Will shooting become a rich mans sport?

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I would view it as problematic and a violation of equal protection to not tax guns and ammo out of price for the poor.

Unfortunately, the elite want this and the stupid and uninformed don't know any better to stop it.
 
Where cost is a concern in shooting sports- the sky is the limit as it is in any sport. You need to be a very wealthy to shoot a mini-gun regularly. However like many other sports, shooting can be done on the cheap. You could buy a used .22 rifle or pistol and the ammo is plentiful and inexpensive.
 
I don't know if it's a rich man's sport, yet. I shoot, and I ain't rich. On the other hand, it sure ain't a poor man's sport. Guns are more expensive all the time. Ammo is more expensive all the time. Range time is more expensive all the time. Places to shoot without paying are getting scarcer every year. Hunting licenses are monetarily out of reach for many people in Arizona.
 
Its only money. You can't take it with you when you die;). Will the cost stop me shooting and hunting? NO:D
 
It already is. Anything not directly related to food and shelter will soon become extravagant thanks to the state of our economy.
 
Hunting already is a sport that only the middle class or rich can afford. I know from personal experience that the really poor people can't afford to pay the license fees to hunt all the different animals and birds such as deer and turkey. Its sad.

For hundreds of years, one of the great things about America was that unlike European nations, the common people, the poor people, were able to hunt all the wild animals and birds for food with very little government restrictions. It is a terrible thing how today the government has made the hunting licenses so expensive, that poor people can't afford to hunt anymore.
 
trickshot said:
Hunting already is a sport that only the middle class or rich can afford. I know from personal experience that the really poor people can't afford to pay the license fees to hunt all the different animals and birds such as deer and turkey. Its sad.

For hundreds of years, one of the great things about America was that unlike European nations, the common people, the poor people, were able to hunt all the wild animals and birds for food with very little government restrictions. It is a terrible thing how today the government has made the hunting licenses so expensive, that poor people can't afford to hunt anymore.

You've got that right, but I find a way each year to afford my license for both Archery & regular season.

Shooting has become a bit more expensive yes, kinda one of the reasons why I've shot my .45ACP & 12Ga. very little last year, just enough to keep me in tune but otherwise I've shot my C&B revolvers, Muzzleloaders, & Archery more & they are still relatively cheap "well since I make most of makins for my ammo that is."
 
I think a lot of people are blaming "the big, bad Government" for what are actually Free Market costs for hunting and shooting.

It is a terrible thing how today the government has made the hunting licenses so expensive, that poor people can't afford to hunt anymore.

Here in TX, it's $23 for a Resident Hunting License, $6 if you're a Senior. I find it hard to believe that the one government-related fee is going to stop folks, considering a hunter probably spends more than that on gasoline, ammo, and snacks to take with.

Further, the real expense of hunting in TX comes from the lack of government land. Most of TX is private land, so to hunt you either have to know a landowner or pay one money. So, ironically, the lack of goverment intervention in buying up private land for public use is what raises the costs.


if you can't ban it, make it prohibitively expensive.

I'd say that also more "bogey man" blaming. How is the government working hard to make shooting more expensive? There's an excise tax on new firearms, but it's not immoderately large. And it doesn't apply to used guns, so nothing's stopping someone from buying a Marlin 30-30 for $195 at a pawnshop (like I did two years back). There's a tax on ammo, but good hunting ammo can still be had under a dollar a shot, and cheaper still if you handload. For plinking and FMJ loads, the current increases in prices are based on... yep, the Free Market. Brass and lead went up in price last year, and the manufacturers want to make some profit back now that commodities are settling down, and since demand is high they've had no incentive to lower prices.

The impediments the government puts in the way of shooting and owning guns in the U.S. are so minor compared to most industrialised nations. I'm not saying that less regulation wouldn't be even better (especially if we could buy suppressors without that $200 tax), but to go blaming every possible woe on "The Government" regardless of actual fact does nothing to help our cause.

Blame Caesar for what is Caesar's, but blame him for what he does, rather than for every hassle you encounter in life.
 
Get real: Pardon me waxing philosophical for a moment...

Yes, you are rich. If you, or anyone reading this, owns a decent gun, knows how to use it and has some ammo, you are rich.

I am going to wax philosophical here, because the times warrant it. I'll be brief. Owen, I imagine that you are simply a shooting sportsman, a gun enthusiast or a wary home defense (HD) firearm owner. You just want to be left alone to do what you do and to be able to afford to do it readily. That's great. Literally. But think once in a while about where we came from.

Two hundred fifty years ago, ONLY the rich had guns. But guns had been invented hundreds of years before then. Yes, guns were expensive, but that is not why people like us didn't have them.

Guns were and are hugely valuable. Yes, guns do have their place among the major technological advancements of humanity (the wheel, control of fire, invention of agriculture, domestication of animals, discoveries of soap, electricity, toilet paper, etc.), and they are valuable for that reason - general quality of life. But guns, like no other invention, also allow projection of deadly force. For protection, for keeping the peace, for retaining your private property, for conquest and for ease of putting meat on the table.

Guess what? (Here's the rant - you fill in the rest, after my pointer...) The rich and powerful used to be the only ones who could do those things effectively. For hundreds of years they wanted it to stay that way. But now you have that power and can do those things. Thanks to America's rich, powerful elites 235-odd years ago. Those guys were willing to give the power of guns to every citizen in good standing. (I also give credit to the Swiss and other societies throughout history who tried similar things - you heirs of those traditions speak up and claim your honor.)

Now some people are trying to take our guns away from us. Why do you think that is? If they succeed, you and everybody who depends on you will be quite literally POORER. Do you think the gun-takers care about that? No! They want social power, and if everybody (except them!) gets poorer in the process, so be it. Now you are feeling that impoverishment.... (I leave the fleshing-out of this thought to another thread/forum - I know you didn't intend to go here.)

Bill_Rights
 
It already has to a large degree, given the increasingly outrageous escalating prices of ammo -- when you can even find any ammo available. That being said, my .22s have been seeing a lot more range time of late than my usual 9mm companions.
 
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