National Shooting Sports Foundation

For example, the Safari Club International, a US-based organization that, according to its mission statement, seeks to, quote, "protect the freedom to hunt and to promote wildlife conservation," boasts that trophy hunting contributes $426 million annually to the GDP of these eight Southern African economies.

That number originates in a study they commissioned from Southwick Associates, a Florida-based market research firm that, according to its own website, proudly supports pro-gun organizations like the National Shooting Sports Foundation, and also states that their, quote, "economic impact analysis calculates the importance an activity or initiative has on the economy or quality of life of a region generating greater support for that activity." And this study certainly generated that support, putting forward one of the highest economic impact estimates of any purportedly legitimate study to date.

In response, the Humane Society International, which does not hide its position against trophy hunting, commissioned its own study by Australia-based Economists at Large, which laid out numerous methodological errors in the Southwick analysis.

The overall structure of the Southwick study involves surveying hunters on their in-country spending, multiplying that by the total number of hunter visitors, then adding a multiplier to that to inflate it to a corresponding GDP figure.

And, look, John, you nailed it here.

Who's actually going to protect our public lands? Who's going to protect our land here in Montana? Do you, do you think our public lands are going to be protected by some LGBTQ lobbyist from Portland who's endorsed by AOC, Bernie Sanders, and Ilhan Omar? Or do you trust the guy, Aaron Flint here, who is endorsed by the NRA with an A rating, who's endorsed by the Montana Shooting Sports Association, who is endorsed by SCI, First for Hunters? And I've got incredible support from the National Shooting Sports Foundation as well.

Th- this phony Forstag, uh, not only is he endorsed by these far-left wackos and, and getting support from Hassan Piker.

You know, I joined the military after the 9/11 terror attacks.

[cheering] [applauding]

And getting incredible support from the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

The record is clear.

Look, my family homesteaded here, and they fought for everything they've got.

When we talk about public lands and protecting public lands in, in public hands especially, who are you going to trust to protect not only your public lands, but your access to those lands, your gun rights, your hunting rights? Who's gonna fight for our Western way of life? Uh, Aaron Flint here, I am the guy who was endorsed by the NRA, endorsed by the Montana Shooting Sports Association.

Uh, did I say the Gun Owners of America, SCI, and great support from the National Shooting Sports Foundation as well.

So are you gonna support a fifth-generation Montanan, a combat veteran, a retired lieutenant colonel who's hunted these very lands, who's fished here, uh, for, throughout my life? Or some far-left LGBTQ lobbyist from Portland who's endorsed by AOC and Ilhan Omar, these foreign-born terrorist sympathizers? I think they know who's gonna protect our public lands, and it's the guy who served in uniform to protect this country.

country.Amen. Get out and vote for Aaron Flint all over Montana One.

Yes, specifically the Bloomberg School of Public Health.

And so, I, I found it really, really interesting that Bloomberg has gone from, you know, no guns ever, not allowed, not good, need to be disassembled and, you know, in- inoperable, and even then, "Eh, we're still gonna come after you," uh, to now essentially mimicking Project Childsafe, which is, uh, produced by the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

Yeah.

Um-

... hey, guess what? You're giving gun locks away.

That's great.

Uh, but on the, on, on the other ha- on the other hand, it's, uh, yeah, the, uh, especially since Nat- the National Shooting Sports Foundation is literally the gun lobby.

Uh, you know?

So the director of the ATF posted on X on I think it was Sunday night that it would be out by Friday.

And then the National Shooting Sports Foundation also sent an email out to all their members saying that we expect to have it by Friday.

So, you know, I've been because, you know, I've met with the two people in the White House that were sort of helping coordinate writing the guidance.

And again, you know, Knutson and, you know, I didn't know if it was going to come this early.

right

yeah no that's you know i guess the other thing is um We were fortunate enough to get the law changed in South Dakota and in Kansas.

It was the same lobbyist from the National Shooting Sports Foundation that helped us in South Dakota.

He also helped us in Kansas.

... far and away the largest group.

Uh, and then you have an industry group, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, their PAC, and then, uh, you have the National Association for Gun Rights.

But, you know, the, the NRAs and the millions raised, the other two groups-

Yes

It really is.

I mean, I kinda, th-th-the, I would- it wouldn't have surprised me if the gun control groups were to, you know, look at the numbers and see that they're outperforming the, the NRA and the other gun rights groups, um, who don't, you know, really compete in this, in this area.

Uh, the, the industry group, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, right? They, they make some more effort, uh, to, to compete in the political realm, uh, through direct contributions and, and, uh, you know, political spending like this.

But, you know, they've never been a- at the, the level that the NRA has, has been at, and we can see that they're still, they're still not in these numbers either.