Joe Biden spent eight years trying to ban carrying ammo on federal land.
Donald Trump just picked up a pen and ended it.
And Donald Trump just reversed something Barack Obama and Joe Biden spent a decade building against hunters.
Obama Started It and Biden Finished the Job
The war on American hunters goes back further than most people realize.
Obama's Interior Department tried to ban lead ammunition across 95 million acres of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service land on his way out the door.
Trump reversed it the moment he took office in 2017.
Biden picked up right where Obama left off.
His administration proposed banning lead ammunition and fishing tackle across federal wildlife refuges – starting with eight locations and with 650 million total acres of federal land as the ultimate target.
The pattern was always the same: start small, expand later, and bankrupt hunting in the process.
Trump's new executive order – "Reinvigorating America's Hunting Heritage" – wipes all of it out.
What Trump Actually Did
The order establishes a "presumption of accessibility" across federal lands.
That means federal land is now open to hunters and anglers by default – unless there is a specific, legally documented reason to keep it closed.
That is a complete reversal of how Washington has operated for the past decade.
The order also directs the Interior, Agriculture, and Commerce Departments to open landlocked federal parcels through voluntary easements and land exchanges – with private property rights explicitly protected throughout.
https://twitter.com/theblaze/status/2100729580457754772?s=20
Sunday hunting is now actively encouraged on state and federal lands.
Lead ammunition and traditional fishing tackle are protected.
The order directs Interior to cut through the bureaucratic tangle on migratory game bird regulations that hunters have been fighting for years.
And it does not stop with land access.
A companion executive order targets recreational fishing – directing agencies to expand seasons and quotas, reduce burdens on anglers and outdoor businesses, and turn old offshore oil and gas platforms into artificial fishing reefs.
The Numbers Democrats Do Not Want You to See
Hunting, fishing, and outdoor recreation contributed $394 billion in economic activity in 2022.
Hunters and anglers alone accounted for more than $144 billion of that.
This is not a fringe hobby.
This is rural America's economy – the small towns, the sporting goods stores, the guides and outfitters squeezed by Washington's regulatory chokehold for years.
Only about 4.2% of Americans now identify as hunters – the lowest rate on record.
Biden's regulations did not protect wildlife.
They killed a tradition.
Trump hosted more than 100 representatives from outdoor organizations at a White House Rose Garden dinner to mark the signing – the NRA, Bass Pro Shops, USA Shooting Foundation, and conservation groups from across the country.
The Firearm Industry Trade Association called it "a victory for today's hunters and future generations."
https://twitter.com/GuntherEagleman/status/2100724669347213680?s=20
The NRA praised Trump for defending what it called "the storied tradition of American outdoorsmanship."
Left-wing groups like Humane World for Animals – formerly the Humane Society of the United States – immediately attacked the order, claiming wildlife on public lands would suffer.
They are the same groups that spent decades trying to make hunting too expensive and too complicated to survive.
Trump just told them no.
Sources:
- AWR Hawkins, "Trump Uses Executive Order to Expand Hunting and Fishing Opportunities," Breitbart, September 19, 2026.
- White House Fact Sheet, "President Donald J. Trump Reinvigorates America's Hunting Heritage," WhiteHouse.gov, September 17, 2026.
- White House, "What They Are Saying: President Trump Delivers Historic Victories for America's Hunters, Anglers, and Outdoorsmen," WhiteHouse.gov, September 18, 2026.
- Christine Peterson, "Trump Issues Executive Order to Open 2 National Monuments to Hunting," Outdoor Life, September 17, 2026.
- Mark Chesnut, "Interior Department Increases Hunting Opportunities on Public Land," American Hunter, February 24, 2026.
- Staff, "Trump Signs Orders Expanding Hunting, Fishing Access on Public Lands," AgWeb, September 2026.
- Fox News, "Biden Admin Takes Aim at Hunters with Latest Regulation," FoxNews.com.