[gui-talk] Another victory for blind access!

[Joel Deutsch]

At the risk of offending our outspoken red staters (just an expression; I 
know there are plenty of cool people in Austin, for example) with my little 
preamble, here's something I just posted to the RP List, also.

Actually, I'm really hoping even our right-wing cohort will find some 
amusement in this,.  but whatever.
---

In the wake of the passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1991,
blind and low vision people began to find Braille coding next to elevator
buttons, occasional chirping traffic signals, and in general to see
increasing respect and attention paid to their needs, although the blind
service organizations and blind individuals often disagree about what the
vision-impaired actually need, no matter what they think they want.  But
that's another issue.

Now one state of our union has declared that a totally blind person can have
the pride and satisfaction of bringing down the deer, stray dog or pesky
armadillo whose corpse he longs to stand proudly beside to be photographed,
even though he will never be able to see the photo.  Or the dead animal.  No
matter.  If this state law is not overturned in the courts, maybe soon the
manly Texas blind will be able to dispense with sighted guides altogether
and hunt using completely automated, computer-targeted shoulder-fired smart
missiles, controlling everything from the keyboard of a computer using a
special screen reader-accessible targeting software.  Whoopee!  Git along,
little dogies!

Why did Texas enact such a law right now, one might ask?  Maybe because
statistics show  a decline in executions at Huntsville State Penitentiary,
the most busy human killing floor of all U.S. prisons, and they just needed
to kill something extra for compensation.  Or maybe not.  Who knows.

The article:

Los Angeles Times: Way to shoot a sight unseen
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-guns12dec12,0,4840772.story?coll=la-home-headlines

Way to shoot a sight unseen
Vision-impaired hunters in Texas may get to use lasers to improve cues from
their guides and hence their aim.
By Miguel Bustillo
Times Staff Writer

December 12, 2006

HOUSTON - 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."