The battle over the “shooter law” enters a new phase and the front against the reform returns to the attack. After the approval of the bill on the revision of hunting legislation in the Senate, a new complaint arrives from environmental and animal rights associations: the majority has decided to speed up the parliamentary process by bringing the text to the Chamber in November, without waiting for the conclusion of the examination of the amendments in the Agriculture Committee.
For the national coalition that opposes the measure, this is a “very serious democratic breach”, since a reform intended to profoundly modify the rules on hunting and the protection of wildlife would require, according to the associations, a complete and in-depth parliamentary debate.
At the center of the dispute is the choice to schedule bill no. 2984 in the Chamber while the Commission has not yet finished examining the amendments presented.
An extremely serious institutional override, say the associations, who accuse the majority of compressing the debate on a provision that directly concerns wildlife, biodiversity and ecosystems, now recognized among the fundamental principles of the Italian Constitution after the modification of Article 9.
According to those opposed to the reform, the risk is that the space to evaluate the critical issues raised during parliamentary proceedings will be reduced, leaving without adequate in-depth analysis issues that concern not only wild animals, but also the safety of citizens and land management.
From wildlife protection to the “bioregulatory hunter”
The Hunting Bill, already approved in the Senate with 80 votes in favor and 56 against, has been strongly criticized by associations for a series of changes considered a setback in the protection of wild animals.
Among the most contested aspects is the new approach according to which hunting activity could take on a role in the ecological management of the territory, transforming the hunter into a sort of “bioregulator”. A definition which, according to opponents, would risk overturning the historical principle of law 157/1992, which recognizes wild fauna as an unavailable heritage of the State and entrusts its protection to the collective interest.
Furthermore, as is obvious, there is a strong concern about the expansion of hunting opportunities in areas that are now more protected and about the possible impact on particularly sensitive species, including the wolf, whose protection status could be modified under the new legislation.
Wildlife cannot become an instrument of political consensus
According to the coalition organizations, the choice to accelerate the law’s path would be linked more to political and electoral needs than to real needs for wildlife management.
Wildlife is reduced to an instrument of political consensus, they denounce, recalling that wild animals do not represent a private resource but a collective good, the protection of which concerns the entire society.
The associations therefore ask that Parliament be able to complete its work, concluding the examination of the amendments and guaranteeing a transparent discussion before the definitive passage.
The game is not over yet: after the Senate’s green light, the Chamber of Deputies will now represent the next decisive step for a reform that has already sparked one of the most controversial debates in recent years on the relationship between hunting, nature conservation and the protection of biodiversity.
