This may be constued to be out of topic, but this is the most read board.

This org is billing it self as our friends (pro-gun) but nothing could be further from the truth. Their largest financial supporters (are there any others) are from the prior anti gun movements i e The Brady bunch etc,, More on this can be found in the current issue of Safari Times. Another good example of SCI keeping us informed.

You can read up on it at this link:

AHSA Anti's

FYI: requires an SCI user id to access

Here is a copy of the article off of SCI's website:

July 31, 2006 - Washington Report - New Outdoor Group Includes A Number Of Antis


By Patrick O’Malley

America’s hunters have emerged as a critical voting bloc in the past several election cycles. With the critical 2006 midterm elections fast approaching, it appears that hunters will again be treated to the pure political theater of candidates who oppose our rights while paying them lip service in their campaigns. But this time, a single group’s very existence is intended to fool hunters into thinking that our enemies have become our friends.

The American Hunters and Shooters Association (AHSA) is sparing no effort to draw hunters into its deceptive web. AHSA recently appeared at the annual conference of the Outdoor Writers Association of America, sponsoring a press conference to announce its existence, and answer questions about its goals. The Executive Director of the group, Robert Ricker, explains the philosophy of the group, in this excerpt from their website:

“In recent years, extreme political positions purporting to support gun rights have jeopardized our sport and have hurt the image of responsible gun owners. Unless the sporting community can become unified behind an organization that fights for safe and responsible hunting and shooting practices and sensible gun ownership, future generations may be unable to participate in and enjoy the shooting sports.â€

The AHSA representatives at the OWAA conference manipulated the media into parroting these carefully chosen terms. Even some outdoor writers fell for the roadshow, writing glowing reviews of the group’s goals and objectives. But these writers failed the most basic test of due diligence.

The truth about AHSA, its board members and staff will not be found in the talking points from the OWAA conference, but in a sworn deposition given by Ricker in the course of the baseless New York City lawsuit against the gun industry, and in public records of political donations made by AHSA board members.

Ricker is well known as a paid “expert†in the political lawsuits brought against the firearm industry by big city mayors. He is paid from $225 to $250 per hour to consult with the gun-ban lawyers at the Brady Campaign, and with the cities themselves. Ricker, once employed by the NRA and then by the firearm industry as a lobbyist, portrays himself as a “whistleblower†against the industry. But in a recent deposition, industry lawyers took the opportunity to flesh out the truth about Ricker and the AHSA.

Ricker has parlayed his brief and undistinguished tenure as a pro-gun lobbyist into a source of funding by a roster of groups who pay him to push their gun-ban agenda. AHSA is only one of his clients. He also consults for the Education Fund to Stop Gun Violence, the “educational†arm of gun-ban activist group the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (CSGV). CSGV is best known for its logo, a crude drawing of a gun with a red slash through it. Ricker also consults for a Virginia state group that lobbies for additional restrictions on gun owners.

The idea that someone can work simultaneously for pro-gun and anti-gun organizations is as farcical as it sounds. This debate over protecting our rights and traditions is a clear one, and to paraphrase the President, “you’re either with us, or against us.†So are we to believe that AHSA is truly the pro-gun group they say they are?

There’s more. AHSA president Ray Schoenke is called “a lifelong gun owner, hunter and conservationist.†That may indeed be true, but a full description would include “generous donor to anti-gun groups and candidates.†FEC records confirm that Schoenke, along with his wife and family, has donated tens of thousands of dollars to the Brady Campaign, formerly known as Handgun Control, Inc. (HCI). Schoenke has also donated tens of thousands of dollars to some of the most notorious anti-gun, anti-hunting members of Congress over the years. An exhaustive search of the donations he has made turned up precisely zero donations to pro-gun, pro-hunting members of Congress in his long history of political donations.

The links to the gun control lobby run even deeper with AHSA board member John Rosenthal. The AHSA website conveniently neglects to mention that Rosenthal once served on the HCI board of directors. It also neglects to mention that he still runs a group called “Stop Handgun Violence†in Massachusetts, recognized as the state’s largest gun control group. About Rosenthal, Ricker said, “We recognize the fact that Stop Handgun Violence is considered a gun control organization, and as Mr. Rosenthal is the person who runs that organization, we understand that some hunters and shooters, other organizations like the NRA…would perceive the fact that he’s associated with our organization, and therefore, would conclude somehow that (AHSA) was not pro-gun.â€

When asked whether this meant that AHSA was just a front group, Ricker responded “That perception would be out there, yes.â€

So why would the wealthy funders of anti-gun causes devote their own time, money and public personas to a group that calls itself “pro-gun?†The answer again is politics. Ricker details the strategic counsel AHSA received from DCS, a Democratic vendor of internet services that administers the AHSA website. Ricker states that DCS staff “advised that in their professional opinion, they thought an organization like the American Hunters and Shooters Association would be attractive to candidates running for office.â€

So here we go again. Taking a page from the John Kerry playbook, the enemies of our gun rights and hunting heritage are donning camo themselves, and trying to neutralize the pro-hunting voting bloc that has emerged as a powerhouse. Expect to see the group in play in races where our strongest supporters are facing tough challenges from candidates who will vow to support our rights, but then turn their backs and vote against our interests the moment they are elected.

"...The AHSA representatives at the OWAA conference manipulated the media into parroting these carefully chosen terms. Even some outdoor writers fell for the roadshow, writing glowing reviews of the group’s goals and objectives. But these writers failed the most basic test of due diligence..."

No surprise there! These are the same guys who thumbed their collective noses at the NRA while embracing the Sierra Club several conventions ago.