Rep. Edmund Kuempel, a Seguin, Texas Republican, has introduced a bill that would allow legally blind individuals - who are, for some unfathomable reason, already allowed to hunt in Texas - to use laser sighting devices to assist their sighted "guide" in directing their shots. While I am certainly in favor of assisting the disabled in their quest to live full lives, I think we really need to inject a bit of common sense into our feel-good quest. He justifies the logic of the bill by stating that blind individuals have been able to shoot at a target range with assistance, so why not further assist them in their efforts to hunt? We should keep in mind that the conditions on a target range are tightly controlled, whereas in the field, there are infinite variables that must be addressed, frequently requiring a split-second decision based upon input from all our senses. Blind individuals have also been able to drive automobiles on a closed course, but I certainly wouldn't advise turning them loose in traffic, no matter who they had sitting beside them. Even allowing them to use high-powered weapons in a less-controlled environment is absurd, and tacking on extra technology would not significantly reduce the danger they pose.
There are far too many "accidents" already, involving people who are in command of all their senses, if not their common sense. If you need an example, you need look only at what our esteemed Vice President was able to accomplish on a bird hunt in the Hill Country. It just seems foolish to broaden the field of opportunity for tragedy, just so an individual with a physical handicap can feel a little better about him or herself. What the heck is Kuempel thinking? Or is he thinking at all? Let's not allow our deluded quest for political correctness and "sensitivity" to overrule our common sense here. If we are going to pass this law, let's at least delay its passage until after we pass a law allowing the blind to drive their automobiles to the hunting lease. Just let me know when they're heading out, okay?! I want to make sure and stay off the roads when Stevie Wonder dons his camo gear and tosses his AR-15 in the Ferrari!
I feel that, rather than enhance the hunting options of the blind, we should place limits on where they are allowed to shoot at all. An open field or a stand, where other hunters are liable to appear without warning, just isn't the place. And a laser sighting device doesn't make a stupid endeavor any more intelligent.
