See Where It Will Eventually Lead??

[Marlin]

Here is an article from today's CNS News.

This is where the antis will eventually take us if not stopped now before they get any further.

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Stage Set For UK Hunting Showdown

By Mike Wendling
CNSNews.com London Bureau Chief
November 25, 2003

London (CNSNews.com) - A decision on whether or not to push through a ban on foxhunting in Britain is expected Wednesday, but a parliamentary committee has ruled that restrictions could violate human rights laws.

Attempts by Prime Minister Tony Blair's administration to impose a ban on the rural sport have been consistently thwarted by the House of Lords and lack of legislative time.

The House of Commons has voted in favor of a ban and during the Queen's Speech on Wednesday, the government could announce plans to force through a ban with a little-used law that allows the lower chamber to overrule the Lords.

In the most recent attempt to ban foxhunting last month, the upper house backed a compromise bill that would allow the sport to continue with licensing restrictions.

After the compromise was rejected in the Commons, the bill bounced back to the Lords, which ran out of time to debate it.

The Queen's Speech, although delivered by the monarch, is written by the ruling parliamentary party. It sets out the main legislative goals for the following year, although bills not listed in the speech are often introduced later.

A mention of the hunting bill could set up a showdown with hereditary lords, who could be removed from the chamber in plans under consideration by Blair's administration.

This week, a parliamentary joint committee examining the hunt ban bill ruled that it could fall afoul of Europe-wide human rights laws by failing to provide adequate compensation for industries and landowners economically supported by the sport.

A hunt ban could force businesses such as kennels and horse stables to break contracts, the joint committee on human rights said.

"We consider that this [bill] would have been likely to constitute a deprivation of property," the committee wrote in a report released Tuesday.

"As a general principle, compensation for such a deprivation is required...unless there is the strongest justification for not providing it," the report said.

Pro- and anti-hunting groups have been ramping up their lobbying efforts in advance of tomorrow's announcement.

"The government has repeatedly promised to enable Parliament to reach a conclusion on the cruel sport of hunting with dogs," said Douglas Batchelor, chief executive of the League Against Cruel Sports.

"Given the intransigence of the House of Lords, the only way for the government to keep its promise is for them to reintroduce the hunting bill back into the House of Commons as quickly as possible."

The pro-hunting Countryside Alliance, meanwhile, praised the human rights reports and said that it is "inconceivable that the government would encourage parliament to spend further time on a bill about which the... committee has issued such a strong warning."

Some hunters have said they will resort to civil disobedience if a hunt law is eventually passed.

© 2003 Cybercast News Service

[Smokin Guns]

U.K. bee's sucklin'...Not the people, just the "Gun Rules"...Between the Canadians and the UK...There's a whole lot'a gun rights be'in washed down the drain...