Hunting, fishing a Texan’s right?
AUSTIN — Hunting and fishing have always been a part of Texas. Now, lawmakers want to make them part of the Texas Constitution, too.
Voters will decide in November whether they agree.
It is a defensive move, supporters say, aimed at preventing animal rights activists from chipping away at hunting and fishing via the courts, ad campaigns and legislation.
“By placing this on the November ballot, we have given all Texans the right to pass on our heritage to the coming generations,” said Rep. Trent Ashby, R Lufkin.
In short, the resolution authored by Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, would enshrine Texans’ right to hunt, fish and harvest wildlife via the “use of traditional methods” in the state constitution, subject
to laws that promote wildlife conservation.
Eighteen other states have added such protections to their constitutions, supporters said.
Texas lawmakers typically are not shy about trumpeting their support of hunting and fishing. In 2006, the Legislature passed a law allowing the blind to use laser sights on their rifles to hunt. And a House bill currently awaiting action in committee would create a sales tax holiday for the purchase of firearms and hunting supplies.
Nonetheless, the short debate before Wednesday’s House vote did turn a bit heated at times.
‘Demeans’ document
“At the end of the day, what we put in our constitution is important and our constitution isn’t a toy. It’s not an item or a document to be taken lightly and if we are asking to put things in our constitution that say this constitutional right to fish and hunt, how about our constitutional right to watch Sunday night football or our constitutional right to love the San Antonio Spurs?” Rep. Roland Gutierrez, D-San Antonio, asked Ashby. “When we do these things to our constitution and make voters go out and vote for these things, it demeans the document and it demeans us.”
Ashby said Texas Parks and Wildlife still would be able to charge Texans for hunting and fishing licenses, and balked at the assertion that codifying hunting and fishing rights in the constitution could bar the state from outlawing certain practices as animal cruelty.
The resolution received bipartisan support in the Senate, with just three Democrats voting against. In the House, it passed 111 to 1 with 25 members, mostly Democrats, including Gutierrez, present but not voting. Rep. Borris Miles, D-Houston was the lone dissenting vote.
‘Safeguard the hunters’
The National Rifle Association was quick to issue a supportive statement from Chris W. Cox, executive director of the group’s legislative advocacy, saying the amendment would “safeguard the hunters and anglers of Texas from extreme animal rights groups dedicated to abolishing America’s outdoor tradition.”
There is no such threat today, Ashby acknowledged.
“This is looking down the road to future generations,” he said.