The official student newspaper of University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire since 1923.

The Spectator

The official student newspaper of University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire since 1923.

The Spectator

The official student newspaper of University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire since 1923.

The Spectator

Special legislation for hunting rights waste of time

A constitutional amendment that would guarantee Wisconsin residents the right to hunt, fish and trap was unanimously approved by the state’s Senate March 6.

Somehow the 31 Senate members became convinced that there is a real threat to the right to hunt. It’s not too hard to figure out where this came from, taken that there are about 700,000 licensed deer hunters in Wisconsin out of the Census Bureau’s 1999 estimated 5.25 million people. The gun lobby is a powerful force in Wisconsin, as it is nationwide, but that doesn’t make it OK to bow to this pressure.

Two members, including Senate President Fred Risser, D-Madison, questioned the need for the amendment, but both voted in favor of it when the time came. Risser questioned the need for it because Wisconsinites always have been able to hunt and fish. He tried to delete trapping from the amendment, but failed, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Risser and Sen. Gwen Moore, D-Milwaukee, who also objected, were thinking along the right lines. It’s too bad Risser was outvoted on the trapping section, but it’s worse that he and Moore backed down – just because they were outnumbered doesn’t make it acceptable.

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Imagine our grandchildren reading the Wisconsin constitution 40 years from now. There’s the right to vote and the right to free speech – without these rights we run the risk of being silenced by government. To add the right to kill a living animal to that list is a joke that must stay just a joke and must not become a reality.

Nobody is about to have his or her guns taken away. There is no reason to have this amendment added so that the hunters in the state can sleep better at night, knowing they now have a constitutional amendment to protect their killing for “sport.”

Risser brought up the point that instead of a hunting amendment, there should be one to guarantee the right to education, health care, personal safety and security, according to the Journal Sentinel. Even mentioning this should be lauded, but until the majority of the Senate realizes that there are about two billion things more important than hunting, a personal welfare amendment won’t happen.

One argument for this amendment might be the overpopulation of deer. Too bad that’s a pathetic excuse for letting this amendment slide by. Horrible overpopulation is a reality in many developing countries, but we don’t go shooting people to take care of that problem. As Arnold Baer, a regional representative for the Humane Society of the United States, told the Journal Sentinel, if deer overpopulation was really about the numbers and not the sport of getting the biggest “rack,” then people would only hunt does.

I have yet to see one solid reason for this amendment. And, no, “because people like you want to take hunting away” is not a good reason.

Also not a good reason: the hunting voice will disappear if this doesn’t pass. The hunting voice has been heard way too loud and clear for more than 100 years in this state – I’m pretty sure it’s not going to disappear anytime soon.

Cynthia Lott, director of the Madison-based Alliance for Animals, told the Journal Sentinel that they’re worried hunters will take this right, abuse it and become more emboldened to take risks they think they have constitutional rights to do, such as going onto someone’s land to hunt.

While they may not become that bold, recent victories in Wisconsin have helped strengthen the hunting lobbies.

Last April, thousands of people showed up at Conservation Congress meetings around the state to vote in favor of a mourning dove hunt. The hunt was approved, and hunters’ rights issues were made out to be ultra-important because there were people who, heaven forbid, opposed hunting the doves and other animals.

Luckily, the amendment won’t be passed anytime soon. The state’s Assembly must approve the resolution during this legislative session, then in the next legislative session the Senate and Assembly have to approve it again, then a statewide referendum is held. Hopefully in that time enough people will come to their senses to realize that this is not something for which Wisconsin wants to be known.

Seven other states – Alabama, California, Minnesota, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont and Virginia – already have amendments in their constitutions like the one proposed for Wisconsin. Shame on those states for guaranteeing the right to kill a living creature.

Wake up, Wisconsin. This hunting, fishing and trapping amendment is a waste of time and breath and is not needed. Not in my constitution.

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Special legislation for hunting rights waste of time