WELL, YOU KNOW, THAT’S BECAUSE IT WORKS. A State Plagued by Bear Encounters Turns to an Old Solution: Guns: A Connecticut law allows residents to kill bears in certain circumstances. But some residents want a full-fledged bear hunt, allowed in almost every nearby state..

Human-bear interactions have increased dramatically in Connecticut in recent years, as the state’s population of black bears has multiplied and their geographic range has expanded. This year alone, bears in Avon crashed a parade and broke into a bakery. Elsewhere in the state, they have even invaded houses.

The danger was underscored this week in nearby Westchester County, N.Y., when a bear attacked a 7-year-old boy who was playing in his yard. (On Wednesday, health officials said the bear tested negative for rabies.)

Worried about public safety, Gov. Ned Lamont recently signed into law a measure that allows residents to shoot and kill bears under certain circumstances: if a person “reasonably believes” a bear could seriously hurt a person or a pet, or if a bear is trying to enter a building with humans inside.

It also prohibits intentionally feeding potentially dangerous animals, like bears, on private property.

Connecticut is the only state in the Northeast with a significant bear population but no bear hunting season. The new law, essentially a stand-your-ground law for bear encounters, was a modest step that has drawn critics from all sides. . . .

Connecticut is home to 1,000 to 1,200 bears, according to the state environmental agency, and last year, bear home entries reached a new high: 67 reported invasions and dozens more attempts.

By comparison, Maine — where bear hunting starts in August and continues through November — has more than 30,000 bears, but incidents of bears breaking into homes are rare.

If you want them to be “more afraid of you than you are of them,” shooting them is a good approach. Loving them, on the other hand, not so much.