It’s never nice to be infringed upon in any way and is often quite an annoyance. Although, when the infringement can determine the difference between one’s life and death, you have the right to be up in arms.
As a gun owner and avid hunter, my right to keep and bear arms may reach beyond the average citizen. I have never purchased a gun for the purpose of protection, mostly because I have never felt the need for it. I think of a gun as a tool and buy them to match the situation I expect to be encountering. I have a light shotgun for ducks and upland game, a heavy shotgun for goose, another heavy shotgun for turkey, a light deer rifle, heavy deer rifle, a muzzleloader for deer, and a light and heavy rim fire for small game. The reason you suit a gun to a specific situation is that you want it to be effective and to make a clean and ethical kill. None of the game here poses a threat to human life but in super rare instances. For this reason, I have never thought in the line of self-defense. Well, that is until now.
Ask yourself, what do seatbelts, life preservers, and guns have in common? Now ask what they do not. The first question is pretty easy to answer. Most would say to protect your life. The second is not so easy to answer and you may be surprised to read it’s a permit. It would be absurd to force a legal licensed driver to purchase a permit to wear a seatbelt. Not only that, but find quality references that will assure they know you, and that they believe you will not harm anyone with your car while wearing the belt. Then, you have to wait for said references to turn their paperwork in, wait as long as it takes for the paperwork to be processed, and then for a judgement ruled. Even worse, you aren’t guaranteed to get your belt license and lose the money you spent for it if they choose not to issue one. Similar scenarios could be devised around licensed boat operators and floatation devices.
You’re probably asking by now, how does this apply to hunters and outdoorsmen? Until the other day, I may have not known myself, but I had a bit of a reality check that helped me come to this conclusion.
As mentioned a few weeks ago, I have been preparing a property to be hunted this fall. It hasn’t been groomed for about 30 years, so trails had to be cut in. Once they have been established, you need to choose stand sites close to them which will offer you a quick and quiet route in and out. While doing this, you spend a lot of time gazing at treetops looking for opportune stand trees. I was doing just this when I happened to look down to find myself only feet from the entrance of a bear den. It was one of those “I said it, and then almost did it” moments. I don’t know much about bears, but I know this was no coyote den. I didn’t know if they will hang out there in the heat of summer and wasn’t going to stick around to find out. It was the first moment afield that I felt a bit afraid for my life. I vividly remember wishing I had a gun, but backed out slowly, knowing if something happened, I wasn’t properly prepared.
Some probably still aren’t following me and are thinking it’s legal to carry a shotgun in the woods to defend you from a bear attack isn’t it? Sure, that’s fine, but in my case this would be the wrong choice for the job. I am routinely swinging a machete or marking trees, neither of which are easily done while carrying a shotgun. A pistol would be the proper tool for the job in this scenario. Doing this type of work toting a shotgun would cause me to set my gun down and likely walk away from it routinely to work or avoid knocking into it. I personally would like my gun within reaching distance and be small enough to not be a nuisance. The problem is, I want a pistol now and am not allowed to get one.
As it stands, the law dictates to me, the owner of many guns, having no criminal record, and being in possession of a hunting license, which clearly distinguishes my understanding of safe gun handling afield, to apply for a license to protect myself with a smaller gun. I’m not asking to carry concealed in a city. I want to tote exposed in the country. I would have headed straight to the gun shop and purchased my first gun for protection that day, was I allowed to. The cashier at the local shop said he had applied for his this spring, after a run in with a bear under 15 yards. That was nine months ago and no word yet. I’m not saying it takes that long for everyone, but no one should have to wait that long.
The second amendment grants me the right to keep and bear arms. I didn’t see anywhere in there where they stipulated which ones. To make myself an educated and licensed guide and hunter pay, wait, and possibly be denied the right to bear any weapon, is a direct infringement on my right to protect myself. I’m going to apply for my infringement permit soon because that’s what the law dictates, not what I know is right. If there are any good and speedy references out there, give me a shout.
Good wishes and let it be known that no one has the right to tell a law abiding citizen when or how they can protect themselves