The recent internal and public debate over the proposed Wanton Waste regulation made the following quote stand out for me:

In 1990, before he became Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich put it well:

"We have to recognize that we have to get used to fighting ourselves at times and we have to recognize that we are in the business of conflict management. We are not in the business of conflict resolution. You only resolve conflicts by kicking people out and that means you become a minority. So, if you intend to be a majority, you have to be willing to live with a lot of conflict because that is the nature of a majority."

I think as hunters and gun owners we need to follow Newt's advice on this and welcome open honest debate, manage it and move on. The method used by some here in VT is to bully and ridicule anyone with a different opinion or, heaven forbid, agreed to by environmental or anti groups.