6 ms·

French hunters react angrily to drinking ban plan to reduce accidental deaths

14 points by sandebert 4y ago

jimnotgym 4y ago
According to the article, only 9% of hunters are drunk.
- Delk 4y ago
  Not trying to argue about anything in the article, especially as I have absolutely no idea about French hunting culture, but the article doesn't actually say that. It says that, according to a hunting lobby, "91% of breathalyser tests after hunting incidents are negative" (emphasis mine). Assuming that alcohol increases the risk of accidents, the percentage of hunters who have drunk should be higher in cases where there is an accident than it is generally, so the percentage of hunters who have drunk would be lower in the general case.
  - EdwardDiego 4y ago
    That 9% is assuming that the data gathering is perfect, that all people responsible in such an incident are breathalysed (it's not unknown for someone else to claim to be the driver/hunter in alcohol related incidents), and that the alcohol measurement took place soon enough to be useful. And all that aside, if you can reduce that 9%, then that's less death and suffering, so why not do so?
    - Delk 4y ago
      Yeah, it still sounds large. As I said, I wasn't really commenting on that. I was commenting on the fact that someone seemed to be deducing a number they can't deduce based on the article they said it was from.
EdwardDiego 4y ago
Jesus Christ, French hunters. If you're worried about being delegitimised in the public eye, maybe stop having your supporters say stupid things... > In 2018, a 24-year-old hunter killed Marc Sutton, 34, a Welsh restaurateur living in Haute-Savoie who was out on his mountain bike. The hunter was sentenced to four years in prison, with three of them suspended. Afterwards, a pro-hunt Macron-supporting MP suggested banning offroad cycling during the hunting season. I regret I have but only one face to cover with a palm at this. In NZ, mixing alcohol and a firearm is a great way to lose your firearm licence (if caught).
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- gatorgetter 4y ago
  Perhaps we can ban alcohol and all intoxicants broadly. Reduce deaths by overdose, driving intoxicated, bar brawls, and the like? Otherwise, who cares. It’s headline grabber of statistical non-issue importance. All in all, I’m more likely to be dead by a motorist on a bicycle commute than I am a bullet on a hunting trip, and I do both.
  - EdwardDiego 4y ago
    Pretty much all intoxicants bar alcohol have been banned until very recently. Alcohol is too inherent to Western cultures, so got a pass. And where weed is legalised, it's still illegal to drive (and presumably operate firearms) while intoxicated. So, your suggestion has already happened? Alcohol affected drivers and hunters increase your chances of dying while cycling and hunting, so you thinking this is a non-issue is directly contrary to your own best interests, which is an interesting stance to take. Let me put it this way - forbidding drunk driving and drunk firearms usage reduces the risk of harm to others. So where's the downside? Aside from "sitting in a mai-mai (hide) waiting for ducks is cold and boring, so let's get pissed", in which case, get a different hobby. And "statistical non-issue" is easy to say when the excess deaths are faceless. NZ saw a significant reduction in "oh shit, I shot my mate" hunting accidents when the hunting culture changed to "save the beers for sitting around the campfire after a day in the bush", but it wasn't an overnight change.
hombre_fatal 4y ago
Seems like something that is easy to dismiss when you only consider yourself, someone surely able to avoid killing others, while forgetting the idiots that ruin everything for everyone. Same with things like open container laws where you can’t have open alcohol in your vehicle. Then a drunk driver kills someone close to you and suddenly the idea of every car having a built in breathalyzer sounds like a utopia.

14 points by sandebert 4y ago

jimnotgym 4y ago

According to the article, only 9% of hunters are drunk.

Delk 4y ago
Not trying to argue about anything in the article, especially as I have absolutely no idea about French hunting culture, but the article doesn't actually say that. It says that, according to a hunting lobby, "91% of breathalyser tests after hunting incidents are negative" (emphasis mine). Assuming that alcohol increases the risk of accidents, the percentage of hunters who have drunk should be higher in cases where there is an accident than it is generally, so the percentage of hunters who have drunk would be lower in the general case.
- EdwardDiego 4y ago
  That 9% is assuming that the data gathering is perfect, that all people responsible in such an incident are breathalysed (it's not unknown for someone else to claim to be the driver/hunter in alcohol related incidents), and that the alcohol measurement took place soon enough to be useful. And all that aside, if you can reduce that 9%, then that's less death and suffering, so why not do so?
  - Delk 4y ago
    Yeah, it still sounds large. As I said, I wasn't really commenting on that. I was commenting on the fact that someone seemed to be deducing a number they can't deduce based on the article they said it was from.

EdwardDiego 4y ago

Jesus Christ, French hunters. If you're worried about being delegitimised in the public eye, maybe stop having your supporters say stupid things... > In 2018, a 24-year-old hunter killed Marc Sutton, 34, a Welsh restaurateur living in Haute-Savoie who was out on his mountain bike. The hunter was sentenced to four years in prison, with three of them suspended. Afterwards, a pro-hunt Macron-supporting MP suggested banning offroad cycling during the hunting season. I regret I have but only one face to cover with a palm at this. In NZ, mixing alcohol and a firearm is a great way to lose your firearm licence (if caught).

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
gatorgetter 4y ago
Perhaps we can ban alcohol and all intoxicants broadly. Reduce deaths by overdose, driving intoxicated, bar brawls, and the like? Otherwise, who cares. It’s headline grabber of statistical non-issue importance. All in all, I’m more likely to be dead by a motorist on a bicycle commute than I am a bullet on a hunting trip, and I do both.
- EdwardDiego 4y ago
  Pretty much all intoxicants bar alcohol have been banned until very recently. Alcohol is too inherent to Western cultures, so got a pass. And where weed is legalised, it's still illegal to drive (and presumably operate firearms) while intoxicated. So, your suggestion has already happened? Alcohol affected drivers and hunters increase your chances of dying while cycling and hunting, so you thinking this is a non-issue is directly contrary to your own best interests, which is an interesting stance to take. Let me put it this way - forbidding drunk driving and drunk firearms usage reduces the risk of harm to others. So where's the downside? Aside from "sitting in a mai-mai (hide) waiting for ducks is cold and boring, so let's get pissed", in which case, get a different hobby. And "statistical non-issue" is easy to say when the excess deaths are faceless. NZ saw a significant reduction in "oh shit, I shot my mate" hunting accidents when the hunting culture changed to "save the beers for sitting around the campfire after a day in the bush", but it wasn't an overnight change.

hombre_fatal 4y ago

Seems like something that is easy to dismiss when you only consider yourself, someone surely able to avoid killing others, while forgetting the idiots that ruin everything for everyone. Same with things like open container laws where you can’t have open alcohol in your vehicle. Then a drunk driver kills someone close to you and suddenly the idea of every car having a built in breathalyzer sounds like a utopia.