So, I was in Fine firearms yesterday ( I don’t drink so fine is my local pub) and I made the comment that our beloved Ronald Reagan was the person who banned mountain lion hunting in Ca. As NBK and I started to do the math in our heads, it didn’t make sense being that the ban started in 1992, long after Reagan was governor. I remembered reading this or hearing it on one of the many podcasts I listen to. I made the mistake of repeating something I heard without actually knowing the facts so as you could imagine, the taste of my foot was lingering after the math just didn’t add up! So, I had to get to the bottom of it and fell into a wormhole last night...and this is what I found:
In 1972, governor Reagan proposed the first ban on sport hunting mountain lions in Ca. It was a 5 year moratorium originally, and had been reinstated every five years thereafter until 1987, when the last legal seasons was opened for hunting here in California. When the vote came back up 5 years later, instead of putting a 5 year ban back in place, the Ca legislation decided to put a permanent ban on hunting lions and that ban is still in place today. I learned two valuable lessons yesterday. One: the reason organizations like the NRA don’t like to budge an inch on legislation is because often times, it doesn’t come in as an outright ban. You give them an inch and they end up taking a mile ! And two: know your facts before you spew out comments about something so you don’t feel stupid when you do decide to speak on something ! I guess I was half right! It makes me wonder if the sportsman of California, and the biologists that oversee the care of all wildlife, could ever ban together and get legislation passed ,so that the responsible management of this particular species can fall back into the care of the people of this great state! I doubt it but what do you think?
In 1972, governor Reagan proposed the first ban on sport hunting mountain lions in Ca. It was a 5 year moratorium originally, and had been reinstated every five years thereafter until 1987, when the last legal seasons was opened for hunting here in California. When the vote came back up 5 years later, instead of putting a 5 year ban back in place, the Ca legislation decided to put a permanent ban on hunting lions and that ban is still in place today. I learned two valuable lessons yesterday. One: the reason organizations like the NRA don’t like to budge an inch on legislation is because often times, it doesn’t come in as an outright ban. You give them an inch and they end up taking a mile ! And two: know your facts before you spew out comments about something so you don’t feel stupid when you do decide to speak on something ! I guess I was half right! It makes me wonder if the sportsman of California, and the biologists that oversee the care of all wildlife, could ever ban together and get legislation passed ,so that the responsible management of this particular species can fall back into the care of the people of this great state! I doubt it but what do you think?
