Blind Texans may get right to hunt

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-2499705,00.html

AUSTIN The blind will be able to go hunting if a Texas Bill becomes law.

They would have to be accompanied by a sighted hunter, who would help to guide their shots, and carry proof that they were legally blind. The law will also allow them to use a laser sight — a device forbidden to sighted hunters.

Edmund Kuempel, a State Representative, who introduced the Bill, said: “This opens up the fun of hunting to additional people, and I think that’s great.” The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, which regulates hunting, has no definition for what constitutes a legally blind hunter. The Bill would give it until January 1, 2008, to come up with a definition.

[WI_DEM]

1. Well why not? Nobody's stopped Cheney

[niyad]

2. oh my god!!! just what we need is blind hunters! I mean, how freaking stupid IS this?

and just as a matter of curiousity, how many blind people are demanding to hunt?

by the way, I will freely admit that, unless one is hunting for food, I am absolutely opposed to hunting. (going to put on flame-retardant suit, and bring large drink)

[jilln]

3. Hunting is less popular year after year

and the parks and wildlife people, who are charged with maintaining the wildlife and are paid through hunting licenses (conflict of interest, anyone?) are doing whatever they can to prop up the dying "sport." There are all kinds of hunting programs for kids and women and people who traditionally did not hunt - all paid for by taxpayers - so more people will enjoy killing the wildlife that by law belongs to all of us.

Remember last year or so when they wanted to start Internet hunting? Just log on, aim your cursor at an animal hundreds of miles away in front of a video camera, and trigger the gun remotely. You know, so people who have to work in offices can enjoy the fun too.

[no_hypocrisy]

4. Let'em have drivers licenses while TX is busy enacting useful

legislation.

[11 Bravo]

5. As a hunter I've got to say, you can't even make this shit up.

Maybe we can give then fully automatic AKs so they can empty a clip toward any suspicious sounds.

[dysfunctional press]

6. "...fun of hunting"?

fun?

i realize that most of the people who hunt do so because they enjoy it- and some still do it for the reason it all started- to feed their families...and it doesn't bother me at all...

BUT-
for some reason, reading the phrase "the fun of hunting"- it just sounds...sick.

[Homer Wells]

15. Well, I reckon that those Texas folk

even the Blind ones , have to put food on their family!

:spray:

[tammywammy]

7. This was also discussed here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=180x40597

[Devil Dog Dem]

8. This is a good law

In Illinois, there is a similar program, except you can't use a laser sight. The blind hunter has to have someone stand over their shoulder and try to figure out where they are aiming, and then whisper to them, "A little to the left, now down a bit. There. Now squeeze the trigger."

My father was just one such guide, and found it the most rewarding hunting experience of his life when he helped a blind hunter get a buck.

[Annces]

9. Who says blind people can't be just as heartless as

the rest of the hunters.

[judaspriestess]

10. How could a blind person even have 'fun'

killing an animal and not being able to see what they have done? I guess the sounds the animal makes as its dying is good enough? this is asanine.

[SoCalDem]

12. maybe they can get the animals to wear microphones, so the

blind person can hear them grunting and crying in pain, as they die..:grr:

[benEzra]

14. Remember that being legally blind doesn't mean you can't see...

Remember that being legally blind doesn't mean you can't see well. *Narrow field of vision* with good visual acuity is one form of legal blindness, i.e. you could have 20/20 vision in a 20-degree field and still be declared legally blind. I suspect it's people like that who were lobbying for the rule change.

My legally blind grandmother is the opposite - good peripheral vision, no vision straight ahead (macular degeneration), so she wouldn't be able to shoot a gun well.

[demosincebirth]

11. Only in Texas!

[tammywammy]

16. Nope, PA allowed it last year

http://www.crimsontrace.com/blindhunter/jeremy.html



A wounded soldier returns home to hunt with his Dad

Jeremy Feldbusch had been an active outdoorsman his entire life. Fate intervened in Iraq in April 2003, when he lost his eyesight while fighting for his country.

But this didn’t stop Jeremy from wanting to continue his family’s tradition of deer hunting in the Pennsylvania woods.

After Adam Wollander of Crimson Trace read Jeremy’s story, Crimson Trace contacted Jeremy to see if he would be interested in trying a set of Lasergrips for the upcoming deer season.

After accepting the offer to give Lasergrips a try in the field, Jeremy discovered it was illegal to use electronic devices such as lasers in the taking of game animals in Pennsylvania.

Undaunted, Jeremy contacted the Game Commission Press Secretary, Jerry Feaser, who promised to help him. Within days, the Game Commission enacted a new law that allows legally blind persons to take game animals with the use of a laser.

-snip-

[demosincebirth]

17. Ok, only in Texas and Pennsylvania.

[LittleClarkie]

13. Reminds me of a Gallagher routine

How do you hide from a blind man with a gun? How do you make a sound that isn't like a rabbit!

[rucky]

18. Best headline I've seen in awhile.

almost up there with "Headless body found in topless bar."