Polar bear trophies and firearms, round two

House Republicans next week will again try to advance legislation that would ease several federal restrictions on hunters and fishermen, including one that prohibits the import of certain polar bear trophies from Canada.

The GOP will call up H.R. 3590, the the Sportsmen’s Heritage And Recreational Enhancement (SHARE) Act. It’s the latest version of legislation the House passed in 2012.

{mosads}The legislation’s bill number, H.R. 3590, is the same bill number given to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or ObamaCare, which passed in 2010. When it passes next week, it will be the first H.R. 3590 to pass the House since ObamaCare.

The SHARE Act is a combination of several firearms-related proposals that members have proposed over the last few years. It finds generally that hunting and fishing on federal land is acceptable and can be done with affecting other users of that land, and says congressional approval is needed in order to restrict these activities on national monument land.

It requires federal public land management agencies to promote fishing and recreational shooting, and would ban an effort by the Environmental Protection Agency to ban ammo and fishing gear that contains lead components.

Elsewhere, it allows states to permanently issue duck stamps electronically. These stamps are essentially shooting licenses, and funds generated from their sale funds land conservation.

The bill also legalizes the import of polar bear trophies from Canada that were taken before May 2008, when the polar bear was listed on the Endangered Species Act.