Posted on  by Marc hunter-conservationists

http://foranimals.org/blog/2022/06/17/they-shoot-prairie-dogs/

Asked about the usefulness of AR-15s, Senator John Thune (R-SD) told CNN: “They are a sporting rifle. It’s something that a lot of people [use] for purposes of going out target shooting — in my state, they use them to shoot prairie dogs and, you know, other types ofvarmints.”

AR-15-style rifles are especially popular forwildlife-killing contests. As the Humane Society of the United States reports: “Texas appears to have more wildlife killing contests than any other state, with at least 155 taking place since 2015. The events target bobcats, coyotes, foxes, raccoons, badgers, jackrabbits, mountain lions, ringtails, opossums and other species.” New Mexico, one of the few states to restrict wildlife-killing contests, recently bannedcoyote-killingcontests, but prairie-dog-killing contests are still legal.

As the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the trade association for civilian arms manufacturers, points out, the…