REGINA – Some hunting outfitters are upset at the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation for telling American hunters to stay away because of proposed federal gun laws.
“We don’t think the outfitting industry should bear the brunt” of the fight against the bill, said Hal Stupnikoff of the Saskatchewan Outfitters Association.
The League of Kentucky Sportsmen, which claims 75,000 members, has announced a boycott of Canada for 1995 because of the proposed gun law. Robert Smith of the organization said it will be extended if the legislation passes.
Smith said hunters’ groups in 13 American states have already decided to boycott Canada and many more will follow.
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Stupnikoff said in Saskatchewan alone there are 600 outfitters who serve more than 30,000 American hunters annually. He said outfitters don’t want to see anything damage that business.
Rick Wyatt of the SWF defended the organization’s attempts to create a mass boycott of Canada by American hunters.
He said the SWF might be encouraging a boycott, which would hurt outfitters, but “once American hunters start coming to the border and find they have to register their firearms they’re going to turn around and go home anyway.”
Infringes rights
Smith said forcing foreign hunters to register their guns with Canadian authorities at the border “infringes my rights as a U.S. citizen.” He said hunters were worried information on American gun owners would be given to the FBI and other U.S. government agencies.
Wyatt said the boycott could actually help outfitters because it might force the government to drop the gun bill.
Jim Schille of the Saskatchewan Responsible Firearm Owners said promoting an American boycott of Canada “sounds like a good idea,” although his group has not promoted the idea itself.
But a different view comes from Keith Carter of the Coalition for Gun Control. He said an American boycott of Canada would not be the result of the gun law, but of hysteria created by groups such as the SWF.
