The government presents, this Tuesday, its plan to make hunting more secure.
The tracks will be presented in the Marne by the Secretary of State for Ecology, Bérangère Couillard. These measures will be negotiated until the Christmas holidays, and some will be enacted at the end of the year or at the beginning of next year, according to information from franceinfo.
No more than 0.5 g of alcohol per liter of blood, like motorists
Among the avenues considered, the institution of an offense of alcoholism is confirmed.
The government wants hunters are subject to the same rules as motorists. They cannot therefore have more than 0.5 grams of alcohol per liter of blood. Alcohol is responsible for 9% of hunting accidentssays a Senate report.
It is therefore far from being a majority, but it is still too much, for Muriel Arnal, the president of One Voice, animal rights association. “It’s an important measure and we hope there will be as many controls and as independently as there are for car drivers.” The checks will be conducted by agents of the French Office for Biodiversity Where by the police, the decision has not yet been made. the Amount of the fine in case of positive controls has not yet been decided either.
The president of the National Federation of Hunters in favor of alcohol controls
The president of the National Federation of Hunters, Willy Schraen, said on Tuesday on franceinfo
favorable “at the controls when we are in hunting practice”. But he assures that the hunters “self-regulate”, and that he “There has been no alcohol in our house for a long time, or very little, or exceptionally”. “Since always, when we see someone who is under the influence and who is going to start hunting, we kindly ask him to sit down, put down his rifle and come back when things are better”, he assured.
“To get out of the hysteria of certain tenors of the extreme left who want to permanently kill us, you have to put an alcohol test” – Willy Schraen
“Now, to get out of the hysteria of certain tenors of the extreme left who want to permanently kill us, you have to put an alcohol test, no problem”, he explained. Willy Schraen thus says he is open to the introduction of a test on the same model as for motorists: “We think you can still drive a car when you’ve had a maximum of two drinks, so you have to be able to hold a gun”he believes.
Better first aid training
The government’s plan also provides that hunters will be better trained in first aid, and in particular in the way to heal wounds.
A shooting angle of 30 degrees during beats
During the hunts, it is also considered to authorize shooting only when the game is at an angle of 30 degrees in front of the hunter. This helps avoid shooting a hunting neighbor. This practice is already in place in many departments.
A measure that goes into the “common sense” for the president of the National Federation of Hunters. Willy Schraen assures, on franceinfo, that hunters “already advocate that everywhere”. “Clearly, we do not shoot our neighbor, all that is logical”, he said. “If the state absolutely wants to break down an open door, like with alcohol, by saying that you have to shoot animals at a 30 degree angle when you are in a hunt, listen why not”, he quipped. He explains not to be “versus”, from the time “where it is accident-prone internally for hunters”.
Walkers better informed of hunting grounds
Walkers will also be better informed during hunting seasonsthanks to applications indicating the locations of hunters. A simpler mode of communication than consulting prefectural decrees or signs installed on trails. “Hunters have authority over the use of nature and this is not normal”, responded Allain Bougrain-Dubourg, president of the League for the Protection of Birds. “It is up to hunters to ensure that their leisure activity does not penalize other users of nature.”
A non-hunting day? “We are not sub-human”, answers Willy Schraen
For Allain Bougrain-Dubourg, “we must impose a non-hunting day in France, preferably on Sunday”. But this measure has not yet not been retained in the tracks of the government.
On franceinfo, Willy Schraen said to himself “open to discussions” on a limitation of hunting days. But for him, “when you are at home or when you rent the right to hunt, you still have the right to do what you want in the private domain”. He thus pleads a differentiation from the “public domain”. The president of the National Federation of Hunters affirms that “in the state forests, there is a maximum of one or two days of hunting per week” and “in peri-urban state forests, weekends are often prohibited”. He refuses France Nature Environnement’s proposal to ban hunting on Sunday afternoons: “It is out of the question that we let go on Sunday afternoon, we are not sub-human”he said.