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School board wants firearms ordinance expanded By SYDNEY B. LEAVENS Monitor staff Deerfield DEERFIELD - Until recently, school board member Don Gorman sometimes wore a pistol to board meetings at the Deerfield Community School, concealed underneath his clothing. Gorman carried the gun to the school, as well as on errands, not for protection, he said, but to exercise his Second Amendment rights. A Libertarian, Gorman believes banning guns at the school would violate those rights. "We're giving up too many liberties, and that's one I defend absolutely," he said. "I have a permit to carry a firearm, and on any given day I might be carrying a firearm. I'm not playing cowboys and Indians with the damn thing. It's purely a constitutional issue." The majority of the school board, however, feels the guns should go. Board members have asked selectmen to expand a 1998 ordinance banning firearms from town buildings to include the school. If selectmen approve the measure after presenting it at a public hearing Thursday, those found with a firearm in the school will face a $500 fine for the first offense, $1,000 for each additional one. The measure is not an attack on Gorman or other gun owners, said Kevin Barry, the school board's chairman. Indeed, Gorman said school board members did not know he brought his gun to meetings until he mentioned it in protest of their plans. Rather, the proposal is intended to protect the safety of students, Barry said. While the school district has an ordinance preventing students from carrying weapons to school, it has no similar measure to prevent those who are not students from doing so, board members discovered during a routine review of school policies this year. The 1998 ordinance that board members hope to amend does not include the school. At the time the policy was enacted, the school board was concerned it would prohibit antique firearms or replicas of guns from being used for school plays, Barry said. "Basically it's a safety factor for the students," he said. "Right now, the police have no way of reprimanding the person from having a weapon in the school." Barry sees no reason why anyone should need to enter the school armed. "If (a person) has a licensed firearm . . . there's just no need to carry it into the school," he said. Gorman - who often brought his pistol to the State House during his eight years as a legislator - disagrees. Out of respect for the board, he hasn't carried his gun to school since the proposal was raised, he said. Nor does he bring the weapon on his weekly visits, by yellow school bus, to the school. (On his own initiative, Gorman has been observing classrooms since he was elected to the board last March.) Gorman's main concern, he said, is that the policy would prohibit the educational use of guns at the school, for firearms safety courses or self-defense classes for women. No such classes are currently taught at the school, officials said. If they are in the future, police Chief Robert Wunderlich imagines instructors could apply to school administrators for special permission to use guns, he said. Most of those who have voiced concerns to Wunderlich about the proposal, he said, have been hunters, who worry they will be arrested as they drop off their kids at school on the way to hunt. According to Selectman Andy Robertson, the ordinance that will be discussed at Thursday's public hearing would prohibit guns only from the school building, not from school grounds. Even so, Wunderlich sees no reason why hunters cannot leave their guns at home. "The town is large, but it's not so large that they'd have to take a half day to go back home and pick up their firearm," Wunderlich said. "They can't hunt on school grounds, so why bring a weapon on school grounds?" (The board of selectmen will hold its public hearing on the amended ordinance on Thursday at 7:15 p.m. in the George B. White building. Sydney Leavens can be reached at 224-5301, ext. 309, or by e-mail at sleavens@cmonitor.com.) Tuesday, Feb 18, 2003 Fish and Game Commission to Propose Reduction in "Either-Sex" Deer Days CONCORD, N.H. - The severe winter this year is likely to take a toll on New Hampshire's white-tailed deer population; as a result, New Hampshire Fish and Game has reviewed potential impacts of this year's deer hunting seasons. Based on recommendations of Department biologists, the Fish and Game Commission has decided to propose changes to the 2003 deer hunting days in about half of the state. "This winter has been hard on our deer in central and southern New Hampshire," said Fish and Game deer biologist Kent Gustafson. "We're expecting mortality to be dramatically higher than average in these areas, so we're planning to reduce the number of 'either-sex' hunting days allowed this year, facilitating more rapid population recovery." The winter was average for the northern parts of the Granite State, but in southern and central areas, unusually cold temperatures and deep snow made it a very challenging year for deer. Overseeing the state's deer population, Fish and Game divides the state into 17 Wildlife Management Units or "WMUs" (click here for WMU map). In eight of these units -- those northernmost in the state, as well as in "Unit M" on the seacoast -- no changes were proposed. In nine other units, primarily in central and southern New Hampshire, the number of "either sex" deer hunting days will be reduced for firearms and/or muzzleloaders. During "either sex" seasons, hunters may take either bucks or does. The management units affected would be G, H1, H2, I1, I2, J1, J2, K and L.
Administrative rules to implement deer season changes will be proposed later this spring. A public hearing will be scheduled and announced in the coming weeks. The following tables detail the season changes to be proposed in various areas, as well as the winter severity index values upon which they are based.
*Proposed number of days same as 2002.
PORTSMOUTH - The City Council will consider a request from one of its members to investigate banning hunting within the city limits tonight at its 7 o’clock meeting. The city already prohibits hunting in municipal parks, but Councilor Joanne Grasso wants the ban to cover the entire city, including the Great Bog, a common hunting ground. "I don’t know if the bog is considered a park - probably not," said Portsmouth Police Chief Michael Magnant. "We don’t get very many calls and complaints on hunting in the city." The hunting issue was raised by a Banfield Road resident at a City Council meeting earlier this month. Harold Ecker, of 422 Banfield Road, showed the council some photographs of deer walking across his property, which abuts the Great Bog. The Seacoast Land Trust is trying to rehabilitate a highlands meadow to attract more native wildlife back to the Great Bog. Ecker suggested that banning hunting will help that effort. "If you’re going to do that, let’s do it all the way," said Ecker. Many hunters access the Great Bog by parking at the end of Buckminster Way, near the home of City Manager John Bohenko. "I wouldn’t like that if I was John," Ecker said. Grasso said she’d been concerned about hunting in the city for quite a while, and Ecker’s appearance motivated her to act. The councilor said most residents are surprised when she tells them hunting is allowed within the city limits. "We’re a very urban community," Grasso said. "Any piece of land that a hunter may choose to go on is very close to residential areas." State law prohibits shooting a firearm within 300 feet of any building, but most of the Great Bog falls outside that distance. The bog covers hundreds of acres bound by Interstate 95, Ocean Road, Banfield Road and Route 33. Grasso said City Attorney Bob Sullivan will need to research whether a municipal hunting ban will hold up in court. "There may be reasons why we can’t have that ordinance," she said. Grasso is worried about bullets flying near residential neighborhoods, but law enforcement authorities are also concerned about the mix of hunters and other recreational visitors to the Great Bog. About a year ago, a man wielding a 20-gauge shotgun nearly struck a mountain biker who frequently rides in the bog. "The guy saw him out there and was just discharging aimlessly," said Portsmouth Police Capt. John Yerardi. The gunman was charged with reckless conduct, and Yerardi said the hunting ban may be a good idea. "If it’s going to potentially save somebody’s life, I suppose it’s something we should look into," Yerardi said |
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