Lock & Load

No one knows exactly why, but a lot of people are interested in packing heat.

In fact, FBI data suggest that gun sales in New Mexico and nationally will hit record levels in 2011.

Will Hogsett, sales director at Calibers Shooter Sports Center said strong sales at his store may be due to an improving economy or lingering fears about stronger gun control before the 2012 elections.

“I’m happy either way,” Hogsett said this week as customers crowded Calibers sales room and waited up to an hour for a lane in the shooting range. “It’s been like this for about three weeks now.”

Sales of handguns and shotguns continue to be the big sellers among people looking for protection in their homes, he said. “The big thing people come to us for is home defense.”

The FBI reports that the number of background checks required to buy a firearm hit a national one-month record of more than 1.5 million in November and remained strong this month, CNN has reported.

In New Mexico, the number of FBI National Instant Criminal Background checks totalled 10,011 in November, up 14 percent from about 8,800 in November 2010.

That number falls short of the state’s 12,078 background checks performed in November 2008. State data for December was not available.

Short-term economic and political factors aside, for years, gun ownership has grown in popularity, particularly among women, said Valerie Jackson, co-owner of Charlie’s Sporting Goods.

“There are just more people shooting,” Jackson said.

“When I first started in the industry 40 years ago, there were very few women customers.”

A Gallup poll released in October found that 34 percent of U.S. adults and 23 percent of women surveyed reported personal gun ownership.

The number of background checks performed by the FBI nationally has increased each year for nearly a decade from 8.5 million in 2002 to 14.6 million in the first 11 months this year.

For New Mexico, the number of FBI background checks climbed from 80,000 in 2002 to 102,000 through November this year. In 2010, a record 109,000 background checks were performed for New Mexico.

Alicia Eiler of Albuquerque visited Calibers this week to get in some target practice with a new Christmas gift from her father — a Heckler and Koch 9mm pistol.

“My dad had a little spare cash this year,” Eiler said.

Eiler has owned other firearms before but now plans to try some competitive shooting with her new pistol, she said.

She also owns firearms for personal protection. “I feel safer in my home,” she said.

— This article appeared on page A1 of the Albuquerque Journal

Montana OKs using hunters to kill wolves for livestock depredations

Montana ranchers whose livestock is killed by wolves will be allowed to use hunters, in addition to federal agents, to remove those wolves under a proposal adopted Thursday by the Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission.

Ranchers still need to go through the original process. They have authority to shoot a wolf in the process of harassing livestock, but if they don't see it happen, they must call Wildlife Services to confirm the kill and get authorization to kill the offending wolves. If agents with Wildlife Services - a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture - aren't able to complete the removal of wolves, the rancher now can call upon a hunter to do the job.

"The idea has had a fair amount of discussion ... and this is the application of another tool - the hunters - that we can rely on, in coordination with Wildlife Services and the landowner," said Quentin Kujala, the FWP wildlife management section chief. "It doesn't replace Wildlife Services and there may be situations where this tool doesn't come to bear; we may find it never happens or we may find it happens often."

The fact that FWP won't have hunters sign up to be chosen to go after the wolves bothered some of the commission members, who worried it would create a perception of cronyism since the landowner will get to select who can go on the hunt.

But Kujala countered that the idea is to get someone on the ground quick, and Commissioner Shane Colton that said while he shared the concerns, wolves are somewhat unique and they should at least try this route.

"I think the landowners who have trouble want to select people who want to get a wolf, who are able to do it and who live down the road and can be there as soon as possible instead of relying on the department to go through a list," Colton said. "I support that rationale for this animal, but we need to watch it closely to make sure there is no special treatment or quid pro quo."

Reporter Eve Byron can be reached at (406) 447-4076 or at eve.byron@helenair.com.

Southern Rockies Wolf Plans Dangerous? Includes NM

Southern Rockies Wolf Plans Dangerous? Read for yourself Folks, The official S. Rockies wolf documents have now been released to the public. CLICK HERE to visit biggameforever.org/blog where you can download and read the proposal. Here's how these documents were released to the public. On December 2, 2011 Arizona Fish and Game commission released official documents, which would mandate wolf proliferation across the Southern Rockies and into Texas. The documents have been confirmed by several sources, including a regional director for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service testifying at Friday's Arizona Fish and Game Commission hearing. Despite denials by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regarding these plans, it has become clear that these plans are moving forward. This official "draft" was released for official comment by members of the wolf recovery team in the last couple of weeks. In the wake of criticism by western states, USFWS' national director accused states of "mischaracterizing" the Southern Rockies wolf plans. These leaked documents confirm that the criticism of these plans by western states were well founded. Here are several quotes from the document that illustrate the dangerous nature of these plans: (1) An acknowledgment of the intent to force wolves into Texas  "Several questions at the August recovery team meeting focused on...availability of suitable habitat in Mexico and the United States, especially Texas." "Approximately 24,000 square kilometers of potentially suitable [wolf] habitat...occurs in western Texas." (2) Mandated wolf proliferation across the entire southern Rockies "Based on the material below we recommend that the Mexican wolf recovery area include "Mexico...western Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and the southern portions of Utah and Colorado." (3) Dramatic increases in forced wolf populations minimum numbers "Three major zones of suitable wolf habitat exist in the area encompassing Arizona, New Mexico, southern Colorado and southern Utah. Under current habitat conditions, it is estimated that over 1,000 wolves could inhabit this large area." This is more than triple the number of wolves that were required in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. (4) Mandating Mexican wolves OUTSIDE their historic range using the Endangered Species Act The report spends several pages trying to justify mandated Mexican wolf populations outside their historic range. The report concludes "recovering [Mexican Wolves] outside purported historical ranges...may establish a useful and critically important precedent." Given demonstrable damage from invasive species, most biologists we have spoken with feel this is a slippery slope and a dangerous precedent. The areas outside of historic range includes Utah and Colorado. (5) Plans designed to prevent S. Rockies wolves from ever being managed by Western states The devil is in the details. Legally, no delisting can occur until Mexican wolves are recovered across a "substantial portion of the range." 90% of Mexican wolf range is in Mexico. With no plans to recover wolves in Mexico, there is little hope that wolves in the Southern Rockies would ever be delisted. The legal mechanism of preventing wolf management in the future is by eliminating the safe-guards provided by "non-essential experimental" status and instead create a "subspecies" listing. A "subspecies" listing would prevent delisting even if populations objectives are reached in the Southern Rockies. As a result, these plans provide little in the way of safeguards for livestock and wildlife. (6) The plans would result in "swamping" of Mexican Wolf Genetics Despite claims these plans are about recovering Mexican wolves, Wolf specialists have confirmed that interbreeding with Northern Gray wolves could overwhelm Mexican wolf genetics in as short as 20 years. Folks these plans are dangerous. These plans do not protect wildlife. These plans do not protect livestock. These plans would violate well-established limitations on federal authority. These plans are based on a dramatic overreaching. Please help us stop these plans from being forced on the good people of the Western United States. Ryan Benson http://biggameforever.org/ ryandbenson@msn.com facebook, & BGF Blog To get the latest information, news, and updates follow us on facebook click here, or read our blog by clicking here. Copyright © 2011 Big Game Forever 314 West Broadway #200, Salt Lake City, Utah 84101 All Rights Reserved