Vote Your Sport

[NSSF]

To: ALL OUTDOOR MEDIA
For Immediate Release
September 22, 2004
For more information contact:

Steve Wagner
(203) 426-1320


'Vote Your Sport' Aims to Mobilize Sportsmen
NEWTOWN, Conn.—With the 2004 presidential election drawing near, the Hunting and Shooting Sports Heritage Fund (HSSHF) is ramping up its “Vote Your Sport” campaign to educate hunters and shooters and mobilize them into a powerful voting bloc. From now through Election Day, sportsmen will receive related messages through millions of promotional materials, ongoing television, radio and print ads, and the anchoring Web site www.voteyoursport.com.

“Hunters and target shooters in the United States number nearly 40 million. If all of us had voted in the 2000 presidential election, we would have equaled 36 percent of the entire vote. This year, more than ever, we must maximize the sportsmen’s voice at the polls,” said Doug Painter, HSSHF president.

Painter said the Vote Your Sport campaign is evolving daily and is now utilizing the following elements:

Vote Your Sport website (www.voteyoursport.com) designed to be an interactive repository of information as well as a direct link to voter registration sites in many states. To date over 40,000 individuals have visited the website.

Two million Vote Your Sport pocket information cards have been produced and distributed to retailers and shooting ranges in 18 “battleground states” where a strong turnout by sportsmen could make all the difference in this year’s elections.

Over 6,000 voter mobilization kits (pocket information cards, posters, stickers, bumper stickers, pins and countertop displays) have been distributed to National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) members.

Radio advertisements began airing on Tom Gresham’s “Gun Talk” radio show. The ads convey the importance of electing to office those politicians who share sportsmen’s views on hunting issues and firearms freedoms.

Magazine advertisements now appearing in Field & Stream, Outdoor Life, SHOT Business and others.

Television commercials began airing Oct. 1 on The Outdoor Channel and Outdoor Life Network. The ads feature Painter stating, “When it comes to the future of our sports, our hunting partner in Washington D.C. can make all the difference.” The commercial also can be viewed on www.VoteYourSport.com.

“Firearms freedoms and the future of our sports rest in our hands,” said Painter. “Hunters and shooters can use Vote Your Sport materials to gain key information on current issues and legislation, as well as a better understanding of politicians’ views and values. On Election Day, Nov. 2, we have the power to create positive social and political change in our lives and communities.”

For more information about The Hunting & Shooting Sports Heritage Fund and Vote Your Sport materials, please contact David Miles at (203) 426-1320.