House committee advances bill modernizing excise tax fund to promote shooting sports

By Christen Smith

House lawmakers advanced a proposal this week allowing states to use funds from a federal excise tax on gun sales to  promote shooting sports.
The House Committee on Natural Resources approved the plan Tuesday modernizing the 1937 Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act to reflect the shrinking pool of hunters, anglers and shooters paying into the fund. Georgia Republican Rep. Austin Scott sponsored the bill last year in hopes of attracting new enthusiasts via social media and television ads.
“With a national decline in hunting and recreational fishing, Pittman-Robertson funds are shrinking and our state and local habitats are suffering, which is why I am pushing this legislation to give states more flexibility in how they use their PR funds and hopefully attract more Americans to the outdoors in the process,” he said. “I am very pleased the Committee favorably passed my PR modernization bill, and I will keep pressing until our decades-old wildlife conservation funding receives the critical updates it deserves.”
H.R. 2591 allows states to use up to $5 million of federal tax dollars collected through firearm and ammo sales for funding hunter and recreational shooter recruitment grants. States can also use a portion of their grants for general marketing purposes and for building, maintaining

Source: Guns.com