View Point
columnist: Kipper Mathews

Topic: Law and Order
Home,Home on the Range...

---

In America's New Turf War, 14 accused "Assassins" murder 32 roaming buffalo in cold blood, near South Park. Colo.

---

by Kipper Mathews
(Libertarian)
Sunday, May 4, 2008

March, 2008 Fairplay, Colorado.

In South Park a mountain valley at 10,000' made famous by Comedy Central, ranchers are at odds to what they consider a terrible breach of the local code of ethics whereas neighbors help each other out.
In what seems to be a feud between two rival ranchers, Hawn and The Downares, over grasslands in this expansive range of Colorado.

Land owner Hawn who lives in Austin, Texas and purchased his 395 acre ranch in 1995 to raise cattle has been unhappy with the century old free-range policies of the West, in which livestock has a right to the open range, decided to take the law into hands.

The open-range law going back as far as the 1800's states that it is not necessary to fence in your livestock and it's the responsibility of other land owners to build fences if they want to keep them out. Just as it is necessary for all land owners with swimming pools to fence in their pool in order to keep people out. If you find someone else's cattle on your property, which happens quite regularly, you can coral it until the owner retrieves it and you can even sue for damages if there is any to your property. It is not however legal to kill it, according to Rick Wahlert, Colorado brand commissioner. It works for most people, at least those willing to work together, as it takes a lot of work to mend (repair) miles of perimeter fences on a regular basis and livestock frequently wander onto fenced property.

Hawn from Texas on the other hand decided not to cooperate and took the law into his own hands.

He hired gunslingers to to kill the trespassers, rather than "work together" with his new neighbors.

The Park County under-sheriff seems to be mysteriously at odds trying to figure out the legalities of who should be responsible even though the century old open range law says that 'livestock can pretty much go where ever they want.' In Colorado's high country, transplanted city dwellers often don't understand 'our ways' the sheriff says.

Monte Downare and his father, Vaughn just didn't have that kind of relationship with Jeff Hawn. The Downares have lived and ranched there a long time. When Hawn arrived, he built a fence to keep out intruding livestock, according to a lawsuit he has filed against the Downares.
Colorado law states that such a fence is: three strands of barbed wire, with posts set 20 feet apart "sufficient to turn away ordinary horses and cattle."
Hawn's fence met those requirements. But it couldn't stop the mighty bison, according to his suit, filed days before the slaughter. His lawsuit also says that they ate his grass, killed trees, knocked out a satellite dish, and the Downares refused to pay for the damage or prevent their buffalo from trespassing.
Bison can run fast and jump high, clearing a 6-foot-high fence from a standing position. It's even harder to contain them during winter when snowdrifts can bury or knock down fences leaving the bison free to step right over them.
In a counterclaim, Downare claims... Hawn , "conspired to hire" hunters to shoot the animals.

The bison carcasses were found on the Hawn ranch, other private property and nearby federal lands. The sheriff quickly rounded up 14 "hunters" who were camping on Hawn's property. They said they had been given permission to shoot the bison.

They were all arrested.

The locals are outraged saying 'a hunter won't shoot it and leave it.' ' Their assassins... not hunters'.

VIEW POINT:

While I'm a true believer in the right to bear arms, there are certain times when that right should be revoked for life. Those instances are from events like this one, where irresponsible gun owners that by all rights should be smart enough to know the difference between right and wrong, legal and not legal, moral and immoral, use guns in crimes against humanity. The constitution was obviously not written to protect the rights of these criminals.

Sources: The LA Times and The Denver Post

If you liked this article please give it a thumbs up

and read more of Kipper Mathews' articles below.

Did you like this article?
If you did, Thumb It!
5 thumbs so far

2008 Kipper Mathews, all rights reserved.
Published: Sunday, May 4, 2008
Last modified: Sunday, May 4, 2008

The views expressed in this article are those of Kipper Mathews only and do not represent the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. Kipper Mathews is solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.

Report violation by Kipper Mathews of Nolan Chart LLC's terms of use policy.