Source: They ask to ban the presence of children in hunts after an accident…
Found on: 2022-11-06 09:08:19
The death of a hunter last week in the municipality of Estepa, where hypotheses point to an accidental shot by another participant, has put on the table a unavoidable debate: The presence and participation of minors in these calls.
The state regulations on weapons specifies that minors from the age of 14 they can obtain a license and use powerful artifacts in natural environments, but leaves the presence of younger boys and girls during hunts to the discretion of this sector, also exposing them to any situation, from falls to negligent shooting or reactions from injured animals.
Also neither the Andalusian Hunting Law nor its closed season orders determine additional measuresso from the age of 14 they can participate in raids, accompanied by a responsible adult, shoot animals or expose themselves to the same contexts.
The Franz Weber Foundation censors the attitude of the lewd lobbywhich tries to get minors involved in a practice that involves the use of weapons, fire or edged, such as knives to finish off wild boars, and situations of obvious insecurity and that affect both their physical and moral integrity.
With this background and hundreds of incidents related to hunting that occur each year in the whole of the Spanish Statethe naturalists have sounded the alarm, demanding legal advances from the Board to veto the presence and participation of minors in an activity that is dangerous to them.
The fatal accident in Estepa is not the only one. Since the beginning of the year there have been several deaths directly related to hunting and many other incidents where injured people of various kinds are referred to the respective regional Emergency Services.
AVOID FURTHER RISKS: BAN ALCOHOL
With hunting season underway and children accompanying adults, naturalists denounce that public administrations deliberately ignore the consumption of alcoholic beverages that occurs in these contexts, pointing out that the only acceptable rate while carrying weapons should be zero. In this sense, they mention a recent report by the French Senate, whose main proposal is to prohibit these consumptions by hunters, warning of the number of victims and injuries caused by the activity in the neighboring country.
A MULTIFACTORIAL DANGER
FFW notes that hunting in these conditions it is a danger to nature, for biodiversity and for any person who participates in the raids or who is outside of them. Thus, they give as an example the victims caused by gunmen who claim “to have been confused” when shooting. If an individual is unable to recognize a wild boar, roe deer or fox with their supposedly adequate volitional abilities, while drunk or drugged the risks multiply exponentially.