Look before you shoot

It's time for gun shooters, hunters or target shooters, to be more cognizant of their surroundings when engaging in their hobby. The recent episode of the Sagle women being hit by errant gunshot and the rash of hunters bagging hunters is a sign of the lack of responsibility displayed by gun owners and shooters.

When I was younger and a gun enthusiast myself, we never considered shooting or hunting in populated area, and when hunting, shooting at movement before identifying that movement was a definite no-no. That does not appear to be the law of land anymore.

The recent episode of hunters gone wild, in the illegal killing (apparently for the fun of it) of dozens of elk here in Idaho and leaving the meat to rot, only adds to the anti-gun advocates and rightly so.

I live about a half-mile outside the city limits of Sandpoint where most of us have small acreage lots, most of us have some livestock or pets. We have a neighbor whose hobby is shooting large caliber guns. He does not seem to care that his hobby freaks out our animals as well as disrupting our own peace and quiet. I have ask him not to shoot here (the public shooting range is only 2 miles away). But complaints to the county sheriff only result in being told that as long the shooter is outside the city limits, it is legal. It is time for the county to enact no hunting or shooting zones in populated areas. I know that guns are considered a sacred cow by many here, but gun people should realize that the reason many people have become anti-gun is because of the pro-gun militaristic attitudes that many gun owners display. If gun owners continue their Wild West attitudes and habits they will continue to encourage more anti-gun attitudes — even in Idaho.

MARTY STITSEL

Sandpoint