Hunters Explain What Guns Mean For Their Passion

As politicians debate gun control in Washington and Springfield, we've has been trying to hear from local gun owners. It’s part of a series called “Our Guns” - about the many reasons Americans own them. Hunters and sportsmen have complex relationships to firearms.

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Credit Chicago Public Media

Hunters Mike Blaske, 32, foreground, and Scott Early, 63, pose with their shotguns during a late January Canada goose hunt outside of Gardner, Ill., about an hour southwest of Chicago.

As Illinois Public Radio's Alex Keefe learned - it’s part history, part tradition and part recreation.