February 14, 2002
Inside the Beltway
John McCaslin
 

     Good grief, we hope we didn't foul up plans for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairmen's Council "Pheasant Shoot" fund raiser in Boonsboro, Md.
     Dogs, guides and 12- and 20-gauge shells will be provided by the committee for the March 11 hunt. All participants need to do is supply their own shotguns and obtain a hunting license (oh, and pay a registration fee of $2,000).
     Rep. Nita M. Lowey, chairman of the committee who is holding the shoot, suggested Democrats pick up hunting licenses before the shoot at "Dick's Sporting Goods or Wal-Mart."
     What she failed to mention in the invitation, as we were reminded yesterday, is that Maryland requires that all hunters complete a state-certified hunter-safety education course. More than a dozen readers sent us copies of the state's hunting regulations, including Todd R. Lowery.
     "I hope that Representative Lowey and her colleagues have taken this course, as I would not want to see them hunting illegally," writes Mr. Lowery. "I mean as so-called 'champions' of gun control and thereby protecting the citizens from the hordes of crazy, beer-guzzling hicks with guns, Ms. Lowey and her colleagues, I'm sure, know the basic requirements for obtaining a hunting permit.
     "Moreover, I reckon that Ms. Lowey and the DCCC would have serious problems with supplying unlicensed and unsafe persons with firearms."
     No immediate comment was received yesterday from the committee.
     Unfortunately for the Democratic hunters, very few hunter-safety courses are given this time of year in Maryland.