On some of these issues, the two groups share overlapping interests. SCI and the NRA have battled the inclusion of certain animals on the endangered species list because of the restrictions that would place on hunting those animals, as well as for the limitations it would place on the habitats where they still exist, which affects hunters’ ability to target other game.

Restrictions on any land exploration is something the oil and gas industry has long opposed, says Jessica Goad from the Center for Western Priorities, a left-leaning organization based in Denver. “We’ve seen that in their opposition to national monuments, national parks, they don’t like things being off-limits.”

But why would gun groups partner with oil and gas to privatize public land? If the oil companies win access, most of these lands might ultimately become areas of exploration for energy development and less likely places for hunting wildlife.

“The majority of oil and gas executives are Texans, so there’s the cultural affinity to start with,” says Chris Tomlinson, a columnist who writes about business, energy and economics for the Houston Chronicle. “And Texan deals don’t get done on the golf course as much as they’re done on a hunting trip, on safari or a shooting range.”

Whatever differences there may be over preserving land access for hunting alongside energy development would be overcome down the road, Tomlinson says, in pursuit of their common goal: undoing red tape to open access to federal lands.

“We’re talking about such a huge amount of space, I think the NRA and oil and gas and renewable folks can agree there’s room for everyone,” he says. “Since both are desperate to get federal lands opened up, I think they’ll figure out how to keep hunters away from oil wells later.”

Beyond the cultural affinities, however, are business ties. At least one president of an oil-and-gas company out of Houston, Ralph “Sandy” Cunningham Jr., of Eagle Ford Oil & Gas, has also served as president of SCI. Another, Archibald “Archie” Nesbitt, president and CEO of Marksmen Energy Inc., is on SCI’s board of directors.

John Green, CEO of Crossroads Strategies (a lobbying group that has represented the NRA) and self-described as active in legislative policy and politics, is a life member of SCI and a benefactor member of the NRA. C.R. Saulsbury, co-founder and manager of Perry Gas Processors, in Texas, is on the board of directors of SCI, while Richard Childress, who heads his own NASCAR team and is on the board of Growth Energy, a trade association for ethanol and renewable fuel producers, is a member of the board of directors of the NRA.