Let John Edwards HQ Know What You Think About His Pro-Hunting Stance
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Please call and/or email John Edwards main campaign office Phone: (919) 636-3131 and tell them that he lost your vote, because of his positions stated in this article. THANKS!!!!
email link, http://johnedwards.com/about/contact/form/
Traveling in Iowa yesterday, Mr. Edwards unveiled a "Hunting and
Fishing Bill of Rights and Responsibilities" that calls for giving
hunters more access to federal lands, including, in some cases,
national parks.
"There are certainly some alarming aspects," the president of the
Humane Society Legislative Fund, Michael Markarian, said. "National
parks have historically been closed to sport hunting, and we believe
that's a policy that should remain in place. … These are not
national playgrounds. They're national parks."
http://www.nysun.com/article/65240
October 25, 2007 Edition > Section: National > Printer-Friendly
Version
Edwards's Bid for Favor Of Hunters Draws Fire
BY JOSH GERSTEIN - Staff Reporter of the Sun
October 25, 2007
A new attempt by a Democratic presidential hopeful, John Edwards, to
cozy up to hunters is coming under fire from the National Rifle
Association and conservation groups.
Traveling in Iowa yesterday, Mr. Edwards unveiled a "Hunting and
Fishing Bill of Rights and Responsibilities" that calls for giving
hunters more access to federal lands, including, in some cases,
national parks.
"This is part of who I am and part of what I will stand for as
president," Mr. Edwards told voters in Glenwood, Iowa, according to
the Associated Press. He said he hunted while growing up in rural
North Carolina and still fishes occasionally.
In a conference call with reporters, the former senator said the
federal government could save millions of dollars by having private
citizens thin wild herds instead of government-paid
sharpshooters. "When national parks need to cull their game species
because of overpopulation, I think they should look into having
local hunters do the job," Mr. Edwards said, according to Radio
Iowa. He also called for limits on oil drilling and logging on
federal land, as well as a new national program to pay private
landowners to open their property to sportsmen.
Asked for his opinion of the former senator's plan, the NRA's chief
lobbyist, Chris Cox, replied: "Pathetic."
Mr. Cox said Mr. Edwards voted during his single Senate term for a
measure to impose background checks at gun shows, for a ban on so-
called assault weapons, and against a bill to protect gun makers
from lawsuits. "Words on the campaign trail don't erase votes on the
Senate floor. ... He's been on the wrong side at every opportunity,"
the lobbyist told The New York Sun.
Environmental groups said they supported parts of Mr. Edwards's plan
but were concerned about language that seemed intended to give more
weight to hunting interests in debates over land use.
"There are certainly some alarming aspects," the president of the
Humane Society Legislative Fund, Michael Markarian, said. "National
parks have historically been closed to sport hunting, and we believe
that's a policy that should remain in place. … These are not
national playgrounds. They're national parks."
The executive director of Public Employees for Environmental
Responsibility, Jeff Ruch, called Mr. Edwards's plan "light years
away" from the Bush administration's policies on some of the issues,
but he said he was concerned that Mr. Edwards's plan would promote
more use of snowmobiles and other off-road vehicles. "That's
troublesome for a whole variety of reasons, including impact on
wildlife," Mr. Ruch said. Mr. Ruch said there were similarities
between Mr. Edwards's plan and an executive order Mr. Bush issued in
August to promote hunting on federal lands. "What's similar … is the
assumption that wildlife is there to provide hunting opportunities,"
Mr. Ruch said. "You're basically encouraging the propagation of
trophy breeds at the expense of breeds that don't look as good on
the wall."
While Republican presidential candidates have been actively
jockeying for the votes of gun owners, the Democratic field has been
all but silent on the issue, heeding the advice of political
strategists who contend that persistent talk of gun control has hurt
Democrats in recent elections. Until yesterday, only one Democrat,
Governor Richardson of New Mexico, had sought to publicize his views
on gun issues. Mr. Richardson has released photographs of trophies
from his own hunts and has boasted about expanding hunting
opportunities in New Mexico.
Candidates have been weighing in, deliberately or not, on a looming
legal battle over the meaning of the constitutional right to bear
arms. In March, a federal appeals court panel struck down a District
of Columbia ban on handguns. The conservative court panel ruled, 2–
1, that the Second Amendment creates an individual right to
firearms, not merely the right to organize a militia.
The District of Columbia government has asked the Supreme Court to
overturn that ruling.
As expected, all the major Republican candidates have backed the
appeals court's decision. However, top Democrats also seem to share
the individual-rights view. "It's important to me to show respect
for the Second Amendment, to protect hunters' Second Amendment
rights," Mr. Edwards said yesterday, according to Radio Iowa.
"I'm a strong believer in the rights of hunters and sportsmen to
have firearms," Senator Obama of Illinois told the same outlet in
April.
A statement Senator Clinton released recently stopped just short of
endorsing a constitutionally guaranteed, individual right to a
firearm. "I support the Second Amendment. Law-abiding citizens
should be able to own guns," she told the Des Moines Register.