Letters to the Editor

Regarding Voting On Amendment #2....

Dear Editor,

As the author of Amendment # 2 (SR 67), I wanted to explain the need to enshrine the Right to Hunt and Fish in the State Constitution. I believe a "YES" vote is deserved.

As we become more urbanized, we will face a future where our legislature in controlled by city dwellers - many who will never have had the pleasure of watching the sun rise over a duck pond. Some folks already believe that deer are an endangered species (ignoring the fact that there are more in our state today than when Oglethorpe landed). With Georgia’s population predicted to double in the next 20 years, hunters (currently less than 500,000) and anglers (just over one million) will drastically decrease as a percentage of the total state population. The political strength to maintain the traditions in question will also diminish. The most effective way to preserve these traditions is through constitutional protection.

For years, animal rights extremists have been systematically campaigning against hunting and fishing throughout the country. It is only a matter of time before they set their sights on Georgia. For those who do not think the Right to Hunt and Fish is under serious threat, they need to know that extremist organizations like PETA are lurking in the background. PETA supporters testified against this amendment in Committee. And here is what Humane Society of the United States Senior Vice President Wayne Pacelle had to say about their strategy in an October 1990 interview in the magazine Full Cry - "We are going to use the ballot box and the democratic process to stop all hunting in the United States. We will take it species by species until all hunting is stopped."

The main purpose of the amendment is to assure that Georgians, urban and rural, will have the opportunity to share family traditions with their children and grandchildren. Another critical purpose is to ensure that Georgia’s vital natural habitat and wildlife continues to be professionally overseen by the state’s Department of Natural Resources.

The proposed amendment specifies that the "tradition of hunting and fishing, and the taking of fish and wildlife, will be preserved for the people and shall be managed by law and regulation for the common good." This is simple language like the words used by our forefathers. Thousands of parents and grandparents are sitting quietly, fishing with children, talking, reflecting on the wonder of nature, and how we treasure Georgia’s natural resources. Help keep these moments alive.

Be sure to vote "YES" on Proposed Constitutional Amendment #2 and encourage all of your friends and family to do the same! The future of hunting and fishing in Georgia depends on it!

Sen. Eric Johnson

Regarding the Effingham Fair Parade....

Dear Editor,

I recently participated in the Effingham Fair Parade and I couldn’t help but be concerned about how disappointed the looks were on some of the kids’ faces. I’m speaking of not being able to throw candy anymore in the parade. Of course some was thrown but very little due to the enforcement of no candy being thrown from vehicles. I assume the reason is for the protection of the kids from getting hurt.

I think it is so remote that a kid could get hurt during this time. I’m sure more kids get hurt in one day riding bicycles or 4 wheelers in the county than has ever gotten hurt in all the parades in Effingham resulting from candy being thrown. It has always been one of the things kids have enjoyed most in a parade.

I am a parent, grandparent, and great-grandparent, but I don’t think the remote chance of a kid getting hurt by this outweighs the enjoyment the kids get from it. I know at least one of the churches gave out hundreds of bags to the kids to put the candy in. But most of the bags I saw certainly didn’t have much candy in them.

I participate in a great number of parades every year in the Coastal Empire and Low Country and I have yet to see or hear of a kid being hurt because of candy being thrown. If it’s National, State, or Local Law, I think it should be changed or at least not enforced as strict as it was at the fair parade this year.

It is such a sad thing that everything has to be so politically correct anymore.

Respectfully,

Bill Lockhart

Rincon

Regarding Tacky Placement of Flyers....

Dear Editor,

I am writing to complain about a flyer that was placed on my car window recently. It was titled “Let’s Give ‘em Something to Talk About” and was signed “’Ditch the Canal’ Committee”. It was a full page that did nothing but speak most unfavorably about Bloomingdale City Officials.