The Second Amendment is continually under attack from gun control advocates. They threaten to take away our right to keep and bear arms, but there's also one aspect of the Second Amendment that often goes unnoticed: the hunting sport.
Over the last few years, hunting has come under attack by groups like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), who wish to protect animals from being slaughtered for fur coats and leather handbags. It's an understandable goal, but they won't stop there. PETA has continually inched their way further and further in the name of "animal welfare," to the point where their mission statement is now beginning to infringe on people's Second Amendment rights and on our natural human instincts.
What members of PETA fail to understand is the history behind hunting.
Mothers and fathers hunt to provide food for their children. It's something that humans have been doing for centuries. It's not a new phenomenon by any means. In fact, hunter-gatherers often had to forage for their food, by either finding plants or hunting animals to eat.
Hunting wasn't seen as gruesome or grotesque. Hunting was a normal part of everyday life. It was what you did in order to survive. They didn't have high-end grocery stores to provide their meat, eggs and vegetables. They had hunt for what they ate. Somedays they were luckier than others.
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Animal rights activists are so quick to take a punch at hunters that they forget one important thing: even the meat that ends up in our Whole Foods stores had to be killed before it was put in the store's freezer. Why is it okay for commercial stores to carry meat, but you and I aren't allowed to go out and provide meat for ourselves?
To help combat the negative stigma behind hunting, the National Rifle Association (NRA) launched a new campaign called "NRA Hunting," which focuses on educating the public and protecting the centuries-old practice.
The initiative is being led by spokesman Josh Powell, a Michigan native who grew up hunting duck with his mom from a young age.
“Hunting teaches you a number of things, whether it’s self-reliance, whether it’s conservation, whether it’s being able to take care of yourself in the absence of a supermarket …” Powell told Breitbart. “There is a massive misconception out there within this anti-hunting community in terms of exactly what they are doing and achieving, because they’re not saving animals, they’re not saving the environment."
But PETA isn't the only one who's out to eliminate hunting. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has joined PETA's efforts. In fact, HSUS' CEO, Wayne Pacelle, has been quoted saying, "We’re out to minimize suffering wherever it can be done, and wherever our limited resources can be utilized most effectively—abusive forms of hunting now, all hunting eventually.”
What these animal rights activists fail to understand that hunting is a fundamental human behavior that is legal, sustainable, ethical and benefits both habitats and species. And guess what? No animals have become extinct because of hunting practices, and the money from hunting licenses, etc. are used to preserve critical habitats.
Powell does an amazing job of explaining the hunting mindset.
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