A 25-year old woman was walking along a trail near Aurillac with a friend when she was struck by a stray gunshot on Saturday.
The 17-year old girl who was participating in a hunt for wild boar took the shot. After being treated for shock, the teen was taken into custody and questioned until Sunday night.
France is deeply committed to its rural heritage, but this tragedy has increased the pressure to enforce stricter hunting rules in the country with the highest number of European hunters.
According to the FNC hunters’ Federation, there are approximately one million permit-holding hunter in France. They could, together with their families, represent around 5 million voters out of 48 million registered to vote.
Yannick Jadot (Greens candidate for April’s presidential election) stated Saturday that “We urgently require more regulation of this activity.”
Jean-Luc Melenchon is the leading leftwing candidate hoping to unseat President Emmanuel Macron in the polls. He called for hunting to be prohibited on weekends and during school holidays, “because that’s where there’s most risk.”
Macron is likely to be questioned at Saturday’s Paris Agriculture Show appearance. This annual visit is crucial for politicians seeking to win the rural vote.
Since 2000, hundreds of hunters have been killed in hunting accidents
According to Le Monde (France’s daily), there have been 332 hunting accidents in France in 2000. This has resulted in 421 deaths.
France is one of few European countries that does not prohibit hunting during certain days of the season. Instead, hunters are allowed to shoot at any time as long as they notify others — something critics have called insufficient.
Morgan Keane was 25 years old and was cutting wood in his yard when he was hit by a bullet from a hunter of wild boar in France. Reuters reported his friend’s death prompted them to create a petition calling on France to ban hunting. The petition gathered over 120,000 signatures.
“Morgan could be anyone… “It could be your parents, or it could be anybody,” Lea Jaillard, co-organizer of the petition, said to Reuters.
After receiving the petition, the Senate created a panel to evaluate its safety.
While Macron’s government has not expressed hostility to traditional hunting practices, it has frequently left the door open for a more restrictive approach.
“If it turns out that we need to tighten our rules further, then we will,” Macron’s secretary-of-state in charge of biodiversity, Berangere Abba told AFP. He also noted that France had announced the creation an app that could be used to indicate where hunts are occurring.
These apps are frequently opposed by hunting organizations, who claim they could be used to disrupt organized hunts by anti-hunting activists.
Abba stated that the permit was granted to Abba by 16.
Abba said, “We must verify that the hunt was properly communicated and marked,” and he added, in particular, with posted signs to alert hikers.
Willy Schraen is the head of FNC. The FNC has long resist limits and stated on Facebook that local chapters are being contacted to “remind everyone about all the safety rules.”
France has banned the use of traditional bird hunting methods in France in accordance with a directive from 2009 by the EU. This includes hunting with nets, bird cages or glue hunting.
Macron is the favorite to win and has not yet declared his candidacy. There is speculation that the announcement might be made prior to or after the fair.
