TOPEKA — Kansas House members have approved a proposal to add a right to fish and hunt and trap wildlife to the state constitution.
The measure would add a new section to the constitution’s Bill of Rights to preserve hunting and fishing as a preferred way to manage wildlife. The House voted 117-7 in favor of it Monday, sending it to the Senate.
Several legislators said it would prevent future legislation from infringing on the right to hunt and fish. They said any future measures seeking to limit the sports would need to prove that a particular animal could become endangered.
Kansas would become one of about 20 states that make hunting and fishing a constitutional right if the Senate adopts the measure and voters approve it in the Nov. 8 election.
