That happened last year, and it's got huge potential for the tree huggers to move their agenda forward. The NTA, FTA and several other national organizations are aiding the New Mexico trappers Association in a lawsuit to get this law voided. In a nutshell ( and I'm Paraphrasing) the law says that they are only outlawing trapping on public land for "safety" reasons. The problem for trappers is that most of NM is state or federally owned land. The ramifications of this across the rest of the country are huge. Here in Pennsylvania alone we've got State forests, State Parks and most disconcerting, State Game Lands. The State Game Lands were bought with hunting license fees and some Pittman-Robertson money. These are millions of acres of "public' Land that the antis' could try to get this same kind of law passed.
Does anybody believe that after the antis' get trapping outlawed, for the so-called safety reasons, that they won't go after hunting on public land under those same "safety" reasons? The laws is this country are made by legislators who if they aren't city dwellers, are beholden to city dwellers who don't have a clue about what hunting and trapping really entail.
The decision to go on the offensive against this law, as it was explained to me, was made with the idea that fighting a defensive battle, you're still going to lose a little bit. Each time you lose a little bit, you've still lost. Rather than be defensive, with almost the same expenses, the decision has been made to go on the offensive. You have to applaud the idea that the antis' are going to have to justify their actions with statistics and studies just like they've made the pro trapping/hunting communities come up with over the years.
However, as we all know lawsuits are expensive, now is the time to step up and aid this effort. Join the New Mexico Trappers Association. If you don't want to do that, go to their website and find out how to donate money to the lawsuit fund. If you're not a trapper just remember that after they get the trappers, they're going to be coming for the hunters.
Thin out the city dwellers, seems like a simple solution.
