Bill to ban computer-assisted hunting moves forward

Background on Internet Hunting at
http://indybay.org/news/2005/03/1726091.php,
http://indybay.org/news/2005/03/1726087.php,
http://indybay.org/news/2005/03/1727817.php (see "Campaign News & Updates #1"), and
http://indybay.org/news/2005/04/1731703.php


This bill (SB 1028, by Senator Debra Bowen) passed by a vote of 7:4. It is noteworthy that all seven AYE votes were Democrats, and that all four NO votes were Republicans. How some of these people sleep nights is beyond me. We MUST vote such neanderthals out of office!

DEMOCRATS: Sheila Kuehl, chair (Los Angeles); Debra Bowen (Redondo Beach); Christine Kehoe (San Diego); Alan Lowenthal (Long Beach); Mike Machado (Stockton); Carole Migden (San Francisco); Gloria Romero (Los Angeles).

REPUBLICANS: Bob Margett, vice-chair (Diamond Bar); Sam Aanestad (Nevada City); Robert Dutton (Rancho Cucamonga); Dennis Hollingsworth (Temecula).

Notes of thanks (or disgust) may be addressed to all State Legislators, c/o The State Capitol, Sacramento, CA 95814.

Some Letters to the Editors of the newspapers in these lawmakers' home districts would be appropriate, too.

Disperse this news as you see fit.


Eric Mills, coordinator
ACTION FOR ANIMALS - Oakland


<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>


Posted on Tue, Apr. 05, 2005
Senate committee votes to ban "pay-per-view" hunting

AP

SACRAMENTO - A state Senate committee voted Tuesday to ban what one lawmaker calls "video target practice using live animals."

The Natural Resources and Wildlife Committee approved a bill by Sen.
>Debra Bowen, D-Redondo Beach, that would bar computer-assisted hunting sites in California. It's a response to a Texas ranch that says it is setting up a system that would allow people to shoot at live game via the Internet.

"This isn't hunting; it's an inhumane, over the top, pay-per-view video game using live animals for target practice, and it shouldn't be allowed to expand into California," Bowen said.

"Shooting live animals over the Internet takes absolutely zero hunting skills, and it ought to be offensive to every legitimate hunter."

The bill would ban anyone from operating a computer-assisted hunting site in California and bar the importation of animals killed by remote hunting.

Violations could result in up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Pro-hunting groups - such as the California Sportsmen's Association, Safari Club International and the Outdoor Sportsman's Coalition of California - say the practice is not real hunting and is unethical and unsporting.

Sen. Sam Aanestad, R-Grass Valley, said he would support the bill if it banned Internet hunting in California, "but it goes a step further" by making it illegal for Californians to do business with a legitimate company in Texas.

Bowen said that was no different than California laws that prohibit residents from placing bets on sports through Internet sites, but allow them to drive to Nevada to wager.

Another opponent, Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth, R-La Mesa, called the bill a "huge to-do about something that has barely even happened."

It also ends any chance to discuss the merits of remote-control hunting, he said. For example, someone who is disabled may only be able to participate in the sport because of this technology, he said.

The committee voted 7-4 to send Bowen's bill to the Appropriations Committee, the last stop before the full Senate.

At least four other states - North Carolina, Wisconsin, West Virginia and Texas - are also considering legislation to ban Internet hunting.


Read the bill, SB1028, at http://www.leginfo.ca.gov