PA House Rejects 10-year-old Hunters (9/30/2001)

Josey1

Friday, September 28, 2001By John M.R. Bull, Post-Gazette Harrisburg Correspondent HARRISBURG -- A bill that would allow 10-year-olds to hunt was killed yesterday as the result of public antagonism, partially fueled by a York County man whose son was killed by a poorly supervised preteen in a hunting accident years ago."I'm ecstatic. I got a big lift today," said Donald Coe of York, whose son -- a minister -- was shot to death by a 12-year-old in a 1978 hunting accident. "I'm not a crusader, but I never saw a 10-year-old I would want out in the field with a loaded rifle."Coe heard about a bill proposed by state Rep. Bruce Smith, D-York, who chairs the House Game and Fisheries Committee, that would allow 10-year-olds to hunt if they passed a hunter safety course and were directly supervised by an adult with a hunting license.Junior hunting licenses can now be obtained by 12-year-olds. Smith wanted the age requirement lowered by two years."I needed about 10 minutes to decide I would not sit idly by," Coe said."They do that and someone else would be killed. It was going to happen eventually."Coe called state lawmakers, organized a petition drive that netted more than 400 signatures of opponents and testified against the bill yesterday at a committee hearing.Combined with the public opposition of the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs, the Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania and other smaller hunting groups, Smith yesterday declared the bill "dead" and promised it would not be brought for a vote in his committee, much less sent to the full House."The debate was worthwhile," Smith said. "I wanted to explore the possibilities."He said the many letters and e-mails he received "ran about 4 to 1 against" the bill, and he even had a fourth-grade teacher call to tell him that the 10-year-olds she deals with daily are not physically or emotionally mature enough to be trusted with loaded weapons.Other lawmakers were troubled by the thought of 10-year-olds being out in the woods with loaded weapons and supervised by an adult hunter who may be only 18 and have only a year of experience in the woods."This is not a good idea," said Rep. David Levdansky, D-Elizabeth Township."This is not a compelling issue. Most people either don't care, or don't want it. It's not going anywhere."Smith wrote the bill after a man called him to ask if the age could be lowered because a grandson wanted to be able to hunt in Pennsylvania.Don Kipp of Lewisburg yesterday said his grandson bagged his first buck in Missouri at age 9, and thought it would be nice to hunt in Pennsylvania with his grandfather. Kipp's grandson is now 11.Kipp said he was not surprised that the bill was killed, but he said another option that should be explored is whether to allow provisional hunting permits for 10-year-olds on a case-by-case basis instead of lowering the hunting age for everyone from 12 to 10.One supporter of the bill, John Pawlowski of Coatesville, said he had no problem with properly supervised 10-year-olds hunting, and he took aim at parents who objected to the idea."Some people have this thing about gun sports, but they have no problem with their 3- or 4-year-olds getting mauled on a soccer field," he said. http://www.post-gazette.com/regionstate/20010928hunters0928p5.asp

Free N TX

Ooopps!! I guess I shouldn't have taken my sons out in the woods and the gun range to learn how to shoot when they were 8 and 6 years old.Both of my sons have have more gun safety training than most adults, including LEO's and military personnel. Since they were about 7 & 5 they have been taught safety every time I had a gun out, either cleaning it or going to the range. Even now I quiz them every time I have a gun out. They were curious about them,and before they were allowed to even so much as touch a gun, I started teaching them every aspect of safety and telling them how much harm they could do to a person. They were shown what a bullet does to such items as pumkins, water bottles, sheet metal, boards and other items that I could use to emphasize to them what kind of damage they would do if a bullet were to hit a person. I also talked to them about the fact that what they see on TV and in movies was all fake and that when a real person was shot with a real bullet they really die and never come dack to life. Also that once you pull that trigger you cannot take it back. If you shoot a person, that person and his/her family and friends lives will be changed forever and so would theirs. Gun ownership and shooting is a very serious responsibility not to be taken lightly. Before they were allowed to shoot for the first time, I put them to the test, I purposely made some improper handling movements to see what they would do. I am proud to say they not only noticed each violation of safe handling, but they were very vocal about letting me know that I had not handled the gun in a safe manner. I ask them what I did wrong and sure enough they explained in detail what was wrong and what I should have done to be safe.Since then anytime we are anywhere near a gun they are keeping an eye on the gun and the person who is handling it. My youngest went as far as to let a police officer know that he had mis-handled his weapon. He informed the officer what he did wrong and what he should have done, I was a bit worried that the officer would get offened by a kid telling him he had done wrong, but instead he thanked my son for pointing it out to him. I am proud that my sons, now 16 & 14, can shoot with the best. I am not even the least bit worried that they will be unsafe when the day that they are able to go shooting or hunting without adult supervision. My oldest has shot falling plate with me using a .22 pistol (when he was 12 or 13), he even beat me on one occasion (he still reminds me of it from time to time) hahahaha. I guess the point I am trying to make (after all that rambling) is that IF a child has plenty (meaning A LOT) of safety training and their parent or legal gaurdian is with them at all times, that age is not the factor to worry about, it is the maturity (competence) level of the child that matters. Sorry for the long post. This proud father will get off his soapbox now. A.D.