By: Brent A. Miller – Vice President, Policy
Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation
With most state legislatures now adjourned, and with several more set to gavel out this week, at the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) it’s now time for careful analysis and the beginning of a several-month strategic planning exercise to lay the necessary groundwork for next year.
Counter to what you may believe, particularly if you’ve paid attention to the headlines this year, the outcomes of the 2024 legislative sessions are generally very positive for sportsmen and women. There were four states (MT, NV, ND, TX) that did not convene a legislative session, and another nine states were focused almost exclusively on budget-related matters with very little opportunity for engagement on either pro or anti-sportsmen measures. That leaves 37 states where legislative victories were potentially possible. We’ve secured 110 wins in 34 states so far. Despite this, throughout the year you have undoubtedly heard warnings that the sky is falling – our rights are being stripped away, hunting as we know it is going to be eliminated, and more.
There is truth in these messages. The policy landscape is in fact rapidly changing for our issues, particularly at the state level. Introduced anti-sportsmen bills now outnumber pro-sportsmen proposals. Public support for hunting is showing a statistically significant decline for the first time in over 3 decades. The anti-sportsmen’s community is now also shifting strategies and is driving more issues to the ballot box while simultaneously attacking the very institutions that are responsible for successfully conserving our nation’s fish game species and bringing many of them back from the brink of extirpation throughout much of their historical ranges.
However, focusing solely on “the sky is falling” – though a very successful marketing ploy which does open the pocketbooks of passionate, mission-aligned individuals – loses sight of an important and undeniable truth.
WE’RE WINNING! And, by significant margins.
While it’s true that the anti-sportsmen bills that were introduced outnumbered pro-sportsmen bills this year (and by the largest spread we’ve seen since we began tracking this information), well over a hundred policy victories have already been secured in 34 states, with many more bills now on governors’ desks awaiting signature. In contrast, the losses were kept to a mere 12 bills spread across the nation. Most of these losses were in the firearm/2A space, and many of those bills will likely be successfully challenged and overturned in the courts in the years to come.
The below list provides details on some of the many victories of 2024.
Alabama
·Sportsmen and women under the age of 18 will still be able to possess a semi-automatic rifle.
·Modern sporting rifles remain legal for hunters and recreational shooters.
Colorado
·Youth hunting licenses are now available at a reduced cost.
Connecticut
·Sportsmen and women will not pay an additional 11% “sin tax” on ammunition purchases.
Delaware
·Hunters may now pursue turkeys, waterfowl, and other game birds on Sundays.
Florida
·Hunting dogs will remain exempt from the “dangerous dog” statute.
Georgia
·Hunters and recreational shooters will not be subject to having their purchases tracked or halted by financial institutions when purchasing firearms and ammunition.
Idaho
·Sensitive IDFG wildlife data is protected from public records requests.
·Non-residents may still access licenses and tags.
·Livestock depredation by grizzlies and wolves will be compensated utilizing General Funds instead of sportsmen's dollars, protecting IDFG's budget
·$6.6 million in additional funding was made available for Quagga Mussel detection and treatment.
Illinois
·Firearms will not have to be microstamped.
·Additional burdens will not be placed on firearm owners for the actions of others.
·Hunters may continue to manage furbearer populations through coordinated harvest in hunting contests.
·Sportsmen and women may continue to build firearms without being required to hold a Federal Firearm License.
Indiana
·Hunters and recreational shooters will not be subject to having their purchases tracked or halted by financial institutions when purchasing firearms and ammunition.
·Sportsmen and women will soon be able to hunt bobcats with authorization for season setting being granted to the DNR.
Iowa
·Hunters and recreational shooters will not be subject to having their purchases tracked or halted by financial institutions when purchasing firearms and ammunition.
·The DNR may continue purchasing land at auction to add conservation value for fish and wildlife and access and opportunity for sportsmen and women.
Kansas
·Partisan politics will not play a role in commissioner appointments.
·The Wildlife and Parks Commission will not be abolished.
·$38 million in conservation dollars was protected.
·The sanctity of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation was upheld as transferable landowner deer tags will not be made available.
Kentucky
·The KDFWR Commission will not be restructured so fish and wildlife management decisions will not be ceded to outside agricultural interests.
·Hunters will still be required to take a hunter education course, continuing the legacy of safety improvements the course has provided over many decades.
·Hunters and recreational shooters will not be subject to having their purchases tracked or halted by financial institutions when purchasing firearms and ammunition.
·Conservation funding protected for the KDFWR by preventing private pond fishing license exemptions.
Louisiana
·Conservation funding from future free or discounted hunting and fishing licenses granted by the legislature is permanently protected.
Maryland
·Lead ammunition may continue to be used for hunting.
·Hunters and recreational shooters will not pay an additional 11% excise tax on firearms and ammunition to fund community safety or gun violence victims’ programs.
·Non-resident Chesapeake Bay and coastal sportfishing licenses received a price increase to provide critical funding for fish and habitat management.
·Essential sportsmen-generated conservation funding from hunting and fishing licenses was protected.
Massachusetts
·Hunters and recreational shooters will not pay an additional 4.75% sales tax on firearms and ammunition.
·.50 BMG rifles are still lawful for selling, purchasing, or renting.
Mississippi
·Critical sportsmen-generated conservation funding from hunting and fishing licenses was protected.
Nebraska
·Nearly $37 million in sportsmen-generated conservation dollars protected.
New Hampshire
·Hunters and recreational shooters will not be subject to having their purchases tracked or halted by financial institutions when purchasing firearms and ammunition.
·Non-hunters and anti-hunters were blocked from assuming seats on the Fish & Game Commission.
·Ambiguity around the use of electronic duck stamps was eliminated.
·The Fish & Game Department will retain rulemaking and season setting authority for both coyotes and trout.
New Mexico
·Sportsmen and women under the age of 21 will retain their rights to access semi-automatic firearms and standard capacity magazines.
·Sportsmen and women will not be subject to additional sin taxes when purchasing firearms and ammunition.
·The firearms industry will remain protected from frivolous lawsuits.
·Semi-automatic firearms, including some of the most popular firearms among sportsmen and women, will remain legal.
New York
·Legally sport hunted trophies from African “Big-5” species may continue to be imported through New York.
Ohio
·Out-of-state college students are now considered residents under the Wildlife Code and may join the Buckeye State's nearly 1.3 million sportsmen and women in outdoor pursuits at the resident license rates.
Oklahoma
·State firearm preemption was protected, ensuring that sportsmen and women remain safe from a patchwork of firearm ordinances across the state.
·Hunters will retain the opportunity to harvest antlerless white-tailed deer during the state's hunting seasons.
·The hunting and fishing license structure will be much simpler, while fees will be updated for the first time in over two decades.
Oregon
·Recreational fishing interests will now be considered in the marine reserve program.
·Additional protections for salmon in the Columbia River are now in place.
·Additional funding for CWD testing and mitigation is now available.
Rhode Island
·Sportsmen and women will now be able to use crossbows to hunt turkeys.
South Carolina
·Critical sportsmen-generated conservation funding from hunting and fishing licenses was protected.
South Dakota
·Sportsmen and women can continue to own and transport firearms without having to worry about violating local regulations.
·The Department of Game, Fish, and Parks remains free to acquire property for public access without legislative approval.
Tennessee
·Hunters and recreational shooters will not be subject to having their purchases tracked or halted by financial institutions when purchasing firearms and ammunition.
·Hunters will continue to be able to hunt sandhill cranes.
·Wetlands that provide valuable fish and wildlife habitat were protected.
·Wildlife baiting will continue to be managed by the state fish and wildlife agency.
Utah
·Hunters and recreational shooters will not be subject to having their purchases tracked or halted by financial institutions when purchasing firearms and ammunition.
Vermont
·Non-hunters and anti-hunters were blocked from assuming seats on the Fish & Wildlife Board.
·The Fish & Wildlife Board will retain its current rulemaking authority.
·Hunting with firearm suppressors is now permanently authorized.
·Hunting coyotes with bait or dogs may continue.
Virginia
·Modern sporting rifles remain legal for hunters and recreational shooters.
·Waterfowl hunting access and safety is improved through stationary blind locations being provided to the DWR.
·A work group will be convened to (1) evaluate strategies to reduce negative impacts of blue catfish and (2) to increase the sales and marketing of blue catfish.
·Critical sportsmen-generated conservation funding from hunting and fishing licenses was protected.
Washington
·Sportsmen and women remain free to purchase firearms without a burdensome permitting process.
·The retail sale of trapping products and several fly-fishing supplies was protected.
·Sportsmen and women may continue to buy more than one firearm/month.
·The current structure of the WDFW Commission was protected against the further influence of partisan politics and an authoritarian system of administration.
West Virginia
·Critical sportsmen-generated conservation funding from hunting and fishing licenses was protected.
Wisconsin
·More than 2.1 million sportsmen and women may now hunt with modern muzzleloader iterations, enhancing safety afield, yet preserving tradition.
·Airguns are now a lawful hunting implement.
·The deer herd will continue to be managed by wildlife experts at the DNR through science-based decision making rather than through legislative action.
Wyoming
·Hunters and recreational shooters will not be subject to having their purchases tracked or halted by financial institutions when purchasing firearms and ammunition.
·Sportsmen’s interests will be better protected through the establishment of an outdoor recreation trust and board.
·The Department of Game and Fish's budget and sportsmen-generated dollars are protected from excessive elk-damage claims.
While this is by no means an exhaustive accounting of all our victories, it is at least illustrative of the very successful year sportsmen and women had in state legislatures.
You’ll also notice that most of the victories came from playing defense and killing bad bills. As mentioned previously, although we are still winning, we continue to face new challenges each year, as the anti-sportsmen’s community deploys new tactics to whittle away at our proud sporting-conservation heritage.
For far too long our community has largely been on our heels, trying to hold the line, and to eke out advances where opportunities present themselves. CSF is working to change that reality. It’s time to take the fight to the antis.
Looking ahead to 2025, we will again have our work cut out for us. All 50 states will be in session next year, so the volume of bills will ratchet up by about 20-25% over what we saw this year (based on historical trends recorded by CSF).
CSF will be actively working to bring at least 1-2 proactive and pro-sportsmen pieces of legislation to the table in each state for the 2025 session. We’ve already begun working with co-chairs of the state legislative sportsmen’s caucuses in the National Assembly of Sportsmen’s Caucuses to develop language, identify bill sponsors and co-sponsors, and develop supportive materials. When the gavel drops at the start of the 2025 session our community will have clearly identified rallying points with strong coalitions of supporters in each state.
We hope you will be among those supporters and will join us in our mission to work with Congress, governors, and state legislatures to protect and advance hunting, angling, recreational shooting, and trapping, and the American values they serve. To stay informed on key legislation in your state you can sign up for CSF’s free weekly e-pub, The Sportsmen’s Voice. Joining the mailing list for the newsletter will also automatically enroll you to receive grassroots action alerts on key legislation where your voice can make a difference with your legislators.
Brent Miller. Brent serves as Vice President, Policy for the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation. Brent currently serves as a Board Member of the American Suppressor Association Foundation; and previously served as Secretary of the New York Sportsmen’s Advisory Council, an inaugural Member of the Maryland Sportsmen’s Marketing Initiative, and as a Member of the National Wildlife Services Advisory Council under two administrations.
2023-2024 Voice of Leadership Panelists
Jon Zinnel, Federal Ammunition
Dan Forster, Archery Trade Association
Brent Miller, Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation
Rick Brazell, First Hunt Foundation
Mark Peterson, Worldwide Trophy Adventure
Michelle Scheuermann, Bullet Proof Communications
Facilitators
The Voice of Leadership Panel is an appointed group of outdoor industry leaders who have volunteered to contribute their voices on crucial hunting and outdoor recreation issues to inform, inspire, and educate participants within our community.
