Remember rules about hunting
Home is where we ought to feel safe and sound.
In regard to my previous letter pertaining to hunting on Thanksgiving day in a residential subdivision, I feel the public deserves to know where we stand on such issues. Although the saga went on in a rather peculiar fashion, some issues were definitely clarified:
It is illegal to shoot within 500 feet of any dwelling. It is also illegal to shoot near or across public roads. Also it is definitely a registered non-profit Homeowners Association’s fiduciary duty to adhere to and protect/enforce their by-laws for the people who elected them to tend to these duties.
The advice I got from the secretary on the HOA’s board was verbatim, that if I have a problem with shooting/hunting in this neighborhood, I should have never moved here.
I moved here 16 years ago with bylaws prohibiting shooting within all along – could not trust my ears, when I was given this opinion.
Furthermore, the information I got from the Martinsburg Sheriff’s Department within less than an hour of this occurrence on Thanksgiving day, quote “we cannot be of assistance, unless you got injured” was wrong and not representing legal judgement. I learned by now, that I should have called the State Police Department, and things might have been handled differently. May that be as it mayit caused a lot of grief and fear on my part, (haven’t been the same since) and it also cost me dearly, because I invested in motion-triggered surveillance cameras to take pictures from now on to make certain that any activities on my home grounds are recorded.
In summery: As a taxpayer in Berkeley County I feel I was misinformed and misrepresented, denied help and assistance in a crisis on my own turf by our Sheriff’s Department, intimidated and reprimanded by my own Homeowners Association’s representatives and more or less ignored by one of our elected State Senators (who I had asked for help and clarification as a last resort as well). There is only one question left: do we need to contact the Federal Department of Internal Affairs to find genuine information and solutions to Law Enforcement issues as they occur?
By the way, today on Christmas day, there were the sounds of single gun shots throughout the afternoon here in this subdivisionmaybe this is the way some people celebrate their big holiday?” Obviously, I refrained from inquiring about it, for lack of responsible contacts. I also did not dare to even leave my house.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of us!