(GunReports.com)–The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance (USSA) reports that the next chairman of a key house committee with oversight over federal funding for wildlife conservation has a long history of opposing hunting, trapping, and gun ownership.
U.S. Representative Jim Moran (D-Va.) is expected to be named Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies. This subcommittee oversees funding for the Department of Interior and its various agencies, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This makes this chair one of the most powerful positions influencing public policy on federal lands including whether to keep such land open to sportsmen.
Rep. Moran’s expected move is part of a domino effect of legislators shifting committee positions that began with the recent passing of Rep. John Murtha (D-Penn.).
Of particular worry to gun owners, he has supported so much anti-gun legislation that he earned the number four position on the NRA’s 2006 Top Anti-Gun representatives.
He has supported bills such as “assault weapon” bans, prohibitions on transferring ammunition to juveniles, and mandates for additional background checks at gun shows. Rep. Moran also supported legislation requiring ballistics testing data from guns be kept in a national database.
“Sportsmen are right to be wary that an obvious anti is getting ready to control the gavel for a committee overseeing much of the nation’s conservation policy,” said Rob Sexton, U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance (USSA) vice president for government affairs.
