Thread: Discussion on NZ Hunting moving forward - NZGuns

Originally Posted by Cyclops

I do support hunters and other sport shooters, but I draw the line at financial support.
I did contribute to COLFO to support all shooters as that was my choice.

The article said there should be a levy on components and ammunition to support hunters and hunting.
Not all of the levied items are used in hunting,.
No-one has yet sufficiently justified a levy on all shooters to support only some shooters.

As a car driver I'm not levied to support motor racing and nor should I be.

Let hunters fund hunting, target shooters fund target shooting.

I'll work together to lobby our politicians.

I think you are perhaps looking at it the wrong way - I have no interest in raiding your wallet to fund my lifestyle. If there was a levy placed on all firearms / archery and that money could make a significant difference to conservation funding that would go a long way to protecting all shooting disciplines because the government would not want to have to find those funds elsewhere. Hunters might directly benefit from game animal control - however target shooters benefit because of reduced pressure to further restrict / remove firearms use. As mentioned it could also be used to help fund safe shooting / training ranges so people don't have to sight in on public land - more ranges benefit everyone and mean more access to safe shooting.

My intention was to start some debate / discussion - in some ways your reaction has illustrated my point that there is not enough cohession in the firearms community making us easy to sweep aside. Please dont take that as a dig - I would much rather see constructive discussion and ideas on how we can protect what we all do. As Phil put above it need to be "firearms owners club" not semi guys, pistol guys, hunters, target shooters, etc etc