Just the facts on crane hunting
The public discussion of a proposed sandhill crane hunting season has, so far, been emotionally charged and largely uninformed. In making policy recommendations regarding a public resource, state and federal experts rely on scientific studies that are indisputable. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service actually counted 87,796 sandhill cranes in the eastern U.S. in 2012 and professional biologists estimate that the population is today more than 100,000.
Modern day, regulated crane hunting has existed in the U.S. since 1961 and it has never impacted crane numbers. If permitted, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency will issue a very limited number of permits with the season being a maximum of 60 days.
Every effort has been made to accommodate all the stakeholders, including the bird watchers, the farmers, the conservationists and the hunters. The sandhill crane migration is a resource extensive enough to support all the different uses. We have a big tent here, and I think we can all fit under it.
LIBBY DUFF
Put assault rifles only in war zones
Dr. David Lauter, a Doctors Without Borders surgeon, in the group’s 2013 newsletter explained the significant difference between the wounds of a handgun and of a military rifle. The speed of a bullet as it leaves the barrel of a typical 9mm handgun is 300 meters/second compared to 900 meters/second for a military assault rifle. The force behind the bullet is in direct proportion to the speed of the bullet, squared. If a bullet from a Kalasnikov rifle is traveling three times faster than a bullet from a Glock 9mm handgun, it carries nine times the impact.