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Buckshot Is Back
By Greg L | 6 January 2007 | Prince William County | 2 Comments
At the January 9th meeting of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors Chief Deane will give a presentation which is summarized in the agenda as follows:
Presentation - Proposed Update to Chapter 31 of the Prince William County Code to Allow the Use of Crossbows and Allow Hunting with Rifled Slugs Instead of Buckshot - Charlie Deane - Police Department
Back in April we had a discussion on this issue which was highlighted by an inane NRA alert which resulted in a lot of Republicans running for cover from what the NRA had promoted as a “buckshot ban”. The current proposal appears to mirror last April’s, but doesn’t seem to benefit at all from the debate that surged over this issue. Once the air was cleared whether this was an effective ban on deer hunting in the county, it seemed a consensus developed that it is best left to a hunter’s discretion which shotgun load to employ given the terrain and hunting conditions.
It would make a lot of sense to allow hunters to use either buckshot or slug. Not only should safety concerns be given consideration by a hunter, but what load will provide the best means of a clean and humane kill. Since the hunter is personally responsible for everything that happens, leaving him the opportunity to use his best judgment to discharge that responsibility not only seems fair, but preferable. He’s on the hook for the results, he should have the authority to determine the best, safest and most responsible means of achieving that result.
It’s interesting that the police department is giving this presentation rather than the state Department of Game and Inland Fisheries which actually manages hunting. Having the police department give this presentation is troubling, unless Chief Deane happens to be a hunter and would be giving this presentation as a citizen, which he is not. At least having someone do a presentation who is an acknowledged expert in responsible hunting practices would make me believe the board wants to be informed. This looks like the board is seeking justification, not information.
For the record I am a hunter, but I do not hunt deer in Prince William County. I am very uncomfortable hunting with buckshot for humane and safety reasons, and choose not to hunt in this jurisdiction because I am limited to using buckshot which I believe is only appropriate in very limited circumstances which I would never expect to encounter in the county.
UPDATE: The Manassas Journal Messenger is depicting this presentation and the proposal very differently:
The board will hear a police presentation recommending that hunters be allowed to use buckshot as well as slugs in their shotguns when they hunt in Prince William County.
Police Chief Charlie T. Deane will give the presentation to the board Tuesday during the 2 p.m. session at the McCoart Administration Center.
The presentation will also recommend that hunters be allowed to use crossbows which are not currently allowed in county. Authorizing them would provide hunters with a broader range of tools and increase hunting efficiency, the report will show.
The Weapons Control Committee, and eight-member panel appointed by the board of county supervisors, has determined that slugs, buckshot and crossbows are safe to use in a growing county, according to the report.
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Greg, I do not know Deane so I do not know if he is a hunter. I am pretty sure though that he alone did not prepare the presentation that he is giving and that he had plenty of feedback from the appropriate resources in preparation.
As a member of the PWC Weapons Control Board that advises the BOCS on these issues I was at the last meeting at which this presentation was discussed and have seen copies of what is up for discussion. The decision to allow both is one that was made with a lot of feedback from the community, the police, and VA’s Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (there were two officers at our last meeting for example).
As for the crossbow issue… well that one is really a none issue. State law has been amended to allow hunting with crossbows. PWC simply needs to remove its prohibition on crossbows to bring county law into line with VA Code. County law cannot be stricter than state law.