KingFish
22 Apr 2005, 3:34am
California state senators approved a bill on Thursday that would ban hunters from killing animals over the Internet.
Hunters can currently stalk prey online at Live-shot.com, a Web site linking firearms and cameras so customers can point, click and shoot antelope, sheep and wild hogs on a Texas ranch from thousands of miles away.
Live-shot.com is the only Web site of its kind, and California lawmakers voted 25-6 to deter imitators.
"It's an over-the-top, pay-per-view video game using live animals for target practice that ought to be banned from coast-to-coast," said Sen. Debra Bowen, the bill's author.
"Pay-per-view hunting doesn't meet any definition of 'sporting' that I've ever heard because there's nothing 'sporting' about sitting at your computer in your pajamas, using your mouse to shoot at hogs or antelope or any other animal that's halfway across the country," Bowen said.
Her bill bars remote hunting in California and would ban anyone from operating a hunting Web site in the state.
The bill would also ban the import of animals into California killed over a remote hunting Web site, and violators would face up to six months in jail and fines of up to $1,000.
The operator of Live-shot.com was not immediately available for comment, but customer Dale Hagberg of Ligonier, Ind., who is paralyzed from the neck down, defended the Web site and criticized California lawmakers.
Source: c|net (http://news.com.com/Calif.+lawmakers+vote+to+ban+Internet+hunting/2100-1028_3-5680282.html?tag=nefd.top)
Hunters can currently stalk prey online at Live-shot.com, a Web site linking firearms and cameras so customers can point, click and shoot antelope, sheep and wild hogs on a Texas ranch from thousands of miles away.
Live-shot.com is the only Web site of its kind, and California lawmakers voted 25-6 to deter imitators.
"It's an over-the-top, pay-per-view video game using live animals for target practice that ought to be banned from coast-to-coast," said Sen. Debra Bowen, the bill's author.
"Pay-per-view hunting doesn't meet any definition of 'sporting' that I've ever heard because there's nothing 'sporting' about sitting at your computer in your pajamas, using your mouse to shoot at hogs or antelope or any other animal that's halfway across the country," Bowen said.
Her bill bars remote hunting in California and would ban anyone from operating a hunting Web site in the state.
The bill would also ban the import of animals into California killed over a remote hunting Web site, and violators would face up to six months in jail and fines of up to $1,000.
The operator of Live-shot.com was not immediately available for comment, but customer Dale Hagberg of Ligonier, Ind., who is paralyzed from the neck down, defended the Web site and criticized California lawmakers.
Source: c|net (http://news.com.com/Calif.+lawmakers+vote+to+ban+Internet+hunting/2100-1028_3-5680282.html?tag=nefd.top)