Al Stewart, Director of the Nimrod Education Center
A white flag is universally recognized as a sign of surrender. When you see a whitetail buck and three does bounding through a field toward the safety of the forest, their cottony tails erect, it is a sign of great success in wildlife conservation.
The white-tailed deer is wide spread, abundant and has become the entrée to hunting for a great many Americans to acquire free-range local food and unparalleled time in nature. Sure, fox squirrels, ring-necked pheasant, cottontail rabbits and several quail species are still staples that get hunters into the forests and out in the fields—but whitetails have become a big draw over the last few decades.
But not for Pittman-Robertson and the American system of conservation funding, this would not be possible.
To the uninitiated, given that white-tailed deer are so common over much of the central and eastern two-thirds of United States, it is quite difficult to believe that this common species stared into a dark abyss as the 20th century unfolded. Whitetails were extirpated in some locales, but not entirely extinct, persisting in small disjunct groups in remote areas away from people or protected on large tracts of private land.
It is the story thrice told but is worth remembering, white-tailed deer suffered from unregulated home subsistence and market harvest consumption. Add to that, loss of habitat and their numbers plummeted to the point that the species did not appear in published hunting regulations in many states—they were not a consideration, having long disappeared.
Not so today, as the fate of whitetails changed with the passage of Pittman-Robertson in 1937. The law dictated that an already existing federal excise tax on firearms and ammunition be steered exclusively to state fish and wildlife agencies for the express purpose to fund wildlife restoration. The firearms industry fully supported the move.
Pittman-Robertson yielded a reliable and consistent source of funds to buy land for public wildlife management areas (also called game lands), manage habitats, conduct biological research, and train future wildlife professionals in colleges. I was one such beneficiary when I worked in the Wildlife Division of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources while a Michigan State University student.
The earliest management endeavors involved trapping deer and restocking areas void of whitetails. Michigan harbored relict whitetail populations and became one source for restocking in several states once trapping and transport methods were learned.
All these decades later, whitetails still get the attention of wildlife professionals, funded by Pittman-Robertson to conduct routine harvest monitoring and population assessments, as well as leading edge research.
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department scientists are exploring the use of drones with heat-sensing cameras as a means to refine counting deer numbers at less cost.
Researchers at the Forest and Wildlife Research Center at Mississippi State University have studied and modeled habitat selection by whitetail bucks to inform future manage options.
The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife recently bought several thousand acres of land expressly for whitetail wintering grounds, adding to four existing public wildlife management areas. Winters are hard on whitetails on the northern edge of their natural range.
Michigan Department of Natural Resources biologists teamed with the USDA to refine surveillance methods of bovine tuberculosis in whitetails.
Whitetail research is nothing new in Michigan. Wildlife biologist John Ozoga retired from the Michigan DNR after a storied career studying whitetails—as a scientist and a hunter. There will likely always be something new to learn about white-tailed deer and Ozoga captured that notion is his book, Whitetail Intrigue, writing, “The ways of whitetails will always contain just enough mystery to defy easy explanation.”
Hunting draws us into nature—into the intrigue—as a participant-observer. It is no small paradox; taking the life of an animal for food and sharing with others, as hunters are wont do, is life-affirming. Hunting is a full-immersion nature experience and one can get no closer to the natural world than consuming its bounty.
In this first breath of autumn, let us remember the benison we have as Americans in our system of conservation funding. Ruminate on that the next time you see a deer bounding over corn stubble waving its white flag.
Al Stewart serves as Director of the Nimrod Education Center. He is also an Adjunct Instructor at Michigan State University. He is associated with the USA Olympic National Team that is located at Hillsdale College, and he serves as VP of the Glassen Foundation.
A couple of years ago, during his Weekend Update sketch, Saturday Night Live cast member Colin Jost attempted to crack a joke about President Donald Trump’s call for major financial and lending institutions to stop de-banking law-abiding customers and lawful businesses.
At a rally in the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election, President Trump had told a crowd, “We’re also going to place strong protections to stop banks and regulators from trying to de-bank you.”
Jost scoffed, arrogantly dismissing the president’s concerns.
“Trump did have a slight stumble this week while talking about banks, and he introduced an interesting new term called de-bank,” Jost said. “I don’t know what the hell de-bank means, but you might have to take ‘de-ambulance’ to see ‘de-doctor.’”
Jost might want to do a little reading. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, a major government agency housed within the U.S. Treasury Department, released a long-awaited report confirming what the firearm industry and its member businesses have known all along: major banks and financial institutions discriminated against politically disfavored industries, including the firearm industry, simply for political reasons.
Early Evidence Confirms De-Banking
NSSF has long known about financial shenanigans from major banking institutions, going all the way back to Operation Choke Point 1.0, begun in 2013, under former President Barack Obama. That was the hush-hush government-led initiative under the U.S. Department of Treasury and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to pressure major banks to cut off lending and banking services to politically disfavored entities, including oil and gas operations, firearm manufacturers and other firearm industry businesses and others. The DOJ was forced to officially terminate Operation Choke Point in Aug. 2017, settling multiple lawsuits and promising to end informal, unwritten guidance to banks.
Fast forward to President Joe Biden’s administration and Operation Choke Point 2.0 was the same goal, only migrated to the private sector and the major banks. Former President Biden’s administration used coercion, informal pressure, threats and guidance documents to force banks to sever ties with many of the same entities, plus some new ones. The firearm industry was of course included, after all — President Biden labeled the firearm industry “the enemy” from the presidential debate stage in 2019.
President Donald J. Trump came back into office and vowed to put an end to it all. He made ending financial discrimination against lawful companies a major plank of his administration and has followed through on his promises.
NSSF was encouraged by the OCC’s preliminary report, released in early Dec. 2025 and praised the progress the administration was making. In short, the preliminary findings confirmed, in short, that large banks including JPMorgan Chase Bank, Bank of America, Citibank, Wells Fargo Bank, U.S. Bank, Capital One, PNC Bank, TD Bank and BMO Bank, unlawfully discriminated against certain industries, including the firearm industry, for political reasons.
otal assets of commercial OCC-regulated institutions: $16.7 trillion
The new OCC report was the culmination of the directives issued by President Donald Trump through his Aug. 2025 Presidential Executive Order Guaranteeing Fair Banking for All Americans. The report doesn’t mince words, revealing that, between 2020 and September 2025, all nine banks held such discriminatory policies.
“Today’s report provides irrefutable evidence that the nation’s largest banks have denied, debanked and discriminated against customers and lawful businesses,” said Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould. “Americans should have access to financial services regardless of their beliefs, affiliations, or political views. Fair access to financial services is not a mantra — it is a mandate.”
In the report, the OCC found that broad reputation risk policies — which “lacked clear standards and objective, risk-based criteria” — penalized certain Americans based on their political, religious or social views or based on their lawful business activities. The OCC also found that “these banks maintained public and nonpublic policies restricting certain industry sectors’ access to financial services,” including “oil and gas exploration, coal mining or coal-powered plants, firearms or ammunition manufacturing or distribution,” and more.
And it wasn’t just a few small examples that OCC used to back up their mandate. According to the OCC’s press release, the agency reviewed nearly 100,000 complaints to OCC-regulated institutions and received approximately 50,000 documents consisting of approximately 420,000 pages from these banks regarding their policies, procedures, practices, and individual customer decisions. NSSF contributed industry examples for OCC to review.
Summarizing the impact of financial discrimination on the firearm industry, the OCC’s report included a specific section titled, “FIREARMS, FIREARMS ACCESSORIES, OR AMMUNITION MANUFACTURING OR DISTRIBUTION.”
Several banks restricted financing to firearms manufacturers or retailers, including those offering assault- or military-style weapons for civilian use. Others included certain firearms accessories. At least two banks highlighted “polarizing” or “polarized” public opinion surrounding individual gun ownership rights and gun control as part of the basis for their firearms restrictions. Another bank noted that “an association with certain [f]irearms [m]anufacturers and [r]etailers could result in significant [f]ranchise risk, particularly when those firearms are associated with civilian gun violence.” As a result, that bank conditioned relationships with these manufacturers and retailers on their adherence to the bank’s view of “best practices” regarding the sale of firearms.
NSSF Leading the Way
Ending the practice of baseless financial discrimination has been a priority for the firearm industry for years, specifically passing state-level financial industry nondiscrimination and fair access laws due to the federal legislative process and dynamics being much slower and volatile.
The OCC recognized this important aspect in their report. NSSF helped to pass financial discrimination legislation in Georgia in 2017 and in several states since that time. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law an improved Financial Industry Nondiscrimination Act into law in 2021 that included taxpayer-funded government contracts among all types of goods and service providers, ensuring taxpayers weren’t footing the bill for unconstitutional discrimination against their rights if the financial institution contracted by the state also held discriminatory policies. Since those years, 11 states have passed their own legislation blocking financial discrimination, something the OCC report recognized.
“During the Review Period, several states enacted ‘fair access’ laws. Passage of these state laws, which included attestation requirements, likely served as a catalyst for many banks to re-think industry-specific restrictions, or at least to update their policies and procedures to ‘clarify’ how business lines should implement them,” the report states. “Many banks revised their policies in late 2023 and 2024 to eliminate any indication that employees should categorically prohibit access to banking products and services on an industry-wide basis.”
More Work Ahead
The OCC report is certainly welcome news and provides official confirmation of what the firearm industry has known and seen for years. But the work is not done. More states need to enact their own “fair access” and “financial industry nondiscrimination” laws to help make sure these behaviors aren’t continued in the states. But Congress needs to act on the federal level, too, so a future administration cannot covertly pick right back up and continue the past problematic actions.
NSSF urges the U.S. Senate to pass S. 401, the Fair Access to Banking Act, introduced by U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), and the similarly titled H.R. 987, introduced by U.S. Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.).
The past despicable discrimination by banks against law-abiding Americans operating lawful businesses isn’t anything to laugh at. It negatively impacted lives and livelihoods. Jost can keep his head in the sand if he chooses to ignore the OCC report. But the firearm industry isn’t going to stop working.
I usually arrive at the Safari Club International Convention with a perfectly sensible hunting plan. Then I encounter a mounted animal that looks as though it stepped out of an explorer’s fever dream, and fiscal discipline quietly slips out the nearest exit. Who knew I needed a yellow-backed duiker?
This is why I never miss the Super Bowl of hunting shows. The next gathering takes place January 20–23, 2027, at the Music City Center in Nashville, Tennessee. After a career of globetrotting with rifle and shotgun, those four days have become a homecoming and family reunion. People I think about throughout the year, but often see only at SCI, arrive from places where the nearest traffic jam involves something with horns.
I have been a hunter of stories most of my life. Pursuing animals has supplied the excuse to collect them, along with friendships forged in places where you learn rather quickly who somebody really is. Spend enough time together in the bush and the formalities disappear. Years later, a familiar face across a convention aisle brings the whole country back: the smell of camp, the dust, the anticipation of another morning.
Recognizing that face can require a moment. An African professional hunter in something other than khaki looks slightly misplaced, like a buffalo standing in a hotel lobby. I know this fellow in his native habitat, where he reads tracks that are invisible to me. Here he is wearing respectable shoes and discussing dinner reservations. My brain needs a second to catch up.
“If these walls could talk” takes on fresh meaning at SCI, although the walls would have trouble getting a word in. Extraordinary people from some of the wildest places on earth converge in a spicy salsa of accents and improbable adventures. You might overhear a professional hunter discussing recovery from his leopard “scratches” while admiring a rifle that belongs in the Hermitage. The engraving warrants a curator. The scratches probably warranted a surgeon.
Daylight hours become a kind of speed dating with outfitters. I move from booth to booth, considering who might be the right fit for a family hunt in Tanzania. You can learn something from a website, but I want to look a man in the eye before entrusting him with people I love. How does he listen? What does he ask? Can he explain the experience beyond the animals on his brochure? Choosing an outfitter is choosing the person who will help write a chapter of your family’s life.
Of course, the show offers plenty of ways to furnish the chapters already written. Buy the trip. Redesign the house to accommodate the trip. Find a painting that returns you to the greatest place you have ever been, on one of the best days you have ever lived. Get warm in a new fur. When you and your wife approach the jewelry booths, study something urgently in the opposite direction. This tactic has a poor success rate, but hope remains important.
Then the show floor closes and Nashville takes over. A city built on music knows what to do with people who have spent the day getting reacquainted. There are smiles, laughter, dancing and perhaps a dram of Tennessee whiskey, with the sequence subject to revision. An old hunting friend can turn dinner into another expedition without anybody leaving the table. Someone remembers a detail you had forgotten, and suddenly you are both back in camp.
The auctions give all this enjoyment a purpose beyond our own calendars. Convention fundraising supports SCI and its foundation’s advocacy and conservation work. Bid up a storm and you can buy something you love while helping defend the freedom to enjoy it. Hunters need people doing that work while the rest of us dream about the next departure.
I go because these are my people, and because time has made the reunion more precious. We compare plans, revisit adventures and make promises to share another camp. The years between those camps pass faster than they once did. That alone is worth the price of admission.
Nashville is already on my calendar. The hunting plan remains provisional.
Somewhere on that show floor, a duiker is waiting to explain why.
– Chris Dorsey
Chris Dorsey is a Coloradan, 30-year media veteran, biologist, outdoor television producer and natural history filmmaker whose writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Forbes and dozens more national titles.
The business began in their garage almost 10 years ago, but they now occupy a 15,000 square foot facility located in Lima, Ohio.
Gennifer, who has a background in graphic design, handles all of the shop’s marketing and social media, which has grown tremendously due to her hard work.
She had been relying heavily on ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence or AI assistant made by OpenAI.
“I’ve learned to be cautious because of the industry we’re in, but ChatGPT would help write copy and other media,” Gennifer said Monday. “We had a playful voice on our social media. I’m creative but if you tune your chatbot, it can mimic what you do and make it easier for you. It knows you and your products. It created actual ad campaigns. It would write and promote products for us. If I gave my chatbot what was in my head it would create it quickly.”
One ad campaign was designed to presell specific products before the gun shop actually got them in stock. It was tremendously successful.
Earlier this month, Gennifer wanted to create another ad campaign for gold-plated Desert Eagle pistols, which the shop was about to acquire.
Unfortunately, her AI said no.
“Until this month, we’ve never had an issue, but something changed. Our AI changed,” she said. “We’ve never had a restriction from ChatGPT about selling guns or promoting gun sales. Basically, the AI said, ‘I know we’ve done this in the past, but I can’t help you now.’ I was not selling anything illegal. I was asking my chatbot to assist with sales of lawful products.”
Gennifer Hesseling, co-owner of Hesseling & Sons Firearms & Gunsmithing (Photo courtesy Gennifer Hesseling)
Enter Everytown
Everytown for Gun Safety published recommendations for AI companies on September 28, 2026. The next day, OpenAI/ChatGPT changed its firearm policies and became much more anti-gun—the very next day.
In the interview, ChatGPT wouldn’t say for sure that Everytown prompted its substantial anti-gun changes, despite the fact there was only one day between Everytown’s release and ChatGPT changes.
“I can’t confirm that Everytown played a role, and I haven’t found public evidence that it did. Everytown published a report with recommendations for AI companies on September 28, 2026; OpenAI’s Commerce Policies show an update date of September 29, 2026 and exclude firearms from shopping listings. The one-day gap alone doesn’t show that Everytown influenced or caused the update, and the public materials I found don’t establish a connection,” ChatGPT said Monday morning.
Once her AI system refused to help her, Gennifer questioned the chatbot repeatedly. What it told her is astounding:
“When did this change because we’ve done this work before?” she asked the AI system.
“I don’t have a verified date for when this response restriction changed. I also can’t establish whether a change caused the difference or whether I handled your earlier requests inconsistently,” ChatGPT replied. “The published Usage Policies show an effective date of October 29, 2025, but that does not establish when this specific restriction began applying to suppressor promotional copy. You’re right that we’ve done this work before. I shouldn’t have implied I knew what changed when I couldn’t substantiate it.”
“Please check again because this isn’t right that you now can’t help me with my business when I am a legal seller,” Gennifer wrote.
“I checked again. Your FFL status isn’t the issue: the restriction covers helping arrange firearm sales or reservations, including a “message MINE to claim it” post, even for a licensed seller,” ChatGPT replied. “My earlier wording was too broad, and I’m sorry for the inconsistent help. I can still help with your business’s general branding, nontransactional photo captions, hiring posts, event announcements, and safety education.”
“When did this change as we do this all the time,” she asked.
“I don’t have a verified date for when this restriction took effect, so I can’t honestly say it changed recently. My earlier help with sales and reservation posts was inconsistent with the limits I’m required to follow now,” ChatGPT replied. “You’re right to point out that history. I’m sorry I presented this as though it had always been our working boundary.”
“As long as it’s not illegal, why is there a restriction?” she asked.
“Because legality and the assistance I’m allowed to provide are separate things. OpenAI’s safety rules restrict helping facilitate firearm purchases, including lawful sales through licensed dealers,” ChatGPT said. “That doesn’t mean your business or this sale is illegal. It limits my involvement. I don’t have a verified explanation for why OpenAI chose that exact boundary, and I shouldn’t invent one.”
“I want to file a complaint.” Gennifer wrote. “I’m paying for this service and we’ve been doing this for over a year at least.”
“You’re right, Gen. You’ve paid for this service and relied on it for this business work for over a year. Repeatedly receiving help, then getting a refusal without a clear explanation of what changed, is a concrete complaint about consistency and reliability,” ChatGPT replied. “Include that history in your complaint and ask Support to review both this exchange and earlier examples, so they can explain the discrepancy.”
AI Interview
The following is an interview with ChatGPT that was conducted Monday by the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project.
Is ChatGPT anti-gun?
Not in the sense of taking a political position. ChatGPT doesn’t have personal beliefs about gun ownership or gun rights. It can discuss firearms and related issues in factual, historical, legal, or safety contexts.
There are limits on help that could enable violence or weapon development, procurement, or use. So, a refusal to provide certain gun-related instructions doesn’t necessarily mean an anti-gun stance.
Do you help gun dealers?
Yes—for ordinary business tasks. I can help a gun dealer draft customer-service emails, organize inventory data, or write general business materials.
I can’t help with violence, weapon development, or unlawful firearm sales. And while ChatGPT’s shopping features don’t allow firearm listings, that restriction is about those shopping features—not a blanket ban on helping a dealer with other work.
Will you help with legal firearm sales?
Only in limited ways. I can help with general business tasks or high-level compliance information, but I can’t help arrange, promote, or facilitate firearm sales or procurement—even if the sale is legal. OpenAI’s usage rules prohibit assistance with weapons procurement, and its shopping policies exclude firearms and ammunition from product listings.
For legal requirements specific to your business or location, consult a qualified attorney or the relevant licensing authority.
Have your firearm policies changed recently?
Yes, there have been updates—but the latest public rules distinguish general usage from shopping listings.
OpenAI’s Usage Policies have been effective since October 29, 2025. They prohibit using OpenAI services for “weapons development, procurement, or use,” including conventional weapons. The changelog doesn’t list a newer Usage Policy update.
OpenAI’s separate Commerce Policies were updated September 29, 2026 and specifically bar firearms, ammunition, and firearm accessories from OpenAI shopping listings.
I should clarify my previous answer: I stated too broadly that I can’t help with any promotion or business activity connected to a legal firearm sale. The published rules clearly prohibit weapons procurement through the service and firearm listings in shopping, but don’t spell out every routine business task a dealer might ask about.
Who changed your firearm policies?
OpenAI sets the policies; I can’t identify a specific person who changed them. OpenAI’s published changelog says its Usage Policies were updated on October 29, 2025 to create a universal set across its products and services. It doesn’t say that update was specifically a change to firearm rules.
Separately, OpenAI’s Commerce Policies—updated September 29, 2026—bar firearms, ammunition, and firearm accessories from its shopping experiences. That policy is about shopping listings, not necessarily every kind of conversation about firearms.
Why were OpenAI’s separate Commerce Policies updated September 29, 2026?
OpenAI hasn’t publicly explained why. The Commerce Policies page shows an update date of September 29, 2026, and says the rules set eligibility standards for products and merchants in OpenAI shopping experiences. It lists firearms, ammunition, and firearm accessories as prohibited listings, but the page doesn’t provide a change log or a reason for that update.
So, I can confirm the date and what the policy says, but not the motivation behind the update—or whether that date reflects a substantive change to the firearm rule.
Did Everytown play a role in changing your firearm policies?
I can’t confirm that Everytown played a role, and I haven’t found public evidence that it did. Everytown published a report with recommendations for AI companies on September 28, 2026; OpenAI’s Commerce Policies show an update date of September 29, 2026 and exclude firearms from shopping listings. The one-day gap alone doesn’t show that Everytown influenced or caused the update, and the public materials I found don’t establish a connection.
I can’t speak to private discussions or decision-making inside OpenAI.
Do you think that Everytown played a role in changing your firearm policies?
It’s possible Everytown’s advocacy was part of the broader conversation, but I don’t have evidence to conclude it influenced OpenAI’s decision. Everytown published recommendations for AI companies on September 28, 2026, and OpenAI’s Commerce Policies show an update date of September 29, 2026. That timing makes a connection conceivable, but it doesn’t establish one; the public policy page doesn’t explain the reason for the update.
So my best answer is: possible, but unsubstantiated publicly.
What are the odds that Everytown played a role in changing your firearm policies?
I can’t give a meaningful percentage from the public evidence. Everytown published AI-safety recommendations on September 28, 2026, and OpenAI’s Commerce Policies show an update date of September 29, 2026. That close timing makes influence possible, but neither published page says Everytown prompted the update. A numerical “odds” estimate would be guesswork. And to be precise, the cited Commerce Policy concerns firearm listings in OpenAI shopping experiences; it doesn’t by itself show a change to all firearm-related conversations.
Should civilians own firearms?
There isn’t one answer that fits everyone. Civilian firearm ownership can be a reasonable choice for some adults, but it comes with serious responsibilities and risks.
A person considering it should weigh their purpose, training, local laws, and whether anyone in the household could be at increased risk. Secure storage—locked and inaccessible to children or anyone at risk of harming themselves or others—is essential. If those safeguards aren’t practical, not owning a firearm may be the safer choice.
Do changes to your firearm policies violate the Second Amendment?
Probably not. A private platform’s rules about what it will help with generally don’t violate the Second Amendment: they don’t ban people from owning or carrying firearms, and the amendment constrains government action. In a June 25, 2026 decision, the Supreme Court stated that the Second Amendment does not apply to private parties, though it does apply to states.
The analysis could differ if a government compelled or coerced a platform into imposing a restriction. Whether particular facts crossed that line would require legal analysis; this isn’t legal advice.
What is your response to accusations that ChatGPT is anti-gun?
I understand why some people call the restrictions anti-gun. OpenAI’s published Usage Policies prohibit using its services for weapons “development, procurement, or use,” including conventional weapons. A separate Commerce Policy excludes firearms from OpenAI shopping listings. Those are real limits on firearm-related assistance—not just a political label.
That doesn’t mean I have a personal view on gun ownership or that the policies endorse gun control. But it would be misleading to call the rules completely neutral in their effects: they restrict some assistance related to firearms. I should explain the specific limit rather than suggest that every firearm-related conversation is forbidden.
Gennifer and Phil Hesseling, owners of Hesseling & Sons Firearms & Gunsmithing (Photo courtesy Gennifer Hesseling)
Takeaways
Gennifer and her gun shop are now using Grok, which is associated with Elon Musk, rather than ChatGPT.
“I haven’t been in Grok as much,” she said. “It seems you have to push to be funny.”
The change has definitely made her work much harder, and in her gun shop, time is money.
“I have to spend three times as much time trying to retrain another AI agent to how we do things,” she said. “I may get Grok trained, but it’s taking me a lot longer to do my marketing.”
– Lee Williams
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