Ammunition sales were unprecedented in 2014, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding for wildlife conservation programs.
The Pittman-Robertson Act, signed by FDR in 1937, reallocated the 11% excise tax on firearms and ammo from the US Treasure to the Secretary of the Interior, who in turn, distributes it to the States based upon a formula that takes into consideration land area and the number of licensed hunters.
In 2014, $814M was collected, a jump from 2013’s record-breaking $812M and triple that of ten years ago. The money will be used to protect wildlife habitats, count animals for population surveys, research wildlife health issues and to purchase and improve land for wildlife management areas.
According to a recent article in the Grand Forks Herald:
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources will get a whopping $24.9 million in 2015 based on last year’s gun and ammo sales — that’s the most ever, up from $23.3 million in 2014, more than double the state’s $11.2 million in 2012 and more than more than three times the $7 million the state got in 2006.
“It’s been an absolute boon for habitat programs the last few years. We’re doing more things than we ever could before,” said Tom Landwehr, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
There was a surge in gun and ammo sales in 2008. Experts speculate that gun lovers stocked up because they feared the possible ramifications of a democrat in the Oval Office. Essentially, the ammo hoarders were doing the nature lovers a big solid.
Jim Hodgson, regional chief of wildlife and sport fish restoration for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service stated: “The level of gun and ammunition sales we’ve seen in recent years, which we’ve never had before, has been a real boost to state wildlife agencies and to wildlife habitat and restoration across the country.”
Gun and ammo sales leveled off in 2010 as the democrat fear dissipated, but with Sandy Hook and Obama’s re-election in 2012, we saw revenue from gun and ammo tax double by 2014.
2015 revenues are projected to fall from 2014, but still tower over pre-Obama levels.The first months of 2015 show revenues from the federal tax down $200M from 2014, but still rivalling 2012.
So, next time your wife or husband gives you a hard time about the money you’re spending at the gun store, you can tell them: “I’m doing it for the animals!”