The mass murders in Dallas and Orlando are, in a sad and odd way, good for wilderness in Georgia.

Fear, and politicians calls for stricter gun control laws, fuel gun sales. A little-known federal program slaps an excise tax on the sale of guns and ammunition, with the bulk of that money returned to states to boost wildlife conservation and land acquisition programs.

And, with gun sales soaring, Georgia is receiving record amounts of conservation money from Washington. The program sent more than $15 million Georgia's way last year — nearly three times the amount just five years earlier.

“Barack Obama is the greatest gun salesman that ever lived,” quipped O’Neill Williams, a hunting and fishing enthusiast from Atlanta with a show on AM 750 WSB.

Read more about it here.

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U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., speaks alongside then former president and presidential hopeful Donald Trump at a campaign event in Rome, Georgia, on March 9, 2024. (Elijah Nouvelage/AFP/Getty Images/TNS)

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Lt. Gov. Burt Jones — pictured at an August rally in Peachtree City that also featured Vice President JD Vance — appears to have scored another legal victory over gubernatorial rival Attorney General Chris Carr in their battle over campaign finance issues. (Arvin Temkar/AJC 2025)

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