Vote for wolf hunt, concealed carry bills
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Editor,
This is a letter to Montana Senators, Gov. Schweitzer and U.S. Senators Baucus and Tester.
Please get the wolf population under control in Montana by voting for a bill that allows legal hunts in Montana. Federal and state legislation is needed. I do not believe that the entire populations of wolves should be killed because they are a part of nature, but the excess wolves that have reproduced at alarming rates thanks to the ill-advised reintroduction in 1995 must be legally hunted, and those hunts must be managed by the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. I do not believe the Endangered Species Act should be destroyed but must be modified, and the National Park Service needs to start managing wildlife such as bison and wolves using legal hunting within the boundaries of the park in cooperation with the fish and game agencies surround the park. Slaughter of any wildlife outside the confines of licensed hunting is a waste of money and wildlife lives, not to mention a PR disaster.
Wild bison are not stock like cattle or domestic sheep. They are wildlife. Increase the number of wolf and wild bison permits issued in Montana, and hunters will take care of the rest.
Vote yes on HB 271 and SB 371. These are bipartisan bills that not only help law-abiding citizens protect themselves without the hassle of carrying a paper permit (HB 271), but it helps business such as the one in the Bitterroot Valley near my home to expand their product offerings (SB 371).
HB 271 is the permitless concealed carry bill that allows gun owners with approved concealed carry permits to have their firearms inside cities. Permitless concealed carry has been legal, in 99.4 percent of Montana, for 20 years, with no incidence or problem. HB 271 will make it so any person may carry concealed inside cities without a permit if the person is legally eligible to possess a handgun.
SB 371 is the bill that would encourage powder, primer and brass manufacturers to expand their business. This important bill will provide significant incentives for the establishment of manufacture of smokeless powder, primers and brass in Montana.
Susan Campbell Reneau
Life Member, NRA
