Animal rights groups want age limits for hunting

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If a 6 year old (accompanied by parents) can accurately handle the same caliber (but different type) of rifle that NATO troops use and take out a deer with a clean shot, and if an 8 year old girl can take out a Black Bear (that requires a much larger caliber rifle, black powder rifle, shotgun slug, or a huge caliber pistol no smaller than a .44magnum), I agree that the age seems a tiny odd (but completely feasible) at first, but that kids have had access to some great huning instruction long before gun control or pseudo environmentalist types ever heard about it.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051105/ap_on_re_us/young_hunters

OAKLAND, Md. - John Wagner was 5 when he killed his first deer with one shot from a .223-caliber rifle. He is now standing in the living room of his family home and recalling with mounting excitement how last December he trained the cross hairs on the 75-pound doe as she paused beneath a tree house where he and his father waited.

"I shot it right behind the front shoulder," the boy said. "Dropped it right in its tracks."

John, now 6 years old, stands about 4 feet tall and weighs about 50 pounds. He's a good student, earning a monthly award for responsibility in kindergarten last year.

But he'd rather be hunting.

"I like it," he said. "Shooting a gun and shooting at the animals and killing them."

When an 8-year-old girl made headlines last month by bagging the first black bear of the season, many Marylanders were surprised to learn the state has no minimum age limit for hunting. But for some families in rural areas such as Garrett County, learning to handle firearms is as much a part of childhood as losing one's baby teeth.

Hunting opponents aim to change that. The Humane Society of the United States is talking with state legislators about establishing a minimum hunting age of perhaps 16, said Heidi Prescott, the society's senior vice president of campaigns.

"A deer rifle can kill someone up to a mile away, and young adolescents lack the experience, judgment and emotional maturity to handle that kind of firepower safely," she said. "To send someone into the woods with a long-range weapon who's not even mature enough to drive a car is an invitation to tragedy."

State wildlife managers disagree. Paul Peditto, director of the Department of Natural Resources' Wildlife and Heritage Service, said children of any age who have passed the state's tests for firearm competency and hunter safety — a requirement for all new hunters since 1977 — should be allowed to hunt.

The safety exam can be given orally, as in John Wagner's case. Practically, "you're probably talking about the exceptional 5-year-old and the average 8- to 10-year-old" as being capable of passing the course, Peditto said.

He acknowledged that some people are alarmed by the idea of small children with loaded guns, "but invariably they're people who don't hunt, don't have any intention to hunt and have never participated in a hunter-safety course."

That doesn't describe Prescott. She said she's taken the Maryland hunter-safety course and found it fairly easy. The 10-to-14-hour course includes a 50-question multiple choice exam and a live firing test that she said doesn't approximate the stress of hunting.

"You're shooting at models with an instructor standing over you," she said. "You're not shooting at moving targets."

Maryland's hunter-safety requirement places it among 13 states with youth-hunter policies that the National Shooting Sports Foundation and the National Wild Turkey Federation consider "somewhat restrictive." A 2004 report commissioned by the groups lists 17 states with less-restrictive regulations and 20 with policies that are considered more restrictive because they ban most hunting before age 12.

The study found that hunters 6 to 15, when accompanied by an adult, have a better safety record than hunters overall. It reported that in 2002, there were 1.6 shooting incidents for every 1 million supervised youth hunters, compared with 52 incidents per million hunters of all ages.

A shooting incident was defined as an instance in which a person was wounded or killed by a shot from a firearm or a bow. The report didn't include an incident rate for unsupervised youth hunters.

Maryland has no adult supervision requirement for junior hunters, defined by the state as those under 16. Peditto said that in practice, junior hunters usually are accompanied by adults because the youngsters can't drive to the hunting grounds.

John Wagner will be with his father, Jody, on Nov. 12 when thousands of youngsters participate in Maryland's Junior Deer Hunt, a one-day event for hunters 16 and under that requires adult accompaniment.

John's mother, Liz, said she or her husband will accompany their son on all his hunts until at least his 13th birthday. She said some parents think John's too small for hunting and don't like him talking to their children about it.

"I say, 'Well, he is fully supervised and he's not out by himself,'" she said. "I think it's good for kids to learn this. It teaches them how to be responsible at an early age."

Animal rights groups oppose hunting of animals. Banning kids from hunting is just another roadblock to put in the path of hunters. Anti-gun groups work the same way; if they can't ban guns, at least they can make it difficult to own one.

I am not selective in my support of the Constitution; the second amendment is as valid as the others.

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Proud member of the National Rifle Association

wow, what filth we teach our children these days. "it's okay too kill animals for pure fun". give them sadistic ideas, therefore they won't protest war when they grow up

I oppose hunting. So I won't do it. But I'm not going to tell hunters that they can't do it.

6 year olds should not be allowed to use guns.

These days? In the areas that this article is speaking of hunting has been a way of life for centuries. In fact i don't think the human race would exist if it weren't for hunting animals. If i could place a bet i would put my money on people who grew up hunting animals committing less homicides than people who did not grow up hunting.

In some parts of the US, people use hunting to add extra meat to their diet, in which case, teaching their kids the skill at a young age is important. Due to the rural locations that some people live in, killing their food and preserving it is cheaper than buying it at the store. As for letting a 6 year old use a gun, I think that would depend greatly on the kid, and wouldn't happen too often.

I grew up in a rural area where people are poor, i started hunting deer at a very young age. When we had enough meat it was given to our neighbors who honestly needed the food. We never once killed a deer that wasn't used to feed somebody. I learned to shoot and respect guns at around 7 or 8 years old, and i guarantee that anyone who was taught that would be less likely to go on a shooting rampage later in life.
I also believe that people who are taught to respect firearms are much less likely to have a shooting accident at any point in their lives.

First of all, I don't think any child should ever handle a gun without constant adult supervision, and I do mean constant. After what I wrote on the other gun thread, you might be surprised to hear that I am also against children having toy guns: to my way of thinking, a gun is not a toy, and it is grossly irresponsible to give any kid the idea that a gun (of any sort) is something to play with or point at other people.

I don't know about supervised hunting, but here in (very right wing) Idaho, kids cannot hunt until they are 14 years old and have undergone a training course.

I personally don't think it's responsible to let a little kid shoot a black bear. We have bears here, so I am aquainted with the critters. A wounded bear is one very dangerous animal. I wouldn't even want to take a kid with me while bear hunting, let alone have the kid be the one firing the shots! So much can go wrong with a lareg aggressive animal like that...the gun could jam, the bear could turn at the last moment and just get hurt (and very ticked off) etc.

Lastly, before I allow any kid to kill an animal (such as assisiting in butcherign our livestock), it's important to me that they repsect life and how important it is to be humane and careful. I do not like the idea of teachign a child that it is "cool" or "fun" to kill something. Killing is not about fun, it's about food and our place in the food chain.

That is my emphatic and not humble opinion!!

It depends on the weapon too. I have never used a shotgun for instance.

What point is there in shooting an animal for fun?
It reminds of the senseless buffalo killings.

I don't think anyone under the level of puberty should be allowed to handle firearms or hunt. Why? Nothing to do with morality. It is because the brain is not developed below that age to understand what it actually means to kill. Same reason they can't be tried for murder.

i think some people might have misunderstood me. i meant that kids shouldnt be allowed to hunt if it grows on them in a way that they should consider it as "sport", which is just wrong.

I was taught to shoot guns a early age when we lived in Florida. It teaches You responsibility, My parents where also shooting too. It taught Me I had the capability to have discipline in what I could do in My life. Even My mother made Me take Hunter Safety Course even though I had been around guns My whole Life passed it the test 100% in the class nobody else did that in class. If taught Young to handle guns and have a deep respect for them even at a younge age them that Young Person can Learn alot about him/herself. Even in South Dakota it is normal learn to shoot guns at a early age. My Own Dad killed his first deer in South Dakota at a very early age himself and is sometimes stilled talked about in the family.

even rich people hunt for crying out loud.

So one's mental suitability to handle a gun would be judged by their ability to grow body hair? So does hunting then become a right of passage where you drop your pants to show you can handle a gun?

With enough time and bananas you could train a monkey to shoot a gun safely and then clean it too!

Heh.