Top comment (and I think she’s right)
This comment was sent in by Natalie.
The other day I was at the local grocer’s shop and there was a conversation going on about the upcoming referendum.
Everyone present agreed that hunting is almost a fixation for hunters. Someone even said that he knew someone who shot his dog then himself after the season was closed prematurely.
I said that I could confirm this myself, having seen plenty of people at Mount Carmel Hospital with suicidal ideation after a season is closed earlier than usual.
So someone else said that they’ll be voting in favour as they prize a man’s life over a bird’s and yet another said that they’re not hunters but why should they deprive others of their hobby?
I said that I’ll be voting against hunting because of conservation issues. A bright spark said that Malta is very small so we don’t get large numbers of doves passing over us and the damage is not as great as we are led to believe. Besides, hunters have a limit on the number of birds they can shoot.
I tried again by saying that hunters do not declare all their kills and besides it’s a cover for illegal hunting. I was told that illegal hunting is already punished.
At this point I could see that any further discussion would be futile so I paid for my groceries and left.
We’ll have spring hunting again next year.
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And privately the No camp will blame Simon Busuttil.
Having read that, I’m now convinced the result will be ‘yes’.
So in other words, when I am forbidden from raping every passer by I should feel betrayed and shoot myself?
I think the best thing for every hunter who is, yes to shoot oneself. There is no place for this madness in a civilised society.
More than a fixation, hunting is actually an addiction, a drug, for many Maltese hunters.
When they describe what they suffer when the season is suspended – severe depression and even, in one case, suicide – they are describing withdrawal symptoms.
Independently of the outcome of the referendum, it is alarming to note that a hobby can take over the life of a person so completely that all sense of proportion is lost. Many hunters are not in control of their own lives but literally depend on hunting to maintain their mental health.
During the campaign for the EU referendum in 2003, I met several farmers who told me they didn’t care about agriculture disappearing but wanted assurances that hunting would not be touched if we joined the EU.
Nobody talks about this issue but I think it’s a national problem because it is so widespread and can have severe consequences. Instead of referring to addiction to blogs, Minister Michael Farrugia would do well to look into addiction to hunting.
People who become suicidal if they are not allowed to shoot at birds for as long as they wish are mentally unstable.
And people who are mentally unstable should not be allowed anywhere close to a firearm.
But in this country, such people are licensed to own one or more firearms and run around in open fields wielding one. How would you like one of these characters for a neighbour?
Jien ma jinteressanix kif ser jivvutaw Joseph Muscat u Simon Busuttil.
Jien nigi naqa u nqum mir-raguni li taw ghax jien la weghdt xejn lil hadd biex nitla fil-gvern u l-anqas ghandi ghalfejn nilghaq lil hadd biex Nikseb lura lil votanti.
Jien ser nivvota Le mhux ghax tinteressani il-konservazzjoni ta’ l-ghasafar ghax ma narafx ammorin minn pappagall u sakemm niekol tigiega lanqas nista nqis ruhi li jien xi attivist favur il-mohqrija ta’ l-annimali.
Jien ha nivvota Le ghax jien xbajt immur fil-kampanja fir-rebbiegha u ma nistax ftit ghal kwiet ingawdi l-isbah zmien tas-sena fil-kwiet u l-paci, li ma nisma musketterija ta’ sparar bit-tama li ma jaqax comb fuqi u nevita li niltaqa ma xi kaccatur li jhariskek bl-ikrah sakemm ma joffendix ghax kull bicca art jaghmluha taghhom b’jedd qisu hallihilom wirt in-nannu.
Ha nivvota Le ghal-ragunijiet egoistici, iva, u kif jaqbel lili. Anke dan nigi naqa u nqum minnu ghax fuq kollox ghal darba inkun qed naghmel bhal maggoranza tal-Maltin li nivvota kif jaqbel lili u mhux lil pajjizi.
The same mentality that induces a hunter to shoot himself because of hunting laws is the same mentality that would induce a hunter to shoot himself for failing to shoot a protected bird out of the sky. It is a psychological defect that needs treatment not appeasement.
The No faction is only trying to protect hunters from themselves. Once quail become extinct, and extinct they will become, we may expect a strong surge in applicants for the loony bin.
I will not vote according to the leaders. I have my brains and I am going to use them. I am not risking votes or my seat in parliament.