The "outdoor divide" in California

From the Golden State:

The ownership and recreational use of firearms has become the "outdoor divide" in California and across much of America. Gaines wants to bridge this divide.

The split in California used to be North and South. No more. The split is between people who live in the country, who often own many firearms and enjoy target shooting or hunting, and people who live in cities, who tend not to own firearms and for whom any gun is an evil device used by criminals.
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Gaines is the president of the California Outdoor Heritage Alliance, a pro-hunting and pro-conservation advocacy organization that he helped create three years ago. The alliance has united the political interests of 30 organizations that represent recreational shooters, hunters, firearm owners and wildlife interests.

The primary issue, over and over, has turned to firearms, urban vs. rural, he said. The biggest challenge is the gap between core beliefs.

Because anti-gun legislation always comes from urban areas, the election of President Obama, a city guy from Chicago, has set off concerns that new laws are likely that would further restrict firearms. As a result, despite a weak economy where sales of just about everything are down, in January the FBI reported a 24 percent increase in federal background checks that are required when purchasing firearms. That indicates a major spike in sales.
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In California, new, sweeping federal anti-gun laws are not the main concern for gun owners. It's rather local ordinances that could spread, along with new state laws.

In Sacramento and Los Angeles, for instance, you have to fill out a form and leave a thumbprint to purchase center-fire ammunition for a rifle or handgun. In the western foothills of the central and southern Sierra, state law does not permit lead ammunition because this area has been classified as historical condor habitat, even though there are no condors there. You cannot use a lead .22 bullet to shoot rats, for instance. [emphasis added]

In the past, proposed laws have tried to add taxes on ammunition sales in California. "In the last five years in California, we've killed three ammo tax bills," Gaines said. "One proposal wanted to add a tax of 10 cents per bullet. For a brick of .22 shells, 500 rounds, that would add 50 bucks to the cost just to go target shooting. Right now, that brick costs us about 10 bucks. These kinds of laws chip away at us, making firearms and ammunition more difficult to get."

He said such proposals widen the divide between urban and rural. ...

Article here.