Mr. Lindell’s comments (Letters, July 25) regarding his opposition to 2010’s gunfire ban on Deer Lagoon proves my point: He is obviously one of the tiny number of duck hunters who stubbornly refuse to acknowledge the proven fact that their gunfire endangers the hundreds of people who reside and recreate alongside Deer Lagoon.

Was he listening to testimony given by numerous residents at the public hearings when they described birdshot hitting their homes’ windows? Is he accusing the 90-year-old woman who testified that she had been struck by hunters’ pellets of being a liar? Did he hear that some hunters had threatened residents who politely asked them to not shoot on their property?

Gunfire had been legalized on the lagoon only after three good old boy commissioners removed a long standing ban in 2005 (any hunting before that was out-and-out poaching). Former county commissioner Mac McDowell stated then that hunting on Deer Lagoon entailed “an acceptable risk to residents!” Wow! I wonder if he would be so callous if someone he loved were seriously injured by unregulated gunfire! Apparently, neither the former commissioners nor hunters took into account the increasing population density in this neighborhood.

So, Mr. Lindell, you say, “One down, two to go.” Sounds like you are insinuating that some folks should once more become collateral damage for your target practice! Responsible hunters don’t want or need to shoot within range of where kids and grownups paddle, walk, bicycle and observe the wildlife.

Public safety, sir, is not a partisan issue. Our neighbors, Republicans and Democrats alike, petitioned county government to protect us. Many of them are hunters themselves. Justice was done. Blaming Angie Homola shows your willful ignorance of the total picture.

Paulette Becker
Langley