New hunting law a good one

I was gratified to see that participants in The Observer-Dispatch’s Friday Forum generally approved of the new law signed by Gov. David Paterson that allows 14- and 15-year-olds to hunt big game with a firearm.

 

Aside from the fact that New York was the only state that did not allow youngsters of those ages to hunt with a firearm, the mentoring program that goes along with the law will, in the long run, produce safer, more ethical hunters.

 

The argument that young people are not mature enough to handle firearms simply doesn’t hold water. Teenagers already are the safest hunting age group in the state. They seem willing to be instructed, and they don’t assume they know it all, as some older hunters do.

 

We have had a few young hunters in our camp over the years. Some of the fathers have taken their children out to sit with them on stand and observe years before they were eligible to hunt.

 

If you are against hunting in the first place, you’re going to be against the law. If you approve of hunting, or don’t really care one way or another, you have to believe that a mentoring program is a very good thing. Most kids of 14 or 15 who are interested are going to hunt in a couple of years anyway. It’s a good thing to be able to have knowledgeable adults train them in the field.