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).

[The Duke]

That's funny ... I thought the purpose of the Second Amendment was to keep tyrannical government in check. I never realized it was just for "hunting"?

A couple of years ago I learned that the elderly man living next to me had completely lost his mind and been committed to a mental instituation. When they took him away they also removed a rather significant gun collection. My first reaction was to be grateful that my crazy neighbor no longer had guns at his disposal.

But, as I have thought more on it I have come to the conclusion that life would be *FAR* more dangerous and less worth living if he did not have the freedom to own those guns.

[Ches]

" p-l-e-a-s-e tell me what a gun nut is?"

Gun nut = dirty word

A local environmentalist once stood up and called me a "fascist libertarian gun nut". Stringing these three terms together demonstrated this "dirty word" concept to me. When they have nothing constructive to offer they can always resort to name calling, villification and escalation to the point of ending any rational conversation.

[brbethke]

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).

If Dale Bowman were a black man writing about race relations, we would call him an Uncle Tom. Dale Bowman is clearly a groveling brown nose who can't wait to lick the boots of his newest master.

Don't patronize any publication that publishes his work. If you live in his listening area, call the radio station and let them know what you think of him.

Yeah, I'll get called a "gun nut" for having this opinion. But I'd rather be called a gun nut than a subject.

[Gritty]

When did Schmuckie Schumer change his name and start writing agitprop columns for the Chicago Sun Times?

[cbkaty]

…..and in Katy, Texas, 02/14/2003….
It is now apparently illegal make someone nervous.

Let me explain.

My son, Ben and his buddies were at a nearby ditch yesterday with their Red Ryder BB guns.

A policeman approached the boys and asked them to “open the breach” of their “weapons”. He then asked who they were and where they lived. Ben stated that the officer said, “BB guns make people nervous.”

Here’s where it gets weird. Ben had his bicycle with him too. The officer made him leave his bicycle at the ditch and marched him home in front of the police car and in front of all the neighbors. It was like parading a criminal before a crowd. Ben came in the back door and was quite embarrassed.

It gets weirder…... The officer just drove off…never coming to our door or speaking with me.

Being reasonable, and understanding that boys will be boys, I asked Ben if they had scared anyone or did they shoot in a direction that could be considered dangerous. Ben said we were just shooting at cans in the water.

I called the sheriff’s dispatcher and explained the facts as I knew them. The sergeant in charge made it clear to me that:
1. Ben was breaking no Texas or Harris County laws
2. It is not illegal to openly carry or discharge a BB gun in Harris County, Texas.
3. Also…..he said that they had no reports regarding the misuse of guns or BB guns in the area.
He had no explanation as to why the officer would do this. I thanked him and hung up.

I called my attorney just to verify Ben’s right to carry and use the “offending weapon.” He said the same thing…no crime.

Now my summation is that this is my first direct experience with anti-Red Ryder BB gun political correctness run amuck.

Ben was counseled by me regarding his rights….basically as a kid, he has none and that he is still required to obey and be polite to a policeman…. Not me though….I look forward to the next forced-march of the local 11 year old Red Ryder toting hooligans. Maybe the officer will cuff-em’ this time.

If I ever meet this tuff-guy officer I think I’ll nickname him Officer Nervous and pass the information to the dispatcher. I wonder how long it would take before word got out to his buddies about this. Can’t you just see the other officers at the precinct station razing him saying, “Hey Officer Nervous, you collar any of the Red Ryder desperados today?”

[broadsword]

Well I've got news for you buddy. If all the gun controls that dont "efect your right to own a rifle or shotgun for hunting" become a reality then what stops them from passing more laws that do "efect your right to own a rifle or shotgun for hunting". People don't understand that the gun control advocets will not stop until all guns are out of all hands period. Its like boiling a live frog. Some frogs say "Crap its getting hotter." then jump out. Then other frogs say, "What are you freaking out about? Its only comfterbly warm."

Some frogs get eaten, some don't.

[brbethke]

Officer Nervous nailed your son because he was probably pretty confident the kids couldn't out-gun him. Otherwise he would have called in the SWAT team for backup.

Hey, this hero probably went off and rewarded himself with a jelly doughnut, for saving the county from future mass sparrow-killings!

[need_a_screen_name]

Scoped hunting rifles are already being called sniper rifles. Once the black guns and handguns are gone, the anti-self defense zealots will come for his deer and duck guns. What an idiot. What is sad, is that too many hunters ALREADY feel like this guy does, and see no reason to fight to save the right to keep what they don't own or shoot.

[Ches]

"They" won't be happy till all our boys are wearing dress's!

[AF68]

This is just another effort by a crime-ridden, big city anti-gun mayor to divide and conquer downstate Illinois gun owners. It hasn't worked in the past and it isn't going to work no matter how many times Dildo Daley tries it. Instead, how about a little Chicago night club control, Mr. Daley? How many dead today? 17?

[StriperSniper]

It's all about HIS RIGHTS, nobody elses.

in no way affects my right
in no way affects my right
in no way affects my right
in no way affects my right
in no way affects my right
in no way affects my right
in no way affects my right
in no way affects my right
in no way affects my right

What ever gave you that idea?;-)

[SJackson]

Scoped rifles are sniper rifles, semi-autos are assault weapons, semi-auto (and probably pump) shotguns are street sweepers. Thompson Center went all the was to the Supreme Court over the legality of the single shot Contender. It's not hard for the the author to see where this goes, if he opens his eyes.

[brbethke]

25+ years ago, when I was a young journalist in the People's Republic of Madison, I had the pleasure of covering a speech by some guy (Joel somebody?) from some organization that had "Ban" and "Guns" in its name but has since renamed itself to something less overt. In this speech, to an enthusiastic and supportive crowd of college-town liberals and activist reporters, Joel laid out The Plan. To paraphrase him:

"First, we ban cheap handguns, because everybody is afraid of street crime.

"Next, we ban military-type automatic rifles, because nobody needs a machine gun for hunting.

"Then, since nobody can buy cheap handguns, they won't want to move up to more expensive handguns, so we can ban ALL handguns except for those used by military and police. And we make the soldiers and cops turn theirs in to an armory when they go off duty." (You must remember, this guy and this audience hated American soldiers and policemen almost as much as they hated the NRA.)

"Then, because a true sportsman only needs one shot, we ban everything except single-shot rifles and shotguns.

"And if we do this, then in about five years, all the deer hunters and duck hunters will get fed up and quit, and there will be so few gun owners left that we can go ahead and finish the job, and ban all privately owned guns in America!"

Audience applauds wildly.

And that's about when I started to realize that Madison was not the town for me....

[Ches]

"It's not hard for the the author to see where this goes"

Looks like he's trying to impress someone with how reasonable he is. Wife, girlfriend, etc.

IOW, maybe he's just trying to get laid. Still no excuse for this garbage.

[AF68]

Thompson Center rules!

[brbethke]

More likely he's a writer with a liberal education who likes to hunt, but is trying to convince his liberal writer friends that he's not not some kind of bloodthirsty Neanderthal and more importantly, he's not one of "those" people.

He needs to make new friends.

[Marauder]

The same lines crawled out of my memory while I was reading this tripe. He seems unable to understand that once the requirements set forth by Daley are met, there will be more, then more again and again until all firearms are gone.
Then we're all sitting ducks.
Dale Bowman doesn't seem to understand the workings of minds of men like Daley, Stalin, Hitler, or Pol Pot, ad nauseum.

[GraniteStateConservative]

How exactly is an assault rifle going to protect you from the kind of weapons the DOD has? We could drop a smart bomb on you while you pick up your newspaper from the lawn.

If you ever become an enemy of the state, you'll be screwed and no firearm will save you.

[Ches]

" bloodthirsty Neanderthal" = Gun Nut??????????????

[Always Right]

The problem with gun grabbers is they don't stop. Just look at usually reasonable countries like England and Austailia. It isn't a big step to from restricting some guns to taking away all guns.