OUTDOOR CHANNEL PULLS PRODUCTION FROM COLORADO DUE TO CO. SENATE BETRAYING 2ND RIGHTS!

OUTDOOR  CHANNEL PULLS PRODUCTION FROM COLORADO DUE TO CO. SENATE BETRAYING 2ND  RIGHTS! PLEASE  SHARE FAR AND WIDE! From: Michael Bane Date: Tue, Mar 5, 2013 at 4:09 PM Subject: OUTDOOR CHANNEL Pulls Productions from Colorado To: Steve King Dear Senator King; I met you yesterday after the so-called  "public hearings" on the antigun bills; as I mentioned, I am an Executive  Producer for OUTDOOR CHANNEL. I currently have four series in production,  including GUN STORIES, the top show on OC, with several additional series in  development. My series focus on guns, hunting, shooting and the  outdoors. This morning I met with my three  Producers, and we made the decision that if these antigun bills become law, we  will be moving all of our production OUT of Colorado. We have already  cancelled a scheduled filming session for late this month. Obviously, part of  this is due to our own commitment to the right to keep and bear arms, but it  also reflects 3 lawyers' opinions that these laws are so poorly drafted and so  designed to trap otherwise legal citizens into a crime (one of our attorneys  referred to them as "flypaper laws") that it is simply too dangerous for us to  film here. I can give you chapter and verse on the  legal implications if you need, but suffice to say that the first legal  opinion was so scary we went out and got two others. Al three attorneys  agreed. We are relatively small potatoes in  television, but our relocation of production will cost Colorado a little less  than a million dollars in 2013. Secondly, we have proudly promoted  Colorado in our productions (and have been moving more and more production  into the state); now we will do exactly the opposite. What does this mean for  Colorado? The community of television producers is a small one. Last week I  had lunch with a major network producer who was looking to locate his new  reality series in Colorado. That producer is also a shooter, and the new  reality series will now be based out of Phoenix. That lunch cost Colorado over  a million in economic impact. Thirdly, according to numbers I received  from the National Shooting Sports Foundation (for whom I used to work)  yesterday, hunting had an almost $800,000,000 impact on Colorado in 2012,  driving as many as 8330 jobs. Next month I will be in Texas meeting with most           of the top outdoor/hunting producers, and the Number One agenda item will be  Colorado. Already, hunting organizations and statewide hunting clubs around  the country are pulling out of Colorado, and we expect this trend to  accelerate rapidly. The message we will take to our viewers  and listeners is that these proposed laws are so dangerous to hunters and any  other person, be she a fisherman or a skier who brings a handgun into the  state for self-defense, that we cannot recommend hunting, fishing or visiting  Colorado. We reach millions of people, and, quite frankly, we have a  credibility that Colorado government officials can no longer match. Colorado  Division of Wildlife is already running ads trying to bring more out-of-state  hunters to Colorado...in light of the flood of negative publicity about these  proposed laws, I can assure you those ads will fail. We estimate that as many as one-quarter  to one-third of out-of-state hunters will desert Colorado in the next 18-24  months, which will quite frankly be a disaster for the hunting industry in  Colorado and have a devastating effect on our western and northern communities  (certainly citieslike  Grand Junction). This is not a "boycott" in the  traditional sense of a centralized, organized operation; rather, it is more of  a grassroots decision on where shooters, hunters and other sportsmen are  willing to spend their money. Look at the collapse of the Eastern Sports and  Outdoor Show in February. That venerable multimillion dollar trade show chose  to ban modern sporting rifles and standard capacity magazines, and within  three weeks it collapsed as all vendors and sponsors pulled out. Colorado is going to pay a huge price for  laws that will do nothing. Thank you, sir, for your support. Best. Michael Bane OUTDOOR  CHANNEL mbane@outdoorchannel.com