American Hunters and Shooters Association
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The American Hunters and Shooters Association (AHSA) was a United States-based non-profit
501(c)(4) A 501(c) organization is a nonprofit organization in the federal law of the United States according to Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 501(c)) and is one of over 29 types of nonprofit organizations exempt from some federal income taxes. ...
organization which operated from 2005 to 2010. The group described itself as a national grassroots organization for responsible gun ownership and advocated for increased gun control. The organization's president, Ray Schoenke, said the AHSA was intended to bridge the gap between urban liberals and rural gun owners, but closed down due to a lack of support from the Obama administration.Glenn Kessler, "The White House’s curious silence about Obama’s claim of skeet shooting"
Washington Post, Fact Checker, 31 Jan 2013.
Critics, including the National Rifle Association, questioned whether the membership was representative of gun owners and suggested it was a front organization for gun control advocates.


Description

The AHSA described itself as "... a national grassroots organization committed to safe and responsible gun ownership" and "... a mainstream group of hunters who are looking to belong to a gun owners association that doesn't have a radical agenda", and as a moderate, common-sense advocacy organization. It favored most restrictions on firearms, but believed that little progress will be made until gun owners are allowed to bring their common-sense perspective to the table. In March 2008,
Brady Campaign Brady: United Against Gun Violence (formerly “Handgun Control, Inc”., the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence) is an American nonprofit organization that advocates for gun control and again ...
President
Paul Helmke Walter Paul Helmke, Jr. (born 1948) is an American politician, and the former president of the Washington, DC-based Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. He held this position from July 2006 to July 10, 2011.
stated that he saw his organization's issues "as complementary to" those of the AHSA. Despite the similarity in name, AHSA had no ties to the field marksmanship promoting organization, the Hunter's Shooting Association (HSA).


History

In June 2006, Executive Director Bob Ricker formally introduced AHSA at a press conference at the annual conference of the Outdoor Writers Association of America. Ricker said at this conference that the NRA and other 2nd Amendment rights organizations did not address the specific concerns of hunters - protecting hunting lands and wildlife habitats - which led to the creation of AHSA. In 2007, President Ray Schoenke addressed the
Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition Everytown for Gun Safety is an American nonprofit organization which advocates for gun control and against gun violence. Everytown was created in 2013 when Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America joined forc ...
. As of October 19, 2010 The AHSA website has been taken down. President Schoenke stated that the group was closed because of lack of membership.


Stated goals

The AHSA web site indicated four general programs: *"Protecting our sporting heritage" *"Hunting and fishing conservation" *"Gun safety" *"Law enforcement training, outreach and development"


Leadership

The leaders of the AHSA were: * Ray Schoenke, Founding President. A former football player for the
Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...
, Schoenke ran for Governor of
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
in 1998 as a Democrat. He is a millionaire and has contributed to numerous Democratic politicians and causes. Schoenke has donated to Handgun Control, Inc., which actively lobbies to ban some types of firearms, and he was on the Maryland Governor's Commission on Gun Violence in 1996. *Joseph J. Vince Jr., a member of the Board of Directors is the former chief of the BATF's crime guns analysis branch. Currently, he is a principal o
Crime Gun Solutions
Crime Gun Solutions has worked for the Brady Center, providing data analysis supportive of the Federal Assault Weapons Act, and has provided ballistics evidence and analysis in lawsuits against firearm dealers. He was a signer on a letter submitted to Congress opposing the
Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) is a U.S law, passed in 2005, that protects firearms manufacturers and dealers from being held liable when crimes have been committed with their products. Both arms manufacturers and dealers ...
* Jody Powell, co-chairman of the AHSA Advisory Board * A. Austin Dorr, co-chairman of the AHSA Advisory Board * John E. Rosenthal, a founding member of AHSA who left in 2007, is one of the founders of ''
Stop Handgun Violence Stop Handgun Violence is a Boston, Massachusetts-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that works to reduce and prevent injuries and deaths caused by firearms in the United States. The group advocates personal responsibility, public awareness, s ...
'', a group which has been influential in instituting strong restrictions on the ownership of firearms in the state of Massachusetts.


Endorsements

The AHSA endorsed U.S. Senator Barack Obama for president in the 2008 general election: AHSA endorsed Obama based mainly on Obama's vote for the Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act. In 2008, the Obama campaign paid for Shoenke to travel to 40 events in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida and Colorado to address pro-gun voters. The AHSA endorsed the following congressional candidates: * Jim Esch (Nebraska - District 2) * Eric Massa (New York - District 29) * Walt Minnick (Idaho - District 1) * Harry Teague (New Mexico - District 2) - Harry Teague's campaign declined the endorsement. ASHA officials testified in favor of gun control legislation, such as Washington State Bill SB-5197, which aims to restrict private transactions at gun shows and create a database of gun owners. ASHA supported the call by the coalition of
Mayors Against Illegal Guns Everytown for Gun Safety is an American nonprofit organization which advocates for gun control and against gun violence. Everytown was created in 2013 when Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America joined forc ...
to repeal the
Tiahrt Amendment The Tiahrt Amendment ( ) is a provision of the U.S. Department of Justice 2003 appropriations bill that prohibits the National Tracing Center of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) from releasing information from its fi ...
, which restricts gun trace data. Repeal of the amendment is supported by more than 20 national and state police organizations but opposed by the BATFE and
Fraternal Order of Police The Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) is a fraternal organization consisting of sworn law enforcement officers in the United States. It reports a membership of over 355,000 members organized in 2,100 local chapters (lodges), state lodges, and th ...
, on the grounds that repeal would jeopardize lives and law enforcement operations.


Position in D.C. v Heller (2008)

AHSA joined in the amicus curiae brief of Maj. Gen. John D. Altenburg Jr., et al., in the Supreme Court case of D.C. v Heller, arguing that the individual right of the people to keep and bear arms enhances the collective goal of supporting national defense, and that the dichotomy between individual right argued by Heller and collective militia right argued by D.C. is false: the Second Amendment protects both.


Criticism from the NRA

The National Rifle Association (NRA) criticized the AHSA for its members' associations with other gun-control organizations and gun-control legislation. NRA-ILA Executive Director Chris Cox characterized the AHSA as "the latest front group for the anti-gun movement." In August 2005, the NRA said about the AHSA "they want to allow the
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...
to keep records on law-abiding citizens who buy guns and put an end to gun shows as we know them. Not to mention the fact that they want to regulate
.50 caliber This is a list of firearm cartridges which have bullets in the to caliber range. *''Length'' refers to the cartridge case Case or CASE may refer to: Containers * Case (goods), a package of related merchandise * Cartridge case or casing, a ...
rifles in the same way that machine guns are regulated."


References


External links


"Wayback Machine" entry for American Hunters and Shooters Association
Internet Archive
''Sometimes the Enemy Wears Camouflage'', NRA statement on AHSA, August 14, 2005
*Chris W. Cox
"Anti Hunters Don Camo As Elections Loom"
NRA-ILA Executive Director, August 14, 2006

Gun Law News
Introducing the American Hunters & Shooters Association
YouTube video link {{USgunorgs Gun control advocacy groups in the United States 2005 establishments in the United States Organizations established in 2005