Given Chance For Land Policy Alliance, NRA Blows Off Own Toes - Chronicle

[hatrack]

The National Rifle Association locked, loaded and fired its best shot at the Sierra Club this past week only to have the blast explode in its face. Given a chance for an alliance with the Sierra Club and other hunting and environmental organizations to fight for common-ground wildlife habitat issues, NRA President Kayne Robinson said the NRA would go it alone -- throwing in a nasty and false charge against the Clinton Administration that appeared designed to further smear the Sierra Club and inflame hunters.

Robinson said that "26 million acres" of land was "closed to hunting during the Clinton Administration" -- a charge that was "dead wrong" according to former Forest Service chief Michael Dombeck, who heard the comments. When pressed, Robinson could not cite or verify a single example to make his case.

The showdown between the 4 million-member NRA and 750,000-member Sierra Club came as a surprise at the annual conference for the Outdoor Writers Association of America last week in Spokane, Wash.

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"Virtually every elected official they discuss favorably in their literature is dedicated to banning guns," Robinson said. "They want to hoodwink hunters into voting for gun-ban candidates. That is their hidden agenda." The remarks fell flat. "I was embarrassed and appalled (by the NRA)," said Pat Wray of Oregon, an OWAA board member and avid hunter and gun owner. "I stand by their right to say whatever they want," said Steve Griffin of Michigan, another board member. "But the NRA made a complete ass of themselves. "

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[Redneck Socialist]

1. Typical

I'm strongly in favor of the RKBA but for the most part the NRA is a complete whore for the re-pukes. Their last magazine had an interview with Gale Norton and they fell all over themselves singing her praises.

An alliance between the environmental community and hunters and fishers would be huge but would be bad news for the republican anti-environment agenda and the NRA wouldn't want that. Just further evidence that the NRA doesn't really represent the interests of hunters.