Category: HUNTING & FISHING

Future of the Pinelands Program Uncertain

Today the Pinelands Preservation Alliance (PPA) released its 13

th

annual

State of the Pinelands Report

.  The report rates how specific actions of state and local government have helped or harmed the Pinelands during

2019.

The year 2019 marked the 40

th

anniversary of the landmark Pinelands Protection Act and the establishment of the Pinelands Commission.  The central achievements of the Pinelands Commission and the Act are strong.  Over its 40-year history, this agency has been able to withstand efforts to weaken or abolish the plan to protect the Pinelands.

Nevertheless, political and economic pressure are wearing away at the Pinelands Commission’s commitment to protect the Pine Barrens.  There is a danger that the rules we all fought so hard to implement will become brittle and break away as the plan is weakened by political manipulation of the rules to benefit specific developments.

While this year brought a major victory for the Pinelands in the defeat of the South Jersey Gas pipeline, the Pinelands Commission has not advanced any of the policy reforms the Commission itself identified several years ago to ensure the long-term protection of Pinelands resources.

Just as bad, the Commission’s handling of pipeline applications over the past six years revealed major holes in its procedures, which it has refused to fix.

Even pipeline projects that have been defeated live on at the Pinelands Commission!

The Commission failed to pass a resolution withdrawing their approval of the South Jersey Gas pipeline at their January 10, 2020 meeting, even after the Appeals Court officially remanded the matter back to the Commission with directions to reconsider the approval in light of the changed facts.

At the same time, the Commission is trying to eliminate fundamental public appeal rights built into every part of the Pinelands Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP) since it was first adopted in 1980.  And the Commission only encouraged the New Jersey Natural Gas pipeline (the so-called Southern Reliability Link) despite the plain language and intent of the CMP and the risks this totally unneeded project brings to the people living, learning and working along its path.

Just as troubling for the future of the Pinelands National Reserve is the fact that the New Jersey Senate held up the confirmation of the governor’s nomination of four vital Pinelands Commission members for a year.  The nomination process must now start over since they expired at the end of the last legislative session (January 14, 2020).

“The Senate’s failure to confirm Pinelands Commission nominees places vulnerable and critical resources of water, forest and wildlife at risk, as the Commission has essentially ceased to function without these new members. There is no valid reason for the Pinelands to be left without enough active Commissioners to achieve its mission,” says Jaclyn Rhoads, assistant executive director of the Pinelands Preservation Alliance. “In recent months the Pinelands Commission has not even been able to muster enough members at its meetings to vote on matters large and small.”

On the plus side, the Commission took a small but important step in addressing climate change by forming the Land Use, Climate Impacts and Sustainability committee.  The Commission also opened the new Candace McKee Ashmun Education Center at their offices in Pemberton with exhibits that highlight the natural and cultural treasures of the Pinelands.  The education center is named after one of the greatest environmental heroes of Pinelands protection, Candy Ashmun, who is the last original Pinelands Commissioner still serving.

In 2019, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) worked to address stormwater pollution with efforts to bolster the use of green infrastructure and provide guidance for local governments to establish stormwater utilities.  However, the DEP has not yet adopted clear and decisive measures to solve the critical issue of illegal Off-Road Vehicle use that continues damage land throughout the Pinelands.

This year’s report recognized the great work of municipalities like Hammonton and Evesham who installed green infrastructure projects to capture stormwater and allow it to infiltrate into the ground.  Long Beach, Ventnor, Beach Haven and Brick took action to protect their environment by participating in coastal resiliency projects to improve dune habitat.  The Pinelands Preservation Alliance and the Raritan Valley Community College coordinated these projects.

For the first time ever a media organization received a thumbs-up in the State of the Pinelands Report.  The investigative reporters at the Burlington County Times have covered the PFAS drinking water contamination issue meticulously. PFAS are a family of chemical compounds that have been found in drinking water in the Pinelands, especially on Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.  They can have adverse effects on humans and wildlife.

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The 2020 State of the Pinelands Report is available online at

www.PinelandsAlliance.org

. A full-color copy of the report can be obtained by visiting the Alliance at its headquarters located at 17 Pemberton Rd, Southampton NJ 08088.  For more information, please call 609-859-8860.

The Pinelands Preservation Alliance (PPA) was established as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization in 1989 by environmental leaders and Pinelands residents, with the goal of preserving and protecting the more than 1 million acres of the New Jersey Pinelands.   PPA remains the only private organization dedicated solely to environmental protection throughout the Pinelands.

Another One Bites the Dust

Source NRA-ILA

Actually, that headline is a little misleading, as we are referring to U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) abandoning his bid to take on Donald Trump in the 2020 Presidential Election. But when we

last reported

on the Democrat clown-car that is the field of candidates who wished to challenge Trump for POTUS, there were 19 active campaigns.

With the departure of Booker, Democrats now have “only” a dozen candidates from which to choose.

In fact, our last posting on the field proved to be quite prescient. We suggested that promoting the extreme anti-gun position of confiscating firearms from American citizens may be the new

“exit strategy”

for foundering campaigns poised to leave the race. At the time, we opined that U.S. Senator Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) seemed to be positioning herself to drop out of the race by reiterating her support for banning and confiscating semi-automatic firearms. She threw in the towel the following week.

Booker, like Harris, promoted the euphemistically named

“mandatory buyback”

policy, which is a more innocent sounding name for confiscation. Now that he has announced he is quitting, every Democrat candidate who had been vying to be President and has also openly advocated for confiscating firearms from American citizens has now deserted the race. Before Booker and Harris, we saw the campaigns of failed candidates

Eric Swalwell

and

Robert Francis O’Rourke

give up the ghost.

Of course, those candidates that remain are all still stridently anti-gun.

They all want to ban the future manufacture and sale of

semi-automatic firearms

like the AR-15.

They all want to set arbitrary limits on how many rounds of ammunition

a magazine can hold

.

They all want to prohibit the private transfer of firearms between law-abiding citizens by imposing so-called

“universal” background checks

.

Virtually every proposal that has been introduced by anti-gun extremists over the last few decades has been met with support by most, if not all, of the candidates that are still in the race.

Sadly, two candidates that appear likely to stick around for a while have taken arguably equally extreme positions on another gun issue, using firearms to save lives.

The first, former Vice President Joe Biden, has a modest lead in most polls, but a commanding lead in

gaffes

. In 2017, after

Stephen Willeford used an AR-15

to bring an end to the rampage of a crazed murderer at a Texas church, Biden ignored the idea that lives were likely saved by the heroic act. Instead, when asked about the use of an AR-15 by Willeford, he stated, “Well, first all, the kind of gun being carried, he shouldn’t be carrying.”

Last December, after another Texas church attack was also stopped by an armed citizen, it was pointed out by many that

Biden had criticized the very law

that allowed law-abiding gun owners to carry firearms for self-defense into houses of worship.

After Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed the NRA-supported law in September, Biden said, “It’s just absolutely irrational. It’s totally irrational.”

Granted, Biden cannot see into the future, so he had no idea that his words would come back to make him look so foolish, so quickly. Then again, some might argue that he has a long track record of past statements causing future problems.

The other Democrat candidate who has staked out a position against firearms being used by law-abiding citizens to save lives cannot use the excuse of not being able to foretell future events, as his comments were made after the fact.

Anti-gun billionaire

Mike Bloomberg spoke out against not just the Texas law

, but, presumably, against any use of a firearm by any citizen to defend themselves or others.

Although most acknowledge that Jack Wilson—the 71-year-old church congregant who brought an end to the violent attack at West Freeway Church of Christ—acted heroically, Bloomberg didn’t see things that way.

At a campaign stop in Alabama, Bloomberg commented on Wilson’s action, stating, “[I]t’s the job of law enforcement to, uh, have guns and to decide when to shoot. You just do not want the average citizen carrying a gun in a crowded place.”

So, now that all of the Democrat candidates who openly advocated for gun confiscation have been shown the door, it appears that Biden and Bloomberg hold the most extreme anti-gun position—opposing law-abiding citizens using firearms to stop violent assaults and save lives.

Biden will be in the race for the foreseeable future due to his lead in the polls. Bloomberg, on the other hand, is polling in the single digits. But with a personal fortune that could underwrite several Presidential campaigns, and a driving desire to impose his anti-gun ideology on America, expect Bloomberg to remain in the race for at least several months.

Unless, of course, the curse-of-the-most-extreme-anti-gun-positions strikes again.

We can certainly hope.

https://www.nraila.org/a

Hawaii: Gun Control Measures Introduced With More on the Way

SOURCE: NRA-ILA

The Hawaii Legislature opened on Wednesday and an onslaught of bills targeting your Second Amendment Rights have been introduced. Below, find a brief description of the more significant anti-gun bills that were introduced this week.

House Bill 1599

,

House Bill 1734

, and

Senate Bill 2152

would change the permitting system for the purchase of rifles and shotguns (long guns) to match the procedure currently in place for handgun purchases. This would require an individual to obtain a permit from the police each and every time they wished to purchase a long gun that would only be valid for 10 days. Whereas now, only one permit is required to purchase any number of long guns, and is valid for a year. It goes without saying that these bills create an onerous and unnecessary new burden on law abiding citizens who wish to purchase long guns for sport, hunting, or home defense.

House Bill 1733

and

Senate Bill 2151

would prohibit the purchase and manufacture of certain firearms parts by private individuals in an effort to ban home built firearms.  The legislation is vague and overly broad as to what exactly could constitute a part or parts that could subject a person to felony penalties. This legislation fails to recognize that prohibited persons already cannot lawfully possess any firearm, whether home built or produced by a licensed manufacturer.

House Bill 1736

and

Senate Bill 2154

would prohibit possession of magazines capable of holding more than ten rounds. These so called “high capacity” magazines are in fact standard equipment for commonly-owned firearms that many Americans legally and effectively use for an entire range of legitimate purposes, such as self-defense or competition. The bill recognizes the utility of these magazines by carving out an exemption for law enforcement, but would still violate the rights of ordinary citizens. It contains no “grandfathering” provision for affected magazines lawfully acquired prior to the ban, so citizens would be forced to dispose of their property, alter it, or surrender it to the government.

Continue to check your inbox and

www.nraila.org

for updates on issues impacting your Second Amendment Rights and hunting heritage.

NRA-ILA : Gun Ownership and Crime Trends

January 2020

For decades, gun control activists have predicted that crime will increase as more people own more guns or burdensome restrictions on gun rights are repealed. The opposite has been true. Americans own more firearms and Americans in more states can lawfully carry a concealed firearm than they could decades ago but crime rates have fallen significantly.

In 2018, the violent crime rate fell to the 2

nd

lowest total rate since 1971 and the murder rate was half of what it was at the 1980 peak. The two lowest violent crime rates of the last 48 years were 2014 and 2018.

[1]

The violent crime rate has decreased 51% from the 1991 all-time high. Americans have acquired more than 215 million new firearms in the same time period – more than doubling the number of privately-owned firearms in the United States.

[2]

As violent crime has decreased, the number of Right-to-Carry (RTC) states and the number of people who carry guns for protection away from home have risen to all-time highs.

Every state now has a system allowing residents to obtain a concealed carry permit. There are 42 RTC states, more than 18.6 million people with carry permits, and data shows that permit holders are statistically more law-abiding than the general public.

[3]

Women and minorities are the fastest growing concealed carry permit holder populations, and the number of female permit holders are increasing faster than male permit holders among every ethnic or racial group for which data is available.

[4]

People who use guns to defend against robbery and aggravated assault are less likely to be injured than people who use other means, or no means, of self-defense.

A 1986 survey of felons for the federal government found that 40% had not committed one or more crimes because they feared that their prospective victims were armed. Thirty-four percent of criminals had been scared off, shot at, wounded, or captured by an armed victim.

[5]

It’s an article of faith among gun control supporters that more guns will bring about more crime. For example, in the mid-1970s, the Brady Campaign, campaigning for a ban on handguns,

[6]

predicted: “There are now 40 million handguns owned by private individuals in the United States—about one gun for every American family. At the present rate of proliferation, the number could build to 100 million by the year 2000 (which isn’t as far off as you think). The consequences can be terrible to imagine—

unless something is done.

”

[7]

In 1979, when the group was known as Handgun Control, Inc., it updated its prediction, saying, “Right now over 50 million HANDGUNS flood the houses and streets of our nation. . . . HANDGUN production and sales are out of control.”

[8]

Gun control supporters have made similar doomsday predictions about Right-to-Carry laws, “assault weapons,” and “large capacity” ammunition magazines.

[9]

More Guns

—Since the early 1990s, the number of privately-owned firearms has more than doubled, from about 192 million to more than 405 million – including more than 167 million handguns.

[10]

Americans acquire roughly 10 million new firearms annually. More than 18.66 million Americans have carry permits.

[11]

The AR-15 is the most popular firearm in the country, and the number of these firearms Americans own has increased from several hundred thousand to at least 16 million.

[12]

The number of so-called “large capacity” magazines – the regular magazines used in rifles like the AR-15 and in semi-automatic handguns designed for self-defense – numbered in the tens of millions decades ago and, today, are so common that the number in circulation is seemingly incalculable.

Despite gun control supporters’ predictions, murder and total violent crime have decreased by more than half since 1991. In 2014, total violent crime fell to a 44-year low, murder to an all-time low.

[13]

The rate in 2018 was slightly higher than in 2014 but still the 2

nd

lowest violent crime rate since 1971.

Less gun control –

Over the last quarter-century, many federal, state, and local gun control laws have been eliminated or made less restrictive. The federal “assault weapon” ban, upon which gun control supporters claimed public safety depended, expired in 2004. The violent crime rate last year was 20% lower than it was in 2014 and the murder rate was 9% lower.

The federal handgun waiting period, for years a priority for gun control supporters, expired in 1998 in favor of the NRA-supported national Instant Check and the murder rate has since dropped 20%. Accordingly, some states have eliminated obsolete waiting periods and purchase permit requirements.

Every state allows residents to lawfully carry a concealed firearm. Fifteen states allow permitless carry, and Montana allows permitless carry outside of city limits. Eight states retain some discretion over who can obtain a permit, and the remaining states are shall-issue states: any law-abiding resident who meets the established requirements can obtain a permit to carry a concealed firearm.

All states have hunter protection laws, 48 have range protection laws, 45 explicitly prohibit local gun laws more restrictive than state law, 44 protect the right to arms in their constitutions, and 33 have “castle doctrine” laws protecting the right to use guns in self-defense.

Crime Trends

The interactive visualization below displays historical crime data going back to 1960 (or 1965 for the state of New York). The violent crime rate includes homicide, aggravated assault, robbery, and rape. The FBI definition of rape was changed in 2012 (taking effect January 1, 2013). The revised definition of rape is utilized in total violent crime calculation beginning in 2013. Prior to 2013, the legacy definition of rape was used. For more information on the definition change, see the FBI\’s Rape Addendum in the 2013 Crime in the United States report.

[14]

see more

N.J. pays NJ2AS another $87,500 totaling $230,000 in legal victories!

NJ2AS attorney Richard Gutman, NJ2AS President Alex “Alejandro” Roubian, NJ2AS legislative advisor Robert Barush, proudly stand in front the check for our legal fees.

In

June 2019 the New Jersey State Police once again lost against NJ2AS

in an 8-year-long legal battle to receive a copy of their investigative manual that is used while investigating firearm applicants.

Shortly after, New Jersey, once again, lost a motion to have the State pay for our legal fees. The New Jersey Second Amendment Society (NJ2AS) was awarded $87,500 for legal fees.

In 2016,

The Record stated

: “The most expensive case in the documents reviewed by The Record involved the Second Amendment Society seeking firearms regulations, costing the administration $101,626.”

NJ2AS President Alex “Alejandro” Roubian proudly stated “NJ2AS will stop at nothing, ever, until all unconstitutional infringements on our right to keep and bear arms in NJ are gone.  We will seek out and expose every violation, every person who is complicit in those violations and every government entity that participates and/or covers them up.  We will bring into the light the negative impact of NJ’s poorly worded and over-criminalized legislation. We will use any and all legal means available to do so.”

Frank Fiamingo, NJ2AS’ former President (2010-2015) that helped spearhead this lawsuit stated “I would like to formally express my gratitude to Attorney Richard Gutman and the members, leaders and advisers of the NJ2AS that made this significant win possible. The attorney General of NJ and the NJ State Police have been put on notice that the firearms owners of NJ will not sit back while their individual rights are constantly being trampled. It may take time to fight the unfair and unconstitutional behavior of the three branches of New Jersey’s government, but we are in this fight for the long run and this win is only the beginning. Under President Alexander Roubian, the members and legal advisers of the NJ2AS intend to file additional lawsuits which we fully believe will be successful. We continue to ask for your support as the NJ2AS moves forward in the quest to further the legitimate right of individuals to keep and bear arms wherever they have the right to be. This includes the right of the individual to carry firearms for defensive purposes.”

Governor Murphy’s administration did not respond for comment.

source

Towns in New Jersey Join Second Amendment Sanctuary Movement

CNBNews.net

NEW JERSEY—Some towns in New Jersey have joined the Second Amendment sanctuary movement, according to

ammoland.com

.

This

movement is a form of civil disobedience that has taken off in Virginia, and it is also making strides in Kentucky.

CNBNews graphic files

Alexander Roubian of the New Jersey Second Amendment Society stated that two towns in the Garden State have already declared themselves as Second Amendment sanctuary jurisdictions, while “we are aware of dozens of others that are supportive of passing similar measures. We have been working non-stop to help spread resolutions to towns and cities throughout New Jersey with a tremendous amount of positive feedback.”

One can look at the summaries of the

Virginia

and

New Jersey

laws available via NRA-ILA’s web site and ask if the movement does any good in the latter state. One thing New Jersey lacks that Virginia has is a specific provision in the state constitution protecting the right to keep and bear arms.

New Jersey’s constitution does declare that citizens have rights when it comes to “defending life,” “protecting property,” and “pursuing and obtaining safety” – but somehow, the officials in New Jersey have gotten away with infringing on the right to own the implements that are the best at achieving those objectives. Despite that current state of illogic, Roubian still sees signs of hope in New Jersey.

“While there is a much more restrictive baseline for Second Amendment rights in New Jersey, we commend the law enforcement officers that have always honored and respected the Second Amendment in our State and expedite gun permits while others claim it takes 6-12 months to process an application. There are many police departments that already do the right thing when it comes to an individual making a hyper-technical violation of New Jersey\’s draconian and discriminatory gun-licensing scheme and we commend those officers and departments,” he said.

Read more

RELATED:

CNBNews Hunting and Fishing

CNBNews Sports

List of Winners, 2020 Deer Classic All-time Top 10 List

EDISON, NJ–The annual

Garden State Deer Classic, held January 9 to January 12,

featured outstanding white-tailed deer harvested during the previous year\’s hunting seasons and recognized the

hunters who took them

. The deer were entered in the

Outstanding White-tailed Deer Program

.

The Deer Classic was held at the

Garden State Outdoor Sports Show

at the

New Jersey Convention & Expo Center

in Edison.

The 2020 show and Deer Classic was

an event ideal for sportsmen and sportswomen and for exhibitors, drawing 40,000 sporting enthusiasts.

The Deer Classic is jointly sponsored by the NJDEP Division of Fish and Wildlife, the

New Jersey State Federation of Sportsmen\’s Clubs

,

United Bowhunters of New Jersey

, and the

Garden State Outdoor Sports Show

.

A highlight of the Classic each year is a stunning display featuring some of New Jersey\’s largest bucks. The 2020 event culminated in an awards ceremony on Sunday, January 12.

2020 Deer Classic winners assemble with their deer.

Click to enlarge

As part of the Deer Classic, division biologists are present the entire time to answer questions and discuss management strategies, goals and issues. Hunting and fishing equipment manufacturers\’ pro-staffers, division biologists and others also conduct seminars on various topics.

For information visit the

Garden State Outdoor Sports Show website

.

List of Winners, 2020 Deer Classic

(pdf, 215kb)

2020 Winners Photo

Winners of the 2019 Deer Classic

(pdf, 140kb)

2019 Winners Photo

Winners of the 2018 Deer Classic

(pdf, 125kb)

2018 Winners Photo

Winners of the 2017 Deer Classic

(pdf, 90kb)

2017 Winners Photo

Winners of the 2016 Deer Classic

(pdf, 90kb)

2016 Winners Photo

Winners of the 2015 Deer Classic

(pdf, 55kb)

2015 Winners Photo

Winners of the 2014 Deer Classic

Winners of the 2013 Deer Classic

Winners of the 2012 Deer Classic

Winners of the 2011 Deer Classic

Winners of the 2010 Deer Classic

Winners of the 2009 Deer Classic

Winners of the 2008 Deer Classic

Winners of the 2007 Deer Classic

Winners of the 2006 Deer Classic

Winners of the 2005 Deer Classic

Winners of the 2004 Deer Classic

Winners of the 2003 Deer Classic

Outstanding Deer Program and All-time Winners Lists

CNB Hunting/Fishing News NJ: Species on the Edge 2.0 Social Media Contest

CWF invites high school students from across the state to submit a series of original social media posts showing why it is important to protect wildlife in New Jersey.

Register by February 28, 2020. Contest runs March 1-8, 2020.

The fun and educational

Species on the Edge 2.0 Social Media Contest

capitalizes on high school students\’ expertise with social media platforms and provides them with the opportunity to showcase their talent, creativity, and love of nature.

Students will create their own original content (for example: video, text, photograph, computer graphic) or use existing Conserve Wildlife Foundation content to create a series of posts focusing on a vulnerable New Jersey species that CWF helps protect.

The contest helps to develop students’ experience in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics) and apply critical thinking and project management skills.

Best of all, it’s

free

– and gives students the chance to win prizes! All entries will be eligible to win a day in the field with a wildlife biologist.

1

st

place wins $1,000

2

nd

place wins $500

3

rd

place wins $250

Read the contest kit

for details on entering, judging and rules.

Apply online

, or use the form in the kit, by February 28, 2020.

Species on the Edge 2.0 Contest Kit 2020

–

271.8KB

Species on the Edge 2.0 Contest Kit 2020

In order to participate, the completed

entry form

must be submitted by Friday, February 28, 2020.

Social media posts must run between March 1, 2020 and March 8, 2020 at midnight.

For more information

email

Ethan Gilardi.

NRA-ILA: Bloomberg Dismisses Texas Hero

Insists It Wasn’t His “Job” to Have a Gun or Decide to Shoot

SUPPORT NRA-ILA

Jack Wilson – a 71-year-old congregant of the West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, Tex. – is a hero to most Americans. When a deranged man savagely murdered two of Mr. Wilson’s fellow worshippers during a service at the church on Dec. 30,

Wilson took swift action

. He exposed himself to danger to deliver a single shot from his lawfully carried handgun

that instantly ended what undoubtedly would have been even more terrible carnage among the hundreds present.

Other congregants were also seen producing lawfully carried handguns in response to the threat. Several closed in on the fallen assailant to ensure he was neutralized. None of them panicked or acted rashly and no errant shots were fired.

The entire episode was over in six seconds and was captured on the church’s livestream.

The evidence is inescapable and available to anyone who cares to view it. Anybody who has ever tried to justify a public policy proposal on the grounds that it could save “just one life” is now on notice that lawful concealed carry saved many lives in just that one episode.

Yet one person who did not bother to watch the video or acquaint himself with the facts is Democrat presidential contender Michael Bloomberg.

Commenting on the incident

at a campaign stop in Montgomery Ala., Bloomberg did not mention Jack Wilson’s name. Bloomberg did not even acknowledge that the events depicted in video and widely reported in the media – including on

Bloomberg’s self-named news site

– were authentic.

But if they were, he huffed, it didn’t change his mind that only the police (which apparently include the current and former officers on his own armed protection detail) should be able to carry firearms in public.

“It may true, I wasn’t there, I don’t know the facts, that somebody in the congregation had their own gun and killed the person who murdered two other people,” he said. “But it’s the job of law enforcement to, uh, have guns and to decide when to shoot.” He continued, “You just do not want the average citizen carrying a gun in a crowded place.”

In the best-case scenario, responding police would still have been minutes away from the violence breaking out in the West Freeway Church of Christ. The shotgun-wielding assailant could have killed many more people in that time had he not faced armed resistance of his own.

But Bloomberg’s own words indicate he would consider that an acceptable price to pay to vindicate his arch-statist and anti-constitutional view that the government should have a complete monopoly on the lawful use of lethal force.

What, in Bloomberg’s mind, make police the only people who can be trusted with firearms?

Does he feel that only law enforcement can effectively and safely use firearms?

Jack Wilson answered that question on Dec. 29, 2019, by delivering a single, precise shot at 15 yards that felled its target and only its target, saving innocent lives.

But somehow that’s still not good enough for Michael Bloomberg because Wilson is not an active-duty police officer.

What lesson are we supposed to learn from Bloomberg’s response to the White Settlement events, other than who shoots whom isn’t as important to him as who gets to decide who lawfully wields lethal force?

Are you willing to helplessly take one for Team Bloomberg’s scheme of law and order if you end up in the wrong place at the wrong time?

Note that Michael Bloomberg isn’t taking that risk himself; his payroll includes plenty of armed men to keep him safe.

The Second Amendment is your guarantee that you need not take the risk either, which is why Michael Bloomberg’s worldview cannot be reconciled with that fundamental liberty.

This stands in stark contrast to President Trump, who understands exactly what the right to keep and bear arms is all about and unabashedly respects that right.

“It was over in 6 seconds thanks to the brave parishioners who acted to protect 242 fellow worshippers,”

President Trump tweeted on Dec. 30

. “Lives were saved by these heroes, and Texas laws allowing them to carry guns!”

DNREC Fish & Wildlife Police Blotter: Dec. 30 – Jan. 5

Reminder for the week: Hunting guides require guide license

DOVER (Jan. 10, 2020) – To achieve public compliance with laws and regulations through education and enforcement actions that help conserve Delaware’s fish and wildlife resources and ensure safe boating and public safety, DNREC’s Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police officers between Dec. 30 – Jan. 5 made 1,169 contacts with hunters, anglers, boaters, and the general public, issuing 23 citations. Officers responded to 48 complaints regarding possible violations of laws and regulations or requests to assist the public. A Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police presence continued at the C&D Canal Conservation Area and Michael N. Castle Trail.

Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police Actions

On Jan. 4, Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police officers arrested Zachary Dittmar, 35, of Felton, for one count each of hunting antlered deer during closed shotgun season, failure to purchase a hunter choice tag prior to killing an antlered deer, failure to tag antlered deer, and failure to consume or utilize game animal near Harrington. Dittmar was arraigned through Kent County Justice of the Peace Court 7 and released on his own recognizance, pending a future court appearance.

Citations issued by category, with the number of charges in parentheses, included:

Wildlife Conservation:

Hunting antlered deer during closed shotgun season (1), failure to purchase a hunter choice tag prior to killing an antlered deer (1), failure to tag antlered deer (1), failure to consume or utilize game animal (1), failure to check antlerless deer within 24 hours (1), removing antlerless deer parts prior to checking (1), failure to tag antlerless deer (1), failure to display required hunter orange during a firearms deer season (1), providing hunting guide services without a guide license (1), trespass to hunt (1), and hunting migratory waterfowl without required HIP number (1).

Boating & Boating Safety:

No fire extinguisher on board (1).

Public Safety:

Operating a motor vehicle without proof of insurance (1), and possession of marijuana – civil (1).

Other:

Trespassing after hours on a state wildlife area (4), trespassing after hours on a state forest (1), license forgery (1), operating an unregistered motor vehicle (1), andoperating a motor vehicle off an established roadway on a state wildlife area (2).

DNREC’s Division of Fish & Wildlife recognizes and thanks the majority of anglers, hunters, and boaters who comply with and support Delaware’s fishing, hunting, and boating laws and regulations. The Public are encouraged to report fish, wildlife, and boating violations to the Delaware Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police by calling 302-739-4580 or through the DENRP Tip app on a smartphone, which can be downloaded free of charge by searching “DENRP Tip” via the Google Play Store or the iTunes App Store. Wildlife violations may also be reported anonymously to Operation Game Theft by calling 800-292-3030, going online to

http://de.gov/ogt

, or using the DENRP Tip app. Verizon customers can connect to Operation Game Theft directly by dialing #OGT.

Are you AWARE?

All individuals receiving a monetary fee or other compensation for providing personal hunting guide services to hunters are required to have a Delaware hunting guide license. Hunting guide license holders must be 18 years of age or older. Persons acquiring a hunting guide license must not have been convicted of any wildlife or fisheries violations within the last three years prior to applying for the license.

All persons possessing a Delaware hunting guide license are required to complete and submit an annual report to the Division within seven days after the close of the hunting season to include the following information, which must be readily available for inspection by Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police officers: full name of each hunter; address of each hunter in the party; hunting license number for each hunter; date, number, and species of each animal harvested; location of hunts; and the name and license number of the guide. The guide must retain hunting field records for three years.