Resident’s Call to Ban Hunting in Putnam Strongly Squashed
Hunting is alive and well in Putnam County and that won’t be changing anytime soon.
A proposal by a concerned resident requesting the county explore banning hunting was quashed by Putnam lawmakers during a Protective Services Committee when the question was brought forward. With nearly 50 gun-right advocates squeezing into the meeting room on the third floor of the county office building on Nov. 9, legislators made clear their support for 2nd Amendment and the sport that goes along with that.
The issue came up from one resident’s concerns about apparent hunting going on near his home in Brewster on Ridgetop Lane. Resident Paul Saloon said in a letter to the county Legislature that hunting with shotguns and firing weapons in the county should be banned, with an exception to licensed gun ranges.
“I do not need to tell you that this county has grown dramatically in the 20 years I have lived here,” Saloon said “Development has encroached on all open space and with that, the likelihood of an individual being injured or killed by an errant shot has also increased.”
Saloon did not appear at the legislative committee meeting to further discuss the matter, but plenty of gun advocates did.
Sheriff Don Smith sent comments that were read at the meeting by Undersheriff Peter Convery in which he said Putnam is a county that “strongly supports” the Constitution and by extension the 2nd Amendment while simultaneously having a small crime rate. The sheriff’s office provides gun license applicants with handgun safety course and has numerous sportsmen clubs that promote proper weapon use, the sheriff wrote.
Smith’s letter added he believes the county already has the necessary laws in place to handle gun use.
“I believe we must have hunting in our county in order to keep the growing deer population under control, which helps keep our motorists safe,” Smith wrote.
Legislator Roger Gross said hunting was an important part of the Putnam’s history, which is still in many ways a rural area. He reiterated what the sheriff said about hunters doing a good job of limiting the deer population, which leads to fewer collisions between animals and vehicles on the road.
“Residents of New York, we’re under attack by the state administration,” Gross said. “They have a very anti-gun attitude and it’s important to be strong on the 2nd Amendment issue because their goal is to ban guns. That’s what they want to do with a national registration.”
John Greene, the Hudson Valley Regional Director for the National Rifles Association and former Kent councilman, said the gun shots the Brewster resident is hearing are probably from waterfowl hunting, which may sound closer to a home than it really is because those shot guns are louder.
Greene said hunters could legally shoot within 500 feet of a household as long as the shooter is pointing away from the home. When deer are hunted with a slug gun, those shelling will travel “at best” 150 yards and when ducks are hunted, those shell casings go at most 70 yards.
He added people from other counties travel to Putnam to hunt, bringing in additional commerce.
Nick Pagliuca of Putnam County Fish and Game stressed hunting is a critical aspect of conservation because instead of more dangerous animals hunting deer, it instead falls on hunters. He considers the call to ban hunting a “city mentality.”
“They want to create New York City up here and it’s not,” Pagliuca said. “This is a rural county and it’s different up here.”
