RE: Poll - Legal hunting age
Charlie - I'm basing my opinion on what I did when I was 12, and what the kids in my family do when they're 12 years old. I've taken plenty of kids hunting. The fact is that they are wholly unable to appreciate the danger and power that they're holding in their hands. They walk around with the muzzle pointing all over the place, they don't know how to handle an emergency situation. They get so excited when they see a deer, that they just point and fire. These aren't first-timers, these are kids that have been shooting BB guns and .22's since they were six.
I've hunted in states with no age limit, and it's disgraceful. I saw a kid not a day over 8, 50 pounds soaking wet, shoot a deer, with no adults around. Sure he was happy, but he was totally helpless. Igut the thing, and dragged it out for him. All the while, it occurs to me:why does an 8-year-old need to be out there? Shouldn't this kid be playing basketball or soccer? This isn't just about kids being unsafe, it's about good parenting.
Obviously, if you're standing over a kid, watching his every move, you can keep him from shooting another person, or a farm animal. That's pretty simple. The fact is, unfortunately, that not all derelict parents do that. Some view that "Hunters' Safety Card" as a license to kill - carte blanche. Just because they took the kid to the rifle range one day, they say "Hey Junior, you watch that way, and I'll be over on this hill watching the other side. If you need anything, just come over and get me..." Fill in the rest of the story.
IMO, if you have to stand over them, it's probably because they'rea danger to themselves and othersif left alone. Sometimes the truth hurts, but as I've said in the past, and I'll say it again. "The Simplest Solution is Sometimes the Best Solution." We live in a nation full of horrible parents, and sadly, sometimes the rights of the good must be trampled in the name of safety.