On January 19, 2016, the Obama administration announced a ban on the usage of lead ammunition on all Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) refuges.

On his first day in office, Donald Trump’s Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke, signed an order repealing the lead ban.

“After reviewing the order and the process by which it was promulgated, I have determined that the order is not mandated by any existing statutory or regulatory requirement and was issued without significant communication, consultation or coordination with affected stakeholders” Zinke wrote in his administrative order.

When introduced, many 2nd Amendment organizations stood against the Obama administration’s lead ammunition ban. Our sister organization, Conservative Daily, rallied conservatives and bombarded Congress with more than 90,000 faxes demanding that the rule be overturned. Former-Congressman Ryan Zinke received these faxes.

This was one of Obama’s last ditch gun control efforts. He failed in his gun control pursuits so the former-President banned lead ammunition on more than 146 million of acres of Federal land without reason.

It is easy to see the Obama administration’s end game: Ban lead ammunition in the name of environmentalism and then ban non-lead ammunition in the name of protecting law enforcement for being “armor piercing.” Unfortunately for the gun control advocates, Hillary Clinton did not win.

Here is why this rule mattered. If Americans are prohibited from hunting large game with lead ammunition, that means they must use non-lead ammunition that is currently classified as “armor piercing.” Sure, a 30-06 all-copper bullet sounds appealing, but all it takes is someone to design a 30-06 caliber pistol and the all-copper bullets would be automatically banned by law. We saw this in the Obama administration’s decision to ban imported surplus 5.45×39 ammunition and the ATF’s (failed) attempt to ban M855 5.56×45 ammunition. Even if non-lead “armor piercing” ammunition is designed to be used in a rifle, all it takes is a commercially available pistol going on the market to ban it.

Secretary Zinke’s decision is common sense. If he didn’t repeal the rule, then Congress would surely have used the Congressional Review Act to undo it.

In addition to the repeal of the Obama lead ammunition ban, Zinke also signed a directive ordering his Department to begin expanding recreational access on FWS lands.

“It worries me to think about hunting and fishing becoming activities for the land-owning elite,” he said in a statement, “this package of secretarial orders will expand access for outdoor enthusiasts and also make sure the community’s voice is heard.”

This second order has the potential to re-open vast amounts of land to hunters and sportsmen that former-President Obama had previously closed.

Secretary Zinke was on the job one day… literally just one day and he is already fighting to protect our 2nd Amendment rights.

If we have 4-8 years of pro-gun actions like this, then Donald Trump may have been right all along.

I might actually get tired of winning…