Hunters will be meeting the Police Commissioner to seek greater collaboration on law enforcement, hunting federation president Joe Perici Calascione said this afternoon.
He said one of the issues to be discussed is the power vested in the Police Commissioner to withhold a gun licence if someone is found guilty of abuse.
Mr Perici Calascione said the law currently made no provisions to bar hunters found guilty of abuse from registering with a different hunting organisation if banned by the FKNK or the St Hubert's Hunters.
To obtain a gun licence hunters have to be registered with an organisation.
"However, the law does give the Police Commissioner discretionary powers when issuing a gun license and we will be discussing how this could be used to stamp out abuse," he said.
Addressing the media at the FKNK headquarters in Msida, 24 hours before the opening of the spring hunting season, Mr Perici Calascione said the organisation met the Prime Minister earlier today.
"The Prime Minister reiterated that he will not tolerate wrongdoing and would close the season if there was flagrant abuse," Mr Perici Calascione said.
However, he said further clarification was needed to the Prime Minister's comment yesterday that this was the last chance for hunters.
He said the FKNK did not agree with the principle of punishing everyone for the wrongdoing of individuals but insisted it would be stepping up internal mechanisms to curtail abuse.
FKNK CEO Lino Farrugia said the organisation's officials met thousands of hunters throughout yesterday and the common sentiment was no one should be allowed to threaten what had been achieved with so much sweat. The FKNK would also step up its system of marshals to control hunters in the field.
Asked about reports that reached Times of Malta of shooting heard in Gharghur this morning, the FKNK officials said they were unaware of the incident.
However, Nyal Xuereb, a representative of the St Huberts Hunters, a Gharghur resident said he had heard no shots this morning while walking his dog in the fields.
The FKNK officials urged hunters to be responsible out of respect for their passion and the thousands who supported their cause.
Kathleen Grima, the lawyer who fronted the Yes campaign, said she had been involved with the FKNK as their lawyer for five years and would continue to do so.
Asked whether she had a future in politics, Dr Grima said she had no such plans for now. "I am still young, I like my profession but I cannot exclude anything in the future," she said.
Referendum petition
Lino Farrugia said the FKNK would be meeting MPs on the petition they presented Parliament last year for changes to the referendum law.
He said it was important to safeguard minority rights and among the proposals was a time limit on the collection of signatures calling for an abrogative referendum.