Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 2, 1992 TAG: 9201020172
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
GUNS: ANSWER IS EDUCATION, NOT ABSTINENCE
I AGREE WITH Carroll County Deputy Sheriff Brian Edwards that for a 10-year-old to be fatally shot is a terrible accident. I find disturbing Edwards' reminder to people to unload their weapons,"now that the rifle deer-hunting season is over." I take exception to the implication that gun owners are automatically hunters.Virginians must complete a hunter-education course before being issued a hunting permit. The main diet in this course is safe-gun practices. All gun owners are not hunters, and therefore not all have been educated.
I also see the need for children being educated. Dick Riley, president of the National Rifle Association, reports that guns are found in roughly half the homes in the United States. So to think our children will not come into contact with them is foolish. Education, not abstinence, is the answer.
Thanks in large part to the NRA's gun-safety programs, accidental gun fatalities have decreased 52 percent since 1971. The Eddie Eagle child-safety program has reached more than 2 million children. Police departments and schools give it very high marks.
Who is a hunter? He or she could be your neighbor. Research done for the National Shooting Sports Foundation in 1991 found: A typical hunter is 35 to 54 years of age, 19 percent hold college degrees, and more than 40 percent have annual incomes exceeding $45,000. Of the hunter-education graduates, 88.8 percent were male and 11.2 percent were female.
The 300,000 hunters in Virginia provide millions toward the state wildlife fund and the game-protection fund. It is our financial support that upgrades and maintains wildlife and its habitat. We introduce wildlife into new areas through release programs.
The next time you hike along a well-maintained trail through a wildlife-management area, you may see deer, bear, grouse or turkey. If you enjoy yourself, thank a hunter, thank your neighbor. DON BISHOP NEW CASTLE