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Jim Matthews, ONS
2/26/03
Three bonehead bills target hunters and legal shooters
A trio of bills aimed directly at hunters and shooters has been introduced into the California legislature in the past two weeks.
The first, AB 1190 by Assemblyman Joe Nation (D-San Rafael), would ban the hunting of all doves -- both mourning doves and whitewinged doves -- throughout the state. The second, AB 342 by Assemblyman Paul Koretz (D-West Hollywood) would ban the hunting of all mammals with the use of dogs. The third, AB 602, also by Koretz, would impose a 10-cents per round tax on ammunition and bullets to fund emergency rooms and trauma care centers.
Over 100,000 hunters a year hunt doves. That's nearly half of all hunters who buy licenses in California each year. There are over 15,000 bear hunters each year, most of them hunt with dogs, and many of us who hunt rabbits let our dogs give chase. And there are as many as 10 million gun owners in the state who would see ammunition prices skyrocket to solve a problem they didn't create.
All these bills are discriminatory. They target legal activities done by a (relatively) small number of people under the guise of some moral high ground. Koretz and Nation are not vegetarians, so far as we could tell, but they think hunters shooting and eating doves is wrong. Are ducks and quail next? What about deer? They believe bear or rabbit hunting with dogs is somehow more inhuman than a cattle or chicken ranch. They think gun owners should be taxed excessively because gang members shoot uninsured people and cost taxpayers money in trauma care centers and emergency rooms. (That would be like taxing bathing suits -- tripling their price -- to pay for emergency care of child drowning victims.) This is stupid legislation and the bills need to die quick deaths in committee.
2/26/03
Three bonehead bills target hunters and legal shooters
A trio of bills aimed directly at hunters and shooters has been introduced into the California legislature in the past two weeks.
The first, AB 1190 by Assemblyman Joe Nation (D-San Rafael), would ban the hunting of all doves -- both mourning doves and whitewinged doves -- throughout the state. The second, AB 342 by Assemblyman Paul Koretz (D-West Hollywood) would ban the hunting of all mammals with the use of dogs. The third, AB 602, also by Koretz, would impose a 10-cents per round tax on ammunition and bullets to fund emergency rooms and trauma care centers.
Over 100,000 hunters a year hunt doves. That's nearly half of all hunters who buy licenses in California each year. There are over 15,000 bear hunters each year, most of them hunt with dogs, and many of us who hunt rabbits let our dogs give chase. And there are as many as 10 million gun owners in the state who would see ammunition prices skyrocket to solve a problem they didn't create.
All these bills are discriminatory. They target legal activities done by a (relatively) small number of people under the guise of some moral high ground. Koretz and Nation are not vegetarians, so far as we could tell, but they think hunters shooting and eating doves is wrong. Are ducks and quail next? What about deer? They believe bear or rabbit hunting with dogs is somehow more inhuman than a cattle or chicken ranch. They think gun owners should be taxed excessively because gang members shoot uninsured people and cost taxpayers money in trauma care centers and emergency rooms. (That would be like taxing bathing suits -- tripling their price -- to pay for emergency care of child drowning victims.) This is stupid legislation and the bills need to die quick deaths in committee.
