Way to shoot a sight unseen

In this gun-loving state, nearly everyone can enjoy the pleasure of the hunt -- even those who can’t see what they’re shooting at.

But now, a Texas legislator is proposing to give legally blind hunters more of a fighting chance by allowing them to use laser sights to target their prey.

And no, Vice President Dick Cheney is not a beneficiary of the legislation, though plenty of bloggers and amateur comedians are having a good time joking that he is.

Rep. Edmund Kuempel, a Republican from Seguin, about 30 miles east of San Antonio, has introduced a bill to exempt legally blind people from a Texas law that prohibits hunters from using laser sights or lights in hunting. Critics of the practice say the laser lights make the animals freeze in place, which diminishes the sport of the kill.

Visually impaired people are permitted to hunt in Texas, as long as they have a fully sighted guide. But the legislation would help them bring down more animals because the laser points would allow their hunting partners to see where they were aiming, Kuempel said.

His legislation would order the state to better define who is legally blind by 2008 so that the ban on laser sights could be lifted for those individuals.

“It gets more people in the outdoors, and gives them more pride in hunting, because it gives them a better chance of harvesting an animal,” said Kuempel, an avid hunter. He noted that about 15 states allow blind hunters to use lasers.

“Science and technology have advanced so much; a blind person can hunt right now. But they need someone to tell them, ‘The duck is at 28 degrees, aim a little to the left,’ things like that,” he added. “This is just going to make the goal easier to accomplish.”

Cheney, who wounded lawyer Harry Whittington during a Texas hunting trip in February, is not known to be a proponent of laser sights. But that has not stopped Lone Star wiseacres from linking him to the legislation.

One popular Texas blog dubbed it “The Dick Cheney No Longer Has An Excuse Bill.”

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miguel.bustillo@latimes.com