Mike talks tough on the war on bears

I recently expressed amazement and dismay of the legislation that our Rep. Mike Buckingham put forward to arm small children. I apologize, I was wrong on this one. The safety risks of young kids carrying a shotgun are justified given the the true raison d'etre behind the bill...

RR has learned today that Buckingham has, in his legendary humility, has not previously shared the true, noble purpose behind his bill: apparently he is another of the legions who have chosen to support Stephen Colbert in the war on those "maul-crazy forces of nature."

Yes, I'm talking about bears.

Rep. Buckingham waxed poetic this morning at the West River Legislative Crackerbarrel at SDSMT, about the story of an 8-year-old girl taking a bear in Maryland. He said that the 4 1/2 foot girl blasting two holes into a bear (for the first time in generations) was a "beautiful thing" and brought it up to demonstrate the wisdom in his proposal to allow kids of any age to carry large arms. It's a terrible comment on the liberal times we live in that the original bill (HB1305) has since been watered down to limit large arms to 10-year old children or older, and even then, to Rep. Buckingham's stated dismay, even with that restriction the firearm safety instructors won't go along with it (party-poopers).

May I use this space to publicly urge Stephen Colbert to come out and support Rep. Buckingham and his legislation in the interest in bringing our youngest kids to the fore in a national crusade to keep bears in check.

(Of course, there have been no confirmed sightings of bears in South Dakota for several generations. But the facts are not important, especially to this particular legislator--it's the idea of the thing, and the standing up for one's beliefs, no matter how misguided or confused they are, that matters. We salute Rep Buckingham for doing his part to stand up to these furry monsters and their threat to the American Way Of Life.)