Purpose: Bans computer-assisted remote hunting.
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Status: Referred to the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.
Action: SUPPORT. Please contact your Representative and urge him/her to support H.R. 2711. Tell your Representative that Internet hunting is unsporting and does not require any hunting skill at all. It does not require knowledge of state or local wildlife or hunting laws. This activity is unethical as it distances the hunter from the act of killing and denies animals any respect. The potential proliferation of Internet hunting also places humans at risk. Rifles that are guided and utilized from a remote location can be aimed at humans in addition to animals.
Talking Points for your letter:
- H.R. 2711 will ban computer-assisted remote hunting, otherwise known as “Internet hunting.”
- A Texas rancher has developed a website that lets anyone with access to a computer and a few hundred dollars shoot and kill a variety of animals roaming his fenced ranch. A rifle, video camera, and computer are mounted on a platform at the ranch in a portion of the ranch frequented by deer, antelope, and sheep. From thousands of miles away, through the use of a computer, a person can control the camera and gun, and can fire the gun with a click of the mouse.
- Internet hunting has opened a Pandora’s box and it is imperative that lawmakers take action now before the extreme effects of this activity are fully felt. Internet hunting serves no ethical purpose. It distances the hunter from the act of killing, and denies animals any respect at all. Equally as importantly, this activity desensitizes individuals to violence and the consequences of their own actions. It appears to encourage killing purely for the sake of killing.
- This is a human safety issue as well as an animal safety issue. The potential expansion of Internet hunting places humans at risk. Rifles that are guided and utilized from a remote location could be aimed at humans instead of or in addition to animals. In the current climate of concern over terrorism, the potential proliferation of this computer-assisted activity presents unappealing possibilities.
- Internet hunting is unsporting and does not require any hunting skill whatsoever. It does not require knowledge of state or local wildlife or hunting laws and, in fact, it may actually circumvent state laws and regulations governing wildlife. This, in turn, translates to a lack of government oversight and any tracking or data to ascertain the impact that this activity may have on wildlife.