Gun control activist Igor Volsky on Thursday said that the U.S. is starting to see a change in gun culture and the popularity of hunting is starting to wane among younger generations.
“Hunting is on its way out,” Volsky told Hill.TV co-hosts Krystal Ball and Buck Sexton on “Rising.”
Volsky, the executive director of activist group Guns Down, has some numbers to back up his assertion.
Participation in hunting dropped by about 2 million people, to 11.5 million hunters, from 2011 to 2016, according to a 2017 report by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The report also found that hunting license sales dropped in 33 states in the last two decades.
The activist also says that gun culture in America is starting to change following February’s mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.
“The culture is changing — you see younger people not using guns as much. … After Parkland, 28 companies break ties with the [National Rifle Association],” Volsky said. “That’s a real sign that they see a market advantage to not be associated with the gun lobby.”
Several major companies, including Hertz and United Airlines, abandoned their partnerships with the gun rights organization after facing public pressure from gun control activists on social media. Dick’s Sporting Goods also scaled back the types of guns it sold at its stores.
The Parkland shooting renewed nationwide debates on gun control, an issue many Democratic candidates are taking seriously in the 2018 midterm elections.
— Tess Bonn
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