, at the ballot and in Congress. Last year, the USSA served more than 3.1 million sportsmen in 44 states through their work on bills and other issues, educational programs, and legal defense. Currently, the USSA has more than 150,000 members who act as a powerful grassroots network for sportsmen and sportswomen from coast to coast. For more information about the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance, call (614) 888-4868 or visit: www.ussportsmen.org.
