The Kentucky Wildlife Commission is taking steps
to relax rules limiting hunting for children, making it "easier for
children to hunt, [and] even removing the requirement for the state's
youngest hunters to purchase licenses."
Whoa, there, Daniel Boone.
But wait, there's more! Kentucky also is planning to raise
the age at which kids who hunt (that's with guns) have to take
mandatory safety training. Children of any age in that state can
hunt as long as there's a parent within arm's (or is that gun's?)
reach. By contrast, in Rhode Island, not known as a bastion of
hunting by any means, the minimum age for hunting with a firearm is 15. The regulation changes are intended to combat a downward
trend in children's hunting; Ohio saw a 45% increase in youth hunting
license sales after relaxing similar standards and allowing kids to
hunt under an "apprentice license" before they take a safety course.
I'm
all for family togetherness, and although I'm clearly not a hunter, I'm
wondering whether Kentucky isn't asking for trouble by sacrificing
safety for numbers. Just in case, I think I'll avoid hiking in Kentucky
during hunting season.
