The 'all these idiots' argument against handgun hunting is a close cousin to the arguments used by anti-gun activists who want to take away our right to own any firearms. It postulates unrealistically irresponsible people who would--if just given the chance--run higgley piggley all over the landscape, leaving bullet holes and wounded game in their wake.
These are called 'straw man' arguments, and are just one example of fallacious rhetoric (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man). For no good reason that I can figure out, hunting and firearms issues seem to attract straw man arguments, often comically simplistic ones (see: the irrational anti-magnum arguments).
To address the issue of handgun hunting specifically...
I took the non-restricted course. I took the restricted course. I took the provincial hunting course. In order to receive my RPAL I had to get RCMP clearance from every city in which I resided for the past five years. I applied for, and waited to receive, my PAL, RPAL, and hunter's certificate card. I applied for and waited to receive draws, and purchased hunting tags. I applied for and waited to receive temporary authorization to transport a pistol, which I had already paid for and wanted to take home. I paid for membership in a local firing range. I applied for and waited to receive long-term authorization to transport my pistol, so that I could fire it at the range. I paid for ammunition that is suitable for use in hunting medium game at reasonable distances.
At what point does this start to look f***ing ridiculous? I have jumped through hoop after hoop and paid hundreds of $$$ and days of my valuable time to satisfy the government's apparently bottomless desire to keep me from owning and firing a handgun. I have met all of these requirements, and because I'm a grown up so I'll go out and practice my shooting until I can make an ethical shot in the field. Guys with muzzleloaders and bows are free to roam the woods, wounding game with their 'primitive' weapons, so from the legislative standpoint it's not an issue of humane hunting. So how is it that the government feels they can get away with directly and grossly violating our rights as handgun owners?
I tell ya, if the poutine weren't so damned good, I'd have to think about moving back to the 'states
