This anti-gun crowd we have in this country...they really should get top marks for smoke, mirrors, bullshit, and self-righteous spleen. They are outstanding in that regard. Where they are always lacking is clarity, fact, and reasoning.
Their latest gaffe concerns a new bill before the Wisconsin Senate, one that would allow 10-year-olds to hunt provided they were with a responsible adult and did not carry a firearm of their own. The state's current age limit is 12. The sponsor of the bill is a Democrat, which goes to show how deeply entrenched the hunting culture is in Wisconsin: it's not a party-centric thing. They take their hunting as seriously as they do the Packers and cheese. And Wisconsin is made for hunting: beautiful, woodsy, scenic...I love the place. Wisconsin is Illinois' largest state park. (Call me a FIB, will ya, ya cheese-head bastards?)
But the bill has the anti-gunners up in arms. Critics say a "potentially fatal accident is bound to occur" if the age is lowered. Like every hunting trip, regardless of the ages involved, doesn't have the potential for a fatal accident? Firearms are involved, and if stupid people do stupid things with guns, people can die. Just like when stupid people drive cars or swing golf clubs.
One of the critics, a group called Common Sense About Guns & Kids, says that in 2005, there were 56 firearm deaths of children and teens in Wisconsin. They say 20 were suicides and 3 were accidents. Tragic, but where is the relation? Not a single mention of hunting. And remember, we're talking about opposition to a hunting bill, here.
Another mention is of an 8-year-old boy shooting himself in the head with an Uzi at a Massachusetts gun show? Tragic? Yes. Relevant? No. Idiots at a gun show allowed this to happen, not hunters in the woods.
One Wisconsin resident, Shirley Lochowitz, stated: "I wouldn't feel comfortable hunting standing next to a 10-year-old with a gun. I'm not sure that age level has the full capacity of what could happen quickly without the child even realizing that something is going wrong. It only takes a split second." Well, Shirley, let me tell you: I'd feel much more comfortable standing next to my armed 10-year-old than next to someone who obviously struggles with coherent thought holding a rifle. And for the record, my 10-year-old is a pretty good shot.
Lochowitz is the founder of Other End of the Barrel, a group that promotes the safe storage of firearms. Her 26-year-old son survived a gunshot wound to the stomach when he was twelve; a gunshot inflicted by an idiot 14-year-old showing off his loaded gun, not on a hunting trip, but in the house. She goes on to say that she's worried that 10-year-olds might not have the maturity level necessary to handle firearms. Which, of course, is a load of crap. If children, at any age, are taught to respect and properly handle firearms, there should never be an issue. And frankly, I know grown men that I wouldn't let within shouting distance of my guns, because they lack the maturity to be around them.
Ladd Everitt, spokesman for the Coalition to End Gun Violence (one of the biggest, and most ignorant and vociferous anti-gun groups), pipes up about screening processes, dealer oversight, and loopholes that could be used by "dangerous individuals" to gain access to guns. Again, how is this relevant to a hunting bill in Wisconsin? Well, it ain't...but it's another example of how the anti-gun crowd uses every opportunity, no matter how vague or disconnected, to promote their agenda.
Good luck to Wisconsin S.B. 167.
From my cold, dead hands.
Story here.
No comments:
Post a Comment