And 219 wounded - that is the toll, not of a gun-battle but of last year's French hunting season. Shooting, that is. In giving out these figures, the official national hunting office points out that it is an improvement on the previous year when 44 were killed and 233 people were wounded. The death figure, by the way, included two people who were just out walking. France is a big country, of course, and with over a million people blazing away, it is hardly surprising that some get hurt and some killed. The above figures, according to a report in the Figaro newspaper, were received with "relative satisfaction" by the hunting world. It is admitted that much has to be done to ensure the safety of the 1.4 million whose leisure preoccupation this is. The report does not state if there are any, or many, women among the guntoters. And it points out that danger comes only when regulations are not respected and not sufficiently known. This is particularly so among the over-50s. The spokesman for the national hunting office says it is not so much that hunting is dangerous, but the breaking of rules as, for example, by shooting in the direction of a road or of a house.
The south of France is described as the worst region in this regard, including the departments of Ardeche, Gard, Var and Vaucluse, "traditionally undisciplined" in the matter of hunting. Almost always where big game such as wild boar is involved." A boar breaks through the lines [of hunters] everyone rushes after it, loaded guns are put into the cars - which is forbidden - and they dash off without any plans as to how they will line out." Remarkably, 79 per cent of the accidents take place in conditions of good visibility and good weather. As to the over-50s, they got their permits before 1978, i.e. before an examination had to be passed to get a licence. Very few accidents took place in state forests, where, presumably regulations have to be strictly observed.
The department of Isere was the "good boy" of the season, with not one death recorded. The previous season they had three fatalities. What is Ireland's experience in this field?