SteveS - no problem here with a "campaign" for all gun uses. My only point was that legally I can't see how the 2A deals with hunting.
It doesn't, however, I tend to find that every anti-gun person I've met is accepting of my owning guns because I hunt. Even the most liberal of folks I know had a father or grandfather who hunted, and in their warped perspective, they will "allow" that right to exist as long as the need exists. How do you think laws get passed or amendments written? Public opinion, sentiment, and majority numbers dictate the law eventually. The law is a blank piece of paper waiting to be filled in by the representatives elected or appointed by the majority. Personally, I think that second amendment protections will be at great risk once the vast majority of wussified urbanites in this country decide that there really isn't a "need" to own guns...and they are getting closer every day. How many times have we heard the phrase, " my semi-auto rifle functions just like a hunting rifle?" What happens to the military style rifle when the majority sees no need for anyone to own a bolt or lever gun? Just think a moment about existing gun laws in areas of the country that don't have much hunting versus those that do.
As to the moral and ethical objections expressed here...I have to point out a few real lapses in logic. 1) Many animal species were nearly wiped out in the early part of the 20th century due to "meat hunters", fashion industries, and the depletion of natural habitat due to the building boom and the expansion of farms intended to provide food to those who chose to buy their groceries at a store. Today, it is the expansion of suburbia, roads / cars and huge corporate farms. H&H Hunter's description of the perils that herds face in Africa and India are the same thing -a century later.
2) Too cute? What's more cute than a lamb, calf, duck, etc. I guess it's a lot less cute when it's killed, processed, cooked and served with sauce by someone else. Killing is killing, whether you do it yourself, or pay to have it done.
3) Some of the attitudes here remind me of the recent bear cub debate in Germany. Apparently, it is not just the ultra liberals who believe that death by any means, is morally superior to any human interaction..even if it involves the death of an entire species vs. limited human management.
I certainly understand the desire not to hunt...I do less and less of it every year myself. There are many legitimate reasons not to...including personal moral beliefs, but some of the logical disconnects I've read here are very similar to the anti-gun arguments I often hear...and most of them are based on uniformed assumptions and rhetoric.
