March 1st, 2007
Iowa takes strong stance against net hunts
If there is one thing that Iowan lawmakers on both sides of the aisle can agree on it's a ban on Internet hunting.
The ability to shoot animals such a turkeys and deer remotely by clicking a computer mouse is so unsportsmanlike that it has inspired a bill to ban Internet hunting in Iowa, reports the Des Moines Register
No matter that no one proposed Internet hunting in Iowa. Such a site is operating and Texas, and that's enough to send bold legislators into action to take a preemptive stand.
"Not that we know of, and we sure hope it isn't happening," Rep. Steven Lukan, a Republican who called a news conference Wednesday to draw attention to the bill he's co-sponsoring. "We don't think that's what hunting is about."
Although there are no remote hunting sites currently on the Internet, John Lockwood, a Texas entrepreneur did launch a site allowing live, remote-controlled Internet game shooting on ranch land, but the venture, Live-Shot.com, was almost immediately outlawed by the Texas Legislature.
Lockwood is considering moving offshore so that people around the world can log on and shoot, said Michael Markarian of the Humane Society of the United States.
Twenty-five state have banned "Pay-per-view shooting" and other state have considering similar legislation.
"It's a pretty ugly idea out there that someone could sit at home with a laptop on his lap and harvest some animals," Lukan said.
