Light at the end of the Barrel for Blind Hunters!

Texas State Rep. Edmund Kuempel filed a Bill that would help legally-blind people in hunting! Hunting is THE thing in Texas. Heard about this Texas House Bill 308 on the radio while driving to work this AM. Spoke to my colleague Dean about it. Dean is a big time hunter and he holds a hunting lease in West Texas. In addition to paying big bucks for the lease, he pays to watch deer on his lease via web cast, through a set of cameras on the property. Based on which corn feeders are visited most by the deer with big racks, he would set up his deer blinds. He would have the ability to pan the cameras to look around.

Dean said that a couple of years ago one of the State Representatives thought about proposing a Bill that would allow people to hunt deer from their offices using remotely-operated rifles that are connected to web cameras! Apparently, that idea was dropped. I just can't understand the enjoyment these hunters draw in killing animals. They are so passionate about it. I get amazed by watching hunting rifles, scopes, and thousands of hunting supplies at Academy, when ever I go there to buy shoes, etc. during hunting season. Here is an article about House Bill 308 in today's Austin American Statesman.

No state law restricts the hunting rights of people who are blind or
visually impaired. There are, however, laws prohibiting the use of "beams of
light" to aid a hunter.

State Rep. Edmund Kuempel, R-Seguin, wants to change that. He has filed a
bill that would allow hunters who are legally blind to use laser sighting
devices, as long as they are accompanied by a person who is not visually
impaired and abide by the usual time and seasonal restrictions.
Such devices
project a beam of laser light on an animal, allowing a seeing person to better
direct a hunter where to aim.

Kuempel said that laser beams would give seeing hunters an "unfair
advantage" but that such devices would make hunting "a whole new ballgame" for
the visually impaired.
"This opens up the fun of hunting to additional
people, and I think that's great," said Kuempel, who filed House Bill 308 late
last month.

Steve Hall, director of hunter and boater education for the Texas Parks
and Wildlife Department, said that as long as people who are visually impaired
take the mandatory hunter education class and obtain a license, there is nothing
legally stopping them from going out on their own.

"But we've never had a case where someone with a visual impairment
would want to hunt alone anyway," Hall said.

He said that the department has printed some of its educational
materials in Braille and that it can fully accommodate any physical disability.

And while Hall said he can "count on one hand" the number of times he
has witnessed a hunter who was visually impaired, he said the experience was
emotionally rewarding to both the hunters and himself.

"They all took game, as I remember," Hall said.

Kuempel said he has yet to meet with groups that advocate for the
visually impaired to talk about the bill but plans to do so soon. Tommy Craig,
president of the National Federation for the Blind in Texas, said he had not
heard of the legislation and did not anticipate his group issuing a formal
opinion on such a measure.

Glenda Born, who works as an assistant technology specialist with the
state's Division for Blind Services, said she thinks there are more important
matters that need to be addressed.
"I personally think it's a little off the
wall," said Born, who is blind.

The Texas Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services, under
which Born works, had no official comment. Spokesman Glenn Neil said the
department does not comment on pending legislation.

Kuempel said 15 states allow people who are blind or visually impaired
to use laser sights, and he doesn't want Texas to lag behind.

"I talked to some people who were talking about legally blind people
hunting, and I checked, and, lo and behold, other states already had it,"
Kuempel said. "So I said, 'It sounds like a good thing for the State of Texas
and its people who are legally blind.