If you're a new hunter or you're planning to take someone on a first hunt this fall, the National Shooting Sports Foundation reminds you that summer is the perfect time to take a hunter education course and acquire the certification necessary to purchase a hunting license.

"Don't have your fall hunting plans spoiled by forgetting to take that all-important hunter education course," said Chris Dolnack, NSSF senior vice president. "New hunters who are excited about going afield for the first time will need a hunter ed certificate to buy their hunting license, whether in their home state or out of state."

For this reason, July, August and September are popular months to enroll in hunter ed classes. Check with your state's wildlife agency to find a class that is convenient for you to attend, keeping in mind that a class may take up to 16 to 18 hours to complete. A commitment to multiple evenings or a weekend will be necessary depending on the state you live in and the course you take, though the investment in time will be well worth it. The NSSF website www.huntinfo.org provides links to each state's wildlife agency and can help you locate a class.

Akron's South Side Leader is reporting that despite pressure from one local resident, the City of New Franklin's council has decided not to make any changes to gun control laws in the city.

The newspaper reports the decision was announced July 7 after Council members heard from a room packed with people who came out to support the gun laws as they stand.

From the article:

Currently, the city does not have its own gun laws, but instead relies on the Ohio Revised Code, which allows anyone to fire a gun anywhere as long as they are 300 feet from a dwelling.

At the June 23 Council meeting, resident Gretchen Koloniar asked Council members to consider some kind of review and modification to those laws in densely populated subdivisions after someone shot her sitter's dog while it was in a neighboring yard. She told Council she is not opposed to the concealed/carry law and her father and brother both hunt and enjoy target practice, but expressed concern for the young children that play in the sitter's yard, which is located in a subdivision of smaller lots.