– Letter to the Editor –

– Letter to the Editor –

Are you a true outdoorsman?

You can be an outdoorsman. You can be a firearms enthusiast. You cannot be both.

The outdoorsman is the keeper of the herd, the hunt and the harvest. The outdoorsman never condones excessiveness and will only use a gun for efficiency of the hunt.

The firearms enthusiast is occupied with arming oneself for some imaginary fight they will never enter or with boasting of firepower. The firearms enthusiast hides behind the fact that they have the right to do something, with no thought given to whether they should and no thought given to how others will abuse that right.

There is a stark difference between those who are one with nature and are grateful for its gifts, and those who are fascinated by the tools of destruction and their capability to own them.

It is because of the hunter that we have herd control, funding for the preservation of nature and food on our tables. It is because of the firearms enthusiast, that hateful cowards and misguided souls can legally obtain brutal weapons, and with one harsh thought, kill masses.

Mother Nature and Mother Earth do not smile when these things occur. The outdoorsman and true hunter never takes more than is needed, and takes action to see that others do not.

There is action needed now, because more life is being taken than needed. My heart breaks, when I see the true outdoorsman afraid to speak out and for regulation of weapons, because they see themselves more aligned with the firearms enthusiast, than with the laws of Mother Earth.

I will forever stand up for the hunter, but not all deserve the right to choose to take life in any form. Not all deserve to hold a weapon.

Kody Morfoot, Holcombe