Opinion-An outrageous anti-gun move

A recreational activity took the life of a man when he and a group of friends knowingly engaged in dangerous fun on government-regulated property. If authorities had prohibited the dangerous activity, the man would be alive.

Stop thinking shooting range.

The accident caused the June death of 61-year-old James Kennedy of Woodland Park. Kennedy and his friends, under the supervision of a professional guide, boarded a raft in order to challenge the white-water rapids of the Arkansas River in 2008. As the raft Kennedy rode in approached the F Street Bridge in Salida, it overturned. The water whisked Kennedy away, tossing him like a rag doll.

All on board the raft knew they were risking life and limb, and possibly putting others in danger. Only a week earlier, 67-year-old Oscar Stevenson III climbed aboard a raft on the Arkansas and died near Buena Vista. A few weeks before that, 26-year-old Subhashi Nelakurthi boarded a raft on the Arkansas and died in the Royal Gorge. Dangerous. Needless. Costly to the public.

Kris Wahlers, boating safety coordinator for Colorado, tells The Gazette 10 people have died in Colorado rafting accidents so far in 2009, and two have died in boating accidents on state reservoirs.

These senseless deaths by recreation would end, if only government would block access to the river with concrete barriers and barbed wire.

The 10 killed rafting in Colorado this year would have been in more danger had they chosen to snowboard or ski at any of Colorado’s ski resorts, most of which operate on national forest land. Snowboarding is the most dangerous outdoor hobby in the United States, as reported by the Centers for Disease Control. It is followed by sledding, hiking and mountain biking. All firearms accidents combined kill 1,150 people each year — in a country of more than 300 million privately owned guns.

Recreational shooting, therefore, may be the safest form of common outdoor recreation known to humankind.

The safety of recreational shooting is evident in the fact some 40,000 people each year shoot at the Pike National Forest’s Rampart Range Shooting Range, the only public range in El Paso County. It has been unsupervised since it opened in 1990. Hundreds of thousands of recreational shooters have used the range in 19 years of operation, yet the first death came Saturday. Otis Freison died when a member of his group tragically failed to clear a weapon of ammunition, leading to a negligent discharge.

That’s one fatal accident in 19 years. Imagine if other recreation facilities were that safe. One section of the Arkansas River took four lives in a week last year, yet rafting didn’t stop for a day.

This single shooting death in 19 years led Forest Supervisor Bob Leaverton to close the range indefinitely on Tuesday. That will cause some recreational shooters to practice their sport in more dangerous locations.

Closing Rampart, one of the safest recreational facilities in Colorado, is nothing other than an irrational bias against gun owners and their rights. Pike National Forest belongs to the public, and all must demand this anti-gun bureaucrat reopen the range immediately.