Austin, you must not overlook why sportsmen of that time wanted to outlaw certain caliber. etc. Market hunters had about killed everything at that time. Duck, turkey, deer populations were very low. The exact opposite then we have today. Market duck hunters would hide in the weeds with a 8 ga, wait for ducks to land in the water and when a whole bunch got there, they'd be waylayed as they swam around. So sportsmen objected as they would today. There were no limits and it was felt that Congress could not set limits for constitutional reasons.
Those concerns are not valid today. We have so many regulations that is it almost impossible to hunt anything without committing some violation!!!! Congress no longer worries about the pesky constitution.
What difference would it make if turkey hunters used a 8 ga if rifles are permitted? I challenge anyone to come up the a rational basis to allow turkey hunting with a rifle but not a 8 ga. Besides, even if a few more turkeys were killed with an 8 ga, which really wouldn't happen, how many people would really go buy old 8 ga to shoot them with. Very few. It wouldn't change how many I shoot. The bag limit here is 2. I take 2 every year. What's the difference what I shoot them with. Two more dead turkeys won't hurt the population that has grown yearly for decades despite allowing them to be shot with rifles.
It is interesting how there are different views on the topic. It is something worth giving real study as the results may be surprising.
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