NRA SHOOTS DOWN GALLEGLY BEAR BILL.Byline: Lisa Friedman Washington Bureau WASHINGTON - Ventura County Republican Congressman Elton Gallegly Elton W. Gallegly (born March 7 1944), an American politician, has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 1987, currently representing the 24th District of California (map). has come under fire from hunters, sportsmen and firearms advocates for pushing legislation to outlaw bear-baiting. The practice involves setting out sweets or an animal carcass to entice a bear, which is then shot while enjoying the food. Gallegly's measure failed 163-255 in a floor vote late Thursday, the result of what many lawmakers said was intense opposition from the National Rifle Association National Rifle Association (NRA) Governing organization for the sport of shooting with rifles and pistols. It was founded in Britain in 1860. The U.S. organization, formed in 1871, has a membership of some four million. Both the British and the U.S. . ``Sometimes you get special-interest folks that like to play hardball,'' Gallegly said. Calling bear-baiting a practice that ``runs against the norms of fairness and sportsmanship,'' Gallegly said he finds the gun lobby's opposition confounding confounding when the effects of two, or more, processes on results cannot be separated, the results are said to be confounded, a cause of bias in disease studies. confounding factor . ``I've been a strong Second Amendment guy for a very long time,'' he said. ``(But) I've been having a hard time making the connection between firearms and a truckload of Twinkies.'' Just how a conservative Republican from a largely suburban district became a target of the nation's most powerful gun lobby while aligning himself with vocal animal-rights groups like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is an international nonprofit organization that supports Animal Rights and has spawned a tremendous amount of conflict and controversy from its inception. on an issue that doesn't even affect his home state - California prohibits bear baiting the sport of baiting bears with dogs. See also: Bear - is its own political tale. Political handicappers, however, doubt that a black mark from the NRA NRA (National Rifle Association of America) organization that encourages sharpshooting and use of firearms for hunting. [Am. Pop. Culture: NCE, 1895] See : Hunting on bear-baiting will hurt Gallegly. ``It's a very safe Republican seat. I don't think Elton has much to worry about,'' said California GOP political consultant Allan Hoffenblum. ``The only thing the NRA could do is try to recruit a Republican opponent, but I've got to think it would take more than a single issue to defeat Gallegly.'' For years, the losing battle against bear-baiting was led by Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va. This year, however, Gallegly - a longtime supporter of animal-rights issues - agreed to sign on and became the Republican front man for the bill. Seemingly popular among members of both parties, the measure at one time had as many as 179 supporters. Until last week. As the legislation neared a vote in the House Resources Committee, supporters started dropping like flies. Californian Reps. Joe Baca, D-San Bernardino, and Darrel Issa, R-Vista, were among 16 lawmakers who withdrew their names from the bill. Neither returned calls to explain his decision, but those who worked closely on the legislation blamed the NRA pressure. ``Gallegly was building support with a lot of traditional NRA supporters. I think they said, 'Hey, this thing is a moving train,''' said Wayne Pacelle, senior vice president of the Humane Society of the United States The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is a Washington, D.C-based animal welfare advocacy group. It is the largest animal welfare organization in the world, with nearly 10 million members and a 2006 budget of US$103 million. . ``The NRA started working it very hard, telling members that it's going to be a scorecard vote'' - a reference to tallies that special-interest groups use to rate lawmakers' votes on issues important to them. NRA spokeswoman Kelly Hobbs said the organization launched a widespread letter-writing campaign against the bill. ``We're certainly concerned. All outdoorsmen Outdoorsmen are men who enjoy hunting, fishing, and camping out in the woods. Typically, they live in the northern United States or Canada. Stereotypically, they are flannel wearing, beard toting men like Paul Bunyan or the Brawny paper towel mascot. and outdoorswomen should be concerned about the impact of this legislation,'' she said. For animal-welfare groups, the issue is one of cruelty to bears and safety for humans. Pacelle contends that bear-baiting is an ``outrageous, unsporting and reckless'' practice that many hunters consider cheating. ``I don't understand why the NRA is preserving the right to set out jelly doughnuts on public lands,'' he said. Officials with the NRA, as well as hunting groups like the Safari Club International Safari Club International is an international organization composed of hunters. SCI claims to have approximately 48,700 members and 176 local chapters. [1] , said the issue is one of states' rights states' rights, in U.S. history, doctrine based on the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution, which states, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. . Nine states - Alaska, Idaho, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire New Hampshire, one of the New England states of the NE United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts (S), Vermont, with the Connecticut R. forming the boundary (W), the Canadian province of Quebec (NW), and Maine and a short strip of the Atlantic Ocean (E). , Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming - still allow the practice. Moreover, they worry that a ban on bear-baiting will clear a path to eventually outlawing all hunting. ``Baiting has proven to be very effective in helping to control the (bear) population. Nine states have concluded it's a humane and ethical management of hunting,'' Hobbs said. ``Ultimately, this legislation has nothing to do with unsportsmanlike hunting and everything to do with banning all hunting in America,''she said. Lisa Friedman, (202) 662-8731 lisa.friedman(at)langnews.com |
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