August 30, 2011
I didn’t know that the Grizzly was protected under the Endangered Species Act and regardless, I was under the impression that one could defend himself if he or she felt that they or someone else were in immediate threat of a mauling or worse, death by one of these bears. I know the law states that one cannot kill one of these bears just because, however, did this shooter have to wait for the bears to attack before he took action? In my opinion, coming in direct contact with one of these bears is like looking into the barrel of a 44 mag. If the bear is walking away from you and not a threat, let him go, however, if he is coming towards you or yours in a threatening manner and won’t stop, you’ve got to take action. Following is an article concerning a man that shot a grizzly outside his home, in his yard, when three of them came into an area where his children were playing. I’ve posted several articles about bears and my readers know how fast a bear attacks when he decides to. So what is this person supposed to do? This incident happened in Idaho sometime in May of this year and I don’t have any particulars of this case. For all I know, there might be more to this story. For now, the man has been arrested and charged with “unlawfully taking a federally protected species”. Question…. Does a person have the right, by law, to use deadly force against another human being if he feels threatened by aggravated injury or death? Wouldn’t this action be called self defense? But this guy couldn’t do this with an animal? I guess a human being is not an endangered species. By the way, I’m not impressed by the man’s choice of residence. He seems to be right in the middle of grizzly habitat. Please click on the following mynorthwest.com link to read the article:
http://mynorthwest.com/15/534973/Idaho-man-pleads-not-guilty-to-killing-grizzly