I hope you all had a wonderful St. Patrick’s Day. It is always a special day to celebrate here in Buffalo, where many Irish families came to settle generations ago. It also in many ways represents the unofficial start of Spring. I know the Winter season was long and cold for many. Here’s hoping the worst is behind us.
The Erie County Legislature will once again be considering passage of the Youth Hunting Law. This law provides expanded access to firearms for youths. Current New York State laws allow 12- and 13-year-olds to hunt small game, such as turkey and pheasants. This law would allow our young people to hunt larger game, such as deer, with no change to gun access. The measure was passed with bi-partisan support a few years ago, but County Executive Mark Poloncarz vetoed the law, stating he understands youth mentality because he was a hockey coach. I am not just a hockey and baseball coach but am a father of four boys. As such, I have the experience with different maturity levels demonstrated by a 13-year-old in a locker room or dugout and when they are one-on-one with their parent. The immature group-think goofiness that a youth may show around friends doesn’t translate to supervised hunters.
To be clear, this law doesn’t prevent kids from hunting big game, it just means that they cannot do so in Erie County. Every surrounding county has passed this law without incident, and it is a disservice to the vast majority of Erie County towns outside of the County Executive’s city-centric bubble.
The County Executive has stated he can’t, in good conscience, pass a law that could result in youth getting injured or killed. However, hunting is considered one of the safest outdoor activities and has far fewer incidents per 100,000 participants compared to football or basketball. I’m not looking at getting rid of youth sports. Is he? In fact, the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has stated that there has not been one single incident involving youth hunters since this law was passed.
The County Executive’s opposition to this law is based on misinformation and feelings, not rational thought and facts. Youth hunters have a better safety record than adults and teaching youths proper hunting safety under adult supervision results in safer practices when they are adults. These are just statistical facts. Erie County is the only upstate county that did not pass this law. It is time to pass it now and stop forcing our hunters to neighboring counties. The County Executive needs to put his personal biases and conclusions that are not based in reality aside and do what’s right.
If you have a county related issue, please contact my office at 716-858-8676 or by email at Christopher.Greene@erie.gov You can also keep up to date on Erie County issues by following my Facebook page at Legislator Chris Greene. As always, thank you for the privilege of serving you.
