Trash Shooters: Arizona's Hunter and Ash Canyons Closed to Shooting

The "two percent" who are irresponsible ruin it for the 98% who are responsible.

Shooting Wire:
(July 02, 2014)
Arizona's Hunter and Ash Canyons Closed to ShootingSIERRA VISTA, AZ -

ANOTHER part of Public Lands is closed to shooters, because of the activity of 'some' shooters'.
And the inactivity of other shooters.

Apparently, this area in the Coronado National Forest in Arizona has been closed to "all recreational shooting" due to the irresponsible conduct of a few members of what we may choose to to call "The Shooting Community".

Beginning July 1, 2014 the Coronado National Forest, Sierra Vista Ranger District, will close Ash and Hunter Canyons to all recreational shooting.
 The emergency closure is being implemented due to excessive resource damage to trees and other vegetation in both canyons and large amounts of trash, shells and lead being deposited in trees and on the ground.
 Closing the area to shooting will allow the area to recover, improving vegetative growth and wildlife habitat, and allow for cleanup of damaged hazard trees as well as lead, shells and shooting debris.
 The closure order will remain in effect until July 1, 2015 or until it is rescinded. During this time the Sierra Vista Ranger District will develop an overall Shooting Management Plan for all of the canyons along the east side of the Huachuca Mountains.
 The emergency closure prohibits discharging a firearm, air rifle or gas gun in the restricted area. Binary explosives such as Tannerite remain illegal in all areas of the Coronado National Forest at all times of the year.

This announcement speaks for itself.

I know there must be responsible members of "the shooting community" which also use this National Forest land for shooting.  If so, I imagine that they try to clean up the area when they visit it.  But if the Trash Shooters outnumber the Real People, it's impossible to keep up with the mess those "other people" leave behind.

Perhaps the Real People are outnumbered, and only the Trash Shooters use that area now; in that case, the Forest Service folks have taken the only remaining solution --- to close the area to ALL shooters.

Arizona, you need to clean up your act.  I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but the Forest Service can not, and will not, monitor the activities of everyone who uses that area.  (And no, I am not familiar with the situation; "all I know is what I read in the newspapers".)

I'm not sure if there's anything that can be done to resolve this situation.  I hate to see any area of public range/forest closed to shooting.  If anyone is deprived of the opportunity to shoot, and the Forest Service can't keep up with the damage ... then it seems up to the few (?) who are responsible to take it into their own hands to maintain the area.

The use of Tannerite on public lands is, in my mind, entirely responsible.

This is our land, folks.  We're responsible for what happens there, even (or especially) if we are not the people who are making the mess.

Otherwise ... no matter how responsible you are, you are not part of the solution.

All Quiet - But Why?

As usual,I'm still posting the excellent articles by Jim Shepherd on "The Shooting Wire" (subscribe here).

And I'm still encouraging those of you who have not yet subscribed to this excellent Shooting Sports thrice-weekly shooting-sports related newsletter to subscribe.

This week, Mr. Shepherd postulates that the Obama-Boom in firearms sales is winding down. With notable exceptions:

Over the past few days, I've been running one of my extremely non-scientific, non-comprehensive, not-representative-of-anything-other-than-what-people-tell-me surveys of the firearms retail business.

And the research tells me what everyone already knows: gun sales are slowing again. It seems the "Barack Boom" has started to go bust. No real reason, other than maybe the fact that everyone has all the AR-style rifles they can shoot, store or afford, but there is an undeniable slowdown --virtually across the board. One exception, the still-ubiquitous .22 caliber rifles. They are selling quite well - probably because we've all realized that our assorted thumper guns have become the "gas guzzlers" of the shooting industry.

OK, I know some of you are going to take a shot at me for that analogy, but it's a simple fact- even to a writer who's been fortunate enough to have enjoyed lots of chances to shoot up someone else's ammo - that the days of "here, I don't want to haul this last 100 rounds of (your caliber here) back to the office, so you take it" are as gone as the roaring twenties.

Today, when an event's over, the ammo, and in some cases, the brass itself, is gathered up, boxed up, and shipped back to the office - or on to the next event. And the number of "events" isn't what it used to be, either.

Handguns, especially those little ones we've written so much about, continue to sell through very well. And as the calendars count down to hunting seasons across the country, there is a moderate amount of interest in the traditional-style hunting rifle.

Along with those rifles and some shotguns where mandated for deer hunting, scopes and other accessories/necessities are also moving pretty well.

The most positive thing I'm continuing to hear is the steady demand for qualified firearms training. It's reassuring to know that many of the first-time gun buyers aren't just sticking them away for future reference. They're getting real instruction and putting in some basic trigger time. That will make them considerably more inclined to get off the sidelines and start shooting for recreation.

As Rob Leatham says, he's never had anyone he's invited out to the range tell him they've had a bad time. Ditto everyone else with the possible exception of a few former military instructors. Their training's a bit too intense for most, although it's quite effective.

But it's very quiet out there in the industry right now. Discussion with other observers attributes that to several factors, not the least of which is companies working on their 2010 budgets, preparing their materials for 2010 rollouts at SHOT Show, and getting the last-minute kinks out of new products.

A couple of things worth noting....Legislation headed to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's would eliminate all gun shows at San Francisco's Cow Palace. According to the Oakland Tribune, SB 585 stipulates that no more than five gun shows may be held at the Cow Palace during 2010, 2011, and 2012. All gun shows would be out in 2013. According to Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) the bill outlawing the shows is "about respecting local values and local standards."

The whole stink is over a series of gun shows called "Crossroads of the West" which are held periodically at the Cow Palace. They regularly draw between two and three thousand Bay Area residents. In fact, the next show is scheduled for September 19-20. No word on what will happen for the shows scheduled for November, January, March and May. If the law passes, that will fill the five show quota, effectively eliminating all gun shows there. Alameda, Marin and Los Angeles counties have already enacted local ordinances banning gun shows at county-owned facilities.

As I've written before, it never stops, and we'll keep you posted.

--Jim Shepherd

New Jersey vs The Shooting Wire

Once again, our friend Jim Shepherd of "The Shooting Wire" excoriates an Eastern Seaboard State which has a Big Johnson against the Second Amendment, and once again I quote his thrice-weekly opinion piece supporting the Second Amendment.

[And also, because The Shooting Wire remains determined to provide a "permanent link" to Shepherd's commentary, I am obliged to quote the thrice-weekly commentary in full, in order to provide you with his opinion. Again, I urge you to subscribe to The Shooting Wire to avail yourself of ... in this instance ... his incisive commentary also on "Second Amendment Foundation has filed suit against the District of Columbia in an effort to compel the District to issue carry permits to law-abiding citizens", and "the National Park Service has launched a program encouraging hunters to voluntarily switch to alternative ammunitions and stop using lead bullets. The NPS says the lead's a health threat." You should subscribe to The Shooting Wire here. Do it now!]

Geek take: transparent attempt to undermine the Second Amendment.

Shepherd sez:

Bad Laws, Bad Legislators, Bad Ideas

On Friday, it would be nice to be able to talk about the anticipation with which we all look toward the weekend. After all, it's the most continuous time many of us have to enjoy the outdoors. Some Fridays, unfortunately, that's just not possible.

Yesterday, New Jersey became the fourth state to pass legislation limiting state residents to one handgun purchase every thirty days. We have been told, however, that this isn't legislation designed to be anti-handgun - it's anti-violence legislation.

Right. It's necessary in a state with almost as many firearms regulations as indicted legislators. It's nothing more than "feel-good" legislation. The bill's supporters says it's going to cut of a supply of guns to gangs and others who use straw purchases to do their gun buying for them.

In fact, says Bryan Miller, executive director of Ceasefire NJ, [link added by Cogito Ergo Geek editor] "The only people who need more than 13 handguns a year are legitimate collectors, exempted by the law, and handgun traffickers who need to buy and sell handguns in volume to make a profit from their dirty and damaging and illegal trade."

To their credit, supporters of the bill have managed to keep the wealthy collectors off their backs by exempting "legitimate collectors." They've also kept hunters from having much of a voice in the argument, too. Handguns are illegal for hunting there.

"This premise of this law is a fallacy," stated state Assemblyman Gary Chiusano. [link added by Cogito Ergo Geek editor] "Many New Jersey residents have to wait upwards of 100 days to obtain a pistol permit. So after passing background checks, getting fingerprinted, and paying fees to obtain the permit, which are only valid for 90 days anyway, government is now telling people they can only purchase one handgun in a 30 day window after going through all of this bureaucracy. This bill is pure symbolism."

"In a recent Executive Order, Governor Corzine [link added by Cogito Ergo Geek editor] created a task force to examine New Jersey's firearms laws," said Assembly member Steve Oroho [link added by Cogito Ergo Geek editor] , who volunteered to serve on the task force. "But in less than a month after creating the task force, he is already pushing for new gun laws. The Governor is looking to score political points among his far left constituency in what he probably hopes will one day be a universal ban on private citizens owning firearms."

It's wishful thinking, but any company that manufactures or sells handgun-related products in New Jersey (or Maryland, or Virginia, or California - the other three state with similar legislation) should be in the process of packing and relocating. It's time firearms manufacturers started demonstrating their disapproval with idiotic legislation by removing their contributions to the tax base that pays the salaries of these legislators.

Like I said, wishful thinking.

And like I said:
this is a "transparent attempt to undermine the Second Amendment."

The part of the "... the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed" doesn't specify Congress. It isn't just in imposition on "CONGRESS". It's worded such that every governmental entity not only should, but must take heed of this elementary "right of the people".

It is a basic American Constitutional concept that our citizens enjoy certain "unalienable rights". The difference between "Unalienable" and "Inalienable" is significant. (See previous link. Discussion on that difference is available here.)

The concept of "States Rights" is also significant. In the 10th amendment of the Constitution, we discover that:

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. "

In this specific case, we see that the Federal Government does indeed, in the incarnation of the Bill of Rights, take precedence over the rights of the individual state.

Here, the State of New Jersey has taken it upon itself to abridge the Second Amendment (" ... Shall Not be infringed") The state has not this permission according the the Constitution, any more than has Washington, D.C. the constitutional permission. As has been established by the Heller Decision of 2007:

1. The Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a
firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for
traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home.
Pp. 2–53.
(a) The Amendment’s prefatory clause announces a purpose, but
does not limit or expand the scope of the second part, the operative
clause. The operative clause’s text and history demonstrate that it
connotes an individual right to keep and bear arms. Pp. 2–22.
(b) The prefatory clause comports with the Court’s interpretation
of the operative clause.

[emphasis added by Cogito Ergo Geek]

We see here that a state has subdefined the number of firearms which an individual may purchase during an arbitrary period of time. While it may suggest a valid reason for enactment (to prevent 'straw purchases" of weapons for later sale), it still constitutes an 'abridgment' of the right guaranteed by the Constitution.

Despite their obvious good intentions, the legislators of the good state of New Jersey have obviously run afoul of the Constitution of the United States of America. That presumption cannot be allowed to stand without challenge.