Missouri turkey hunters can say goodbye to their “Be Safe” stickers—if they can peel them off their shotguns.
According to the February 2013 edition of Missouri Conservationist magazine, “Turkey hunters no longer need to affix a ‘Be Safe’ sticker to their shotguns. Evidence shows ‘Be Safe’ stickers have little, if any, effect on hunter safety. In contrast, Missouri’s hunter education program, which is mandatory for firearms hunters 16 and older, has substantially reduced hunting incidents. Given the growing popularity of buying e-Permits at home, the Regulations Committee decided it was unnecessary to make turkey hunters travel to permit vendors just to pick up ‘Be Safe’ stickers.”
Under the old law, the hated yellow stickers had to be affixed to the receiver of the shotgun so that it would be in the hunter’s line of sight when shooting. The stated purpose of the stickers was to promote hunter safety.
In the end, however, the stickers proved to be just another layer of bureaucratic nonsense for hunters to navigate—with little to no actual safety benefit.
With this regulation now gone, we can only hope that thousands of hunters aren’t left with shotguns defaced by a sticker that should never have been required in the first place.
Related:
“Sticker Shock” in Missouri
