The Condor furore down the board concerning (some) environmentalists' agenda prompts me to tell you about a couple of ways in which shooting is threatened in Australia.

Environment:
My local outdoor range abuts a state forest. Don't know why, but public service attracts a lot of folk who are anti-shooting. A pipsqueak environmental officer from the shire council issued an order to close the range becaiuse of what he said were high levels of lead escaping into the state forest. The state police (by and large pro-shooting) intervened to say that they used the range for practice, and the council suspended the order while extensive and expensive work was done to contain airborne lead within the range and its extractor systems (it's an outdoor range!) At this local level we don't need to guess people's true agendas, we know them well. The environmental officer didn't give a fig about the state forest, he wanted to get at shooters because he thought that politicians weren't suffiiciently assiduous in banning handguns.

Health & Safety:
My (25m indoor) club range has achieved much positive publicity and firearm familiarisation by allowing non-members to try out the sport with club firearms. Membership is booming. One day recently, I walked in to see fairground-sideshow-style steel tethers in some of the bays. A health & safety officer had tried to shut down the range because unlicensed shooters (under strict and safe RO supervision) were using the place, and might shoot themselves or other people. Of course, we all know the bureaucrat involved, and her purpose was solely to get at the evil but popular pistol club. The range's outstanding safety record and practices didn't come into it. We don't get so many people trying out the sport in the weeks since the tethers went up for unlicensed shooters. Imagine adopting a weaver or isosceles stance with a dirty great steel pole holding your revolver.

Lead is a strong point for the gun grabbers. They can disguise their actions as benefiscial to the environment while stopping us from shooting. Many states EPA's have made it mandatory for tire stores and gas stations to hand their old wheelweights into recycling centers, thus stopping handloaders from their best source of lead. It's a war guys, and our rights are under attack, only now the attack is from gungrabbers disguised as environmentalists .

Don

Funny this post should come up today. My buddy just dropped off 500lbs of hard lead at my gate for me. This along with what I already have will keep me shooting 500 grainers in my 45/70 for a long time. Had a problem last year with one of the epa tree huggers on my property in the high country. He informed me I coundent shoot on Nat. forest property. Pointed out to him he was tresspassing on private property and he wasant in the Nat forest. Things got warm as 2 other tree huggers showed up. We have a deputy here that is assigned to the high country during the summer, he showed up. Tree huggers were real upset when I told the deputy I wanted them arrested for tresspassing. They said they were on Nat forest property and I coundent do that. Deputy informed them they had passed the marker stating they were out of the Nat forest and were indeed on private property. They left said they would be back, deputy told them not a good idea, and they would be arrested. He also told them I could make a citizens arrest and detain them untill he got around to getting there. AINT seen no tree huggers on the propety since. :D Wounder why.

Gun Runner

We can certainly sympathize with you "enlightened" folk in the Commonwealth for the narrowminded restrictions placed on you by the wide-eyed liberals.

Things have a way of going their way - guess it's because there's many more non-gun owning people out there than those that own. Most of them feel there is no reason for a sane person to possess a firearm - after all, its only true purpose is to KILL!!

I've discussed the issue of firearms ownership and rights guaranteed by our Constitution to some of the non-gun group. Mostly, a waste of time and breath. They don't want to listen to sound reasoning and my rights. They only care for their Utopian world where no one has a gun, welfare is extended to all and the Yellow Brick Road leads to Willie Wonka's Chocolate Factory.

Living in a valley where some 3.5 million souls reside, it is getting extremely tough to find a place to shoot or hunt. The nearby national forest has been closed to target shooting - too many folks hiking, horseback riding or other forms of recreating and feel unsafe with "all that shooting going on". Our Two (count'um 2) organized shooting ranges for the whole valley are now swamped with people who used to use the public national lands. The ranges have had to more than triple the number of Rangemasters to accomodate this increase. Now, you go to the range, take a number and wait until a bench opens up to do your shooting.

Realizing this is pretty small potatoes to countries that have pretty well lost the priviledge to own and shoot firearms, nonetheless, the handwriting is on the wall for us, too. If we want to continue enjoying the shooting sports, we need to take active rolls in supporting the organizations that are currently waging the battle for our rights.

Sorry for the longwinded discourse - just have a few things on my mind.

...and the Yellow Brick Road leads to Willie Wonka's Chocolate Factory...

I want that! Just after I have a nice venison steak.