Indiana lawmakers consider protecting right to hunt

Indiana lawmakers have delayed action on a proposed state constitutional amendment that would guarantee the right of residents to hunt, fish and farm.

The state Senate's agriculture committee had scheduled a public hearing on the proposal but postponed it after using its meeting time on unrelated bills.

Republican Sen. Brent Steele of Bedford says he is sponsoring the amendment in reaction to animal-rights activists who he believes are trying to interfere with legal hunting and livestock production.

Steele's resolution calls hunting and farming a valued part of Indiana's heritage.

Both the Senate and the House approved the proposed amendment during the 2011 session. If the same version is approved by lawmakers this year, it would go before voters for a statewide referendum in 2014.