Politico reports that on March 1 Federal Communications Commission chairman Ajit Pai turned down a National Rifle Association gun award he received at the Conservative Political Action Conference the week before, saying an ethics lawyer at his agency told him not to take it. The National Rifle Association named Pai the Charlton Heston Courage Under Fire Award recipient at the Conservative Political Action Conference. Pai received death threats after rolling back net neutrality rules in December, so the the American Conservative Union, which puts on the conference, game him a Kentucky handmade long gun for his efforts. But Pai this week turned the gun down. “As you know, once my staff became aware of what was happening, they asked backstage that the musket not be presented to me to ensure that this could be first discussed with and vetted by career ethics attorneys in the FCC’s Office of General Counsel,” Pai wrote, according to an FCC source who relayed the text of the letters. “Therefore, upon their counsel, I must respectfully decline the award.... I have also been advised by the FCC’s career ethics attorneys that I would not be able to accept the award upon my departure from government service.”