WFSA Current News - March, 2005

March 24, 2005

Deer herds in the US
            Two articles in the last week, one in the Iowa Des Moines Register, and one in the New York Times about the state of New Jersey , have demonstrated the extraordinary success of sustainable-use conservation in the United States .
            Deer populations under extreme threat at the early part of last century are now thriving in such numbers that the degree of hunting needs to be stepped up. A recent poll found that 85 per cent of adults in Iowa would support more hunting of deer to reduce the herd size to levels approaching those of the eighties, and bring them under the half-million level.
            Included among the proposals in a recent bill approved by the state’s senate are moves to increase free hunting licences for residents, while increasing the cost of non-resident licences by twenty per cent. At the same time, a one-dollar surcharge would be place on licences, the proceeds to go towards the donation of deer meat to worthy causes. At the same time, landowners will be granted special permits to handle more extreme concentrations of the animals to help avoid land damage.
           Similarly, in the very heavily built-up New Jersey , an annual deer harvest of roughly 70,000 animals has not kept the herd, numbering 200,000, in a sustainable state, according to the local Audubon Society. Damage to the undergrowth that supports many species of birds has become so extensive that permanent changes are feared to be taking place to the environment.
            The Society has consequently proposed increased levels of deer culling in addition to changes in fencing and other management practices. According to the New York Times, this recommendation including culling is a first for the Audubon Society.

http://www.nytimes.com/auth/login?URI=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/15/nyregion/15deer.html&OP=
5458fe02/,oXZ,4Q3DQ5Cn@Q3DQ3DmB,BYYA,Y{,aA,0Q2B@X5Q27Q3D0,aA4XX@g)mhN

March 17, 2005

Slovakia further adjusts gun laws
            It was announced yesterday that the Slovakian cabinet had just accepted an opposition-proposed amendment to its existing legislation on guns and ammunition.
            A complex amnesty is now planned, intended to draw illegal arms out of the community and at the same time offer those who hand them in the opportunity to apply for a licence to own firearms legally, as long as they make that application within two months of the surrender.
            Remarkably, the surrendered arms are to be subjected to ballistics tests, with aim of ascertaining whether the arms concerned have been used in any kind of illegal activity in the past.

March 15, 2005

UK call for binding treaty on arms trade
            The Guardian today reported that the United Kingdom is again attempting to bring about an international treaty to regulate the trade in small arms, including those in private hands.
            The article, with byline from the Diplomatic Editor, Ewen MacAskill, said an advance statement attributed to Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, has him saying: "We should be clear that our goal is not a voluntary agreement, or a talking shop, but a treaty which is legally binding on all its signatories, putting on a firm statutory footing the principle of responsibility in arms exports."
            The thrust of the need is the wish to prevent the trade in small arms that figure in unrest wherever civil strife occurs. The grounds for objection of nations such as the United States of America have always been that while the intentions may be good, the reality of the legislation is that it harms the lawful and benign ownership of firearms by free citizens.
           The article correctly notes that Britain itself is well known to export a large number of small arms, and in this long export record there are many cases of these arms having been sent directly to countries where unrest has been known to exist.

March 5, 2005

New British shooting regulation
            A remarkable new law has come into force in Britain. It is now illegal to shoot a wood pigeon without attempting to frighten it first. This follows passing of a General Licence, a law covering the shooting of pests. It states: "This licence can only be relied upon in circumstances where the authorised person can demonstrate that appropriate non-lethal methods of control such as scaring are either ineffective or impracticable."
            Pigeons are a menace to crops, and have long been pests in Britain. They have also long been seen as worthy quarry, and have been taken by shotgun shooters for centuries. The birds that are shot are either kept by the hunters or released for sale to the public as food through dealers.
            The regulation has been brought in to cover pests in general, so it includes other species such as crows and rooks, both of which have long been traditional food sources in Britain. It will also apply to Canada Geese.
            It is not until after a bird has failed to react to other frightening techniques of dispersal that it may be legally shot. Penalties are a fine of up to ₤5,000 or a maximum prison sentence of six months. Considering that almost the only way to make an impression on numbers of wood pigeons damaging a crop is to shoot them over decoys, which requires attracting them to within gun range and not frightening them out of it, this legislation will soon be shown to be absurd.
           The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has defended the new move, denying that there is any change of law and issued a clarification which says that scaring has always been required as a precursor to shooting, and not only that, but records of the non-lethal scaring may be called for. The statement said: "People have to demonstrate that they have looked at alternative, non-lethal measures. If these have not worked then, yes, they can shoot species that are causing problems." 
            The Country Land and Business Association, the National Gamekeepers' Organisation, the Moorland Association and the Countryside Alliance have all made their objections to the Government. The fact that the matter could arise at all shows the increasing divide between country realities and city theory.
            More details can be found at http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1511614,00.html .

March 3, 2005

Papua New Guinea receives Australian aid
            The Australian Government has contributed $300,000 to a program in Papua New Guinea designed to clamp down on illegal guns. The Acting Prime Minister, Rabbie Namaliu, was in charge of the launch in Port Moresby .
            Called The Guns Control Road Show, the program will begin with a tour of the country, in which the community will be asked to comment on ways to tackle the country’s gun problem.
            It has been acknowledged that border controls are weak, and also that guns and ammunition belonging to security forces continue to go missing from governmental facilities.
            The police minister said the intention is not to advocate total bans, but that a serious approach is called for nevertheless. PNG’s Leader of the Opposition, Peter O’Neil, said that people correctly believe the police are unable to protect them, their families and their businesses.
            Rabbie Namaliu pointed out the links between guns and the drug trade, illegal immigration, money laundering and prostitution.