Indiana right to hunt, farm proposal advances

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — An Indiana legislative committee has advanced a proposed state constitutional amendment that would guarantee the right of residents to hunt, fish and farm.

The state Senate's agriculture committee voted 7-0 on Monday to send the proposal to the full Senate. Republican Sen. Brent Steele of Bedford says he sponsored the amendment because farming and hunting are important parts of Indiana's heritage that are threatened by animal-rights activists.

Kim Ferraro of the Hoosier Environmental Council says the group supports the rights of farmers but doesn't believe an industry should have special protection in the state constitution.

The same proposal was approved by wide margins two years ago in the General Assembly, so if it clears the House and Senate this year it would go before voters in a 2014 statewide referendum.