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I wanted to write an article about some things that really bother me and may
disturb you too. So excuse me if I vent.
1. CPO’s
I have a person I know that attends our Friends of NRA Dinner every year. He is
a real likeable guy and friendly. He was hunting this past winter and was
approached by a Conservation Police Officer (CPO). The officer asked him for his
written permission slip. This man did not have a written permission slip, but
did have permission to hunt the property. As a result, the CPO wrote him a
ticket. He was caught again by the same officer a week later and received
another ticket for the same offense. He brought an affidavit to his court date
(notarized) from the owner that he had permission. The judge said he would have
to bring the owner to court!
On his second appearance he did bring the owner to court. The owner testified
that the man had permission to hunt his land. The judge said that that was
probably true, but he should have had the slip to begin with and fined him
$135.00 for each ticket. He fined his son who was hunting with him $125.00 and
put his son on a one year probation. Two weeks later he received a letter from
the DNR telling him they were suspending his hunting privileges for 18 months
because of the points from his two violations. What’s wrong with this picture?
Here’s what’s wrong: Now the real kicker is in the book Conservation Law which
most of you do not see, unless you purchase it and update it every year with the
changes. It is the book the CPO’s go by. It states right there in black and
white that this violation can be negated by the owner (which it was). It also
says the officer cannot enforce this written permission violation unless the
tenant or landowner has filed a complaint (which he didn’t)! I wish we could
regard these CPO’s as helpful and fair officers of the law, instead of someone
who is jumping at the chance to write you a ticket because your hat is on
crooked! This only causes the good hunter to lose respect for and wonder if
these people are really on our side.
2. Chicago Gun Registration
Some of you may not know the horror gun owners in the city have to put up with.
Not all the gun owners in Chicago vote for Daley. Those that do vote for him
deserve this hassle. Those who vote against him, but have to live there for many
varied reasons, are the people we should all feel sorry for.
Each year (yes once a year) they have to register all their guns to be legal in
the city. Contrary to what you have heard, they may own a handgun if it was
grandfathered in before the change [ie. before 1982] and it was registered every
year since. They won’t however register any new handguns, so thereby it makes
these illegal to have in the city. First of all they have to pay a fee to
register. $20.00 for one gun. $25.00 for 2-10 guns and $35.00 for more than 10
firearms. A separate application is needed for each firearm. Each application
has to be notarized (this also adds a cost).
Two passport photos have to be submitted for each firearm (8 guns = 16 photos).
Three of these photos cost about $10.00 at Wal-Mart, they are not cheap! If you
do not have a driver’s license, proof of adequate vision 20/40 with a
certificate from your ophthalmologist is needed. (Wonder what that costs?) Next
the date the gun was acquired and whom was it acquired from.
Then there are the questions about the firearm:
Rifles—---type of action? Does it have a telescoping folding stock? Does it have
a pistol grip that protrudes? Does it have a bayonet mount? Does it have a flash
suppressor or barrel w/ a threaded muzzle? Is your rifle a grenade launcher?
Handguns---Does it have an ammunition magazine that attaches to the outside of
the grip? Does it have a threaded muzzle? Does it have a manufactured weight of
50 oz. or more when unloaded? Does it have a shroud that allows the shooter to
hold the firearm with the non-trigger hand without being burned? Is it a
semi-automatic version of an automatic firearm?
Shotgun----Type? Does it have a folding or telescopic stock? Does it have a
pistol grip that protrudes? Does it have a fixed magazine capacity in excess of
5 rounds? Does it have the ability to accept a detachable magazine?
Total tally for 8 guns equals about $63.00 –not counting doctor’s note. I wonder
how Thomas Jefferson would react to Daley telling him that he is charging people
money to keep a firearm in their home?
So when Daley talks about gun registration for the state of Illinois you now
have an idea of what he wants from you! Like I said there are a lot of gun
owners in the city who would never vote for him and they do need help through
legislation.
3. Orange Hat Law
Now I agree that wearing an orange hat while upland game hunting is a good thing
and a good safety factor. I have one problem with it, which I believe needs to
be corrected! Waterfowl hunters hunting in fields have a right to take a
pheasant in season (as long as they have a habitat stamp). Say a duck hunter
goes to fix a decoy and a pheasant pops up. If he shoots that bird without an
orange hat or cannot show an orange hat in his possession when he comes out of
the field guess what? It’s time for our good old CPO’s to make some more money
on a technicality! There needs to be an exception in the law for waterfowl
hunters hunting in fields that are not actually walking fields for upland game.
This is one complaint I hear all the time from guys I know that hunt waterfowl
this way. If a person rolls a strike hurray for him, but don’t penalize him
because he didn’t have a bowling shirt on at the time!
The goose season was another hassle I was going to write about with its –punch a
card before you pick up the bird—call it in--- are you in a quota zone? You know
what? It’s too easy to get fined on a technicality while goose hunting, so a lot
of people I know just quit hunting them. I understand that this will change for
the upcoming season—thank God. Maybe now we can enjoy goose hunting again
without the entire hassle.
I hope you didn’t mind the long article. I usually try to keep them short and to
the point, but I wanted you to know some truths that maybe you were not aware
of. I hope I’ve raised some thoughts for you to ponder.
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