Guns, Game, and Control: Who Are America’s Hunters? -
Guns, Game, and Control: Who Are America’s Hunters? -
Since the Newtown massacre I have heard repeatedly that one necessary act for advancing gun control is to get “hunters” (or at least rural types) on board. That line of thought has been boosted by “pro-gun” Sen. Joe Manchin, a reliable NRA lieutenant who’s now uttering heresies like:
“I don’t know anyone in the sporting or hunting arena that goes out with an assault rifle. I don’t know anyone that needs 30 rounds in a clip to go hunting. I mean, these are things that need to be talked about.”
(Need and want are different animals, of course. Fast-firing rifles with big magazines—your “assault rifle,” my “modern sporting rifle” — are a growth market for gunmakers.)
How many hunters are there in the United States that they could swing the pendulum? The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service answered that question yesterday with the release of its 2011 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation, which reports there were 13.7 million last year, a recent record. With the Census Bureau saying there were 312 million Americans last year, that means a little over 4 percent of the population hunted, or 6 percent if you exclude minors. (Way less than say, Europe, outside of Finland or Ireland.) According to FWS…