Ivory Ban Applied to Knife Handles and Pistol Grips

[BladesNBarrels]

The Elephant Protection Association is one of the organizations that are supported by artists that make their living scrimshanding legal elephant ivory.
They led the battle to prevent the onerous restrictions placed by the Obama administration on the sale and exchange of elephant ivory that was legally imported and traded under CITES.
Below is their latest communication.

Dear Friends,

With the election of Donald Trump, there are new possibilities for restoring some sanity in the way the government approaches ivory and elephants.
During the last few months, our group didn’t advocate for either presidential candidate. We felt like we had said pretty much all that needed to be said about the relationship between the Clinton Foundation and animal rights groups long before this election kicked into high gear. Given the negativity and high level of emotions in this race, we didn’t see the benefit of injecting issues about ivory and elephants into a debate where other issues sucked up all of the oxygen.
Now that the election is over, it is clear that people who favor ivory trade and rational conservation policies for elephants and other threatened species have options that we would not have had if Hillary Clinton were elected president.
A new administration brings new leadership. Under Clinton, we would have expected the cozy relationship between NGOs and FWS to become tighter. Under Trump, the Clinton insiders on the President’s Advisory Council on Wildlife Trafficking have become political outsiders. There is a chance for fresh thinking about how to protect wildlife and the Constitutional protection of private property.
On the other hand, NGOs are not going away. Out-of-power bureaucrats will flock to them, continue to try to create hysteria, raise money, and try to retain their relevance. I think it is fair to expect that they will continue to strike in federal and state levels wherever they can. The reaction to overbearing central government is not just an American phenomenon, and these fights will play out at the international level, too.
To prepare for the upcoming political environment, the Elephant Protection Association needs to know if it has your support. We have decisions we have to make about our website and the level of engagement we will plan going forward. Without financial contributions, we won’t be able to do much.
I know a lot of people are still reeling from the limitations that have been placed on ivory trade by the Federal Rule and various state laws. If you contribute to us, we will use your support to do all we can to restore the law to actually protecting wildlife and private property owners alike.
Contribute Here
www.elephantprotection.org

Rob Mitchell
Elephant Protection Association