Do You Agree With Deer Hunting?????

[Twisterdog]

Of course, anything can be used as a potential weapon. But that is not my point, and I personally think it is an irrelevant one. Guns were DESIGNED to kill other living things. Cars were not. Period. Guns frankly serve no other purpose. Maybe my argument is more anti-gun than anti-hunting, but I feel that hunting is just one more excuse we have to keep allowing guns, making the argument that it's a sport; it's a fun pastime.

A gun is just a tool. Albeit, a potentially very dangerous one, but simply a tool, nonetheless. A bow, an arrow, a sword, a spear, a knife, a flyswatter, a mousetrap ... all simply tools, and tools designed to kill living things. One could use a car, a hammer, a boot, a table lamp, a brick, a rock ... ANYthing to kill another living thing, if one were so inclined. It is the person using the tool that makes it dangerous or productive, not the tool itself.

I grew up in a household of gun owners. I learned from a very young age that a gun was an adult's tool, to be handled with respect, care and knowledge. A gun held no aura of mystery for me, no more than a hammer or a frying pan did. I never once thought of touching one of my dad's guns or playing with them. I was simply taught that a gun is a useful but potentially dangerous adult tool, just like the power saw or the lawnmower.

I own a gun now. My gun is locked up in a safe. I have never killed a living thing with it. My grandmother willed it to me, it's a cool old antique with fond memories attached. And, yes, I DO think it's a fun passtime to go target or skeet shooting. I and my gun are in NO WAY dangerous to anyone.

I know for a fact that many such laws are openly disregarded. I grew up in Iowa! Many of my classmates were hunting with their fathers by the age of 12, which in my opinion is dangerous! They wouldn't let their 12 year olds drive a car or have sex, so why on earth would they give them a weapon? It honestly shocks me that some parents who are conservative in every other way would give their children a device to potentially kill themselves, easily. Until a few weeks ago my dad still lived out in the country. Occasionally on my way to his house (which required driving on several gravel roads) I would see bands of hunters. One time, I saw a father with 2 children, the youngest could not have been more than 9 years old, and he was holding a rifle. It really made me feel sad.

There have always been and always will be people who disregard laws. But not ALL hunters disregard this law. My son is fifteen and has never been hunting. He will not go, if he chooses to go, until he is sixteen and has passed hunter and gun safety classes with flying colors. Almost everyone I know with a teenager feels the same way I do. I have no doubt whatsoever that there are people who let nine year olds hunt. There are also people who let thirteen year old have sex in their home, who let twelve year olds smoke cigarettes, who let fourteen year olds do drugs in their bedroom or drive the family car around town. My son goes to school with kids who live like this. It's all wrong, any time a law like this is broken. But the fact that a few idiots disregard the law does not make it a useless or invalid law, and should not be used to slam the 95% of people who choose to abide by it.

I'm certainly not trying to convince anyone to be "pro" hunting or "pro" gun. Not at all. Everyone is entited to their own opinion. I do not, however, like to see someone criticize an entire group of people for the actions of a few. Prejudice is prejudice, no matter if it is directed at race, sex, political view or hobby. It is always wrong to make judgements about every member a certain group of people, based on nothing more than their membership in that group or a very limited experience. What is the difference in saying, "I don't like hunters because when I was a kid I saw some hunters doing stupid things." and saying "I don't like African-Americans because when I was a kid one called me a bad name at school."? What's the difference in saying, "All gun owners are irresponsible and dangerous because I heard on the news about a few of them." and saying "All Columbian-Americans are dangerous drug dealers because I haeard on the news about a few of them."? I HATE prejudice of any kind, and I would just as vehemently defend vegetarians, pacifists, women, teenagers, Moslems, etc. if there was a thread condeming the entire group for the actions of a few.