Sangamon
County Rifle Association
Right Reason on Second Amendment Rights
Springfield, Illinois
Right Reason on Second Amendment Rights
Springfield, Illinois
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Sangamon
County Rifle Association
Right Reason on Second Amendment Rights Springfield, Illinois |
SC |
 Pittman-Robertson History Tom Shafer SCRA Meeting, February 6, 2006 April GunNews The Pittman-Robertson tax is collected by the states on all the sporting equipment sold including archery, snowmobiles, firearms, ammunition. etc. The tax is collected and given to the feds and they give it back to the states, usually to the Department of Natural Resources. The Pitman Robinson Act states in the Act exactly what the money is to be used for. It is supposed to be used for buying land, range development, fisheries, hatcheries, etc. It is supposed to be returned to be used for whatever sporting stuff those sportsmen who paid the tax are going to be doing in the state. The second thing specifically mentioned in the Act is "range construction". Illinois, which since 1934 has received hundreds of millions of dollars in Pittman Robertson revenue has never seen fit, [until recently at Sparta] to build one. I've spoken to the last three governors on it and they said that range construction, although specifically mentioned in the Act, has never been a priority for Illinois. None of them ever said why it isn't. DNR takes the tax money because it's a huge revenue stream for them and its never going to go away. They've depended on it to buy state park land and to administer state parks. In my opinion they use it to build up a large Department of Natural Resources bureaucracy. The huge building they built on the State Fairgrounds with the gull wing roof and the waterfalls on both sides is very nice. That's your Pittman- Robertson money. Governor Blagojevich tried to raid the fund with his fund sweep and the sportsmen and all the downstate reps raised Cain and told him what he was doing was illegal. It was only the threat of legal action by the sportsmen groups that made him give it all back. It is ironic that it is an anti-gun Democratic governor who is actually living up to the standards of Pittman-Robertson by finishing the Sparta shooting complex, which will attract trap shooters from all over the country, and also has pistol and rifle ranges. Neither Edgar nor Ryan would build us a range. They love our money but they don't like our ideas on how to spend it, and that's frustrating. When I originally started up a discussion about building a range in Illinois, I said, "Look, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Kansas and Kentucky all have public ranges and Illinois has zero." After that all the news about the Sparta Range construction hit the papers and they said "Oh we've got one, we're building one, we're not left behind." It takes a little bit of squeak before you get any kind of grease! When a member asked if the Sparta Range was going to be open to the public for public shooting, I responded "By God if I've got a breath in my body it's going to be. They're not going to use all of my money and not let me shoot there!" Sportsmen should have a range, paid for by our sportsmen's money, and our fathers and grandfathers' sportsmen's money, in northern Illinois, one in central Illinois and one in southern Illinois. It's a long state and sportsmen shouldn't have to drive that far to get to a range. Of course, there are private ranges; but I still have to pay Pittman-Robertson taxes in this state. Why should I have to pay those taxes and pay for a private range, when so many other states provide ranges out of this tax money? From the Capitol Index Return to SCRA Home Page |