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Elections Matter
We hunters have dodged the proverbial bullet, so to speak, in that attacks on our way of life at the federal level will not continue for at least the next few years. Thanks to the wisdom of American voters, hunters can breathe a sigh of relief. What had been increasing threats to hunting from the federal government hopefully should come to a screeching halt or at least cease to proliferate. Now when we head out to the wilds, we’ll not have to look over our shoulders as much, thanks to the resounding message voters sent to the government in November.The sweep established a mandate, which is important because now the anti-hunter, anti-American, anti-Constitution slimeballs have been put on notice that it is not simply a matter of a new administration taking office, but that a decisive majority of the citizenry wants a return to common sense and individual freedom.Hunters in general and predator hunters in particular benefit from the outcome of the November election. This is because the Biden/Harris anti-hunting administration now is being replaced by the pro-hunting Trump/Vance administration. Donald Trump’s election victory means that at the federal level, anti-hunting land grabs and anti-gun, anti-hunting initiatives have been stopped in their tracks.Under the Biden/Harris administration, federal agencies pushed numerous efforts that hurt hunters and our ability to pursue our passion and practice our traditions. One example of federal overreach of the Biden/Harris administration shortly before the election was when federal agencies banned recreational shooting on more than 1.3 million acres of public lands on the Bears Ears National Monument — an area larger than Rhode Island.Although the regulatory action technically allows hunting, it inhibits the ability to hunt by closing vast areas to motor vehicle access and that sort of thing. “The agencies cited no evidence of user conflicts or public safety concerns. They apparently just don’t like people practicing shooting on public lands,” reported Safari Club International, which advocates for hunters’ rights around the world.Government overreach in the Biden/Harris administration was the rule rather than the exception. The Bears Ears closure to recreational shooting was just one example. Meanwhile, former and future President Donald Trump has pledged to support hunters and hunting. He made that commitment during a campaign stop at the headquarters of SCI in Washington, D.C. Additionally, it doesn’t hurt that Trump’s son, Don Jr., happens to be a hard-core hunter.A simple Trump victory would have helped hunters, but the accompanying sweep of the Senate and House of Representatives greatly enhances the ability of the administration to achieve its goals, which include protecting sustainable use conservation and hunting.Although hunting regulations are up to the states for the most part, hunters need to view the government as a vertical series of institutions, ranging from local, county and state jurisdictions to the federal level. The importance of the sweep in the election this time around is that, in addition to putting pro-hunting folks into decision-making positions, it was a message to the antis that the electorate as a whole wanted a reset of the government’s role.But things in politics can be fleeting, which is why it is crucial now that predator hunters take advantage of the momentum and become involved in ways that keep the antis at bay as we go boldly into the future.Certainly, the antis have no plans to stop their attacks and fade into obscurity. Anti-hunters were quick to respond to the news of the election. At 7 a.m. Eastern time, November 6, Sierra Club issued a news release vowing to fight the Trump administration with all their might. “But while today may feel dark, we refuse to back down. We are committed to confronting Trump’s extreme anti-environment, anti-democratic agenda head-on,” the email stated.If the antis won’t back off, then neither can predator hunters.Typically, elected officials at the highest level begin their political careers locally. And at the local level is where predator hunters individually can have the biggest positive effect because it is at the local level where right-minded politicians can be helped and where wrong-minded politicians can be defeated. If wrong-minded politicians are nipped in the bud, so to speak, we won’t have to worry about them doing bad things at the higher levels later on.Since predator hunting and private ownership and use of firearms are tied inexorably, the results of the November election become even more important when viewed from the perspective of saving and maintaining individual freedoms. That’s because the president is the one who appoints federal judges and Supreme Court justices. Since Supreme Court Justices are appointed by the president, it means that any vacancies on the high court that might arise during the next four years will be filled with jurists who honor the Constitution. Had the election turned out the other way, it is a virtual certainty that any vacancies would be filled by activists who likely view the Second Amendment (right to keep and bear arms) as not meaning what it says. And since Supreme Court justices are appointed for life, it means that the makeup of the high court can be in effect for decades.With that in mind, some observers have posited that since Trump was elected for his second term, that two of the older justices may opt to retire, opening the door for younger conservatives to be appointed — thus extending the conservative nature of the court for many more years.Justice Clarence Thomas is 76 years old, and Justice Samuel Alito is 74 years old. I have not heard that they have retirement plans, but that is part of the political calculus that is going on these days.Regardless of how one views the results of the November election, predator hunters came out of it in much better shape than we have been in for the past four years, and in far better shape than we would have been in had an anti-hunting Harris administration been put into office.
