Violent Entanglements: The Pittman-Robertson Act, Firearms, and the Financing of Conservation

Connors, John P. Casellas; Rea, ChristopherM

doi:10.4103/cs.cs_82_21

Cited by 6 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…In line with its historical roots, FWS remains heavily focused on supporting game populations and recreationally pursued fish species, and New Deal-era fiscal institutions linking conservation funding to gun sales (ostensibly by way of hunting) remain a central source of agency revenue (Casellas Connors and Rea 2022). As a result, FWS retains strong political support from conservative-leaning fishing and hunting organizations like Trout Unlimited and Ducks Unlimited and shooting and gun advocacy groups like the National Sport Shooting Federation and National Rifle Association (Duda et al 2022).…”

Section: Developmental Legacies Of Environmental Statesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Environmental State: Nature and the Politics of Environmental Protection

Rea

Frickel

2023

Sociological Theory

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Basic oppositions between economic growth and environmental protection are well understood by sociologists, but the state’s role in environmental protection and regulation is underspecified in sociological theory. We define the environmental state and theorize two structuring forces central to its provision of environmental welfare. First, culturally distinctive constructions of nature shape environmental politics and statecraft. State actions linked to charismatic “special” nature often win broad political support, whereas actions linked to less resonant “ordinary” nature do not. Second, historical legacies of developmentalism shape environmental coalitions. Arms of the environmental state that combine extractive pasts with newer regulatory responsibilities are better able to build broad support, whereas narrowly regulatory or developmental arms struggle to do so. We illustrate the relevance of each process for the politics of environmental regulation and of technoscientific expertise. Both processes help explain the varied efficacy of environmental states and set the stage for their comparative study.

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Section: Developmental Legacies Of Environmental Statesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Environmental State: Nature and the Politics of Environmental Protection

Rea

Frickel

2023

Sociological Theory

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“…The growing firearm sales generally represent increasing sales for "defense" and "security" purposes (Southwick Associates, 2017) and correspond to increasing sales of handguns and AR-style rifles, also called modern sporting rifles. The combination of these trends has disrupted the assumed relationship among hunting, guns, and conservation that undergird the Pittman-Robertson model (Casellas Connors and Rea, 2022).…”

Section: Reproducing Firearms Usementioning

confidence: 99%

“…I wouldn't recommend holding your breath in the meantime" (Sportsmen's Alliance, 2014). 7 The conservationist gun user identity provides a rationale for the continuation and acceptance of the current model, even though a large and growing fraction of gun users are not hunters (Casellas Connors and Rea, 2022;Duda et al, 2021). In this manner, sportsmen groups and the firearms industry have cemented the rhetorical and symbolic linkage between guns, hunting, and conservation centered on a shared lifestyle that involves firearms use and environmental philanthropy, but not necessarily hunting or wildlife "use."…”

Section: Gun Use As Benevolent Conservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…3 Overall, hunting participation has declined from about 8% to 4% of Americans. 4 Meanwhile, gun and ammunition sales have dramatically increased, generating record revenues for Pittman-Robertson in recent years (Casellas Connors and Rea, 2022). The growing firearm sales generally represent increasing sales for “defense” and “security” purposes (Southwick Associates, 2017) and correspond to increasing sales of handguns and AR-style rifles, also called modern sporting rifles.…”

Section: Pittman-robertson—linking Firearms Conservation and The Statementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The relationship among firearms, hunting, and conservation, however, has transformed greatly in recent decades. Increasing gun sales for non-hunting purposes, declining hunting participation rates, and increasing non-hunting outdoor recreation have disrupted the assumed relationship between firearms sales and wildlife management (Casellas Connors and Rea, 2022). Even as gun sales and hunting decouple, the firearms industry has generally embraced, often endorsed, and sometimes sought to expand taxes that go into the FAWR account.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The eco-munitionary subject: Conservation with and of firearms

Connors

Carlino

Rea

2023

Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space

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The Pittman-Robertson Act of 1937 was a transformative piece of legislation for wildlife management and conservation in the United States, incentivizing the creation of state wildlife agencies and establishing funding mechanisms for these agencies. The legislation directs an excise tax on firearms, ammunition, and archery equipment to a fund to support wildlife restoration projects by state wildlife agencies. In 2021 alone, this generated more than $1 billion in project funds. Although commonly framed as a user pays model of conservation whereby hunters fund wildlife management, most of the excise taxes collected on firearms and ammunition are now associated with non-hunting uses. Despite this disconnect, many firearms industry groups continue to support and promote their relationship to Pittman-Robertson. Here, we examine the role of Pittman-Robertson in shaping the relationship between firearms and conservation and seek to understand how this relationship is reproduced. We examine this shifting relationship through an analysis of amendments to Pittman-Robertson since its creation and a discourse analysis of contemporary materials from web sites of firearms, hunting, shooting, and conservation organizations. Drawing on the concept of environmentality and diverse ecologies, we argue that Pittman-Robertson has contributed to the production of, and been re-shaped by, a distinct environmental actor: the eco-munitionary subject.

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