"Obama Pushing Shooters Off Public Lands"

[LAGC]

Gun owners who have historically been able to use public lands for target practice would be barred from potentially millions of acres under new rules drafted by the Interior Department, the first major move by the Obama administration to impose limits on firearms.

Officials say the administration is concerned about the potential clash between gun owners and encroaching urban populations who like to use same land for hiking and dog walking.

"It's not so much a safety issue. It's a social conflict issue," said Frank Jenks, a natural resource specialist with Interior's Bureau of Land Management, which oversees 245 million acres. He adds that urbanites "freak out" when they hear shooting on public lands.

If the draft policy is finally approved, some public access to Bureau lands to hunters would also be limited, potentially reducing areas deer, elk, and bear hunters can use in the West.

http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2011/11/16/obama-pushing-shooters-off-public-lands

I'm a little torn on this one... recreational target shooters and hunters have shared public lands with other users like ATV/dirt-bike riders, hikers, and campers for decades without much problem. Although it doesn't surprise me that this is being framed as an "urban vs. rural" issue... I'd be interested in hearing about where these supposed conflicts are arising in.

Here's the key paragraph from the offending draft BLM regulations:

"When the authorized officer determines that a site or area on BLM-managed lands used on a regular basis for recreational shooting is creating public disturbance, or is creating risk to other persons on public lands; is contributing to the defacement, removal or destruction of natural features, native plants, cultural resources, historic structures or government and/or private property; is facilitating or creating a condition of littering, refuse accumulation and abandoned personal property is violating existing use restrictions, closure and restriction orders, or supplementary rules notices, and reasonable attempts to reduce or eliminate the violations by the BLM have been unsuccessful, the authorized officer will close the affected area to recreational shooting."

From my own anecdotal experience, most of the recreational target shooters stick to their own little favorite areas, and the other recreational types stick to theirs. So I don't really see why these new regulations are necessary. Surely not just because some "urbanites" are complaining? Where are folks who live in urban areas supposed to go shoot? Not really fair to make them all have to pay to use a shooting range.

Public lands are supposed to be for ALL of us to enjoy and share, right?