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A post today reports the shooting of a magpie from a bedroom window; apparently the bird fell outside of the shooter's garden. In the UK most wild birds are protected, and the general control licence does not include the circumstance of being woken up by a magpie. The poster could almost certainly be nicked under the Wildlife & Countryside Act, and the police could probably come up with other charges. We could all write the local newspaper headline, couldn't we?
Moray
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He's right a chap lost a case brought buy the RSPCA for not" have just cause" for shooting starlings in his back garden! He was shoot ing them off his bird table .
Yes all birds are protected. However, in this instance the only people likely to be interested are the RSPCA.
IF they could prove who did it, and short of someone watching from a good vantage point, I'd say this was difficult - at the very least. Health or economic reasons are justification for such a shooting in any case.
Stealing the 'cats' food, or attacking the cat? Prevention of 'egg' theft of blackbird eggs from a nest in the tree?
"RSPCA prosecute man for preventing "pest bird" eating Blackbird chicks"
"RSPCA support magpies eating whole families of songbird chicks".
That'll do their donation scheme a power of good. Even Bill Odious can't stand magpies (apparently).
The 'Starling being baited" issue has been discussed here before. IIRC, even BASC couldn't understand why the court plea that was used, was offered, since an alternate plea would have almost guaranteed acquittal.
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To be good, one must do good.
There are a lot of penus dickus headie appearing on the bbs at the moment.
Lets face it, morons like that give the rest of us a bad name and should be treated as such.
And people wonder why gunners are under such scrutiny.
Lee G
I'm with Lee on this one. Especially as the bird was sitting in a tree that must have been right on the boundary and it fell on the "wrong" side of the boundary; that ranks as a real dumbass thing to do in my book.
Adrian
Ok we get a certain idiot level appear this time of year, normaly the under 12's. But legislation has changed to prevent that.
So where do these idiots keep coming from?
Is there a load of rocks recently found where they keep crawling out from?
If your going to use an airweapon, be it fac or non fac, learn the kill zones and learn the law.
D1ck heads then wonder why we are are under such strict gun laws and cry when even a pea shooter needs an fac.
Lee
You touch on a raw nerve.
Pea shooter? Not too sure yet, but certainly a blowgun (mouth powered) is an offensive weapon and is illegal to make rent sell buy hire loan etc.
I dont know when a blowgun changes into a pea-shooter (which presumably the law would not prosecute you for having). I also dont know when a breath powered instrument is seen as a blowgun.
For the Sassenachs about, yes I do believe that a set of bagpipes could be classifed as a set of offensive weapons! Great britain, Great country, Great law!
If you think gun law is bad look at where the law is with blowpipes/blowguns!
jon