Ok. I get it.
I get that some liberals hate hunting, and guns, and hunters. Some of us want a total ban on guns.
I get it.
Shout out to my animal rights friends. You’re probably not going to like this article, but know that I hear you, I love you and I respect you and your efforts.
But I am going to write this any way, because as the last liberal in rural Minnesota (or so it seems) I think its important that the dispatches flow both ways, from rural to urban, and not just urban to rural.
The tldr; here will be an argument in favor of nuanced messaging around guns, particularly in red/purple states, where we can find allies among a not-statistically-insignificant set of responsible hunter gun owners. About 5% of Americans hunt, or would call themselves hunters. That is more than 16 million people scattered disproportionally across red/purple states. And more than 20 million people participate in trap and clay target shooting, a sport that is growing in popularity in high schools, particularly here in Minnesota. And I’m going to argue that not everyone who hunts is an enemy of liberal goals.
Why am I writing this?
Because I want us to win more votes in red/purple states in 2020. I want to encourage better messaging for hunters and not to alienate their vote when it is not necessary. I’m going to argue that the rural relationship with guns is fundamentally different than the urban relationship.
Liberal talk show host Ed Shultz (god rest his restless soul) was one of the few liberals in America who could actually articulate what I’m going to try to say. I miss Ed’s passion and understanding of rural America. Even though he drove me nuts at times, his wit and insight would be extremely helpful right now as Democrats try to rebuild the Blue Wall and attempt to drive the gravel roads of rural America. [As an aside, Ed lived just miles from me, and I miss randomly running into him at his local haunts. ]
For what its worth, I feel I might try to offer a small sliver of Ed’s unique insight and perspective of having lived in a rural area. Before spending 20 years living in larger cities, including urban Minneapolis, downtown Chicago, suburban Atlanta and New Orleans. My time particularly in Chicago and New Orleans showed me first hand how dangerous the urban gun relationship is. It was not uncommon to hear gun shots while out for a good time on the town. Kids bringing guns to school for protection or to gain status was not uncommon. Stray bullets killing kids sleeping in their beds and armed robbery is a complete outrage and travesty. It is frightening, and frustrating, and kids being shot is horrifying, and its an outrage when criminals hold more firepower in their hands than a police officer. Campaigns for gun reform and restrictions in urban warfare environments are not only a not only reasonable, they are a critical tool in combating gun violence.
We are stuck with guns.
Like it or not, SCOTUS rulings have held there is a constitutional right to own guns. But SCOTUS has also held that there are limits to this, and that not all gun regulation is unreasonable.
I’m not going to say “get over it” or “stop trying to take guns away. That’s not what I’m saying at all. But I am going to recognize that we will not have all of America’s gun issues resolved before the 2020 election.
Not all guns are created equal
Hand guns and semi-automatic assault style weapons are the tools of choice for mass murderers. I would argue anecdotally that most hunters do not hunt with AR-15’s, and that by and large, traditional hunters look disapprovingly on someone in the field hunting with such a weapon.
Hunting is steeped in tradition, and AR-15’s are not part of the hunting tradition. That’s why Dick’s Sporting Goods found it easy to stop selling assault style weapons to even went a step further to destroy $5 million worth of their inventory. That’s because Dick’s understands that the culture of hunting is well separate from the culture of those for whom an AR-15 is an extension of their penis. While there may be some small amount of overlap, by and large those who weaponize themselves in fear of a government gun seizure or in preparation of the coming of some other wild supremicist fantasy are not the target market for Dick’s sporting goods.
Hunters and their advocacy organizations work hand in hand with the government to ensure access to lands and sound wildlife management practices. Dick’s Sporting Goods knows that pandering to the wild conspiracy touting gun owner isn’t, over there long term, where the money is, and especially it is not where the good will is.
Not all hunters are created equal
There is small subset of hunters who embarass the others. They are referred to as slob hunters. They leave a mess. They may be poachers. They might dump a deer carcass in the ditch. They trespass. They don’t follow the rules. They drink and are reckless.
Most hunters like to think of themselves as sportsmen. The avoid hunting with slobs. They call in poachers. Because its a ‘sport’ they want to follow the rules. They work hard at it. They spend a lot of money on their sport, much of it on licenses, travel and lodging. They go into rural communities where they want to establish good relationships with the locals, so they can come back again next year. They practice their sport on ranges where they.
In all states, hunters must pass a rigorous gun training program before they are allowed to hunt. It includes hours of classroom training as well as field training. Without the certification, they are not allowed to buy a license. I mention this because a lot of people who don’t hunt do not see this, and are under the impression that anyone can just go buy and gun and tramp around the forest with it.
While there are hunting related deaths each year, they are small proportion of total gun deaths, and a large portion of those deaths are self-inflicted.
Hunting is a deep seeded tradition for many (white) rural Americans.
Yes, hunting is mostly a white thing. Estimates of the race of hunters place the figure at about 95% white, with a growing Hispanic hunter population.
For the best hunters, hunting is a tradition. ‘Deer camp’ in Minnesota often brings families back together. For the best of them, killing something isn’t the main goal, and carrying on the tradition and getting together is far more important.
Gun Owners and Hunters are not the same thing.
While there are about 16 million hunters in the United States, there are about 100 million gun owners.
The best hunters are environmentalists
The best hunters support federal and state habitat conservation and public land ownership. They are some of the most ardent conservationists around, according the Fish and Wildlife Service. They support groups like White Tails Unlimited, Mule Deer Foundation, National Wild Turkey Federation, Ducks Unlimited, Pheasants Forever, and many others. They recognize that without habitat and without successful wildlife production programs, and a clean environment, their hunting tradition is finished.
Messaging Guns for Rural (white) Americans
The first and most important thing with winning over hunters is simply to realize the differences in American gun culture. Not everyone who hunts is an enemy of liberal goals.
Where can liberals find commonality with rural Americans who hunt?
We all want safer schools. Nobody wants kids to die.
We all abhor mass shootings and want to find ways to stop them.
We mostly agree on the use of public rural lands for wildlife production.
We all agree that gun deaths by murder are a serious problem.
We agree that the 60% of all gun deaths attributed to suicide is a serious issue, and so is availability of healthcare in rural America.
We both should recognize and understand that hunting is important tool of wildlife management scientists.
Virtually all of us prefer a clean air, lands and lakes to a polluted environment.
We all recognize the benefit of hunting tourism to rural areas, jobs and development (in Minnesota it’s a billion dollar industry).
We recognize that gun owners are not necessarily hunters, and that there is a difference between the “owner” and “hunter” cultures.
No responsible hunter likes slob hunters, poachers and scoff laws.
Nobody wants animals to suffer.
Successful messaging to rural Americans who hunt will build on what we have in common, and not emphasize the differences. Message specifically for rural America, from rural America, in rural American publications, rather than on relying on urban media to urban’splain these positions to rural America.
In doing so, we can tap millions of additional rural votes on our way to victory in 2020.