DANGER: MORONS ON THE PROWL

Well, it's late September - almost time for gun-wielding idiots to go out and prove their manhood by shooting animals that aren't paying enough attention, including, of course, human animals. The latest trend in the UK, where they've already started, is to get even more of an advantage over defenseless prey by "lamping," i.e. hunting at night and shining "a bright light to blind their quarry and target[ing] the reflection in its eyes."

It's working great, at least on humans. Earlier this month a 13-year-old boy was shot dead by his own stepfather on a "lamping" trip when he was mistaken for a fox, and a wildlife expert was shot in August by a "lamper" who mistook his night-vision binoculars for fox's eyes. And now a 12-year-old boy is fighting for his life after being shot in the head by a suspected "lamper" while he and his father were walking their dog.

I can't imagine any thinking, feeling person being unmoved by this account (though of course, as being a hunter requires blocking both of these activities, they'll be exempt, rationalizing it as "the price that must be paid" for their freedom to kill whatever they choose): "The man and his son are Castleford people and they had been walking down the track for about a mile when they saw a bright light over to the left and then the boy suddenly screamed out in pain. He fell back, holding his head, in his dad's arms and the man realised his son had been shot. He then carried him the mile back up the track. It must have been absolutely heart-breaking and a hell of a job for the man."