Plenty of safe places

As an upland bird hunter, mountain biker and backpacker, I was perplexed by the June 27 Point of View article by Bob Reder of the Humane Society of the U.S. Reder made leaps in logic to argue that Sunday hunting should continue to be banned.

Reder's assertions that Sunday hunting would "hold families hostage inside their homes" or that Sunday is "the one day a week when they can enjoy the outdoors...without dressing their kids and pets in blaze orange and worrying about their safety" disregard an abundance of public recreation areas. North Carolina has over 50 state parks, recreation and natural areas that do not allow hunting.

In Eastern and Piedmont North Carolina, most hunters use private land. Farms and corporations with vast holdings lease hunting rights to individuals and clubs, and this property is removed from the public domain. In the west national forests offer recreation opportunities.

Reder cited hunting-related tragedies in Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maine without disclosing whether those incidents occurred on Sundays. The fatality in Maine occurred almost 20 years ago. An N.C. Wildlife Commission report reveals that the three firearms hunting fatalities from firearms here in 2004-2005 involved related parties. Reder seems more to have a problem with hunting in general than to prove that such tragedies will happen here if hunting is allowed on Sundays.

Kirk Port

Raleigh