The NRA has emptied its big guns on Pat Wray, and I
find that hard to understand (HCN, 1/23/06: What’s the NRA’s beef
with roadless areas?). Why would a huge, powerful national
organization fear a man who thinks they should return to their
roots, spending their time fighting on behalf of the Second
Amendment? It certainly isn’t because Wray isn’t a
patriot. He’s an ex-Marine helicopter pilot who was one of
the last to leave Vietnam.
The truth is, the NRA has been
taken over by far-right-wing zealots, and over the past decade,
they have played more politics than anything else. Consider the
publication the NRA chose in which to level their attack on Wray:
Gun Week. Its owner is Alan Gottlieb, one of the
key players in the anti-conservation Wise Use Movement. Ron Arnold,
widely believed to be an architect of Wise Use, is listed as a
contributing writer. These people hold in contempt anyone who
believes in real conservation. Why? I believe because real
conservation stands in the way of allowing the rape and pillage of
natural resources.
The NRA and the few magazines that
have joined it are hurting hunters and anglers over the long haul.
That’s because the future of hunting won’t be
determined by gun laws as much is it will by a lack of access to
quality hunting land — or lost habitat as a result of the
efforts of the Wise Use Movement.
Tony
Dean
Pierre, South Dakota
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline The NRA has it wrong.
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