Firearms Policy

Certainly the members of the hunting and sport-shooting community agree with us that safety is the number one consideration when engaging in activities involving firearms or other hunting tools. Indeed, many concerned individuals have accurately pointed out that accident statistics show fewer youngsters are hurt in hunting and sport shooting each year than in activities as common as high school sports. We agree with this observation.

And certainly, we can also agree that there is an even higher level of safety consideration that must be taken into account when such activities involve children weakened by a life-threatening medical condition, powerful medicines, treatment therapies, and surgeries. We have concluded that the Make-A-Wish Foundation cannot ensure safety of the wish children and anyone else involved in the wish experience, given these unique considerations.

Again, this does not mean that we are opposed to hunting or the legal use of firearms, bows, or other sport-shooting equipment. In fact, we have heard from several hunting and sport-shooting organizations that have offered to provide children with hunting or sport-shooting experiences in the unlikely event that a child makes this rare wish request (of the 83,000 wishes we have granted since our founding more than 20 years ago, fewer than a dozen have been for hunting experiences). Furthermore, any qualified child who receives a hunting experience from an outside organization would still be eligible to receive a wish from the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

We base all of our wish-granting decisions solely on what is best for the children we serve. While we never want to disappoint a qualified wish child, on rare occasions the most responsible answer - although it is the most difficult to convey - is "no," because the child's request simply is not possible to fulfill, or it carries a higher degree of risk than we are able to guard against.

And, while our intent is not to disappoint individuals or community groups who support us, when our decisions on behalf of wish children conflict with the values or agendas of special interest groups, we also have to deliver difficult answers to them. For instance, animal rights activists continue to protest the Make-A-Wish Foundation over certain wishes we grant, including fishing expeditions and sending children to watch the Iditarod dog sled event in Alaska. In fact, animal rights activists continue to protest our policy regarding firearms because they believe it is a "cop-out" for us to find hunting organizations that will accommodate the hunting requests of our wish children. Regardless of their pressure, we will continue to handle these wish requests in the manner we see fit, because we believe firmly that this course of action is in the best interests of the children we serve.

Wishes involving firearms are not the only ones we are unable to fulfill because of safety concerns. We also typically do not fulfill wishes for gifts of automobiles, to construct in-ground swimming pools, or for such activities as bungee jumping. While it gives us no pleasure to decline these sorts of wishes, the safety implications are such that we cannot grant them without exposing the wish children and their families to an inordinate amount of risk.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation has always been sustained by the support of the communities it serves, and throughout our history, we have been particularly gratified by the support of hunters and outdoor sporting enthusiasts. It would be a tragedy if our honest disagreement over this issue resulted in the loss of support for the children with life-threatening medical conditions whom it is our privilege to serve.

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