NRA Files Lawsuit Challenging Recreational Shooting Ban on Sonoran Desert National Monument

On January 17, the NRA joined the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation and Safari Club International in filing a lawsuit against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) over its near prohibition on recreational target shooting on the Sonoran Desert National Monument in Arizona.

The Sonoran Desert National Monument comprises nearly 500,000 acres in southwestern Arizona. Until recently, approximately 90% of the Monument was open to recreational shooting. But last year, BLM issued the Recreational Target Shooting Resource Management Plan Amendment. This Amendment prohibits shooting on 99% of the Monument—despite the fact that recreational shooting was never found to be a threat to wildlife or other interests on the Monument.

The lawsuit argues that the Amendment’s recreational shooting prohibition is unwarranted for the vast majority of acreage involved, that BLM did not provide sufficient notice of the Amendment so as to allow interested parties to comment on it, and that the Amendment violates multiple federal environmental and administrative statutes. The lawsuit seeks a declaration setting aside the Amendment as unlawful and remanding it back to BLM for reconsideration.

The case is U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation v. Bureau of Land Management. The complaint was filed in the District Court for the District of Columbia.  

Please stay tuned to www.nraila.org for future updates on NRA-ILA’s ongoing efforts to defend your constitutional rights.