Armed and mental
If one more person tells me to snap out of it....
Birdlife has remarked that men who are being treated for depression and those with suicidal tendencies should not be licensed to carry a gun. You’d think that would be obvious, but…
Birdlife said what it did after the Hunters’ Federation met and observed a minute’s silence for four men who killed themselves this year when spring hunting was banned (or so they said).
A spokesman for the Hunters’ Federation said that many others are now “on antidepressants and suffering from different psychological disorders”. Well, that’s worrying – because they’re still carrying guns around in public places.
Because it was Birdlife which made that observation about the danger posed by unstable men with guns, it is likely to be dismissed as just another sarcastic remark made with ill intent. No doubt, my own contribution will be brushed off the same way.
But Birdlife is right. By the very admission of the hunters’ own spokesman, there are men out there who are so unbalanced that they will kill themselves because they cannot shoot birds in spring, and yet they’re running around the countryside carrying guns.
If the hunters’ spokesman extended this information as a plea for compassion, then his move was badly off the mark. Instead, he’s got us all worried.
Men who are nuts and armed? It’s not just Birdlife who’d like to think that the licence to carry a gun depends on the results of a mental health test.
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“What’s the quickest way out of here?” “Through the roof!” Loved Crazy Harry.
If what the Hunters’ Federation said is true, it’s sad. But other than gaining some compassion, what’s the point? Let’s say people have been driven to commit suicide because divorce is not part of our legal system; even the most pro-divorce lobbyists would not base their arguments on such incidents. And that’s how it should be. Hunters’ Federation should go for other options if it wants to achieve tangible results.
Today around 1.00pm I was at Armier Bay when a flock of large black birds (I am totally ignorant as to species) flew in from the sea, and within seconds a barrage of guns opened fire on them. A friend thought it was a village feast nearby, such was the intensity of noise. I am not sure if the killing season is open, or even if they can shoot on Sunday at that time and place. What I know is that if it is a choice between the hunters and the birds to survive, I will choose the birds any day.
One word: Cuckoo
I was surprised to hear the hunter’s federation publicly announce such suicides. It’s rather sad to hear of such news, (irrespective if one is a hunter or not). Yet another concern would be that it can ‘entice’ others to do the same.
In my opinion, this announcement was made to add attention and sensationalism to their meeting but the after-affects could be drastic.
And they’ve done it again:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090928/local/finch-trappers-admitted-to-hospital-with-depression-fknk
Mizieb frame up: Not mentioned by FKNK
Dogs not retrieving dead birds: what hunter is going to let his dog retrieve a dead bird – and do what with it? Report himself?
Picnickers at Mizieb: hunter’s families, nanniet, kugini, kunjati, pogguti, hbieb etc.
Hunting is a sport: not referred to as a sport anymore, as one team is armed with guns and the other armed with feathers.
Hunting is a Maltese tradition: ever seen a coachload of tourists stopping to photograph and admire birds being shot at? It’s not found in tourist brochures either.
Hobby: either let us kill birds or we’ll get depressed and make a scene.
Poacher: a fictitious character played by a hunter in order to look appealing.
Is this true that some people have their priorities so screwed up or are so soft in the head that they choose to commit suicide just because their hobby, passion, call it what you like, has been curtailed by the laws of civilized behaviour? I have half a suspicion that it could be a publicity ploy by the FKNK to latch on the ‘jahasra msieken’ Maltese way of thinking. If I were the FKNK I would not go about declaring from the rooftops that most of the organization’s members are of unsound mind.