Ah summertime. Fresh fruit, warm evenings, tourist and fishermen. Lining the shores of our lakes and rivers are men and women, armed with rod and reel, angling for that trophy trout. And each proudly displays, hanging from their hat or dangling from a strap around the neck, a valid fishing license issued by the California Department of Fish and Game. That’s the law! This is good. Fishing without a license can be hazardous. Somebody could get a hook in the little finger. Or if you mixed up your bait box with your lunch bag you might end up eating a worm. So before I put a little wire hook on a piece of monofilament and toss it into the water I better be sure I have the appropriate document pinned to my chest. The game warden can tell at a glance if I am legally qualified to engage in such a dangerous activity.
But I can get into a two-ton hunk of steel and glass and charge down the road at sixty-five miles per hour straight toward some other idiot in a two-ton hunk of steel and glass without offering anyone any proof of anything. Oh, the car has to show valid registration, which just proves you paid your $138 at the DMV. It doesn’t even indicate the car has passed a safety test and has brakes. The CHP is not allowed to stop a driver until there is an obvious infraction.
When is the last time you heard of a dangerous felon, wanted for armed robbery and assault with a fly rod, being apprehended after a routine stop for fishing without a license?
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1 comment:
That was my Mom & Dad! An R & D child I am!
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