10 Year Olds....Hunting?

There is a new bill being pushed through the senate, Bill S1083 - The Hunter Apprentice Bill which will allow children ages 10-16 to obtain a hunting license without going through any type of safety training program. The child would need to hunt with an adult 21 years or older. So basically the law would allow a 10 year old to pick up a rifle and go out hunting with his oh so responsible 21 year old brother without ever having shot a gun or handled a gun before and off he can go in to the woods and start shooting. Our local senator Jennifer Beck is helping to push this bill along. At a preliminary senate hearing on February 9, she encouraged the bill, stating that it was a good way for a child to see if he liked hunting. Even afer those who opposed the bill stated the facts regarding the accidents which are sure to occur and needless to say, the animals who will be cruelly wounded by an untrained child, she still continued to state her support for the bill. It's a terrifying world we live in with crime, terrorism and war yet we find no problem with recruiting our children to go out into the woods with guns to kill? This bill is simply a way for the pro-hunting groups to try to build up their numbers which are in severe decline. In the past 2 decades, the number of hunters has fallen as much as 50% in some states. So now the hunting lobbyists are pushing bills such as this one to recruit younger and younger aged hunters so they can support the hunting groups who in turn promise to support and fund political campaigns. It's not about common sense when these decisions are made.