In celebration of our partnerships with the National Wildlife Federation Action Fund and Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, American Hunters and Shooters Association is pleased to announce our first National Sportsmen and Women Tele-town Hall.

Supporters are encouraged to call in Tuesday, Oct 20, to learn how to join in nationwide efforts to protect threatened hunting and fish grounds.

DETAILS

• Date: Tuesday, Oct 20, 2009
• Time: 6 PM (EST)
• Toll Free Dial-In #:1-877-269-7289
• Conference Code: 15158#

HOLDING POLLUTERS ACCOUNTABLE:

As you know, your voice--that of America's hunters and anglers--is critical to moving the U.S. Senate to pass legislation that holds polluters accountable for threatening your hunting and fishing grounds.

By dialing into the call, you'll learn how you can be a part of nationwide efforts to safeguard our nation's wild places and build America's clean energy economy.

With climate and clean energy legislation recently introduced in the Senate, the coming weeks will be key to elevating the voices of those Americans concerned about the impacts of climate change on our wildlife and natural resources.

So, be sure to mark your calendars and call in!

I was in Hawaii, my home state, for most of August. Yes, it is a state. And, yes, Barack Obama was born here. We’re quite proud of that. The fact that this is an issue shows the absurdity to which the political debate in our country has devolved.

Like most people, I’ve come to expect a certain level of absurdity from the hard-core right wing. But, I have to admit, I was surprised that we got to a point where we were debating carrying guns to presidential events. As a gun-owner who takes his gun rights very seriously, I followed the discussion about guns being carried outside events where President Obama is speaking very closely. And, I don’t want supporters of gun rights tied to the far-right militia-types, because we’re not.

First, I support the right of law-abiding citizens to carry firearms to protect themselves. And, I know most gun owners who take on the responsibility of carrying in public know the responsibilities involved.

However, what we’ve seen lately is that for those carrying guns at Obama events it isn’t about self-defense, or exercising their rights, this was about politics – ugly politics. And, in the case of the AR-15, it was a radio show gimmick.

Then, last week, it didn’t help that someone was carrying around a sign at the FOX News/Tea Party protest, which read “We came unarmed (this time).” What kind of implied threat was that? Again, those aren’t the kind of gun owners with whom I want to be affiliated.

The problem with playing political games and launching stunts with our gun rights is that it makes all gun-owners look bad. This has been a problem we’ve had for years, mostly because the leaders of the National Rifle Association put partisan politics first. That weakens our overall movement. We already won the arguments that the Second Amendment is an individual right. We don’t need to flaunt those rights in ways that make gun owners the subject of mockery with links to militias. That’s not who most of us are. We took one major step forward – and we don’t need to take any steps back.

I’ve been saying for months that Obama isn’t going to take away anyone’s gun rights, so for me the relaxed response from the White House over carrying guns in public was no surprise. But, to many others, like the NRA, who refuse to accept Obama’s commitment to our Second Amendment rights, I’m sure it was unexpected.

Here’s what came From the White House:

Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, said people are entitled to carry weapons outside such events if local laws allow it. "There are laws that govern firearms that are done state or locally," he said. "Those laws don't change when the president comes to your state or locality."

It’s absolutely consistent with what I’ve been saying, and consistent with Obama’s position on gun rights. That should have made all gun owners happy. Yet, we all know that response didn’t make the leadership of the National Rifle Association (NRA) happy. Wayne LaPierre and Chris Cox spent $40 million of their members’ money to defeat Obama. They spread lies about him then, and they haven’t stopped.

And, even though LaPierre and Cox been wrong every time, you won’t hear them admit it. Ever. That’s not their style. Their style is to foment discord with lies. That’s what we’ve seen at town halls: people who open carry with inflammatory messages, in hopes that the Administration will make all their lies and falsehoods seem true. Guess what NRA: you were wrong again.

Like I’ve said before, I support the right to carry and think that’s a decision best made by well-trained gun owners who are aware of the responsibilities that go along with it. But, encouraging gun owners to carry at a political event with the president just to make a statement is ridiculous. And, for the NRA, it “backfired.” I just hope this ploy doesn’t hurt the public's perception of gun owners, and make it harder to defend our rights.

As the newest member of the Advisory Board of AHSA, member and current vice-chair of the Gun Owners Caucus for the Texas Democratic Party and former member of the Gun Owners Caucus for the Democratic Party of Oregon (GOC-DPO), it's time that I begin blogging about women and gun-ownership.

Rather than talk about today's vote in the U.S. Senate's vote regarding concealed weapons across state lines, I'd rather chat about the relationship between women and guns.

When I poll my friends on whether they own a gun or not, while many of my guy friends either own a gun or know how to operate one, very few of my girlfriends a) own a gun and b) know how to shoot one. It's time for that to change.

Typically in the urban city areas, very few women feel the need to own a gun for one reason or another. The overwhelming reason seems to be that they are scared of guns - they don't know how to shoot, clean, and properly own a gun, and they feel either foolish or silly asking the men in their lives (fathers, brothers, husbands, boyfriends, etc.) about owning one. Sometimes, these men just scoff at the idea of the women in their lives (wives, daughters, girlfriends) owning a gun and indicate that they will be there to protect them, or maybe there is an underlying fear of knowing their women are armed. Whatever the case, that needs to change.

Women, as well as men, have the right to defend themselves - the second amendment to the U.S. Constitution was not written for men alone. And with more single women out there either living alone or traveling alone, we need to take it upon ourselves to properly arm ourselves with protection. Many times we are left to our own devices to defend ourselves, and a gun is a much better line of defense than having an alarm system, chemical mace or pepper spray. Also, not many offenders probably expect for a woman to be carrying a piece, so the element of surprise would likely play in our favor if the need arises.

My primary mission of this blog is to keep women informed about the world of guns - legislation that would impact their ownership and operation of weapons, resources on where to go to learn more about guns, how to obtain a concealed weapons permit in various jurisdictions, and other items necessary for us to properly defend ourselves.

So, you may be asking why the "The Well-Heeled Shooter"? Well, in homage to my affection for a wide variety of shoes , I may choose to wear any sort of shoe to go shooting....it may be a flashy pair of sandals or my Prada ankle boots. As a female who believes in the right to keep and bear arms for protection, who knows what kind of shoe I'll be wearing if I ever have to use my weapon to defend myself, but rest assured that regardless of footwear, I'll be packed, stacked and well-heeled if and when that time comes.

Autumn draws near. Soon now, some 12.5 million Americans will purchase a state hunting license as the first annual step into their personal adventure to slay a beast in the wild.
No single tale can tell the story of all these hunters. Some (too few) will be youths who make a single journey to bag a gray squirrel in a suburban oak tree. A tiny number will be grand slam questers spending a fortune to stalk a dall ram on an Alaskan peak.
Between are the millions of nimrod's of all ages and wallet sizes who go afield as often as possible pursuing as many game animals as they can find: sharing in common only the belief that a bad day hunting is better than their best day at work.
A second common thread among all hunters is the basic need for a hunting place to which they can go and the presence of game when they get there.
A relationship with wild animals and wild places may be common to every hunter. But the character of that relationship varies dramatically from one person to the next. Many hunters, probably a majority, achieve only a user's relationship; they go, they hunt, they come home, they don't give the land or the animals another thought. These folks simply expect it to be there for them when they want it.
Some hunters, however, become personally entangled with the places they hunt and the lives of the animals that become their quarry. Something inside these hunters gets caught by the experience and remains in the wild place all year - never ever completely returning to the city.
For these folks the health and vitality of the places they hunt, and the animals they seek, become blurred with their perception of their own personal health and vitality.
Who knows what infinite universe of emotions is felt among these hunters who can no longer separate themselves from their epiphany of the wild: nobody, after all, really gets the straight dope from inside another person's soul. What we can see, understand and describe, however, are their behaviors. Hunter folk who gain a personal relationship with wild places and things habitually act on their values.
We have a word for the sum of their actions - we call it CONSERVATION.
In his classic fable, ALICE IN WONDERLAND, author Louis Carroll has Alice begin her wondrous adventure by falling down a rabbit hole. My observation has been that the hunter’s path to becoming a conservationist would be familiar to Alice.
A fine morning's duck hunt in an autumn gold marsh can leave a person vulnerable to joining Ducks Unlimited. (You are now standing beside the rabbit hole looking in). A couple of good days afield and, whoops, you've volunteered to run the 50-50 fundraiser booth at the next local DU banquet. (Feel the brink of the rabbit hole passing over).
By the time you are on first name basis with the Mad Hatter and the Red Queen you have probably been elected to the Board of Directors of your state chapter of Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, or the Isaac Walton League, or the Wildlife Federation. You are likely helping run the town rod & gun club and for a few of special calling - helping teach Hunter Education classes. Perhaps you have written letters to state legislators or lobbied congressmen arguing for better laws for habitat funding or access to public resources (think Mad Tea Party).
You will have one last thing in common with Alice; you will see wondrous things. The next duck hunt conveys a different essence when you can see where the dollars from your DU booth landed out among a mixed flock of mallards and pintail.
That new law protecting habitat values can be savored as much more than dry words on paper when it is smelled, touched and tasted at dawn on the opening morning of deer season.
Far down the burrow through our conservation 'wonderland' will be a place where the journey comes full circle and we find ourselves greeting that part of our soul we left in a wild place - a greeting of mutual respect for these two aspects of our personal nature - taker and giver back - because our place in the wild was honestly earned by our actions in the human world beyond.