http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-skyrocketing-gun-sales-are-helping-to-conserve-butterflies/How Skyrocketing Gun Sales Are Helping To Conserve ButterfliesBy CHRISTIE ASCHWANDEN
"The Karner blue butterfly is a tiny thing, with colorful wings that extend just an inch across and a life that rarely wanders more than 600 feet from where it began. Its caterpillars can only eat wild lupines — a flower that’s become less abundant in the wild because of development and habitat fragmentation. As a result, the Karner was named an endangered species in 1992.
But Karner blues are getting help from an unlikely source: gun sales."
...
The Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act, known as the Pittman-Robertson Act, sets an excise tax of 10 to 11 percent on the sale of guns and ammunition, paid by manufacturers at the wholesale level.
...
"All together, state agencies responsible for wildlife management receive about 75 percent of their funding from Pittman-Robertson taxes and hunting and fishing licenses. "
...
"In March [2014], the Department of the Interior announced that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would distribute close to $1.1 billion to state and territorial agencies that manage wildlife to fund fish and wildlife conservation and recreation projects. "
...
75% of that $1.1B came from gun and ammo sales. The Karner blue butterfly is truly appreciative!
Buy more guns and ammo. That's good for the environment. And tell that to the next anti-gunner you meet.
