Shooting ‘for fun’ in picnic area raises concerns

EDITOR – A recent visit to Pipeline beach around 5pm left me feeling more than a little perturbed.

While passing Pipeline picnic spots further along Beach Road to turn around, I witnessed a male, drink in hand, with a high-powered rifle lying across his lap.

I stopped and enquired what he was doing with a weapon in public, to which he replied he was ‘shooting at things for fun’.

The weapon was fitted with a telescopic sight, and he was facing south, facing the direction of the parking lot on the left and a couple of resident cats on the verge behind the pool complex. I said that I hoped he wasn’t shooting at any animals, but, since he seemed to regard our encounter as rather amusing, he quipped that he was shooting at me.

I would have taken the registration number of his old model white vehicle but it had no plates, and for obvious reasons I no longer take my cellphone to the beach.

I have a couple of questions: Is it not illegal to display a weapon in public; discharge a weapon in public; take a weapon past a signboard clearly indicating that weapons are not permitted in the picnic area; and to not display registration plates on your vehicle?

I would be most interested in the response of our local SAPS and whether they would respond should I encounter this individual again and report him.

LAW(LESS) AND (DIS)ORDER