Dear Editor:

Fred Nehring’s latest letter (Jan. 7) showed once again how out of touch he is with the people of this state and nation. His assertion that people only hunt for sport now instead of sustenance has been the topic of many comments and hit home for me personally.

There are many families who, at various times in their lives, relied on a deer or two in the freezer to get through the winter. At times my own family would have been hard pressed to get through the year without God’s bounty and the right to harvest it. While the Second Amendment is not about hunting, it certainly helps protect our hunting tradition.

As someone who professes to understand the struggles of the working class, I would think Mr. Nehring, of all people, would look to hunting as a path to self reliance. Instead, he ridicules hunting, relegating it to solely a sport. Perhaps that it is because it helps people avoid those big government programs he proclaims to love.

Hunting and firearm ownership are long-held traditions in Maine and the rest of the country, and as such, should be fostered, not destroyed. Maybe Mr. Nehring should stick to promoting other aspects of his agenda.

Sarah Sample

Boothbay Harbor