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Wednesday, August 06, 2008

"Don't fill up on sody pop and candy, junior. Or kill anyone."

Pamela Almli, an experienced hiker from Oso, Snohomish County, who was aware of hunting seasons, was killed Saturday on a marked hiking trail on Sauk Mountain, Skagit County. She was shot from about 120 yards by a 14-year-old who told police he thought she was a bear.

The boy and his 16-year-old brother had been dropped off at the mountain by their grandfather. - Seattle Times, August 6, 2008
I find this whole story just appalling. (An earlier story found it necessary to mention that the victim's family wasn't "anti-gun", a line of inquiry and reportage that's insulting to the poor woman's memory.)

It's incredible to me that in our state you don't even have to be old enough to drive yourself to the woods. Just get grand-dad to drop you off like it's the matinee. "Don't fill up on sody pop and candy, junior. Or kill anyone." It would have been illegal for the 16-year-old to drive somewhere with the 14-year-old in the car, for God's sake! As far as I'm concerned, giving those kids high-powered rifles and dropping them off at the forest's edge was negligence per se at best. Really, why shouldn't the grandfather face criminal charges? Criminally negligent homicide, perhaps.

And why should I or any hiker have the slightest responsibility to do anything special to avoid being shot by a hunter? Of course, it could be wise to take some precautions, like wearing some colors not normally sported by deer and bears. But the onus should be entirely on the hunters to not shoot any human beings in the wilderness.

Any subtext in this article suggesting unarmed hikers bear responsibility to stay out of hunters' way is gross, and there's definitely some of that tone here, including the sidebar headed "Staying Safe." It's the hunters who need a sidebar. "Don't shoot any humans. Use your fucking binoculars. Supervise your grandchildren." Meanwhile, the article doesn't even tell us whether these children were even carrying binoculars.

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posted at 11:20 PM

1 Comments:

Blogger Bubbles said...

I agree 100%!

August 08, 2008 10:00 AM  

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