Legalize semi auto for hunting in PA

[The_War_Wagon]

It is an uphill battle. Much of the opposition to semi autos for hunting comes from hunters and other gun owners so we are our own worst enemy in a sense.

FUDD in PA is thicker than black strap molasses in winter. It's as if hunters and other shooters come from different planets. You'll probably need a LOT of hunters over 50 to retire, move, or, transfer to that, 'great bolt action field in the sky,' before the current crop of folk accustomed to semi-auto rifles, can make any headway against it.

[yellowfin]

FUDD in PA is thicker than black strap molasses in winter.

Then we take Chesty Puller's attitude towards it: "So they've got us surrounded, good! Now we can fire in any direction, those bastards won't get away this time!"

[TommyG]

FUDD in PA is thicker than black strap molasses in winter. It's as if hunters and other shooters come from different planets. You'll probably need a LOT of hunters over 50 to retire, move, or, transfer to that, 'great bolt action field in the sky,' before the current crop of folk accustomed to semi-auto rifles, can make any headway against it.

Somebody has been to this dance before.

[Lone_Ranger]

Just remember, that knucklehead is the guy/gal that you are going to need lobbying their legislator for you to get something like this changed. Make nice with them and educate them on what a great ergonomic platform the AR is, some of the "hunting" calibers that the AR is available in and how many other states allow semi auto for hunting. Show them how you can have one lower several uppers for different applications, etc.

I've tried. One day, one of these guys was admiring the S&W 5906, I had just bought. "Wow! Nice looking foreign gun, how much you spend for that?" I told him it was a Smith & Wesson, and his attitude changed a little. I let him shoot it, and he promptly stove-piped the first or second shot. I cleared the malfunction, and finished the rest of the magazine, without an issue. I told him, it was operator error, from a loose grip. He wasn't convinced. He walked away shaking his head, no doubt, with all of his beliefs confirmed. No doubt, wondering how stupid I must be, to spend so much, on an unreliable, foreign-looking gun, that you can't hunt with.

I saw him later that day, and he wanted to show me his 'practical' gun. It was a .44 Magnum, with a 10" barrel, and a SCOPE! He was very proud of the fact that he could hunt with it.

[TommyG]

I've tried. One day, one of these guys was admiring the S&W 5906, I had just bought. "Wow! Nice looking foreign gun, how much you spend for that?" I told him it was a Smith & Wesson, and his attitude changed a little. I let him shoot it, and he promptly stove-piped the first or second shot. I cleared the malfunction, and finished the rest of the magazine, without an issue. I told him, it was operator error, from a loose grip. He wasn't convinced. He walked away shaking his head, no doubt, with all of his beliefs confirmed. No doubt, wondering how stupid I must be, to spend so much, on an unreliable, foreign-looking gun, that you can't hunt with.

I saw him later that day, and he wanted to show me his 'practical' gun. It was a .44 Magnum, with a 10" barrel, and a SCOPE! He was very proud of the fact that he could hunt with it.

See the Fudd comment above. No one said it would be easy, or fun.

[yellowfin]

I'm working on putting together a strategy package to make it fun and somewhat easier.

[Lone_Ranger]

See the Fudd comment above. No one said it would be easy, or fun.

True. Very, true.

[fr3db3ar]

Being born and raised there I can tell you it's an even harder battle because you fighting traditions that have been around since the beginning of our great nation.

It's the mindset that needs to be changed. Good luck with that.

[yellowfin]

Being born and raised there I can tell you it's an even harder battle because you fighting traditions that have been around since the beginning of our great nation.

Here's the thing about that: hunting is what the tradition is, and that is being out in nature and interacting with it, using fieldcraft and marksmanship. I seriously doubt that excluding a kind of rifle, in fact actively hating it, is as essential to it as people are led to believe. And interestingly enough, as you point out that the tradition of hunting in PA runs directly along the path of American history, it is clear to see at a glance that it has seen every phase in transition of firearm evolution thus far and is simply due to take the next step: from smoothbore to rifled barrel, from flintlock to percussion cap, from muzzleloader to metallic cartridge, then smokeless powder, bottlenecked cartridges, etc. The idea that PA can't adopt M14/M1A's, AR15's, Remington 7400's, Ruger 10/22's, Marlin 60's, etc. as perfectly accepted hunting rifles just the same as it's picked up everything before them is completely nonsense.

It's the mindset that needs to be changed. Good luck with that.

Ideas change all the time. Did everyone have a cell phone back in 1994? Imagine asking people then if they would now. Had over half of people in the country flown in a plane in 1920? You'd probably have been laughed at for telling people you could call on the phone and get a ticket to fly from 30 minutes to an hour from where they live to anywhere on the globe with less than 15 minutes of talking and reciting a (credit card) number. Do you think that in 1920 (8 years prior to its discovery) most people knew or believed that you could cure dozens of deadly diseases which had previously wiped out hundreds of thousands of people at a time with use of an extract of a common mold? How about the idea that building a nuclear shelter in the late 1950's was a total waste of time? Just barely over 500 years ago, even suggesting that this continent that we're standing on right now even existed was a crazy idea until someone sailed over the Atlantic and back to prove it.

By comparison, the task of convincing a few people towards advancing the use of rifle designs forward from previous limits of the 1890's to that of the 1950's and 60's seems considerably easier.

[TommyG]

You make a good point, and I agree with you. I will be interested to see how your effort to advance the issue takes shape.