Outdoor writers’ group responds to gun control op-ed from some senior members

By Chris Eger

A Huffington Post opinion piece led by the President Obama’s former wildlife boss sparked clarification from the Outdoor Writer’s Association of America.
Headquartered in Missoula, Montana, the OWAA is composed of some 800 individual members and about 200 supporting groups “from the broad, modern spectrum of outdoor beats, from shooting to camping, backpacking to kayaking, wildlife watching to mountain climbing.”
However, Dr. Brandon Shuler, the group’s executive director, wanted to make clear that the recent HuffPost op-ed penned by former U.S. Fish & Wildlife Director Dan Ashe and co-signed by at least nine prominent OWAA members — including three former presidents of the group — was not endorsed by the organization itself.
“OWAA respects the rights of all individuals to express their opinions, but as an organization of professional communicators, we avoid advocacy on issues not related to journalism,” said Shuler in a release. “Some OWAA members may agree with points made in the letter. Some may not. But the letter’s content does not represent OWAA policy.”
The letter by Ashe advanced an agenda to curb gun violence through regulations that included outlawing the sale of all semi-auto rifles and shotguns capable of holding more than 10 cartridges, a ban on gun sales to

Source: Guns.com