Should the hunting license be reformed to avoid accidents?

• A young woman was accidentally killed on Saturday February 19 in Cantal by a 17-year-old girl who was participating in a wild boar hunt.

• The issuance of a hunting license in France requires training and passing a series of practical and theoretical tests.

• While safety is at the heart of the training and the exam, many organizations find the first too short and the second too easy to obtain, to guarantee safety during hunts.

With each new hunting accident, the practice and its supervision are debated and questioned.

The tragic death of a 25-year-old hiker on Saturday, killed by the stray bullet of a 17-year-old young hunter was no exception, with some questioning the conditions for issuing the hunting license.

In France, you can't vote or drive alone before the age of 18, but you can own a weapon and use it before your majority?

Are permit conditions partly responsible for hunting accidents?

Should they evolve? 

takes stock.

• Can the hunting license be passed by anyone?

Three conditions must be met in order to be able to take the exam: be over 15 years old, provide a medical certificate and a sworn statement certifying that the candidate is not registered in the National File of Persons Prohibited from Acquisition and Possession of Weapons.

A minimum age criticized by some organizations.

"It is absurd that it is not possible to vote, nor to pass his license before 18 years and that one can have a weapon of war between the hands at 15 years", launches Léa Jaillard, co-founder of the collective "Un day a hunter”, created after the death of Morgan Keane, killed by a hunter.

"At 16, you can even hunt alone without a guide," adds Richard Holding, communications officer at ASPAS, the Association for the Protection of Wild Animals.

“If we look at the statistics, age is not a determining factor in accidents, it is always the non-respect of basic rules”, counterbalances Nicolas Rivet, director general of the National Federation of Hunters.

• Is the training comprehensive enough?

To be able to take the hunting license exam, it has been compulsory since 1989 to undergo training with a departmental hunting federation.

It is broken down into a theoretical part of approximately five hours and a practical part over one day.

“For the theory, the candidates cram a book with knowledge of regulations, weapons or even wildlife,” explains Nicolas Rivet.

Regarding practice, students review the four tests they will pass during the exam, namely moving on a course with a weapon, transporting it safely in a car, or shooting at targets without endangering others. .

An “insufficient” learning for Léa Jaillard, according to whom the candidates should, for example, have scenarios “at dusk or even in the rain”.

“There is also a lack of training based on the precision of the shot”, deplores Richard Holding, specifying that the bullets “can go up to 3 km away”.

Except that for Nicolas Rivet, what counts during training and for the issuance of the license is “only safety”.

“Shooting efficiency comes with practice,” he adds.

“The challenge for trainers is not that we hit the target, confirms Quentin, 29, who passed his license five years ago in Ile-de-France.

During the training, we repeat each exercise fifteen times with very rigorous trainers who repeat the rules, until we do them safely.

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Is the license exam given to everyone?

Once this training has been completed, registration for the tests remains very accessible with an amount of 31 euros for minors and 46 for adults.

The practical part of four tests and the theoretical part with a MCQ take place in half a day.

The set is noted on 31 points and it takes 25 to leave with the license.

“Unlike the car license where you need the code to pass the practical test, there the two complement each other”, regrets Léa Jaillard.

Regarding the level of requirement, associations and hunting federation do not have the same point of view.

"With us, the permit is quite easy to obtain", assures Richard Holding.

"There is more than 80% success in the exam, against 50% for the driving license", gives as a scale Léa Jaillard.

The National Federation of Hunters emphasizes for its part that certain faults are eliminatory.

“If you put your rifle on your shoulder to shoot a target while the examiner has at the same time released a human silhouette, you do not continue the tests”, assures Nicolas Rivet.

“When I passed the license, there was a candidate who did anything.

He didn't get it, even though he had passed it several times," recalls Quentin,

• Should training and the license exam be reformed?

For ASPAS, shooting accuracy should be part of the tests and be eliminatory.

Such a condition would undeniably require extending the training period for the hunting license “as is the case in Switzerland or Germany”.

Quentin recognizes it, the training gives his sense "the minimum" to be able to hunt in complete safety.

“What makes the difference is being well supported at the start and practicing with experienced people.

A bit like for the boat license where there are only three days of theory and a test in the port”, explains the young man, who obviously collects the permits.

The National Federation of Hunters explains that it is constantly making efforts to secure the practice.

“In the law of July 24, 2019, it is now written that hunters must follow a half-day refresher course every ten years”, gives Nicolas Rivet as an example.

A much too long period of time from the point of view of the ASPAS which would also like the medical certificate of the hunters to be requested from them each year as is the case for sportsmen holding a licence.

The collective "Un jour un chasseur" also denounces the lack of sanctions to penalize hunting offences.

“There is nothing today to suspend a license if a hunter is drunk or sends his ball in the shutter of a house.

This only happens if he kills or injures someone, ”laments Léa Jaillard, who suggests introducing a license on point like that of driving.

Politics

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Society

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• Regulations

• Accident

• Law

• Hunt

• Society

• Hunters

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