As somebody who's actually worked in federal government regulatory space (I won't go into that) I would encourage as many people as possible to weigh in on this. What happens is the Fed's will compile all of the comments received and group similar comments into bins. These get reported as "joint comments". In other words, they will report a "joint comment" with the number of respondents for those opposed, and a "joint comment" with the number of respondents with those for. While not a vote, per se, it does give the regulating agency an idea of how far apart opposing camps are. The real voices in getting any regulation passed or defeated are the "stakeholders" who attend the public meetings in DC. This includes conservation organizations for and against, as well as organizations that claim to represent the interests of concerned citizens. "Stakeholders" (for the most part) is a fancy word for lobbyists, but does also include concerned citizens. Past public meetings attendees and notes should be available in the docket on regulations.gov but I didn't go so far as to look specifically if there had actually been a public meeting in DC on this yet, or if one has been scheduled in the future.
So, yes, weigh in with a comment on regulations.gov. But also make sure your hunting/conservation organizations are representing your interests at the public meetings in DC.
Cheers!
