I totally detest any so called hunting organization that wants more gun control. Do not drink the AHSA poisoned Kool Aid. How are we going to get the AHSA to change their position on gun control? We are not going to be able to persuade this bunch on anti-gunners to change their position.
Look at the founders of the AHSA:
http://74.6.239.67/search/cache?ei=...&w=ahsa+"ah+sa"&d=LcqMqUfiSEb2&icp=1&.intl=us
Founders / Executives
While AHSA purports to be a pro-hunting, pro-conservation and pro-gun organization, its leadership and board would qualify
as a blue ribbon committee of activists who are anything but friends to the hunting, shooting sports and firearms community.
Let’s take a look at who runs this “hunters and shooters” organization:
Robert Ricker (Executive Director, AHSA) • Paid witness against the firearms industry for cases where plaintiffs attempted to hold gun manufacturers liable for the criminal misuse of their products by third parties. • Monthly salary of $3000; AHSA claims no more than 150 members who pay $25 dues. The rest of the money comes from “individual contributions” with the largest contributors on the AHSA board of directors.iv• Paid an hourly fee of $225 to $250 dollars for testimony, depositions, and meetings with the Brady Campaign.v• Consults for the Educational Fund to End Handgun Violence (the “educational” arm of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence).vi(
http://www.csgv.org/) • Consults with Virginians for Public Safety (
http://www.vapublicsafety.com/) (lobbying for additional restrictions on law abiding gun owners).vii
Ray Schoenke (President, AHSA) • Mr. Schoenke, his wife, his daughter and son have been generous donors of anti-gun candidates including: Al Gore, Barbara Boxer, Bill Clinton, Dianne Feinstein, Ted Kennedy, Carolyn McCarthy and John Kerry.viii• Mr. Schoenke and his wife donated $10,000 to Handgun Control, Inc. (HCI) in 2000.ix• Mr. Schoenke’s daughter and son each contributed $5000 to HCI in 2000.x
John Rosenthal (President, AHSA Foundation) • Rosenthal is the leader of Stop Handgun Violence, the principal anti-gun group in the state of Massachusetts (credited with being the “political force behind the strict gun control laws of Massachusetts”xi) • Rosenthal is a former member of the HCI board of directors, now known as the Brady Campaign. • Rosenthal has most recently focused his energy on voicing opposition to firearms’ advertisements during sporting events < http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=154057>
Jody Powell (Co-Chairman, AHSA Advisory Board) • Press Secretary for one of the most anti-gun U.S. administrations, President Jimmy Carter.
Joe Vince (Board Member, AHSA) • Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) architect of the Clinton-Gore regulatory assault on the Second Amendment. • His company Crime Gun Solutions (CGS) employs a number of other ex-ATF officials including Gerard Nunziato, who told the Houston Chronicle that “If it wasn’t for criminals, there wouldn’t be a gun industry in this country.” • Crime Gun Solutions provides consulting services for the lawyers at the Brady Campaign, frequently appearing as paid expert witnesses in lawsuits against the firearms industry. i“NRA Doesn’t Represent Both Hunters and Gun Owners” (Bill Schneider, NewWest, July 21, 2006) iihttp://www.huntersandshooters.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=130&Itemid=32 (The American Hunters and Shooters Association website)