Henry Rifles Anthony Imperato: This Is a Watershed Moment for Hunting

Henry Repeating Arms owner Anthony Imperato believes America’s great hunting traditions are in danger of being lost if more adults refuse to take time to pass what they know to younger generations.

Breitbart News had the chance to sit down and talk to Imperato about this topic, and we began by discussing the fact that hunting is a central component of conservation. After all, hunters keeps animal populations under control. By culling certain animals from those populations hunters keep a variety of species at levels that can sustained by the habitat; sustained without exhausting the habitat.

Imperato was quick to point out hunting’s integral part in conservation, while Henry Repeating Arms is proud to work with “wildlife conservation organizations like Ducks Unlimited, Pheasants Forever, Mule Deer Foundation, and others.”

But he expressed concern that conservatory benefits derived from hunting–and the value of outdoor traditions themselves–are in danger unless older generations take time to pass down what they have learned in the deer stand, the duck blind, and the mountain range.

Imperato said: “First of all, statistics clearly show that hunting is on a dangerous decline. If we don’t start promoting grandparents and fathers bringing the young children out and introducing them to hunting, as opposed to just taking them out to shoot up some ammo, we’re going to seek the decline in hunting get even steeper.”

Imperato noted that areas to hunt are also in decline, and he praised efforts to expand those areas, but such areas are moot without actual hunters who will come and take advantage of them.

In light of these things, Imperato is trying to drive the younger generation toward hunting basics with a “Hunt with Henry” message.

He said, “When you think about the 1890s through at least the 1960s and 1970s, lever action rifles were the dominant gun in the U.S. hunting market, way surpassing bolt actions, let alone semiautomatic rifles. It is time to return to that. To return to the roots.”

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.