Outdoor Adventures - My Thoughts
Phil Taunton
Saturday, July 5, 2008
The immortal words of Earl Pitts still ring in my ears: “Wake up, America!”
Let me tell you, as a hunter education instructor and an advocate of firearm safety instruction in the home and in the fields, I’ve had quite a week, keeping track of the Beau Arndt case and our City Commission’s actions concerning a shooting range in the city limits, along with their decision not to support a Fourth of July fireworks celebration.
One only needs to go to the Emporia Gazette Web site (to Pat Kelley’s column in his Tuesday “Doesn’t Have to Fizzle” editorial and to the articles concerning Theron Kent’s trial and conviction) to realize others have some strong feelings concerning these topics.
Concerning Beau, I feel justice was served and only hope my hunting brothers and sisters will take umbrage to the comments made by Mr. Kent’s attorney when he stated “driving country roads with loaded rifles is common practice, as is firing at decoys set up by other hunters.” If this is a valid portrayal of hunter ethics, we need to take a deep look at ourselves and patrol our ranks. True hunters know what happened as being an illegal, unethical, dangerous act and would never consider harvesting game in this manner. Spread the word and please become an ambassador to our hunting heritage and tradition ... a role Beau held so dear to his heart. Bob Arndt, Beau’s father, told me Beau would be the first to say, “Hunt safe, continue to have fun and appreciate the Great Outdoors.”
I also would like to give an Outdoors Adventure “Tip of the Hat” to Chuck Gardner and the “Hunt for Hunger” people for taking the effort to establish a scholarship fund in Beau’s name at Emporia State University for a student from Lyon County that wants to fulfill Beau’s dream of becoming a wildlife biologist.
Firearms and Firecrackers ... On Thursday, June 26, the Supreme Court in a landmark 5-4 decision affirmed an individual’s right to own guns and gave definition to the Second Amendment which reads: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
The Supreme Court stated in its opinion, “We start therefore with a strong presumption that the Second Amendment right is exercised individually and belongs to all Americans.”
About the same time, The Gazette was running a poll of its own wondering if the people approved the City Commission’s action of allowing a shooting range in the city limits. In this poll, 48 percent of 636 votes cast approved, 40 percent said no, a range should not be in the city, and 9 percent felt there was no need for people to have shooting ranges altogether.
This week’s poll has to do with “should shooting firecrackers be allowed in the city limits?” and, as of Thursday noon, there were 896 votes cast with 62 percent of the people thinking we should be allowed to shoot fireworks in the city limits. To me, this seems like our town is more concerned with our right to shoot fireworks (even though there was over $400,000-worth of damage to cars, a home and warehouse in Wichita last weekend because of this illegal activity) than we are in having a supervised facility to teach firearm safety, ethics and responsibility to its residents — this in a community that prides itself in the virtues of education.
With firearm safety education in mind, I asked Patricia Stoneking, President to the Kansas State Rifle Association, to give me a little insight on shooting ranges. She writes, “Training is extremely important and, of course, safety should be first in the minds of all those wishing to have firearms. People must be provided with a local range that has the ability to make available training to teach gun safety as well as more advanced classes such as concealed carry training. Folks who legally own guns are law-abiding citizens and want to learn all they can. It is extremely important to make proper training available to them. I believe it is the responsibility of each community to allow for ranges where the general public can learn about handling firearms safely and to participate in shooting sports and other training as they wish. Such ranges are well-regulated, and I don’t believe the public has any reason to fear having a shooting range in their community.”
There you have it from a professional. I believe because we have the right to bear arms, everyone should obligate themselves to learn how to safely use and store firearms if they choose to own one. A supervised, well-maintained range will provide everyone this opportunity. Statistics prove use of ranges and participation in organized shooting sports are safer than playing ping pong.
What does our Fourth of July, Independence Day mean to me? First off, I am glad I live in a country where I am allowed to make choices. An avenue is available to each and every one of us to make these choices and bring about change. It’s called getting involved. Take an interest, volunteer. Form or join a committee or organization to make your feelings known and, above all, make it your responsibility to vote on key issues. This avenue is available to every citizen of the United States. To have this right is one of the reasons our forefathers fought the war for Independence so long ago. Please ask yourself what you can do to preserve this freedom.
From the Gazette Web site ... The 2009 Budget Meeting was held by the City Commission on Monday night, June 30, at the Faith Lutheran Church. The Commission asked for public input regarding priorities. Nine people were in attendance.
Perhaps more people should get out of the house, away from their computers and make their feelings known in public forums if they desire a Fourth of July celebration next year.
Comments
Post a comment
We allow registered users to post comments on this Web site. Our goal with this feature is to encourage thoughtful discussions about the news stories. Using the comment feature to make random attacks on people is not acceptable. Emporiagazette.com neither endorses nor guarantees the accuracy of any user contribution. Responsibility for what is posted or contributed to this site is the sole responsibility of each user. To learn more about our posting policies please read our User Poster Agreement Policy.
(Requires free registration.)