Eastbayri.com

PORTSMOUTH — In response to concerns from some west side residents, Rep. Raymond Gallison is submitting a bill that would outlaw duck hunting along the shore from Cory’s Lane south to Maritime Lane in the Melville district.

He said he has heard from residents in the King’s Grant area “who tell me that they like to walk along the shore but are afraid to do so because hunters are so close to them.”

Those duck hunters, he said, “are infringing on people’s right to safely walk the shoreline ... People say they feel that they are in the line of fire.”

“Folks like to walk the shore, the railroad tracks, and the dinner train goes past there,” said Mike Doyle who lives at Kings Grant.

“I’ve walked along there when suddenly right in front of me five gunmen pulled their triggers,” he said.

The number of hunters seemed to rise dramatically this year, Mr. Doyle said. “Suddenly we are a haven for duck and foul hunters.” The ones he has seen have all been on shore, especially along the cove just north of East Passage Yachting Center.

State law prohibits hunters from discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling, but Rep. Gallison said that, “in some cases — and I believe this is one — that is not sufficient.”

Although the hunters may be staying 500 feet from the nearest houses, he said they are sometimes much closer than that to people walking along the waterfront.

“It’s an issue in other places too, he said, including Mount Hope Bay, along the Kickemuit River and elsewhere.

Rep. Gallison filed a similar bill several years ago but that one was undone in part, he believes, because it was too general and encountered considerable opposition from hunters.

This time, he said he is doing it differently by addressing just one specific area — that nearly two-mile stretch of Portsmouth shoreline. He said similar measures succeeded at Bullocks Point and in a section of Warwick.

Rep. Gallison said this area includes the shore in front of St. Philomena School (at the foot of Cory’s Lane) whose principal has told him she would sign a petition in support of the measure.

“There have already been two bad hunting accidents (in this region) recently and people are concerned,” he added.

Although he said he has not seen the pending bill so can’t comment on it, the operator of Ocean State Outfitters, a Rhode Island-based sea duck hunting guide service, said Rep. Gallison can expect opposition.

Jeremiah Brooks, who said he has hunted from his boat along that Portsmouth shore, said the existing 500-foot rule is sufficient and does not need to be tampered with. “Have you heard of anyone getting shot there?” he asked.

Mr. Brooks said there are many management areas in the state where people often hike and walk dogs closer than 500 feet to hunters.

“The season is short and weather conditions are usually brutal at that time of year. Are there really a lot of people going to the beach?”

Mr. Doyle said he is surprised by the reaction he has received from some about the neighborhood concern.

“Here is how absurd it gets,” he said. A town council member told him “he was out fishing on a pond when there were shots and it rained buckshot around him. He thought that was okay.”

Rep. Gallison said he will forward a copy of the bill to Senator Christopher Ottiano for submission on the Senate side.