{"id":9563,"date":"2014-01-06T10:00:09","date_gmt":"2014-01-06T15:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gunpoliticsny.com\/?p=9563"},"modified":"2014-01-06T10:00:09","modified_gmt":"2014-01-06T15:00:09","slug":"wheres-my-wheelbarrow-full-of-cash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gunpoliticsny.com\/?p=9563","title":{"rendered":"Where’s my wheelbarrow full of cash?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brian Donnelly writes to the Buffalo News<\/a>:<\/p>\n

As the 2013 big game season ends, I wonder how many hunters boycotted it. I did. I didn\u2019t buy the licenses, the ammo, another game camera or anything else.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I did too.\u00a0 But then I do that every year as I don’t hunt.<\/p>\n

The big game hunters of New York State are the only successful and dependable tool Albany has to manage the deer and bear populations. The National Rifle Association<\/a>, the Shooters Committee on Political Education and the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association<\/a> are the loudest voices in the face of the SAFE Act. Yet they didn\u2019t call for a boycott of our big game season. Why?<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Because there was no way it was going to accomplish anything even if it worked, which it wasn’t going to in the first place.\u00a0 It doesn’t address the issue.<\/p>\n

The passing of the SAFE Act created a windfall of profits for firearm and ammunition manufacturers and retailers. It increased memberships in every Second Amendment rights organization nationally and statewide. SCOPE membership is said to have doubled.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The 637,176 big game licenses sold in 2011 generated $30.2 million! That is just the \u201cbig game\u201d segment of sales. The solidarity of small game hunters, trappers and fishermen standing together in total non-participation of this current season would have sent a shockwave of opposition to Albany \u2013 license revenue, sales tax revenue, retailers screaming bloody murder.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

These “sportsmen” are already standing together in near total non-participation in the political process. Has a single “sportsmen’s” group taken issue with Governor Cuomo<\/a> trying to portray himself as their best bud<\/a>?\u00a0 No.\u00a0 Not a single member of the state legislature or statewide candidate for public office has been elected or un-elected because of the actions of “sportsmen” and they all know it.\u00a0 That is the issue.<\/p>\n

Total deer take for 2012 was 242,957, based on a statewide hunter reporting rate of 44.3 percent. Think about a quarter million deer still walking around the state now. And 100,000 or more fawns next spring. The statewide 2012 black bear harvest was 1,337 animals.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This means nothing in Albany.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a protest, raising awareness in non-hunters and the anti-gun public. Clear-thinking New Yorkers know there are fat cats at the top of most organizations. The NRA has them; SCOPE and NYSRPA are growing them, too. The loudest voices really don\u2019t want to solve the problem. It\u2019s a simple dog-and-pony show to grow membership, increasing their revenue.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Fat cats?\u00a0 I don’t get paid anything.\u00a0 Where’s my wheelbarrow full of cash<\/a>?<\/p>\n