Senate bill aims to nix minimum hunting age in Michigan

Hunting is more than a sport to Haslett resident Andy Kroeger. In his family, it's a longstanding tradition that has helped him bond with his father and develop respect for conservation.

And though his two toddler daughters are far from being old enough to learn to shoot, his 3-year-old already has a set of camouflage clothes that match her dad's.

"She's already been after me to let her go sit in the deer blind with me," said Kroeger, 36.

Kroeger might not have to wait as long to take her with him if a group of hunting advocates have their way.

Just in time for the start of firearm season today, a new bill before the state Senate would eliminate the minimum hunting age in Michigan.

Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville of Monroe introduced the bill Friday. If passed, it would allow a child of any age to actively hunt with a bow or gun alongside an experienced mentor - someone with at least one previous hunting season under his or her belt and at least 21 years old.

"Having a minimum age in the state is a barrier for parents who may think that their 9-year-old is mature enough to go out with them and hunt," said Dave Nyberg of the Michigan United Conservation Clubs, which helped draft the legislation. "This bill is about allowing parents, not the government, to decide when their kids are ready to hunt."

The bill comes just two years after Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed a law that lowered the previous minimum age from 14 to 12 for firearm deer season.

Advocates of the new proposal use the same argument for this bill that they did back then. They say the state's hunting traditions are in danger because fewer young people today choose to join the sport.

"For every 100 people who leave the sport for whatever reason, we're only recruiting 26 more to replace them," Nyberg said.

The Department of Natural Resources and Environment hadn't taken an official position on the bill as of Friday afternoon, but a spokeswoman said the agency supports any effort that encourages more kids to get outdoors.

"Our main competition are video games and computers," said Mary Detloff, DNRE spokeswoman. "Getting kids outside is one of our top priorities if we're going to continue to have a state with a long, proud outdoor recreational heritage."

Detloff said the number of kids involved in hunting increased after the state lowered the age limit in 2008 but didn't have exact numbers Friday.

The overall number of hunting licenses sold in Michigan have been declining over the past decade, Detloff said, but have at least flattened out in the past couple of years.

She said the state sold between 1.5 million and 1.6 million licenses last year.

Firearm season ends Nov. 30.

By: Louise Knott Ahern, Lansing State Journal

Portland mayor to announce gun buy-back event scheduled for December

As Mayor Sam Adams prepares to bring to City Council on Thursday five proposed ordinances to stem shootings through gun-control regulations and stiffer juvenile curfews, he's expected to also announce today a gun buy-back event scheduled for the second week in December.

The mayor said on Friday he'd announce the exact date and location today. The December date, Adams said, should draw plenty of gun owners who may looking for extra shopping money for the holidays.

Ceasefire Oregon hosted 15 annual gun turn-in events since 1994, but had to discontinue the event two years ago because lack of donations. For each firearm turned in, residents receive a merchandise gift certificate.

At its last Nov. 1, 2008 gun turn-in event, the group ran out of gift certificates and funds before it could "buy back" everyone's guns, causing many people to take their guns back home. In each of the last five turn-ins, including two in 2007, Ceasefire Oregon received 95 to 124 guns per turn-in, according to its website. The total number of guns received since 1994 are 7,161.

Portland Cmdr. Dave Benson said police do not check the identification of those who turn in guns.

By: Maxine Bernstein, The Oregonian

Rankin firearm ordinance criticized

BRANDON — Jessie Purvis' eastern Rankin County tree farm makes a good hunting spot.

It's far enough from the county's rapidly urbanizing core but close enough to his Brandon home.

But it won't be secluded forever.

He is worried about the impact a Rankin County ordinance, which prohibits the firing of a gun within 200 yards of a subdivision, will have on his land. The Board of Supervisors adopted its current ordinance in March,

But some residents, like Purvis, have said the 200-yard rule is unfair.

"It would eliminate a lot of practical uses of my property," he said. "They are taking my property to benefit a developer."

Purvis said he would like to see developers establish the 200-yard buffer, rather than rural neighbors having to forfeit the space on their property.

This was one of the options tossed out at a committee meeting in July, when residents and officials gathered to talk about what an appropriate firearm ordinance should include.

Right now, supervisors have no plans to repeal the ordinance, even though they have said they're not enforcing it.

Officials have learned their ordinance has been superceded by a new state law, which allows counties only to regulate firing a weapon inside subdivisions.

"There hasn't been any need to enforce the ordinance," board attorney Craig Slay said. "We may just want to wait and see what the state does."

Supervisor Jared Morrison, the lone opponent of the ordinance, said he thinks the board should align its ordinance with state law. "I don't think we just need to sit and wait and wait and wait," Morrison said.

Morrison said a lot of eyes are on Rankin County.

"We're the flagship," he said.

Morrison said protection of residents is paramount, but the current ordinance is not the best solution.

"I don't know what the answer is going to be," Morrison said. "It's not fair that landowners have to give up the buffer."

Sheriff Ronnie Pennington provided the initial impetus for strengthening the county's firearm ordinance. Pennington told supervisors he had heard complaints from numerous residents about guns being fired by hunters near their homes.

"Safety is the number one issue," Board President Wood Brown said. "I can't concur with a zero-distance provision. I have 210 subdivisions in my district.

"When you get into these heavily populated areas, it brings it to a different level."

Like Rankin County, Madison County faces a similar tug-of-war between rural and urban residents, Supervisor D.I. Smith said.

Smith said supervisors talked about adopting a stricter regulation last year when Rankin County updated theirs. They reviewed copies of Rankin County's ordinance but have not updated their legislation, he said.

"It is a hot-button issue, and there are passionate arguments on both sides," Smith said.

"People who live in the new subdivisions get concerned when they hear gunfire outside the door. In other cases, you have people who live on huge tracts of land and they want to be able to kill varmints and snakes."

Smith said Madison County officials will have to find a solution that manages interests of both groups.

"Things like this have always been a concern," Purvis said.

"Ordinances of this type would grow to other places. You don't know how it will evolve."

By: Justin Fritscher, The Clarion Ledger