As we approach the pre-openings and the official opening of the hunting season, there is a problem that is casting an ominous shadow on the enthusiasm of hunters in Italy: the bureaucratic delays affecting the issuance and renewal of hunting licenses hunting. The situation has become increasingly critical in recent months, with some hunters at risk of missing their eagerly awaited hunting appointment due to traffic jams at police stations across the country. How did this situation come about?
The current bureaucratic obstacles are the result of two main factors, both connected to the Covid-19 epidemic or, better, to the end of the restrictions put in place to contain the pandemic. On the one hand, with the lifting of restrictions on international travel, many citizens have rushed to the police headquarters to renew or apply for their passports, eager to plan trips abroad.
On the other hand, it should be remembered that weapon licenses and other identity documents have had their deadline extended due to the anti-Covid restrictions, in order to compensate for the reduced operation of public offices.
As a result, weapon permits that had expired since 2020 were extended until June 2022 (90 days after the end of the state of emergency, which ended on March 31 of that year). This created a two-year backlog of claims against the normal deadline cycle.
The question everyone is asking now is: what to do? The problem already manifested itself last year, but this year it seems to be even more serious, with extended delays also for the issue of hunting licenses. Hunters who promptly presented the documentation for renewal now risk missing the start of the hunting season due to the slowness of the police headquarters in processing the practices. This raises the question of what to do with government concession fees that have already been paid and may be worthless, as well as the possible need to claim compensation for the damage suffered.
It is important to underline that the fault does not fall on the police headquarters or on the staff, but on the exceptional situation and the work overload caused by the pandemic. The solution to this situation now appears to be a matter for national policy. A possible solution could be an extension for hunting licenses that have expired for less than a year, at least until the end of the hunting season, as was done during the Covid emergency period. However, politics will need to act quickly to prevent this perfect storm from affecting hunters and ruining their season.