The Baltimore Sun's reporting on the day care center struck by hunter gunfire is very troubling - but the problem is certainly not unexpected ("Hunting-zone review likely," Dec. 12).
Maryland law permits hunters to shoot at deer toward occupied buildings if they and the deer are on their own property or have written permission from the property owner to do so or are at least 150 yards from the building.
The problem is that shotguns loaded with the so-called pumpkin ball ammunition used for deer hunting have an effective range well in excess of the 150-yard safety zone.
An additional concern is that the accidental discharge of weapons does occur, and the maximum range of a weapon accidentally discharged is more than 1,200 yards.
Attempts to change the law to increase the so-called "safety zone" (which is really a danger zone), from the present 150 yards to 300 yards - and to set the distance from the hunter to the property line, not the building - have failed as a result of strong opposition from the Department of Natural Resources and from hunters.
The near-tragedy at the day care center that could easily have critically wounded or killed a child should be a wake-up call to change the law and be sure that we provide a meaningful safety zone before it is too late.
Marvin Tenberg, Cockeysville
The writer is the president of Animal Action Inc.
Reading "Hunting-zone review likely," I was appalled by the statement by Paul Peditto, the acting assistant director of the Department of Natural Resources, that the shooting incident at the day care facility was "a hyper-rare situation in Maryland history" and he was only "aware of just three incidents in the last two decades."
Where in the world has he been living?
On the first day of deer hunting season in November, my daughter and I awoke to the sounds of gunshots in our Carroll County home.
She no sooner lay back down in her bed than a very large shot went though her bedroom window, crossed over her head, went through a poster on the wall and lodged in the wall. She was covered in glass but, fortunately, was physically unhurt.
When the State Police arrived at about 7:15 a.m., the troopers said that ours was the second house so far that morning that had been hit. But the troopers were unable to identify who had fired the shot.
It is time for all hunters to accept responsibility for their legal right to bear arms and accept that this does not give them the right to invade or damage our property - by foot or by bullet.
