January 15, 2009
ACTIVIST ALERT
From Jennifer Grill:
As many of you may have heard, a hunter shot out the front window of a Clarksville day care center from 277 yards away on Dec 10.
As a result of this incident County Executive Ken Ulman and the County Council have introduced legislation to increase the “safety zone laws”. The new bill increases the safety zone, which is the distance a hunter must be from a building where people might be located before firing a gun, from 150 yards to 300 yards.
We strongly believe the distance should be further, but that this bill is a step in the right direction to insure public safety.
Council Member Fox, under pressure from Western County hunters in planning on writing amendments that will water down the proposed bill. This must be prevented from happening. We need your help to insure the safety of the citizens of Howard County.
This is not whether you believe in hunting or not, this is a safety issue that will affect every single Howard County resident.
Please forward this to all Howard County residents that you know. You would be shocked to know how many people have been killed or injured by other hunting accidents like this in the pass few months alone
Please contact County Executive Ken Ulman and the County Council members and tell them you support the bill as is.
Also, try to attend the meeting on January 21st at 7:30pm, at the Board of Education Board Room, 10910 Route 108 in Ellicott City. Opponents of the bill plan on turning out in huge numbers. If you can make it please contact me at: jcgrill@verizon.net
Below is an article written by Bill Burton, the Outdoors writer for the Capital Newspaper in Annapolis. This article spells out the situation accurately.
“Before mounting their anticipated defense to fight off any new laws and regulations, the hunting fraternity should take a close look at the current rules and quite possibly concede that some changes are in order, then work with DNR, legislators and others involved to come up with an acceptable package. Let’s face it, the technological advances in firepower have in some instances and locales antiquated existing laws-and the bottom line is not whether hunters are entitled to all they can get from technology, but the safety of citizens and their property as well as other hunters afield.
Boiled down it’s simply this: When times and circumstances change, changes are in order in the rules. Hunters demanded weapons that could score at greater distances and with greater impact-and they got them. But existing safety considerations are compromised and it is our responsibility to work for a reasonable balance, much as we might like to try and let all this pass and hope for the best. That’s wishful thinking.”