NRA, USF Push for Expansion of Florida Bear Hunting

The National Rifle Association (NRA) and United Sportsman of Florida (USF) are pushing for an expansion of bear hunting in Florida.

The reason is simple–the bear population has outpaced what can be controlled by the current hunting allotments.

According to a letter received via email from Marion Hammer—NRA and USF—there is an “explosion in the bear population…[that poses] danger to human life as well as pets and property damage.” She uses the letter to explain the growth of the population to commissioners on the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and to urge said commissioners to  numbers which show that while hunters take an average of 304 bears each year just slightly less—240 bears—are killed in traffic accidents.

In other words, the bear population has gotten so high that cars are about to catch hunters for numbers killed.

Hammer writes, “It’s time acknowledge the risks to public safety from vehicle crashes involving bears and the economic cost of subsequent injury and damage to passengers and vehicles caused by these crashes. Bear-proof garbage can programs will do nothing to keep bears off the roads and highways.   Population reduction is the best and surest method of eliminating that problem.”

She ultimately urges the commissioners “to continue and to expand bear hunting season in Florida.”

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.