Actually it’s the people pushing the amendments who are posturing. They know it won’t pass, but they can act like they did something. Meanwhile, they are stopping a bill that would open more land for hunters. And while that may not do anything about gun rights in general, it’s still something good that could be achieved. Moreover, the anti gun people also want to get rid of hunting, because they know if there are fewer hunters, there will be fewer gunowners to fight them.
As you know, S. 2363 was a “nothing-burger bill” which existed solely to elect anti-gun Democrats in Red States. This includes Senators like sponsor Kay Hagan (D-NC) -- plus cosponsors such as Mark Begich (D-AK), Mark Pryor (D-AR), Mark Udall (D-CO), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Al Franken (D-MN) and Mark Warner (D-VA).All these Senators are rated as D’s or F’s by Gun Owners of America.
S. 2363 would have allowed hunting on federal lands -- unless Barack Obama determined that guns were dangerous. How likely do you think that is?
It would have allowed importation of polar bear parts. Okay, that’s fine, in and of itself. But that’s hardly a fair trade for passing a bill that will help reelect anti-gun Senators like Hagan, Begich, Pryor, Landrieu (and others) -- Senators who will vote to confirm Obama’s anti-gun Supreme Court justices, thus overturning the Heller and McDonald decisions.
Blocking passage of SB 2363 may have been posturing on the part of Cruz, Paul, and Lee, but no more so than the posturing on the part of Hagan for proposing a "pro-hunting" bill that doesn't really give hunters any meaningful benefits.