Hunters need to separate themselves from gun nuts

Chicago Sun Times ^ | 2-17-03 | DALE BOWMAN

[SJackson]

"About the time that Daddy left to fight the big war/I saw my first pistol in the general store/In the general store, when I was thirteen/Thought it was the finest thing I ever had seen/So I asked if I could have one someday when I grew up/Mama dropped a dozen eggs, she really blew up/She really blew up and I didn't understand/Mama said the pistol is the Devil's right hand.''

Steve Earle's ''The Devil's Right Hand''

Ihunt. It's the most intense and rewarding thing I do in the outdoors.

To hunt, I own guns.

They are my most valued possessions.

When I was 13, Dad gave me the family .22 rifle as my most cherished Christmas gift. When I turned 18, my 12-gauge shotgun and my deer rifle were my first important life purchases.

The only thing I asked Dad to bequeath me in his will is an ancient, open-bore, single-shot, 12-gauge shotgun my Grandpa Bowman gave him as his first gun as a boy.

Guns come with meanings for me, come with stories and histories.

So I watch with more than passing interest when an anti-gun person such as Mayor Daley steps into the political arena with gun legislation.

The latest foray came Thursday.

My first thought was, "Oh, God, not again.''

Then I picked through the highlights.

As a hunter and human being, I agreed with almost all of them.

As hunters, we must learn to separate ourselves from the gun nuts, those who would oppose every firearm restriction. Otherwise, we'll be lumped in the crackpot pile.

*A ban on military-style, semi-automatic assault weapons. I absolutely agree. It should have been done years ago. The problem for hunters is the definition of assault rifles; otherwise, it in no way affects my right to own a shotgun or rifle for hunting.

*Restrict handgun purchases to one per person per month. For my money, you could ban handguns completely. That in no way affects my right to own a shotgun or rifle for hunting.

*Gun fingerprinting. I have no problem with that other than it is another governmental intrusion into our lives. It in no way affects my right to own a shotgun or rifle for hunting.

*Lengthening the waiting period for taking possession of a handgun from three days to 10. Hey, make it a month, a year, 10 years. It in no way affects my right to own a shotgun or rifle for hunting.

*Require annual background checks of those who hold Firearm Owners Identification Cards. I think that will be a logistical nightmare and should not be enacted for that reason. Otherwise, check all you want. It in no way affects my right to own a shotgun or rifle for hunting.

*Increase the cost of a FOID card. It annoys me. It will cost me. But it in no way affects my right to own a shotgun or rifle for hunting.

*Mandate background checks of people who buy firearms at gun shows. Absolutely. That should have been in place years ago. That in no way affects my right to own a shotgun or rifle for hunting.

*State licensing of gun dealers and a state database of gun information. Go ahead. I think it will be a logistical nightmare; otherwise, it in no way affects my right to own a shotgun or rifle for hunting.

*Increased penalty for secret compartments in vehicles for weapons. Throw the book at them. That in no way affects my right to own a shotgun or rifle for hunting.

Daley's proposals make sense. But then, I am a hunter who owns guns, not a gun nut. Guns don't mean more than life to me.

Dale Bowman can be reached at outdoordb@aol.com.

"Bowman's Outdoor Line'' is heard on "Outdoors with Mike Norris'' (3-4 p.m. Thursdays, 1280-AM).

[Dec31,1999]

There is no reason on earth why we should share that bill. I'm for states' rights!

[Travis McGee]

Thanks! I have cleaned up a few typos and awkward constructions on my own MS Word files, the book will be a bit "cleaner" than the website. When I get a chance, I need to go back into the website and plug in the corrected versions.

[Aarchaeus]

About half-way through, I figured out what this is. The writer is not a hunter, and most likely owns no guns. This was was written by an America-hating left-wing, anti-rights SOB who imagines himself to be good at producing propaganda.

[ohmage]

Will wonders nver cease? A Bill to protect the Right to bear arms.

http://etherzone.com/2003/metc021703.shtml

I looked for the small print. Couldn't find any yet.

[Noumenon]

Thre trouble with guys like the author of this article is that he's a fence-sitter.

The trouble with fence sitters is that they're moral cowards.

The trouble with moral cowards is that they will catch fire from both sides.

An unenviable position, to say the least.

[Noumenon]

A local environmentalist once stood up and called me a "fascist libertarian gun nut".

Say, you can party with me any time...

[demosthenes the elder]

this fellow evidently does not think that the progrssive expansion of gun restrictions in America will follow the same course and reach the same ultimate end that they did in England and Australia. What did PT Barnum used to say? Oh, yes: There's a sucker born every minute.

[Richard Kimball]

False Premise: The purpose of the Second Amendment is to protect the right to use a gun to hunt.

Real purpose: To separate the hunters from the collectors and the sport shooters. If all firearm owners stick together, the left will not be able to get the laws through congress. OTOH, if a wolf in sheep's clothing says "Oooh, we're hunters, we're not like those crazy gun people" they might be able to split off enough of the firearm owners to let some "much needed sense be brought to the firearms industry." To them, much needed sense means first registration, then confiscation.

The left DOES NOT WANT VIOLENCE IN THIS COUNTRY TO DECREASE! They want people scared enough to run to big brother and say, "please big brother, make me safe!", and they will make us safe, just like they have in England and Australia.

[demosthenes the elder]

prevalence of potent shoulder and side-arms in a tight knit, large, and interactive subculture in America directly equals an unacceptable risk of unstoppable reprisals for such a smart-bombing or other fascist abuse of power. That is why the politicos don't pull this kind of stunt (often) and is the inarguable reason why the 2nd Am exists in the first place.

[Noumenon]

Consider the fact that no politician can maintain a 300 yard perimeter forever. And that won't mean a thing to those who practice a bit. Most of them know that, and it's a powerful restraint on the impulse to tyranny. If enough of them forget that or ignore it, well...

And really, what should give them pause is the fact that there are enough very, very fed up people with both the training and the motivation to carry the battle back to the real enemy. Not the confiscators, but the ones who sent them. We're not talking about an 'organized militia' - we're talking about the worst possible scenario - at least from a criminal politican's point of view - the independent actor. Lots of them.

As John Ross wrote in "Unintended Consequences," Stripping a motivated people of their dignity and rubbing their faces in it is a very bad idea. Short of a miracle, I expect we're going to find out just how bad an idea that is here in America.

[demosthenes the elder]

taxation without representation...
reparations for slavery...
Hillary!...
the Mexican Hordes...
an overreaching Homeland Security gone Nazi...

these are off-the-cuff.
there are many more.
take your pick.

[demosthenes the elder]

good GOD, dude, that is brilliant!
with your permission, I intend to circulate it to the ends of the earth - or, at least, the depths of my e-mail list.

[col kurz]

Gentle hunters, With O.J., the Ramseys, the wife killer in Calif., plus thousands of Al-Quida sympathisers running loose in this country, you guys get off taking out bunnies, Bambis' sheep and birds...And you call us nuts???

[demosthenes the elder]

dude. good thread. thanks for the heads-up.

[Squantos]

My favorite "gun nuts" were named Browning, Colt, Smith, Wesson, Garand, Remington, Maxim, Williams, Mauser, Stoner, Winchester , Ruger, Beretta, Hawken, Lemat ect ect........

Stay Safe !

[Eastbound]

Ditto!

[Squantos]

Scared ?!?!? ....Vapors ?!?!?!?!?..... Hell it scares me and I have more ass than the boogieman has teeth and that book gives me the willies !!!

Stay Safe & Keep typing Travis !

[Glenn]

Not even at the range? Jesus, you might be more of a danger to yourself than to your assailant!

It's not my first. I'm fully qualified to use it.

[SWake]

The Webb Wilder version of the last verse of the song is something like:

Well, I got into a card game in a company town
I caught a man cheatin' - I shot the dog down
Shot the dog down, watched the man fall
He never touched his holster, never had a chance to draw.

The trial was in the morning and they drug me out of bed
They asked me how I pleaded. "Not guilty," I said
"Not guilty," I said, "You got the wrong man,
No one touched the trigger but the Devil's Right Hand."

Ironic that he would choose to quote a song that blames the gun for the crime, isn't it?

[RamingtonStall]

Ref your: <<"Will wonders nver cease? A Bill to protect the Right to bear arms.

http://etherzone.com/2003/metc021703.shtml

I looked for the small print. Couldn't find any yet. ">>

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Thanks for the lead to the excellent article. Perhaps you should post it as a self standing Thread on http://www.freerepublic.com ?

The main article as well as the additional articles listed at the bottom are Excellent!

Joy! ([: ^ )

RamS