Blind hunters go hunting with laser sights

From: "BlindNews Mailing List" <BlindNews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <BlindNews@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, 6 Oct 2007 07:46:14 -0400
The.Point.Is. news agency, NY, USA 
Saturday, October 06, 2007

Blind hunters go hunting with laser sights

By Jean-Cosme Delaloye

This spring, Texas joined joined Minnesota and other States such as Wisconsin 
and Michigan and passed a bill allowing blind hunters to use laser sights. 
In an interview with the.point.is last spring, Edmund Kuempel, the Texas 
lawmaker (photo LDD), who wrote the bill, said it was a matter of equality. 
Mike Hanson, a blind hunter from Minnesota, speaks with the.point.is. news 
agency. 

New York. Mike Hanson is blind. The 42-year old man has been hunting for almost 
30 years. "I do not want my disability to define my life, he said in a phone 
interview with thepoint.is. news agency from his home in Minnesota. His State 
is one the states in the U:S. allowing the use of laser sights for blind 
hunters. In the last few years, Mike Hanson has been using a specially equipped 
rifle with a laser sight mounted atop the gun barrel. He also has a shotgun 
with a scope. "The laser allows the person assisting me to sit in a different 
position, he said. With the scope, the person, who helps me aim, has to sit 
behind me". "Laser helps a great deal with animals staying still such as a 
deer, a bear or an elk, Mike Hanson added. But it does not really work with 
birds".

This spring, Texas joined Minnesota and other states such as Wisconsin and 
Michigan, and allowed the use of laser sights for blind hunters. Edmund 
Kuempel, a Republican from Seguin, Texas, pushed for bill authorizing such 
sights and easily convinced his fellow lawmakers. According to this law, 
legally blind hunters can use laser sights when accompanied by a licensed 
hunter who is at least 13 years old and not legally blind.

When a reporter for the.point.is. news agency met this spring in the Texas 
Capitol in Austin with Edmund Kuempel, the tall man with a Texas swagger 
promoted his bill enthusiastically. He argued it was a matter of equality and 
said it would allow a much cleaner harvest. Up to now, there were no 
requirements for legally blind hunters in Texas. All they needed to hunt was a 
valid Texas hunting license. Blind hunters were not required to be accompanied 
by anyone either.

Mike Hanson will start hunting on October 13 in a special hunt organized by 
Capable Partners, a Minnesota-based group with about 200 members, which helps 
people with disabilities hunt and fish. "I enjoy hunting a lot, Mr. Hanson 
said. It is one of my favorite hobbies. I like being outdoors and eating wild 
game".

The proud blind hunter does not want to stop there. Next year, he wants to hike 
a 2000-mile trail mostly on his own, using a GPS to guide him. "I am not going 
to sit back and assume that my disability is going to prevent me from doing 
something, he concluded. I am going to find ways to make it possible. The only 
two outdoor activities I have not done are sailing and mountain climbing."


http://en.tpinews.com/2007/10/05/blind-hunters-ready-to-go-hunting-with-laser-sights.html
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Blind hunters go hunting with laser sights

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