There could be more public shooting ranges
The USFWS Range in Brooklyn, MS. I trek there often when my normal ranges are booked and love to spend a quiet morning there. It’s free, and public, funded by PRWRA dollars. Everyone should have easy access to such on public land, but sadly, this is not the case. (Photo: Chris Eger)
A bipartisan measure that could see the number of shooting ranges available on public land expanded was reported out of committee last week in the U.S. House.
The proposal would use money already made available to the federal government through the Wildlife Restoration Act of 1937, commonly referred to as Pittman–Robertson after the two lawmakers pivotal to its passage. This 80-year-old law uses an excise tax levied on all firearms and ammunition sold or imported into the country to perform conservation-related tasks as varied as restoring elk habitat to funding safety programs and establishing public shooting ranges.
It is hoped by supporters of the bill that the move to up the number of public ranges will help turn around flagging numbers of hunters in the field.
More in my column at Guns.com