animalpest wrote:There are no permits for suppressors in WA under the legislation.
There are many times that community groups, shire councils etc get told that something is legal ( especially by unscrupulous contractors) when it is not.
A contractor has way too much to lose even possessing anything illegal, let alone actively using it to assist government funded community groups. In this specific instance, quite a lot of people were aware it was going to happen, months before the grant was finally approved, then more months waiting on the approvals. None of these people were told to keep quiet about it.
I'll say it one more time, however it was done, it was done absolutely within the law.
I think it's too long ago for me to try to chase up any paperwork, but I will see if I can.
I don't believe the same shooter dealt with the pigeons years earlier, that was just the impetus behind the idea of applying for shooting permissions. It's a shame I wasn't more closely involved with group at the time, I would've wanted to meet the guy and discuss what he was doing
It has occurred to me now, that none of the Action Group were likely familiar with firearms at all. It's _possible_ an air-rifle was used, because it would be "quieter" and thus they merely believed he was using a suppressor when he wasn't. But I don't believe this was the case. As I said, any contractor has far too much at stake to have his customers spreading stories about him using illegal methods. If you know the Wetland, the shooting was done on the north side, which is quite close to housing (we lived about 200m from the area - Langham Gardens) and a fairly busy road. There is a very good chance that people would've noticed somebody spotlighting foxes in there.