Washington, DC - During National Shooting Sports Month, we celebrate the wonderful American tradition of shooting sports.  Shooting sports are a terrific reminder of our constitutional liberty and the attendant benefits that accrue to a free people: active friendship within families, between peers, and among communities, and the opportunity for Americans living in small towns and large cities to experience the bounty of America’s great outdoors.

Shooting sports help reinforce many of the bedrock values of our people, such as the free exercise of the Second Amendment.  Mastery of shooting sports requires rigor, discipline, and training.  State and local shooting sports programs—and instruction by trained family members and mentors—affirm the role of local communities as the primary teacher of the rule of law and personal responsibility.

This month, we recognize the sportsmen and hunters who practice and teach firearm safety and exercise proper stewardship of our land.  Sportsmen and hunters not only help others to understand the responsibilities of owning and using a firearm, but they also ensure that our open space and natural resources are safeguarded.  Under existing Federal law, for example, a portion of Federal excise tax on the sale of firearms and ammunition is dedicated to American wildlife research and habitat conservation.  That is one reason why my Administration has prioritized making it easier for Americans to participate in shooting sports on public lands.  By doing so, we are enhancing Americans’ ability to experience the unsurpassed beauty of our blessed Nation and we are better protecting our national treasures for future generations.

I encourage all Americans engaged in shooting sports to continue promoting a culture of safety and to continue exercising the responsibility and duty associated with the right to keep and bear arms.