Texas Lawmaker Wants To Let the Blind Hunt

IHC Navistar writes with a story from Reuters Oddly Enough. A Texas lawmaker has introduced a measure that would allow blind people to hunt any game that sighted people can currently pursue. The article notes that the bill may have clear sailing in the hunting-besotted state of Texas. An education outreach person from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department explained it this way: "A blind person can shoot a rifle by mounting an offset pistol scope on the side of the rifle instead of on top. This allows their companion behind them to peer over their shoulder and help them sight it, but the blind person can pull the trigger."

I may be blind...

[ifchairscouldtalk]

... but I don't see the logic of it.

Re:i can imagine...

[Reaperducer]

It's not a Texas thing. It is legal for the blind to hunt in most (if not all) states. The only thing new is that Texas wants to let them be aided with lasers.

15 other states allow the blind to use lasers to help them hunt.

How is this an "Only in Texas" thing?

Re:It's Funny - Laugh

[Bastian]

What's really funny to me is that people would go through such great lengths to allow someone to do something that seems strikingly dangerous simply because they feel it's their right to be able to kill for no reason other than the crass pleasure of it. It's not even like the "for food" argument really applies in this situation, since someone else needs to be around and it's probably much easier to acquire the food without all the extra effort that would go into two people coordinating a gun. There's really no concievable reason I can find for why this would be valuable unless we sit down and agree that "for fun" is really a valuable and socially edifying reason why someone would want to kill a creature with feelings. And that really is funny.

And not funny in a "ha ha" sort of way.

Re:It's Funny - Laugh

[Chosen Reject]

every season there's some news report about a hunter shooting another hunter.

And those are people with sight. What was your point again?

currently blind people are not legally allowed to hunt

Uhm, maybe you didn't read the bill [state.tx.us] but this is only making it legal for them to hunt with lasers, as well as requiring them to hunt with a sighted companion. So it was already legal, just like in Wisconsin (PDF WARNING) [state.tx.us] and many other places.

Re:It's Funny - Laugh

[harp2812]

Oh come on, I *do* hunt for food, as does nearly every other hunter I know. Pure "sport hunters" are hardly representative of the group as a whole - just easier to pick on. Sure, I can go to the grocery store and buy a freezer full of meat for several hundred dollars... or for the price of a deer or elk tag and a weekend of hiking, I can get the same freezer full of meat for much less (which I couldn't afford otherwise). Are you going to ridicule people who have gardens and grow their own vegetables next?

Re:i can imagine...

[PatrickThomson]

Try this explanation [galactanet.com]
 
  before anyone makes a whooshing noise, I just think the comic is funny and appropriate.

Imagination

[Loucks]

You don't appear to understand that "blind" is frequently not absolute. Legally blind people can frequently still see, just not well. There is nothing intrinsically unsafe about legally blind people hunting, especially with a companion along to help with distances.

I suspect that you don't have much experience with firearms. While someone could, potentially, hit a target while blindfolded, it's much more difficult than it looks. Any theoretical totally blind person who manages to pass a marksmanship test is more a statistical anomaly than an example of "enough practice."

Oh, and in a more general response: Why does everyone have such a negative knee-jerk reaction toward hunting? I can understand the perceptions of TX, having lived there for a year, but hunting isn't limited to drunken, illiterate hillbillies.