ProcEs This Thursday, the hunter, who killed the young man two years ago while he was chopping wood at his home, and his “director of battered” are on trial for “manslaughter” in Cahors -debate-on-hunting-safety-is-very-far-from-appeased-9c1a1cf.jpg” alt=”Death of Morgan Keane: Two years later, the debate on the security in hunting is very far from being appeased” />
A man with a gun on a hunting trip (Illustration). — K. Grinvalds
- In December 2020, Morgan Keane, a 25-year-old young man from Lot, was killed by a hunter’s shot while he was in his garden.
- This Thursday, the hunter behind the shooting deadly and the director of the hunt are on trial in Cahors for “manslaughter”.
- For two years, and under the impetus of Morgan Keane’s friends, the debate on hunting safety has been revived and aroused strong opposition. The government has announced an upcoming plan on this subject, with announcements that will come into effect by the end of the year.
On December 2, 2020, Morgan Keane was chopping wood at a hundred meters from his house in the Lot, on his land, when he was touched fatally by a hunter’s bullet. This Thursday, the shooter and the director of the boar beat will be judged at Cahors for “manslaughter”. On the bench of the civil parties, there will be the brother of the 25-year-old young man, Rowan, with whom he lived in his small house in the village of Calvignac.
But also, which might seem more surprising, the Lot departmental hunting federation. “We have to be there, to understand what happened. Not everything has been respected and we in no way condone the act of the hunter. In our training, the safety rules are essential, we also learn that not shooting is an act of hunting,” recalls Michel Bouscary, its president, who will be present at the audience.
Like Willy Schraen, the boss of the French hunters, he emphasizes responsibility; individual of the 35-year-old shooter, originally from Aveyron, who came that day; in the Lot while France was experiencing its second confinement. And he does not hide that As a result of this fatal accident, “hunting suffered moral damage, was under attack from all sides.”.
”Detrimentalizing” accidents
On this question of society, where the positions are often clear-cut, there was indeed a before and an after “Morgan Keane”. For two years, several relatives of Lotois have indeed mobilized to through the collective “One day a hunter” to change the legislation concerning this activity; practiced regularly by more than 1.1 million French people. “We made it political. I’m not saying we didn’t talk about it before, but we never talked about it; as much hunting as in recent months and weeks. Before, accidents were reported in an innocuous way, as if it’s normal to die. This contributes to; detrimentalize. Today, they can no longer ignore that there is a problem with the current practice of hunting. If the government decides not to do anything, it’s really a conscious choice,” said L’a Jaillard, one of the victim’s friends. the origin of the collective.
On social networks, with the other co-founders, they pointed out regularly the incidents occurring on the ground or given; the floor those who have been victims. But beyond of this census, they launched last year a citizens’ petition on the Senate website. A means of submitting several proposals to parliamentarians, in particular that of stricter training, better control and monitoring of weapons, criminal sanctions “ the height of the crimes committed” but also days without hunting on Wednesdays and Sundays.
This request, taken up by elected officials, but also candidates for the presidential like Yannick Jadot and Jean-Luc Mélenchon, relaunched; the debate. The mission of the Senate on “the issue of security” to the hunt”, set up when the petition has passed; 100,000 signatures, delivered its report last September. It does not take up the idea of prohibiting hunting on certain days, but recommends that the prefects have the possibility of to “limit hunting days and times to ensure safety; people.” A series of 30 proposals that attracted the wrath of both supporters and opponents of this practice, to the origin of 90 accidents, including eight fatalities, during the 2021-2022 season. The members of the senatorial mission, for example, proposed to prohibit alcohol when hunting, to the origin of 9 % of accidents according to their report.
Alcohol, angle of fire, but not a day without a hunt. the study
An idea since taken up by the government, which unveiled three weeks ago his plan to secure the practice of hunting. It relates in particular to the upstream training of hunters, the conditions in which hunting takes place, information for users or the sharing of space. Or “the integration of the 30° angle of fire rule”, without revealing a timetable for applying it. “This issue of safety angle? has existed for more than twenty years and we talk about it during our training sessions. Regarding blood alcohol content, we agree. We must base ourselves on the legislation of the Highway Code, we must not drink while driving a car or having a weapon. hand”, agrees Michel Bouscary who has 6,500 active hunters within his departmental federation. On the other hand, he remains opposed to to a day of prohibition on the grounds of sharing nature, recalling that a majority hunting parties take place on private grounds. “And then there are safety rules. very clear, you should not shoot in the direction of hiking or residential paths,” assures this practitioner.
“They talk about 80% private land, but hunters do not own 80% of the land in France. It’s hypocrisy,” criticizes L”a Jaillard, for whom the government’s announcements are far from sufficient. For the collective “Un jour, un chasseur”, the issue of hunting days must be addressed. national and not local level, as has been the case. an evoked time. “Seven out of ten French people are asking for a ban on Sundays, public holidays, and even school holidays. It’s not normal to wonder every time we leave the house if we are going to be shot in the head, in the arm or in the legs. We can see that nothing is being done in the direction of the citizens and everything is going in the direction of the hunters, it’sa problem”same, laments the friend of Morgan Keane who hopes that a penalty of prohibition to hunt at life will be pronounced at the outcome of the trial. He also incurs up to three years imprisonment and a fine of 75,000 euros.
But beyond that; condemnation, for Léa Jaillard “the important thing is that we realize that there are responsibilities to several levels and that we stop considering that it’s trivial to kill someone while hunting”.