djgj200 - In my home states, as well as many others, a learner's permit is issued from at age 16, at the earliest. That requires an adult to be present, and expires at midnight. A regular driver's license isn't generally issued until 18.

About the ATV's - several of the posters on here have heard my opinion of children and ATV use. I'll save that for another time. The fact is, children would already be barred from operating said vehicles but for the lobbying of companies like Honda, Yamaha and Polaris, that depend on child-riders to put food on their tables. All of this comes at the expense of the American youths who continue to be maimeddue to careless and improper usage fo the same.

I agree with your evaluation of the Hunter's Safety Exam - it is much too simple. That said, I respectfully disagree with your blanket assertion that safety is "common sense." What may seem "common sense" to an adult isn't "common sense" to a child.

Not only would I support increased testing standards for infants (minors), but testsadministered toadults as well.

There's no place for the "we need to get kids into hunting" argument when we're discussing safety. They either get it, or they don't. A 12 year old, "doesn't get it," if you ask me.

I don't care if we don't recruit a single new hunter in the next twenty years, as long as the ones that we do grant this privilege are capable, responsible and ethical. The object of the game here isn't to provide entertainment to kids, it's to keep hunters safe.