(Australia) Injured animals casualty of new handgun laws

[Drizzt]

Injured animals casualty of new handgun laws
Wednesday, 21 April 2004

Brian Kentwell says he has been left with no choice but to "hammer" injured or dying animals as he patrols 75 kilometres of irrigation channels in the district.

Mr Kentwell feels he is a casualty of the new handgun legislation that now precludes the use of pistols in the agricultural category.

Mr Kentwell, who has been manager of the Marthaguy Irrigation Scheme for15 years, said he was no longer permitted to use the 9mm Ruger he was specifically licensed to carry for the humane euthanasia of stock and native animals bogged in channels or injured when hit by vehicles.

"Just last week I had to put down a kangaroo that had two broken legs. It's not very pleasant at the best of times and doubly difficult without a firearm," he said.

Mr Kentwell said the holstered pistol was much easier to carry when using a four-wheel-drive motorbike or climbing up and down channel banks.

"During flood times I was also in and out of choppers and walking through flood water to get to injured stock caught in fences," Mr Kentwell said.

"I was licensed for five years and had to reapply for a new licence which was revoked as not being warranted.

"I had two rights of appeal, that were both knocked on the head, although the second time I wasn't even notified.

"I found out the appeal had been turned down when the police turned up on my doorstep and demanded the gun."

Shooters Party MP John Tingle said one of the intentions of new firearms acts was to restrict access to pistols of people who would carry them.

"Mr Kentwell was one of thousands of people affected by the new acts. He has a unique job and I thought he might succeed under the firearms registry internal review process," he said.

Mr Kentwell said the pistol was presently stored with a licensed gun dealer but was still registered to him and had been inspected by police.

"I was quite prepared to sell the gun in the buyback scheme but the legislation doesn't cover agricultural, only sporting categories.

Mr Kentwell said the most annoying part of the legislation was that it affected law-abiding citizens trying to do the right thing.

"I have applied for a permit for a rifle to use in my work but with the current backlog it will probably take another three months before it comes through," he said.

"In my opinion, in some instances a rifle will do the job but the majority of the time a pistol would be more suitable. In the meantime I have no alternative but to hit dying animals on the head with a hoe."


http://warren.yourguide.com.au/deta...egory=general news&story_id=301414&y=2004&m=4

 

[sturmruger]

One night in the middle of January my dad hit a dear with our van. The crazy thing had two busted front legs but could still move pretty good. It took off across a frozen pond about as fast as my brother and I could run. We ran after it to put it out of it's misery. After it stopped running and stopped to rest. We grabbed some large sticks and tried to beat the poor thing to death. It was too smart for us and took off even deaper into the woods. Since it as about -10 at the time we decided to just let it go. We figured it would fall asleep and never wake up in this kind of cold.


That stupid deer bugged me for weeks. I hate to see animals suffer more then need be. After that I kept an ax in the car for such situations. I would have left a gun in the car, but I only had a few guns and didn't want to waste one by leaving it in my dad's van. He was gone allot and I would have been short a rifle. I have enough guns now that I can keep a gun in the trunk. I feel bad for the people and animals in AUS.

 

[gunsmith]

dang!

anti gunners sure are humane aint they

 

[GEM]

I once had the chance to talk to an Aussie about business. So I slipped in a question about guns and he went off that gun owners were 'nutters'.

Personally, all Aussies should carry infants to throw to angry crocs. They do it on TV, don't they?

 

[LAR-15]

I'd let the animals suffer.

After all thats the govt's policy no?

 

[fallingblock]

It's not just in New South Wales.....

It's a problem Australia-wide.

Here in the Northern Territory, there are thousands of kangaroos and wallabies hit by cars annually, as well as hundreds of cows, horses, donkeys and camels.

One of my shooting buddies works for the telecommunication company Telstra and spends his week driving from remote community to remote community.

He is dismayed at how often he has to put down animals hit by vehicles which do not even stop.

For this purpose he uses an eight-pound sledgehammer.

In the "good old days" he carried a .357 revolver.

An Aboriginal saying is appropriate:

"im poor fella, my country"

 

[Bruce in West Oz]

It totally sucks, as my ladylike law-student daughter would say.

But in all reality, people such as this are being denied the most appropriate tool to do a (rather unpleasant) job.

I remember being in the backblocks of the WA Goldfields one day, on a huge station (ranch). I was driving with the rousie, doing a mill run, when we came across an emu which had obviously hit a wire fence in full flight, breaking both its legs. It was covered in big, meat-eating ants, and the crows were hanging round in the stunted trees -- but it was still well and truly alive.

We didn't have a rifle in the ute (yeah, silly I know) so the rousie jumped out and grabbed a tyre lever (tire iron). He cautiously edged up to the emu and when he was in range swung a roundhouse for its head. The emu ducked and, as the hand holding the lever went past, struck at it with its beak.

The lever went flying, the rousie swore up a blue storm, we drove the 20 miles or so back to the homestead and got a .243, drove back and despatched the emu.

They drove the rousie into "town" the next day, to the nursing post.

The beak had smashed one knuckle, dislocated two fingers, and broken three other bones.

GEM
You obviously spoke to an idiot. We're not all like that here.

Bruce

 

[LAR-15]

So any chances of getting the law changed?

Or is this permanent?

 

[Bruce in West Oz]

I wrote an impassioned response to this about 8.00 a.m. today, only to find I was unable to get back into THR. This happens EVERY DAY. I can only get the site up for about 1/2 an hour out of every 24 hours. It's really starting to P me off.

Basically, what I said was this:

The laws won't be changed short of a major catastrophe such as invasion. Both major political parties here are anti-gun. The two "steal-backs" and new gun laws were put into place by our version of your Republicans! Imagine what the Dems (Labor Party) are like.

Apart from the (very minor) Shooters Party, ALL other minors are anti-gun -- some rabidly so. And the shooters are so pathetic about voting that the Shooters Party has only ONE rep in parliament (just -- in NSW), and the Party had to close in some states for lack of support!!!!!

The media are anti-gun. They consider lying to promote their agendum to be morally justified, even noble.

Kids are indoctrinated in anti-gun propaganda at primary/secondary/college and university levels. When they come into power, they will abolish guns totally.

Most Aussies live in the cities and have absolutely no idea of guns -- except what they see in (surprise, surprise) the media!! (Hollyweird has a lot to answer for.)

We shooters are our own worst enemies. The shotgunners think they're above molestation because theirs is an Olympic sport -- too bad about the peasants. The airgunners think they're OK 'cause their guns don't go "bang". The pistol shooters think of rifle shooters the same way bikers think of car drivers. Fullbore shooters think they're a national asset in case of war (ha!). Target shooters think they're OK 'cause their guns aren't 'for killing", while hunters think they're Ok 'cause they're "helping" landowners get rid of pesky ferals. And none of the controlling organisations will talk to each other.

And our peak "general" firearms body, SSAA (Sporting Shooters Association of Australia) is, IMHO, a toothless tiger that rolls over to have its belly scratched whenever the government mentions new laws and restrictions.

It's gonna get a lot worse before it gets better.

(Well, it's now Friday night -- time for a glass of wine (or six) and the movie on Foxtel.)

(/rant)

Bruce

 

[fallingblock]

Bruce tells it exactly like it is....

I am sorry to say.

************************************************************
"Most Aussies live in the cities and have absolutely no idea of guns -- except what they see in (surprise, surprise) the media!! (Hollyweird has a lot to answer for.)'
************************************************************

And they are bombarded weekly, if not daily, by a news media so breath-takingly biased and dedicated to the disappearance of firearms (the legally held ones) in society that no lie is too, no falsehood too outlandish.


************************************************************ "The shotgunners think they're above molestation because theirs is an Olympic sport -- too bad about the peasants. The airgunners think they're OK 'cause their guns don't go "bang". The pistol shooters think of rifle shooters the same way bikers think of car drivers. Fullbore shooters think they're a national asset in case of war (ha!). Target shooters think they're OK 'cause their guns aren't 'for killing", while hunters think they're Ok 'cause they're "helping" landowners get rid of pesky ferals. And none of the controlling organisations will talk to each other."
************************************************************


Take note here, Yankee gun-nuts!

The same phenomenon can and is harming our RKBA...witness Kerry's shameless pandering to "hunters and target shooters".


************************************************************
"And our peak "general" firearms body, SSAA (Sporting Shooters Association of Australia) is, IMHO, a toothless tiger that rolls over to have its belly scratched whenever the government mentions new laws and restrictions."
************************************************************

SAD, but essentially true, Bruce!

What can we hope to accomplish with an organization so disorganized that it cannot even get our monthly magazine out to the members in the month of issue?

 

[Stand_Watie]

I wrote an impassioned response to this about 8.00 a.m. today, only to find I was unable to get back into THR. This happens EVERY DAY. I can only get the site up for about 1/2 an hour out of every 24 hours. It's really starting to P me off

Bruce, did you hit refresh a few times to make sure it was actually down and not just timed out? It usually works for me pretty much 24/7 but the site seems to have a feature that times out a page after a few minutes so that you have to copy/cut/paste your post and go back and repost it if you take more than a few minutes writing your post.