Useful pro-gun Bill in Congress, for new shooting ranges
Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2019 11:20 am
https://www.guns.com/news/2019/02/11/bi ... n-congress
S.94 is a useful modification in spending existing Pittman-Robertson taxes on new shooting ranges, by providing greater flexibility to States on State-owned land. This money is already collected and new shooting ranges are needed on Public lands (especially in the Western USA where there are huge amounts of federally owned lands). The Bill is garnering co-sponsors from both parties and in current form is worthy of our support.
S.94 is a useful modification in spending existing Pittman-Robertson taxes on new shooting ranges, by providing greater flexibility to States on State-owned land. This money is already collected and new shooting ranges are needed on Public lands (especially in the Western USA where there are huge amounts of federally owned lands). The Bill is garnering co-sponsors from both parties and in current form is worthy of our support.
A bipartisan measure in the U.S. Senate that could see the number of shooting ranges available on public land expanded is gaining steam.
The proposal, S.94, was introduced in January by West Virginia Republican U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito and currently has 12 co-sponsors from 10 states including three Democrats and an Independent. The bill was reported favorably from the Committee on Environment and Public Works last week, which clears the way for it to be voted on by the full Senate.
Under the current guidelines, states must match federal government funding 25 cents on the dollar to begin working on public shooting ranges administered through local conservation agencies. The bill would drop this formula to 90/10 while also allowing funds to accrue for up to five years to help fund purchase of land for shooting ranges and construction.
As such, it would slightly modify the 1937 Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act. This 80-year-old law uses an excise tax levied on all firearms and ammunition sold or imported into the country to perform conservation-related tasks as varied as restoring elk habitat to funding safety programs and establishing public shooting ranges. Paid for by manufacturers and producers, the fund has been pushed into overdrive in recent years because of a spike in gun and ammunition sales.
