I didn't say that waiting periods work- there is no evidence that they do- for anything. I didn't say I support them. I didn't say requiring every hunter to sit through a Hunter safety course before being able to get a hunting license is the smartest thing to do, either. I don't like it. You should be able to take a proficiency test, at the very least, and get on with it.
Some states now offer the H-S course on Line, but it take longer to actually take the On-line course, and you still have to attend, in person, some shortened course- the total time being much longer than if you just take the 10-hour standard class!
The Government is being run by people who are intent on discouraging hunting. That is one of the reasons that hunting license and permits sales have dropped steadily over the past 10 years. There are just too many rules, too many requirements, and absolutely NO proof that all of this makes hunting safer.
Enforcing Game regulations has becomes a " Revenue Generating Sport", and game officers are actually given quotas to fill by issuing tickets, in some locations. That is wrong. All it engenders is contempt by the public for the law and regulations, and an even greater hatred of Game officers. Being A Game officer is a difficult enough job to do, without everyone you meet wishing you were dead!
Most violations of game regulations are due solely to lack of knowledge, and not some sinister intent. I have been teaching Hunter Safety since 1982, and every class I hold, we hear from hunters who tell us they have been violating some regulation or another that we discuss in class for years, only because they didn't know what was required. In other cases, the regulations are so poorly written that there is NO agreement even among officers as to what constitutes a violation. ( Sometimes they are written so badly that even lawyers can't figure out what conduct the law is suppose to proscribe!) Some of the Game laws don't make sense, either.
I had a field day in Court with one client, getting the first 4 counts filed against him dismissed for errors in allegations of the offense. The State refiled, but managed to screw it up again, so that I convinced the prosecutor that he could not prove the allegations in 3 out of the other 4 counts, and I had a very good defense to the remaining count.( He was not guilty of the allegations in the first 3 counts, as well.)
I have been representing hunters wrongly charged with game code violations now for more than 30 years. I always tell them to request a jury trial. I want to take the decision about whether they have committed an offense away from that local judge that the game officials in the area buddy up to, and from prosecutors who are willing to help out the game officer in exchange for helping him find good places to hunt!
Prosecutors are largely paid by the counties where they work, but by state laws, game code fines go to the State Game departments. Very few prosecutors are willing to draft jury instructions and spend several hours preparing for a jury trial just to make the State a few bucks. The County has to pay for those jurors, and in smaller counties, jury trials are often only available 1-3 times a year! So, instead of my client being a victim of the " Good ol' boy network " in these smaller courts, I prefer to let a jury I help pick decide whether he is guilty or not.
Now, I did mention that I decide if the client has been wrongly charged. I don't represent clients who are obviously cheating the system and got caught. I tell them to pay the standard fine and stop being stupid. In most cases, you can post a bond and forfeit it, to dispose of the case. Its a lot cheaper than hiring me to go to court with you and watch you convicted of an obvious offense, as in " Hunting without a license ", and similar crimes.
We have way too much government when it comes to " Hunting " laws and regulations, largely because government is being taken over by people who do not hunt, didn't grow up in a hunting culture, and have no idea how people can own and shoot and hunt with guns safely without someone with a badge riding herd on them. They come mostly from cities, with college degrees, and they don't have a clue about guns, hunting, or fishing, or anything to do with living in rural areas. They do come armed with all the latest liberal nonsense about how to use POWER, as in Politics.
Their bias is to divert state funds to City needs. They consider rural people "hicks" and rural culture, and all that it encompasses to be abominable. Even in states like Colorado, where hunting is a serious revenue generator, the government is being taken over by largely urban oriented people growing up in the Denver-Boulder areas, who could care less about Hunting. When you ask them when is the last time they drove out into rural areas of the state, other than for Winter Ski trips, they look at you like you are nuts! Why would anyone want to drive out there??? What for?? Hey, they only work for State government! :nono: :youcrazy: :hatsoff: