| About 200 bowhunters from southern West Virginia and other areas rebuked a National Rifle Association attempt to open the state's four bow-only counties to deer hunting with guns.
The bowhunters crowded into the Natural Resources Commission's meeting in Flatwoods this week to protest the NRA's most recent attempt to change the state's hunting regulations.
"We need the NRA to advocate for our Second Amendment right to bear arms, but we don't need the NRA's attempts to manage our wildlife," said Ed McMinn, president of the West Virginia Bowhunters Association.
The four counties - Logan, McDowell, Mingo and Wyoming - have been closed to firearm hunting since 1979, after the DNR said the deer population was too low for gun hunting.
Those counties have gradually developed a reputation for producing trophy bucks.
DNR Director Frank Jezioro said during a 2008 legislative session, he heard NRA regional representatives would make another effort to open the counties to gun hunters.
Hundreds of cards to make the change came through the NRA to the DNR over changing the hunting regulations.
"I'm a life member of the NRA, and I'm highly [disgusted] with them," said Brad Toler, a bowhunter from Wyoming County.
"They've stepped over a boundary here. They said [on their postcards] that the DNR promised to reopen gun hunting within five years after they made those four counties bow-only. That's simply not true."
The postcards incensed so many bowhunters, they chartered a bus to transport them from a rallying point in Beckley to the Flatwoods meeting.
The NRA, after initiating the policy change, did not appear at the meeting.
Larry Lawson, a longtime lobbyist for the West Virginia Bowhunters Association said, "I guess NRA stands for 'not really around,' "
DNR officials told the bowhunters there was no immediate movement to open the counties to gun hunters, although the areas might become a permit only season for gun owners.
STATE SENATOR WANTS GUNS ALLOWED AT CAPITOL COMPLEX
A Preston County state senator has proposed legislation that would repeal the weapons ban at the West Virginia Capitol Complex.
Sen. Dave Sypolt, R-Preston, said he envisions that weapons would still be prohibited from the Capitol building itself but he wants them allowed on the grounds.
Sypolt says the ban is unreasonable for law-abiding gun owners.
"A person who has the legal right to possess a firearm should be able to, in the parking areas and outside the building on the grounds," Sypolt said.
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