All but 1.1% of the almost half million acres of the national monument are now off-limits to responsible gun owners who would pass along their rich traditions to the next generation.
This is due to the finalized plan by the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to close access to the area.
In 2018, over 90% of the desert was opened for the enjoyment of target shooting, and the new scheme reverses all of that gain and then some extra.
A BLM spokesperson insisted that target shooting remains permitted on other lands around the Phoenix area that the agency controls.
Environmental groups sued in 2019 to prevent the opening of public lands to sport shooters, and a court settlement was reached with the Department of Justice in April 2022. Afterward, Phoenix BLM official Leon Thomas released a statement explaining the agency’s actions.
“The BLM worked to find a safe balance between various recreational uses of public lands while protecting objects of historic or scientific interest in the national monument. We continue to explore ways to enhance opportunities for recreational shooting on other public lands in Arizona, such as our new shooting sports sites in the metro Phoenix area.”
However, as the National Shooting Sports Foundation succinctly noted, these facilities are a 60-mile drive for Phoenix residents.
The industry trade association further reported that its own study revealed that 21% of recreational shooters practice their craft almost entirely on public lands, and 43% believe that federal restrictions on access to shooting sites are their foremost issue.
Taken by itself, the new change might not cause much consternation. But with the laundry list of federal actions targeting gun rights in the previous three years, there is no mistaking the message.
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