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Fires Sparked By Utah Target Shooters Prompt Evacuations
Hugh Pickens writes "The Salt Lake City Tribune reports that more than 9,000 people have been driven from their homes by a wind-whipped wildfire started by two shooters at landfill popular with target shooters who won't face any charges because they were not breaking any laws. The fire was the 20th this year in Utah sparked by target shooting where low precipitation, dry heat and high winds have hit the West hard, exacerbating the risk that bullets may glance off rocks and create sparks. Despite the increasing problem, local agencies are stuck in a legal quandary — the state's zealous protection of gun rights leaves fire prevention to the discretion of individuals — a freedom that allows for the careless to shoot into dry hills and rocks. When bullets strike rock, heated fragments can break off and if the fragments make contact with dry grass, which can burn at 450 to 500 degrees, the right conditions can lead to wildfires. Utah Gov. Gary Herbert has called on Utahns to use more "common sense" in target shooting urging target shooters to use established indoor and outdoor ranges instead of tinder-dry public lands. "We can do better than that as Utahns," says Herbert, calling on shooters to "self-regulate," since legislation bars sheriff's officials from regulating firearms. "A lot of the problem we have out here is a lack of common sense.""
What does what others think have to do with an individual's responsibility? I may feel threatened by the biker in the booth next to me at McDonald's. Can I have him prosecuted for intimidation?
"National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
Ah, yes, "self-regulation"
If it can work for oil&gas companies, chemical companies, forestry industry, etc, it can work for guys who get off by firing their guns at anything that moves.
America has a long history of putting public safety above private profits.
They tried your ideas in the USSR.
It was a totalitarian hellhole.
It collapsed.
They tried a "kinder, gentler" version of your ideas in Europe.
It's collapsing as we speak.
They're trying your ideas in Venezuela.
It's become a totalitarian hellhole.
Do you see a pattern emerging here?
If you're worried about irresponsible firearm use, then teach safe firearm practices in grade school.
Strat
Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.