A couple of weeks ago the NSW Game Council issued a press release entitled “Illegal Hunters Caught In Illawarra Blitz”, bragging that a coordinated operation by the Illawarra police and Game Council resulted in a man charged with hunting with a silenced firearm, four men charged with trespassing and a commercial guide charged with trespassing. The release said the Game Council’s chief executive officer Brian Boyle was involved in the “crackdown” and “commended the strong action taken by police.”
In May the Game Council issued a press release commending the police for prosecuting someone for hunting deer without a licence.
In an attempt to sell more game licences, the Game Council tries to appear shooter friendly. It takes stands at gun shows, advertises in shooting magazines and employs shooters as field officers. It would have you believe it is on the side of shooters.
Obviously only certain shooters.
The use of silencers is considered thoughtful in most parts of the world and trespass is the business of the property owner, not the police. Deer are exotic to Australia and most people would consider it laughable to be prosecuted for shooting them.
Sneaking around with the police to catch people who don’t obey laws that harm nobody else is the other side of the Game Council.
What makes it worse is that the government subsidises the Game Council by about $4 million a year because only about 7,000 shooters have paid for a licence. The rest of the hunters of NSW (over 150,000 of them) are voting with their wallets.
What’s the bet a lot less than 7,000 renew their licences once it becomes known the money is being used to fund brownshirts?
August 17, 2008 at 11:41 am |
This event highlights why many gun owners and hunters were against the establishment of The NSW Game Council, with its powers to police and prosecute. It should be emphasised that while the Coalition for Gun Control wants to control guns, the Game Council (and its supporters) want to control shooters. Most shooters/hunters are stongly individualistic, lovers of freedom and dont want to be controlled!
December 12, 2008 at 2:27 pm |
It boils down to being a “Free Citizen” (aka – Criminal) or a “Subject”- It should be a regional issue. We have the same problems here in the US – Large Federal Establishment, telling the small localities what to do and how to do it.
Totally against what the Founding Fathers desired in our early years.
Strong Federal laws – weak State laws, Totally opposite of what it was supposed to be!
Now look at our lowly state of being.
For example, People in New York and D.C. telling Alaska how not to develop THEIR resources! Absolutely Ludicrous!
Anyway – Gob Bless Y’all – Happy Hanukah – Merry Christmas
http://www.jpfo.org
John
January 18, 2009 at 1:54 am |
Please join the Facebook group of Libertarian bloggers : http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=40644723076
July 1, 2009 at 9:55 am |
Get a grip losers. No normal citizen believes that he has a right to enter someone else’s land because he is performing a public service by shooting something on it.
Just where do property rights begin in your crazy libertarian world?
July 28, 2009 at 8:27 pm |
For the past 3 months a group I am party to have TRIED to gain assistance from the NSWGC over large numbers of Fallow & Red Deer being shot by other “Brown Shirt” Depts. We have had Snow Jobs, hot air blown up our Kazoo’s, but NOTHING productive towards NSWGC going Head to Head with other long time established Depts who’s employees are taking part in these clandestine operations. Our complaints have only caused us to be now treated like we have Leprosy. NSWGC prefer to behave like Osteriches and be warm and fuzzy towards other Depts but then blow their collective trumpets and go out to head hunt individual soft targets sporadically (to be seen to be proactive). The role of the Game Managers is basically to push the sale of “R” & “G” Licences to keep the cash flowing in, NOT a great deal is done towards actual Compliance issues even when its handed to the NSWGC Management on a platter. In most instances NSWGC are just Pee & Wind operators. Most of the State forests are regularly hammered by poachers local the the individual area but in knowing this very little is achieved towards regular prosecutions for breaches to the Act. As more people wakeup to this facade they will realise they are not getting much for their yearly membership and the numbers and therefore income will dwindle away.
August 14, 2009 at 12:56 pm |
Put your complaint on the Shooters Party website forum if you want a discussion about it. Nobody is going to read it here. The Game Council doesn’t have unlimited funds for surveillance of forests. You can’t have it both ways either. If the Game Council are brown shirts, stepped up compliance will only make people like you claim that they are severe brown shirts. The poacher in State forests is most likely to be a local, in fact most likely to be the first one to know when the Game Council ranger is in the area too.