I used to teach IBEF Hunter Safety Classes. On the day of the shoot(broadheads at unknown distances..usually not beyond 28 yards) it always amazed me. We instructed and taught what we were looking for. We stressed we wanted to see your hunting rig and set up. First thing we did was inspect the bows. We had a couple we wouldn't let shoot because the equipment was unsafe (broken strands on string etc etc). Some would show up with inserts missing(not all just one or something). Then it amazed me how poorly some of the bows were tuned. You could look and see nocks 3/4 of an inch too high or low, feathers missing, rest broke ... all kinds of wierd stuff. And shooting, there was always someone how couldn't hit a deer at 10 or 15 yards because of tune, form, panic etc. We'd pull them aside, play with equipment and let the nervous jervous shoot alone when others were done. Sometimes it made all the difference. Maryland doesn't require Bowhunter Safety Courses... just the regular hunter safety to get a license. I would have no problem with it being mandatory if the keep the politicians and special interest groups out of it and let the certified instructors handle it. Our course is of course recognized world wide and we give it so people traveling to states requiring it can have it. A lot of our students came across the border from PA. We had a lot of father/son attendees.