# State mandates hunter education



## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

All first-time hunters in Massachusetts will be required to complete a hunter education course before taking to the field, under a new bill singed into law by Gov. Mitt Romney yesterday. 
The act restores a law was dropped when The Gun Control Act of 1998 (Chapter 180) was adopted that year. Since then, the only requirement for a first-time hunting or sporting (combination hunting and fishing) license was at least an FID card which requires only a basic firearms safety course. The law still provided that minors from ages 15-17 had to complete a hunter education course before being allowed to hunt alone. 
Now, instead of taking a simple home firearms responsibility course (which has very little to do with hunting), all new hunters, regardless of age, will be required to complete the hunter ed. course that teaches them basic skills, ethics, responsibilities, regulations and safe handling of firearms in the field. 
Massachusetts now becomes the 50th state to require mandatory hunter education. Jim Wallace, executive director of GOAL (Gun Owners Action League) said, "GOAL usually doesn't support mandatory training, but we supported this law and helped guide it through the legislature in order to get back on board with the rest of the country." Other organized sportsmen's groups also supported the law. 
Wayne MacCallum, director of the Mass. Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, says he is happy with the law being reinstated. 
"Virtually anybody who hunts today should be ­-- and is - required to take an education course." 
While the law allows veteran hunters who have never taken a course to continue to hunt because they are grandfathered, the long-term goal is that in the next generation or two, everyone who is hunting in America will have taken a safety course. 
"Since the states began adopting mandatory hunter education policies, the hunting accident rate has dropped drastically," MacCallum said. "Hunting accidents now are very, very rare." 
States have reciprocal agreements where they honor hunter ed. courses from other states meaning that out-of-state hunters need only produce a certificate of completion from their own state and don't have to complete a separate course in the state they are traveling to. Some states however, require separate courses for specialty hunting, like bowhunter ed. courses before going hunting with bow and arrow. 
When asked why it took so long for the legislature to correct the mistake that Chapter 180 made, by eliminating hunter ed. and making Massachusetts the very last state to require it, Wallace replied, "The bill was in the legislature for six years. It was a simple fix and would make the sport that much safer. It appeared to be a 'no-brainer' but it's the most difficult bill I've ever worked on. It involved guns and hunting, and in this state you just never know. Some legislators didn't even understand it when I told them that they should remove the word "fishing" from the language of the law, because you don't need a hunter ed. course to go fishing. It's been eight years since Chapter 180 was adopted and we're still trying to right the wrongs. It's Massachusetts." 
Basic Hunter Ed. courses in Massachusetts are taught by trained volunteer instructors and typically include 15 class hours over a span of five or six nights. For a course schedule, call the Hunter Ed. Bureau at 508-792-7434 or visit the education section at mass.gov/masswildlife. 
To allow hunters a chance to attend courses that may already be filled, the new law goes into effect for anyone who gets a hunting license after January 1, 2007. 
Marc Folco is the Standard Times' outdoor writer. E-mail him at [email protected].

Date of Publication: July 07, 2006 on Page C05


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## SOT (Jul 30, 2004)

Man that's going to make for a lot more courses to teach.
Really I think the courses are very good and it's important in this world where kids are not exposed to guns. 
I will say that the 500 inches of blaze orange and a blaze orange cap have had a lot to do with reducing hunting accidents as well.


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## Piper (Nov 19, 2004)

When I was an EPO we used to have to particiapte in the courses by instructing the hunting law portion (I hated doing it). With the MEP's dwindling #s, this new law might help their arguement in hiring more officers...


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