Blind Hunting

If state congressman Edmund Kuempel gets his way, legally blind individuals will be able to use laser-sighted devices to hunt game in Texas. I can't even decide where to begin with my objections and concerns. For just a moment, I will look past my misgivings about hunting as "sport" and focus on other issues. According to a BBC article, blind hunters aren't a new phenomenon in Texas. This law would simply allow them to use laser scopes when hunting while assisted by a sighted guide. Currently, a sighted guide can only assist the blind hunter by peering over his shoulders and advising where to aim the gun and when to pull the trigger.

What the heck are blind people doing hunting in the first place?! Is Texas actually issuing hunting licenses to the blind?! I would think the same reason that the DMV doesn’t issue them drivers licenses would also preclude the state from issuing them hunting licenses: The can’t see! And is it actually legal to sell a gun to a legally blind person in Texas (or anywhere else for that matter)? You always hear people talking about how a car is a weapon. No reasonable person would knowingly put a car in the hands of someone who was too physically impaired to operate it safely (ie. someone physically impaired by a substance or someone whose physical disability rendered them incapable of safe operation). That’s why the blind don’t drive. They can’t see. So why are Texans willing to put an actual weapon, a gun, into the hands of a blind person? It just doesn’t make sense. Ever year about 90 people are killed in the US in hunting accidents while almost 1000 hunting-related injuries are reported. Now throw blind hunters into the mix and see what it does to those numbers.

A few years back, I knew someone who’s boyfriend accidentally shot his best friend in the head and killed him while duck hunting in NY. The friend stood up suddenly in front of this person at the exact moment a flock of ducks took off in that direction. The hunter saw his friend stand up, but just didn’t have enough reaction time to decide not to pull the trigger. If the hunter had had even a split second more, the tragedy could possibly have have been avoided. But it almost certainly couldn’t have been avoided had the hunter been blind. The sighted-guide would have needed the extra split second to register that someone had stood up in the line of fire. Then the guide would have needed a few seconds extra to communicate that to the blind hunter. By then, it’s too late. Seconds matter. Split seconds matter. It’s not an anti-empowerment thing. It’s not a discrimination thing. It’s a no-brainer safety thing. If you’re blind, perhaps hunting isn’t the “sport” for you.