In this interview, Scott Olmsted, editor in chief of American Hunter, talks about various politicians who tried to divide hunters from other gun owners near elections. Politicians from Al Gore to John Kerry to, more recently, Minn. Gov. Tim Walz (D), have tried to separate hunters from other gun owners by either claiming to be hunters or to represent “reasonable” gun owners.
As being a hunter is hard to fake, many politicians have made fools of themselves when they, as Walz did, have trouble loading one of “their” guns or breaking basic rules of gun safety.
As Olmsted explores these examples, it is clear many are very funny. But this is important to consider, as such politicians would like to deceive voters into thinking they are pro-Second Amendment when they would actually vote for gun bans and more at the first opportunity.
A recent example of this was when former Vice President Kamala Harris (D) claimed to own a Glock. She was mocked for this even on Left-leaning comedy shows. Voters did not fall for it.
On a more serious note, as American Hunter has often articulated, this matters because hunters—and indeed all gun owners—are major funders of conservation in this nation via taxes on their guns, ammunition and archery equipment. Specifically, the Pittman-Robertson Act, also known as the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act, funds wildlife conservation, research and hunter education through an excise tax on firearms, ammunition and archery equipment. This tax supports various state wildlife agencies for projects like hunter education, wildlife habitat restoration and shooting ranges.
