Page 10 
GUNS , EDUCATION AND WILDLIFE 
About twenty years ago, I attended a veteran's convention in Des Moines at 
which a distinguished clergyman and humanitarian from Chicago spoke... I have 
forgotten most of what he said, but one line remains in my memory. On that 
day, he said: "This government and its people have an infinite capacity to 
come up to every problem--and then walk completely around it." ib) gb ul ta 
certainly true in the matter of sales of firearms. 
There are only two recent laws passed by the federal government relating to 
firearms--one was passed in 1934 and the other in 1938. It*took a national 
tragedy to pass another federal firearms law in 1968. The sale of firearms 
is big business in the USA-- almost ten thousand guns a day reach private 
Owners. But nobody really knows how many guns there are in the country-- 
estimates range from 50 million to 200 a1 On. 
You can buy a rifle or a pistol in 41 states without a license. Strong bills 
in Congress and in state legislature to control the sale of firearms have 
usually been killed by the “gun lobby". The unofficial but acknowledged 
leader of the "gun lobby" is the National Rifle Assn. which was first founded 
in 1871. It now operates from a nine-story, three million dollar building 
in Washington, DC. It has a membership of almost 875,000 members, ten million 
dollars in assets, and an annual income of over commit titane 
Other leaders in the'"gun lobby" are sportsmens groups, and several rifle and 
ammunition magazines, plus of course the arms manufacturers themselves. For 
a long time, the Pentagon itself was a member of the "gun lobby", making 
available without cost, thousands of pounds of ammunition to private groups 
for target practice. This Pentagon gift has now been ended and the taxpayers 
finally win another round. 
The National Audubon Society and the Illinois Audubon Society as well as 
other Audubon groups concerned primarily with wildlife and the natural 
environment have not taken any stand on firearms legislation. However, 34 
national groups, concerned with social legislation have formed an "emergency 
committee" to deal with the problem. In the past, the NRA and its allies could 
be counted on to flood Congress with a half million enraged letters in 72 
hours. Most congressmen translate these letters into votes. . They seldom 
heard from the vast majority ranging over 72% who are considered to support 
firearms control. 
It appears that Audubon clubs cannot much longer ignore this issue. We are 
told that about 40% of the Bald Eagles which come to a violent death are 
gunned down. Here in Illinois, we are aware that though our Hawk and Owl law 
has been on the books for ten years, these great birds are still being 
gunned down by ignorant gunners, by teen-agers and by farmers. "Hawks Aloft" 
by Mr. Maurice Broun tells the sad plight of the raptors flights over Hawk 
Mtn. in Penn. So-called sportsmen in Pennsylvania have fought strong laws in 
that state to protect raptors for years. 
Here in Illinois, the negative thinking in the Dept. of Conservation has 
dictated that no special effort be made to acquaint hunters with the fact that 
hawks and owls are now protected. We know of only one state publicity re- 
lease which helped to educate Illinoisans in that regard. No copy of the 
Illinois Game code goes to every purchaser of a long-gun, or a hunting ; 
license as a matter of course and formality. We have sought to change their 
thinking. The Illinois Audubon Society intends to step up its educational 
campaign this fall to help protect our national emblem and the raptors which 
SO gracefully dominate our skies in declining numbers. 
Raymond Mostek, President, IAS 

