I'm not a hunter, and maybe there's something here I'm not aware of, but this seems a little scary. HB 308 added Section 62.0055 to the Parks & Wildlife Code authorizing a LEGALLY BLIND hunter to use a laser sighting device during regular hunting hours when assisted by a person at least 13 years of age, who has a hunting license and who is not legally blind. Dove season around my house is already bad enough. The picture evoked in my mind by this new law would be hilarious in a cartoon (think Elmer Fudd) if it weren't for real.

This law reminds me of a wonderful short story that is in David Sedaris's book, "Dress Your Family in Cordoroy and Denim". The story is entitled "Six to Eight Black Men." In it he says that an easy way to get a sense of the culture of a country or a state is to look at their laws regarding hunting, particularly hunting by the blind. I would love to see his comic take on this law!

(The title alludes to the fact that you also can learn a lot about a country based on its rendition of Santa Claus....In the Netherlands, the elves are referred to as, well, that title!)

So if they are legally blind, how do they see a laser from a laser sight?

quote:

---

Originally posted by Greg Gilleland:
So if they are legally blind, how do they see a laser from a laser sight?

---

It's so the person helping them can see where the shot is going. They then tell them when to fire.

www.cop-talk.net

Blind hunter takes aim
at perplexed skeptics
BY BILL MILLER
WMILLER@STAR-TELEGRAM.COM

WEATHERFORD -- Dr. Stanley McGowen of Weatherford was getting ready for deer season a few weeks back, sighting in his .270-caliber rifle.

The annual ritual ensures a rifle is on target come opening day, but McGowan has to take some unusual steps to fine tune his weapon.

McGowen, an Army helicopter pilot turned history professor, is blind.

People are instantly perplexed or even alarmed that a blind man goes afield with a weapon, intent on killing an animal he can't see. But McGowen said blind people have been hunting for years, and they are continually developing effective and safe techniques to kill game.

A year ago, he petitioned the Texas legislature to let blind hunters attach laser sights to their weapons. The bill was needed to create an exemption for them. That's because Texas law prevents hunters from targeting game with light beams; it doesn't matter if they're flashlights or laser devices.

Stories about the bill were soon carried by National Public Radio, ABC News and newspapers around the country. The bill moved easily through the Legislature and became law in June, despite the early publicity from talk radio hosts, late-night comedians and Internet bloggers who related images of a sightless Elmer Fudd, stumbling in the woods, shooting at any sound.

"I'm losing my patience with sighted people who have no vision," McGowen said recently. "We've already been hunting for years."

VETERANS AFIELD

It's hard to gauge the number of blind hunters in the United States.

The recent laser sight exemption, however, put Texas among 15 other states that specifically let blind hunters use lasers.

Travis Noteboom, spokesman for Oregon-based Crimson Trace "lasergrips," has worked with McGowen to organize hunting trips for disabled veterans.

"Two years ago, we started getting more of the war vets coming home without their sight," Noteboom said. "Then you had all these people laughing when you tell them about blind hunters.

"Well, I've met with several Afghanistan and Iraq war veterans, and I want these people to go up to these guys and dare say, 'No, you can't go hunting.'

"I'd just love anyone who doesn't understand this to come out and see how it works."

A MATTER OF TECHNIQUE

McGowen, a 60-year-old Baird native, is a lifelong sportsman who has been hunting without sight for about seven years.

His original technique involves a "spotter" who stands behind him and peers into the rifle scope to make sure it's on target.

The spotter tells McGowen when it's safe to shoot.

McGowen recently demonstrated the technique at the Parker County Sportsman Club.

His friend and spotter, Roger Nelson of Weatherford, took the position behind McGowen and quietly told him how to position the rifle: "Up, up, hold ..."

Nelson's whisper tones were shattered by the roar of McGowen's .270.

The preferred optic, however, is not a regular rifle scope, but one made for pistols because it provides extra-long eye relief.

McGowen explained that because a handgun is aimed with arms extended, a pistol scope works well for the spotter whose position is farther away from the scope than the shooter.

But the technique isn't perfect.

"It takes extra time and coordination to get that field of view," McGowen said. "We've had to pass up a lot of shots."

The laser device, which was also demonstrated, adds more precision to the task because the spotter sees a tiny green or red light projected onto the target, McGowen said.

But it, too, has limitations.

A beam can be difficult for a spotter to see in bright sunlight. In those situations, McGowen and the spotter switch back to the pistol scope.

The spotter is essential for helping McGowen move through the woods.

"We spot and stalk," he explained. "I hold my hunting partner's elbow and we move slowly along. When we see something, I set up my bipod, and we shoot as we do at the range.

"We hunt a lot from blinds here in Texas, but I've also hunted elk by horseback in Wyoming. I didn't get one: I had a cow tag, and all we came across was bulls, but that's hunting.

A FAVORITE TROPHY

McGowen has a Crimson Trace lasergrip for handguns. On rifles, however, he uses a green laser he got from Quarton USA in San Antonio.

The laser performed well on a safari to South Africa last summer in which McGowen tagged a cape buffalo and other plains game.

One of his favorite trophies, however, is the Mason County "spike" buck he shot in 2000.

It was his first hunt since losing his eyesight a decade earlier in the crash of his personal airplane near Salt Lake City.

"We had a power loss on takeoff," he said. "My seat came loose from the rails, and I went into the glass shield of the instrument panel.

"It cut my right eye basically in half. There was not much hope for it. The left eye ended up with total retinal separation. They couldn't do anything with that either, so I ended up being blind."

And he was without a career.

McGowen had spent 21 years in the Army, first with the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam. Later he entered flight school and became a helicopter pilot, but the crash near Salt Lake City forced him to retire.

"Initially, there was a lot of depression," he said. "Losing your sight can be like losing a friend or a relative."

But McGowen credited his wife, Jolene, for supporting him and giving him "a kick in the pants when necessary."

She is the director of nursing at Wellington Oaks Nursing and Rehabilitation in Fort Worth. Their son, Travis, is an Army sergeant who accompanied his father on safari last summer.

"I can't say I got over it, but I've learned to deal with it," McGowen said of his blindness. "I just go on and do what I can."

NO HURRY TO KILL SOMETHING

McGowen went through rehabilitation to learn how to get around. Then he became a history professor and author.

He relearned how to fish, golf and even ski.

But hunting seemed out of the question until one day in 1999 when McGowen and friends were discussing gun sights.

Soon they devised the "spotter" technique, which put him back in the field the very next deer season.

Old sensations returned: the excitement of packing gear the night before opening day, the sound of rustling leaves, wind on the face.

He returned again this season, first to some property in Shackleford County, but he passed on another spike buck. A few weeks later in Mason County, however, he shot a seven-point buck and a 40-pound feral hog.

Although McGowen has regained his ability to hunt, he is in no hurry to kill something.

"The old thought of 'if it's brown, it's down' is not my idea of hunting," he said. "Enjoy the outdoors; it's not the kill, it's the experience."

McGowen works with the Armed Forces Foundation and Safari Club International to help injured veterans and their families experience the outdoors.

Blind Woman Makes Bid For State Acupuncture License
2/1/2008

Newsroom

A blind student of acupuncture is making a second request for a license to practice in Texas.
That's after Juliana Cumbo's first application was rejected last year because of her blindness.
The licensure committee of the Texas State Board of Acupuncture Examiners is set to rehear her request today. If she's licensed, she'd be the first blind person to be issued a state license.
The 31-year-old practices as a graduate intern in the student clinic of the Academy of Oriental Medicine at Austin. She has earned a master's degree in acupuncture and Oriental medicine and passed the national board exams.
Meng-sheng Lin is the licensure committee chairwoman, and the Dallas acupuncturist says she's inclined to repeat her vote against Cumbo's application. She says she's trying to fulfill her duty to protect the public.
Lin says acupuncture can lead to bleeding that if unnoticed could pose a contamination risk.
Cumbo's attorney, David Cohen of Austin, says denying Cumbo a license solely because of her blindness would violate the Americans with Disabilities Act.

If licensed, will her customers qualify for an agreed incompetency finding?

quote:

---

Originally posted by JB:
Blind hunter takes aim
at perplexed skeptics
BY BILL MILLER
WMILLER@STAR-TELEGRAM.COM

---

That story is actually pretty cool.

I think it's great that the blind are being given the opportunity to hunt in this fashion, but I wish they would increase the age on the "spotter" to at least 18 years old.

Also, it seems obvious that this exception should not apply to game birds. (It would be kinda hard to line up the laser on a flying object!)

Blind woman a step closer to acupuncture license
Committee recommendation includes restrictions and awaits board approval.
By Mary Ann Roser, Mark Lisheron
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Saturday, June 07, 2008

After months of negotiation, Austin resident Juliana Cumbo on Friday moved closer to becoming the first blind acupuncturist licensed in Texas, albeit with restrictions not normally placed on applicants who can see.


Details.