Bill would allow legally blind Texans to hunt

[brooklynite]

AUSTIN — A state lawmaker wants to make sure no Texan is left out when it comes to hunting, even if the hunter is legally blind.

Rep. Edmund Kuempel, a Seguin Republican, has filed a bill for the 2007 legislative session that would allow legally blind hunters to use a laser sight, or lighted pointing instrument. The devices are forbidden for sighted hunters.

Blind hunters would also have to have a sighted hunter along with them, but they could hunt any game that sighted people can hunt in the same seasons and using the same weapons.

"This opens up the fun of hunting to additional people, and I think that's great," Kuempel said.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4393713.html

I don't have a problem with this - if the VP can shoot someone in the face, why shouldn't blind people be able to?

[Deep13]

1. Try not to sound like a rabbit.

[yellowcanine]

9. Good point. And don't rub your antlers on a tree either.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Ah, reminds me of that old Christian hymm, Amazing Grace....

".........Was blind,
but now I slaughter....."

Just makes me want to weep. Hallelujah. Praise jezus.

[demnan]

3. Maybe that was Cheney's problem

I ask you, would you go hunting with an armed blind person (maybe a little drunk)? You'd have to be damn stupid to do that.

[Gregorian]

4. But...

Just a stupid thought on my part. I say we let them drive, as long as they have a sighted driver with them. Of course they should be able to hunt. All three of the blind people who want to hunt, that is.

Actually, I think this exposes a much bigger problem than the obvious. Why are we putting effort into such important things when there are such insignificant things going on in the greater society?

This really is telling. This shows where our priorities are. Children and their mothers are dodging machine gun fire from helicopters in Sudan, and we're thinking about blind hunters. Where are the priorities. Fix the bigger problems, then work on blind hunting.

[no_hypocrisy]

5. Does that remove the defense of unintentionally shooting

another hunter for the sake of "I couldn't properly see"?

[xultar]

6. They'd probably be better shots than Cheney.

[Vinca]

7. Let me get this straight.

Jobs are flowing out of the country, the homeless population is growing, kids go to bed hungry, nearly 50 million uninsured and this guy's working on legislation so the blind can hunt.:banghead: You can't make this stuff up.

[yellowcanine]

8. Oh now that is just brilliant. What is next, blind car drivers, as long as there is a sighted

person sitting next to them? I am sorry but this is just stupid.

[Bucky]

10. Wait until they start applying the Americans with Disabilities Act to hunting.

Either all hunters much hunt blindfolded, or the state parks will be forced to plant beeping homing devices on all legal game in the state. This might work for deer, if you trank 'em first. But placing the little beepers on duck would be a stone bitch.

[yellowcanine]

And you better not accidentially turn on those beepers when carrying them whilst chasing said duck.

[Mz Pip]

11. Hunt what?

Seriously, have the blind people in Texas been complaining about this? Have there been demonstrations demanding that blind people be allowed to wander around the wilderness with a seeing friend and shoot at moving things? :scared:

Texas must be one weird place.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[Bigmack]

12. What... you never heard of a ....

...."sound" shot?

[dmallind]

13. It's an equality thing

A legally blind hunter is probably equal to me with long guns that is :-)

Worth remembering is that legally blind does not equal completely sightless, and that perfect acuity is not required for motion detection and range ID.

[Porcupine]

14. WTF!! Laser sights??

Some dumbass can't shoot so he wants to be able to spotlight a deer with a laser. That or dad aims the gun with the laser sight and lets little johnny pull the trigger.

Only in texas would this sound like a good idea. It sounds like a South Park plot.

[DemoTex]

15. Does blind-drunk count?

[Judi Lynn]

16. If God didn't mean people to kill every living thing, he wouldn't have put living things here.

Our lives are so brief, we don't have nearly enough time to kill as many of the remaining creatures as we'd like.

Of course :sarcasm: .

And if I get shot by a blind hunter, I have no one to blame but myself. I should have been wearing orange, in case his/her sight had momentarily come back to him/her.

[SeattleVet]

17. Washington state has had reduced fee hunting licenses for the blind

for a long time.

The applicaiton for the permits is here:

https://fishhunt.dfw.wa.gov/wdfw/hunter_disableapp.pdf

[slackmaster]

31. Any word on how many hunting accidents legally blind people have caused?

Any at all?

[Elidor]

18. What could possibly go wrong?

[superconnected]

24. hahahhahahhaha

:rofl: :rofl:

[Odin2005]

19. Remind me never to go hunting in Texas.

I don't want to get shot by some blind guy.

[slackmaster]

20. I can't resist the temptation to throw out some hard information here

From the American Foundation for the Blind Web site:

Legal blindness is a level of visual impairment that has been defined by law to determine eligibility for benefits. It refers to central visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with the best possible correction, as measured on a Snellen vision chart, or a visual field of 20 degrees or less.

With the second part of the definition (visual field limitation), it's possible for a person to have very acute vision in a limited field and qualify as legally blind. An individual afflicted in that manner would have little difficulty safely firing a weapon, especially with a sighted person nearby to verify that the field was clear of unintended targets.

A related topic that always results in some hysterics and hilarity is the issuance of concealed-weapons permits, by some states, to legally blind people who can meet the same objective requirements as fully sighted people. In many cases, that includes a shooting test.

This is most likely a tempest in a teapot, with no more than a handful of people likely to take advantage of the privilege should it become available.

Carry on.

[eagler]

21. Maybe they'll go crazy trying to read tree bark

nt

[Paladin]

25. Aw Slack, You're Not Giving Everybody The Full Picture.....

...of how this subject was treated down in the Gun Dungeon sometime back. Slackmaster's being coy, folks; in point of fact, there was not one, not two, but three threads opened in the Gungeon, proclaiming the sacred right of the sight-impaired to pack heat. The iron-clad gun safety rule of "Always Be Sure Of Your Target" was thus modified to something like "Be As Sure Of Your Target As You're Able, Then Fire Away And Hope For The Best." Hysterics and hilarity, indeed.....

[slackmaster]

29. Now Paladin, that's just a little hyperbolic on your part

...proclaiming the sacred right of the sight-impaired to pack heat....

No, only ones who can pass the test and who really want to.

[MadHound]

26. Slack, I'm legally blind without my glasses on

I'm deathly nearsighted, and if my vision wasn't correctable, I wouldn't be able to do a lot of things, like operate a motor vehicle or go hunting. And frankly, seeing the world through my eyes, I can see why such restrictions make the most perfect sense in the world.

You cannot be sure of your target, that's the biggest issue, and I know for a fact that if you are severly vision impaired, you are going to have major problems with colors blending, or fading out, even from as short away as fifteen yards. You might here a rustle, fail to catch the orange blur, and blast away, thinking it's a deer instead of a fellow hunter.

Yeah, yeah, I know, I know, you've got to have a sighted hunter with you, but still and all, mistakes happen, especially if you join in on the little wake up nip, you know, the one in your pre-dawn coffee that wakes you up and warms you up at the same time. Sorry, but this bill has tragedy written all over it. And it only takes one person, one mistake to cause that tragedy.

Hopefully the good people of Texas will see this for the foolishness and insanity it is.

[slackmaster]

30. MadHound, I too would qualify as legally blind without my specs

Or very close to it. I would not feel safe shooting without my glasses, other than in a controlled indoor range.

My point is that the term "legal blindness" does NOT necessarily indicate a deficiency of VISUAL ACUITY, and acuity in the center of the field of vision (macula) is needed for aiming a firearm. A lot of people get a picture in their heads of profound blindness whenever the "B" word is mentioned. That's ignorance, and it's why I posted my initial reply.

You are speaking for yourself. I note that you would exclude yourself from shooting, if your vision was uncorrectable. I would do the same.

Can't you trust other visually impaired people to have and excercise the same judgement you have?

I can. Being visually impaired does NOT mean you are morally impaired, irresponsible, or stupid.

I think a lot of people here are showing prejudice against visually impaired people. Like people with other physical limitations, visually impaired people are cognizant of their abilities.

[w4rma]

22. Oh. That's actually good. (nt)

[RamboLiberal]

23. Game Commission in PA allowed it last year and it came about

because a blinded Iraq vet wanted to still be able to hunt. I have no problem with it since they are with a sighted hunter.

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.

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

[Lipton64]

27. Hey, it's the same-state that granted Mr. Cheney immunity after he broke the law for hunting......

so what do you expect? All I know is that the possible vacation house I was thinking about building in Brownsville will probably now be relocated to either Florida or Las Vegas....

[ashling]

28. Furthermore, the blind should be allowed to

carry a concealed gun without a permit. "Everyplace is concealed to blind people," the Republikan said. :sarcasm: