Hunting officials want the Police Commissioner to exercise the discretion given to him at law to prevent hunters guilty of abuse from obtaining a gun licence.

In the wake of a wafer-thin referendum majority that gave hunters the chance to continue shooting birds in spring, hunting federation president Joe Perici Calascione is insisting on a zero-tolerance approach to abuse.

The federation met the Prime Minister yesterday and is expected to meet the Police Commissioner later this week.

The spring hunting season opens today and will close at the end of the month.

To obtain a gun licence hunters have to be registered with an organisation. But the law currently makes no provisions to bar hunters found guilty of abuse, and banned from one organisation, from registering with another.

“The Police Commissioner can withhold a gun licence and this is something we will be discussing,” Mr Perici Calascione said, adding there was collaboration between the FKNK and St Hubert’s Hunters.

There are two other little-known hunting organisations.

Addressing a press conference at FKNK headquarters in Msida, Mr Perici Calascione said the Prime Minister insisted he would nottolerate wrongdoing.

“The Prime Minister told us he would close the season if there was flagrant abuse,” he said, adding further clarification was needed on the Prime Minister’s comment that the referendum was the last chance for hunters.

Mr Perici Calascione said the FKNK did not agree with the principle that everyone should be punished for the wrongdoing perpetrated by individuals.

FKNK CEO Lino Farrugia said officials met thousands of hunters on Sunday after the result was out and the common sentiment was no hunter should be allowed to threaten what had been achieved with so much sweat.

The FKNK would also boost its system of marshals to control hunters in the field, he added.

“I urge hunters to be responsible out of respect for their own passion and the thousands who supported our cause,” Mr Farrugia said, adding the referendum victory was achieved against all odds.

Asked about reports that reached Times of Malta of shooting heard in Għargħur yesterday morning, the FKNK officials said they were unaware of the incident. Nyal Xuereb, a representative of St Hubert’s Hunters, also a Għargħur resident, said he had heard no shots while walking his dog in the fields.

Asked about the petition FKNK presented to MPs last year calling for changes to the referendum law, Mr Farrugia said the organisation will be meeting MPs to discuss how it could be furthered.

The petition had called for legal changes to safeguard the rights of minorities from being subjected to abrogative referendums.

Mr Farrugia said one of the proposals was to introduce a time limit on the collection of signatures for an abrogative referendum.

Name and shame

St Hubert’s Hunters has warned that it will name and shame hunters who break the law – in line with its zero tolerance policy on abuse.

In a statement thanking all those who supported the hunters’ cause for the continuation of spring hunting, St Hubert’s said it pledged full cooperation with law enforcement “to ensure the strictest compliance with regulations”.

The organisation also asked for mutual respect between hunters and countryside lovers.

“While respecting the rights of others to enjoy the countryside and their recreational activities, it reminds all of the rights of private property and the value of reciprocal respect.”

kurt.sansone@timesofmalta.com