Dodge shows that in 1922 you didn’t need big, fat off-road tyres; NZ gun law changes praised by local lawyer; catch NIOA TV’s latest episode; Shooters and Fishers Party starts new funding program; NSW Game Council update from SFP; elephants causing environmental damage in Botswana.
Who needs fat off-road tyres?
Here’s a fascinating glimpse at driving in harsh off-road conditions nearly a century ago. This Dodge Brothers Series 1, with Oil Field Dodge written on the doors, was put through its paces in 1922 to promote the car company that was in a bit of financial strife after the death of the two brothers a couple of years before. What’s interesting is the torture they put this car through to show how tough it was in a display that would have modern four-wheel drivers wondering why they invested so heavily in expensive off-road tyres. The short clip shows the Dodge apparently racing to an oil field in time to turn the tap on a geyser and follows their adventures on some soupy roads, including the main street of town in this pre-bitumen era.
New NZ gun laws praised
Firearms lawyer Simon Munslow has praised the tightening of gun laws in regard to gas-powered air rifles. In his newsletter, Mr Munslow reported that “from 1 November 2013 the Kiwi’s are tightening laws on military semi-automatic rifles. One will be able to own them under A-cat licences if one replaces the pistol grip stock with a thumbhole stock, and accept a licence condition not to use high capacity magazines. Police are also going to require a firearms licence to own an airgun powered by a gas cylinder (Paintballers and Airsoft users can breathe as these changes do not apply to paintball and airsoft). This roughly brings NZ into line with the British velocity standard regarding firearms of 1000 fps. The line between a firearm, a toy, and a fun physics experiment, needs to be drawn somewhere, and I have always thought that the velocity standard adopted by the Brits showed some logic. The Kiwis have, I think improved on this, as most spring air guns (though not all) are under this threshold, and most gas powered air rifles would be over this. The line is thus logical, as without testing the gun with a Chronograph, Police, and the owner know whether an owner is legally compliant.”
NIOA TV Season 2 Episode 4
Tune in to popular NIOA TV for the latest instalment in their series of videos that not only promote the small arms supplier’s products, but often feature other interesting gun-related stories. In this instalment, Ken and Damo show how easy it is to reload your own shotshells. Bushy shows off the very popular Counterstrike scope from Redfield. Mick protects his hearing with Pro Ears and they are all getting excited about our new NIOA Facility.
NSW SFP funding program starts up
In the wake of the O’Farrell government’s legislation that prohibits clubs and other businesses donating money to political parties, the Shooters and Fishers Party has set up a program to build a fighting fund for the 2015 NSW elections. Individuals are allowed to make financial donations to political parties so the SFP NSW Club Donation Program is a way to track and record donations from each club member. This way, registered NSW voters wishing to support the Shooters and Fishers Party in its fight to win seats in the NSW Government can still do so through their club. There’s an excellent Q&A explanation about the system and how it works on the SFP website.
Game Council NSW update
While on the Shooters and Fishers Party, they have put up on their website an update of their progress in the fight to save the NSW Game Council. “After the shock of the treachery of O’Farrell and his minions, we have been working hard behind closed doors to mitigate the damage that he sought to do to us in what we now know was a calculated political attack on shooters and hunters in NSW,” the SFP says. “The highly successful public campaign, and your letters to your own Local Members, will continue and will be fully supported by the Party. Indeed, that campaign will be massively escalated over the next 18 months.” See the full report here.
Elephant over-population causes concern
Sports Afield journalist Dr Kevin Robertson has raised concerns about what he says is an over population of African elephants causing a decline in other species on the continent. In an article published on the magazine’s website, Dr Robertson flagged an impending wildlife disaster in Botswana that has been blamed on safari hunting when he believes the elephant is the culprit. “To all of us who love Africa and its wildlife, the real cause is blatantly obvious despite the fact that everyone seems to be pussyfooting around it,” he writes. “Nobody seems to have the intestinal fortitude to stand up and say what really needs to be said —so I will. The truth is simply this: Botswana has too many elephants. Way too many, in fact, and it is their influence on the environment that is impacting all the other species.” Dr Robertson said the pending closure of all sport hunting on public land and controlled hunting areas in Botswana, to be introduced at the end of 2013, was “seriously bad news”. He said that the reasoning that sport hunting was to blame was “ridiculous”. A good read if you’re interesting in big game hunting and African wildlife.
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