Attribution: National Archives at College Park , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
By Bill Stokes
Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in noting yet another Sunday when the guns are out in Wisconsin in such numbers as would equip an army.
Many thousands of guns of all descriptions are in the hands of amateur users across the state as the deer season moves into its second day. Mostly the guns feel as natural as steak knives, simply tools used in assuming the honest role of predator at the top of the food chain.
The keeper remembers an opening weekend in 1963 when the heft of a deer rifle took on an awkwardness because a weapon of that class had just been used to assassinate a beloved president. There were somber thoughts in deer stands everywhere.
Guns are for killing, by hunters as predators, by soldiers assigned to war, by murderers in schools and churches, by assassins.
It is essential to keep those gun users properly distinguished from one another and to treat them, accordingly, perhaps starting with respect for the deer hunters.
Photo by Bill Stokes