At the request of its members and representatives of state wildlife agencies, the Archery Trade Association Board of Directors has released a position statement concerning airbows. The statement was drafted immediately following the organization’s summer board meeting July 11-12 in Washington, D.C.

POSITION STATEMENT ON AIRBOWS
July 16, 2016
The ATA was asked by its members and representatives of state wildlife agencies for its opinion regarding whether airbows constitute archery equipment. While the ATA certainly recognizes the airbow to be an innovative piece of shooting equipment, the airbow nevertheless lacks basic components of standard archery equipment (e.g., a string system and limbs). For this reason, the ATA does not consider airbows to be archery equipment.

In addition, the airbow (unlike archery equipment) is not subject to federal excise tax, the basic funding mechanism for state wildlife agency activities, which means no portion of the proceeds from airbow purchases contribute to the state wildlife conservation activities supported by Pittman Robertson funds – at least not to the ATA’s knowledge. As a consequence, airbows do not appear to be treated as archery equipment by the Internal Revenue Service or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Currently, state wildlife agencies are considering if airbows should be included in hunting seasons and, if so, the seasons in which airbows belong. In general, the ATA leaves the hunting seasons and regulations governing the use of hunting equipment to each state’s wildlife agency and its hunters. Yet ATA also strongly supports the long-standing traditions of fair-chase hunting and equal opportunity for all hunters.

About the ATA
The Archery Trade Association is the organization for manufacturers, retailers, distributors, sales representatives and others working in the archery and bowhunting industry. The ATA has served its members since 1953.