Ballot Title
The constitutional amendment recognizing the right of the people to hunt, fish, and harvest wildlife subject to laws that promote wildlife conservation.
Helpful Links
- Ballotpedia
- Page 35 of the "Analyses of Proposed Constitutional Amendments" by the Texas Legislative Council
- Page 15 of the 2015 ballot "focus report" by the Texas House of Representatives
- Page 4 of progresstexas.org's ballot guide (for a progressive perspective)
- Page 6 of the Texas Libertarian 2015 Voter Guide (for a libertarian perspective)
What does this do?
Wins the award for being the most Texas of all the proposals. Yee-haw! Beyond that, it does nothing as far as I can tell. We already have a right to hunt/fish/harvest, just as I already have the right to discuss politics on this blog without the Texas Constitution directly stating it. Also, unlike the U.S. Constitution, changing our state's Constitution is fairly simple - it's pretty much how all state laws are passed. And most of the proposals we're voting on this Tuesday go into effect by removing and replacing existing pieces of our Constitution. If somehow Texas becomes anti-hunting and tries to outlaw it, it'd have to do so with a constitutional amendment regardless of whether this amendment passes. And if the federal government outlawed hunting, it really wouldn't matter whether we allow it in our state Constitution.
Why would this be good?
I suppose you could think of this as reducing the odds of losing the right to hunt/fish/harvest by something like 0.0001%. It at least won't hurt in that regard.
Why would this be bad?
Our constitution would be slightly longer, and therefore take slightly longer to read.
Verdict
I plan on voting no.
It doesn't seem to matter either way. I just find pure political theater annoying.
What would it take to change my mind?
Maybe $5. But I'm guessing it's illegal to sell your vote, so let's go ahead and say I'm just joking.
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