County opts against hunting law change

The Alleghany County Board of Commissioners opted against changing the county's hunting ordinance at their meeting on March 15.

The concensus to not act on the request by N.C. Wildlife officials and some local residents came after numerous local hunters and gun-rights activists appeared before the board to argue against the move. In order to change hunting laws, the board would need to ask the N.C. Legislature to pass a local bill reflecting the change.

The proposal would have changed the county's ordinance to make it illegal to hunt or shoot a weapon from a road right-of-way. Currently, the law states that it is illegal to discharge a firearm from a road or across a road without permission from adjoining land owners.

In an interview, Chairman Eldon Edwards said the board had never officially made a decision to change the hunting law, as was earlier reported.

"We told the county manager to look at the possibility of changing the existing ordinance and for him to get back with us," Edwards said.

That move was made at the commissioners' Feb. 16 meeting. "From that meeting to the next meeting, a number of people came to discuss it and they had the impression that we had already made a decision to change the existing law, which we had not.

"After that meeting they came back (on March 15) and we listened to Paul Reeves, who served as their spokesman, and Dr. Joe Vogel, who is favor of us doing something to stop road hunting. The support was not there to make a change to the law."

As for road hunting in general, Edwards said he still feels the road-hunting issue needs to be looked at in the future.

"I hunt and I fish, but if I want to go hunting, I go out where the game is. Of course, that's a personal opinion, but hunting from the road (in unknown areas) is not safe," said Edwards.

He noted that he is also concerned that farmers may currently be charged for protecting their livestock.

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