According to an article in the Savannah Morning News on January 31, 2008, “Hunting accidents spiked in Georgia during the 2007-08 season, and four of the five fatal incidents involved children or teenagers.â€
“This has been an unusual year,” said Wildlife Resources Division Capt. James Bell, who is the coordinator of the state’s Hunter Safety Program. “We’ve never had that many kids in accidents in the last 10 years.”
The season’s five casualties included an 8-year-old boy killed by a shotgun blast; a 12-year-old boy who shot and killed his father; a 14-year-old killed while squirrel hunting; and another 14-year-old shot and killed by his brother, who mistook him for a deer.
“Authorities investigated 21 serious accidents during the 2007-08 season that included – in addition to the five fatal shootings – four non-fatal shootings and 12 tree stand accidents.â€
What pains us the most is the loss of young people in what is supposed to be a recreational activity.
Let’s hope that this year, fewer young people end up on the wrong side of the hunting season in Georgia.
This issue brings renewed focus to the gun lobby’s agenda to encourage young people, notably boys, to start hunting.
The gun lobby and industry know full well that their numbers are in a consistent decline and are hurriedly trying to save their customer base. If young men and boys don’t take up hunting early in life, then the chances of them becoming gun owners later — and then potential NRA members, and of course donors — dramatically reduces.
The gun industry’s fear campaign to push handguns for “protection” among women has failed abysmally. Hence the gun lobby’s agenda to lower the hunting age in several states hoping to rescue their market. The gun industry and lobby’s thinking must be that kids taking up hunting might be a longterm investment.
There are many factors causing the decline of hunting in the United States. But one factor that can’t be ignored — as this article illustrates — are the constant stories in the news of accidental shootings among hunters, especially young people.
Thoughtful and protective parents have no doubt read and are aware of these hunting tragedies and have reconsidered if hunting is a good choice for their young ones.
Hunting is a tradition among some families in several parts of the country. But stories of hunting accidents have taken their toll and should make parents think twice about continuing the tradition.
