Common sense in Guns in Australia blog; NIOA TV’s latest episode, discount blaze orangevests for pro-hunting rally attendees; call for people to volunteer as marshalsfor pro hunting rally; hunting recognised as best form of animal populationcontrol; US gun sales up as gun crime falls; suppressors made legal forPennsylvania hunters; cable TV hunting show host William “Spook” Spann jailedfor shooting a deer.
Knowledge is power
There is a lot of information on gun ownership and the linkswith gun crime, most of it skewed against licenced and responsible shooters asgovernments search for political mileage on an emotive issue. One concerned Australianhas done much to combat this trend by circulating well-researched articles onan online blog, Guns in Australia. The blogger goes by the tag of Aussiegunsand can be found on Twitter as well under Guns in Australia. In the meantime,check out this comprehensive look at gun crime in the latest blog, CrimeControl – Australia following America’s mistakes since 1968. Lots of goodreading.
NIOA TV latest episiode
Matt catches up with the cowboys and cowgirls at the Single Action Trials at the Gold Coast Pistol Club. Damo and Ken do a bit of reloading and Mick is looking good in his Blackhawk underwear. All this and more coming up on Australia’s favourite shooting show. NIOA TV. Watch it here.
Discount blaze orange for rally
The Save Hunting in NSW State Forests rally is gettingsupport from one local retailer with Sporting Outback Supplies offering blazeshotgun/hunting vests at less than half price. Rally organisers are askingthose attending to wear blaze orange in a show of support for hunting on publicland at the protest to be held in Sydney on August 14. Sporting OutbackSupplies is selling the R licence-compliant vests to rally attendees for $15instead of the regular price of $40. Visit www.sportingoutbacksupplies.com.au.
Rally support call
With big numbers of hunters and hunting supporters expectedto attend the rally, organiser Mick Zoro is calling for volunteers to act asmarshals on the day. The law requires one marshal for every 50 people and withthousands expected to attend, Mr Zoro said he was looking for more people tohelp. “Marshals are just there to let people know where to go and keep an eyeon things, so there’s not a lot of work,” he said. Those interested can contactMr Zoro through the Save NSW Game Council Facebook page.
If it’s good for the goose…
Hunting has been recognised as the most effective form ofspecies control in Pennsylvania, USA, where hunting season has started early tocull the bird population. A waterfowl biologist with the state Game Commissionsaid in a republicanherald.com news report that recent liberalisations inCanada goose hunting opportunities, along with new control programs inmunicipalities and public and private landowners, appear to be stabilisinggrowth of the goose population following a strong nesting season. “Huntingremains the most effective and efficient way to manage resident Canada geese,provided hunters can gain access to geese in problem areas,” the biologistsaid. We can only hope Australian legislators start seeing this kind of commonsense in controlling our feral pests.
US gun sales up, gun crime down
An assistant professor who specialises criminology at VirginiaCommonwealth University says that more guns don’t lead to more crime. He wasstudying figures that shows federally licensed gun dealer sales has rising 16per cent to more than 490,000 guns purchased in 2012. In that same period thenumber of major crimes committed with guns fell five per cent to just over 4000– the fourth consecutive year major gun crime had fallen.
Suppressors made legal for US hunters
North Carolina has legalised the use of suppressors onhunting rifles. The law, that was reportedly introduced to protect hunter hearing,make it easier to hunt animals in herds and reduce neighbour disturbance, meansthose wishing to use a suppressor will need a concealed weapons permit andfollow other procedures. Suppressors reduce the noise of a gunshot, but not asmuch as a silencer.
TV hunter jailed for deer kill
Tennessee hunter and cable TV hunting show star William “Spook”Spann was sentenced to a month in jail after being found guilty of illegallykilling a deer in Kansas. The 50-year-old host of Spook Nation is aprofessional hunter who ran foul of the law when he breached probationconditions after he was convicted of poaching turkeys last year. Spann shot abuck in Kansas while still under probation conditions that prohibited him fromhunting in the US for six months. He will now serve a 30-day jail sentence andhas been banned from hunting anywhere in the world for 12 months.
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