FEATURE

Can't We Just Get Along?

Today, I'd planned one of those restful columns that talked about taking advantage of national Get Outside day tomorrow and reconnecting with nature, family and inner self. Instead, it's just another news day, and very little of it is good.

First, the Customs and Border Patrol is proposing revocation of an earlier interpretation of what constitutes a switchblade knife. If their revocation goes through, many of us who carry one-hand opening pocket knives might find ourselves breaking the law should cross a state line. Interstate trafficking in switchblades is illegal.

See where this is headed?

If it weren't for the method CBP used to try and sneak this proposal through their public comment periods, it would look like another proposal from a bureaucrat. Instead, it looks like the first step toward what could be an attack on knives. Sounds silly until you realize that the United Kingdom and other similarly "enlightened" European nations have basically outlawed carried knives for any purpose. We all know our federal government today seems determined to follow the European example on virtually anything that's an impingement on individual rights.

Doug Ritter of KnifeRights.org has been pushing for an extension of the normal 30-day comment period on the proposal. Yesterday, he notified us the CBP had refused the extension.

CBP's proposal would have effects far beyond that suggested in the title of the proposal, "Proposed Revocation Of Ruling Letters And Revocation Of Treatment Relating To The Admissibilty Of Certain Knives With Spring-Assisted Opening Mechanisms.

That would be bad, since it would make about eighty percent of the pocket knives currently sold in the US illegal. Translate that into ruined businesses, lost jobs and more unemployment.

And it could potentially open the door for state and local governments to take the same measures. Many states do not set their own definitions, instead using the federal government's definitions as to what is lawful or unlawful. The knife industry has protested, along with KnifeRights.org and the Second Amendment Foundation, but it seems it's going to take either an outpouring of public protest or action by a Congressman or Congressmen with the ability to hit a federal agency in the only place they seem to mind - the budget.

The public comment period ends June 21, and all comments must be submitted in writing, either by FedEx/UPS or the USPS. If you're interested in protesting this latest attempted affront to our rights, you can see a model letter created by KnifeRights.org at: http://www.kniferights.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=81&Itemid=1

And a case headed for the United States Supreme Court has the potential to make it illegal to show "depictions of animal cruelty" - this one is supported by the government and the HSUS and pitched as an anti-dogfighting measure.

It isn't. It's about a 69-year old man with no criminal record facing three years in jail for making a film about pit bulls. The conviction was overturned by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, which said the federal law against "depictions of animal cruelty" was unconstitutional. The government appealed the case, and it's now headed to the Supreme Court.

Taken to its logical conclusion, this case has the potential to make it a felony to take, sell or publish images of hunting, fishing, trapping, and virtually anything else that's ruled as a "depiction of animal cruelty".

I've long been an opponent of kill shots on television, but the idea of criminalizing an entire industry bothers me far worse than graphic hunting videos. If you don't want to watch, change channels has always been a policy that's worked at our house.

Yesterday, a big push was made across the outdoor media to seek signatures for an amicus brief to be filed with the Supreme Court concerning this case. So there's a good chance you're more than likely to hear more about this case in your local media until it gets its day in the Supreme Court.

We'll keep you posted on this one, too.

And finally, we may have seen a new record for the shortest amount of time between the distribution of a press release and our having received email protesting the news.

The National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) sent a release yesterday announcing the debut of their newest magazine, Turkey Country. That release is included in today's edition. Down in the body copy, word that four other magazines were being consolidated into this single title. Turkey Call, Women In The Outdoors, Get in the Game and Wheelin' Sportsmen, other titles in the NWTF list, were being consolidated into a single magazine.

The NWTF says it was to unify communications between the different groups that makeup their membership base.

It definitely unified -and galvanized - women in the outdoors; industry that is. Less than ten minutes after the NWTF release arrived, I received the first of several very heated protests. "For those of us who love the outdoors, hunt, fish and love shooting sports, Women in the Outdoors was the ONLY printed magazine for us," said the first note, "So now my membership in WITO gets me what...a decal and a printed member card and some generic turkey magazine."

Get the picture? The others, were more direct, but the spirit was the same, women felt they were, once again, getting short shrift by industry leaders.

This weekend, the Outdoor Writers Association of America (OWAA) is holding their annual get together, and I'm betting all three of these items will be topics of discussion. I'm betting the discussion will be spirited. Would love to be there to hear it, but that's not in the cards this year.

Anyway, observe Get Outside Day tomorrow - and don't make this weekend the only one where you take advantage of the outdoors.

We'll be on the job, and we'll keep you posted.

--Jim Shepherd

Jul 4	California Free Fishing Day Statewide
Jul 4	Independence Day