The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) joins the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA), and other partners at the 2012 SHOT Show to announce the start of a yearlong celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program (WSFR), one of the most significant and successful partnership approaches to fish and wildlife conservation in U.S. history.

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) is seeking to offer an amendment to the Commerce, Justice and Science appropriations bill now being debated on the Senate floor. Hatch’s amendment would permanently enshrine 10 different appropriations “riders” -- essentially directions from Congress to the administration about how they must spend, or not spend, funds -- into permanent law.

NRA is fully funding and supporting a lawsuit challenging the Obama administration's demand that Federal Firearms License holders report multiple sales of certain long guns in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas. The lawsuits filed assert that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives lacks statutory authority to demand these reports.

Even though most of the country is still in the grip of scorching temperatures, hunters already are thinking about early season hunting opportunities. Taking a hunter safety course at hunter-ed.com or bowhunter-ed.com is a great way to prepare for bowhunting and early season dove, duck and goose hunting.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation, trade association for the firearms and ammunition industry, calls the 3.6 percent rise in paid hunting license holders for 2009 one of the most encouraging signs for hunting in recent years.

An ATF proposal to require federally licensed firearms retailers to report multiple sales of rifles has been placed on hold by the White House amid stiff opposition from the firearms industry and NRA.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is moving to require federally licensed firearms retailers to report multiple sales of modern sporting rifles beginning January 5, 2011. Specifically, the ATF requirement calls for firearms retailers to report multiple sales, or other dispositions, of two or more .22 caliber or larger semi-automatic rifles that are capable of accepting a detachable magazine and are purchased by the same individual within five consecutive business days.

A bill recently introduced in the U.S. Senate would protect traditional fishing tackle from being banned by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) while offering additional protections for traditional ammunition.

Hunting is proving to be recession-proof.  Nationwide, spending on hunting gear is soaring, says the National Shooting Sports Foundation, which tracks hunting trends.

The Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation (CSF) briefed members of Congress yesterday on two simultaneous disasters impacting recreational fishing caused by the effects of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the total closure of substantial ocean fisheries by the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).