I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2308 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit certain interstate conduct 

relating to exotic animals and certain computer-assisted remote hunting, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 7, 2009 

Mr. COHEN (for himself, Mr. WHITFIELD, and Mr. SHERMAN) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit certain 

interstate conduct relating to exotic animals and certain 

computer-assisted remote hunting, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Sportsmanship in 

5 Hunting Act of 2009’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. TRANSPORT OR POSSESSION OF EXOTIC ANIMALS 

2 FOR PURPOSES OF KILLING OR INJURING 

3 THEM. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 3 of title 18, United 

5 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘§ 49. Exotic animals 

8 ‘‘(a) CAPTIVE EXOTIC ANIMALS.—Whoever, in or af9 fecting interstate or foreign commerce, knowingly trans10 fers, transports, or possesses a confined exotic animal, for 

11 the purposes of allowing the killing or injuring of that ani12 mal for entertainment or for the collection of a trophy, 

13 shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 

14 1 year, or both. 

15 ‘‘(b) COMPUTER-ASSISTED REMOTE HUNTING.— 

16 Whoever, using any instrumentality of interstate or for17 eign commerce, knowingly makes available a computer-as18 sisted remote hunt shall be fined under this title or impris19 oned not more than 5 years, or both. 

20 ‘‘(c) EXCEPTION.—Providing an instrumentality of 

21 commerce, such as equipment or access to the Internet, 

22 is not a violation of subsection (b) unless the provider has 

23 knowledge that the equipment or access is to be used for 

24 a computer-assisted remote hunt. 

25 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

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1 ‘‘(1) the term ‘confined exotic animal’ means a 

2 mammal of a species not indigenous to the United 

3 States that has been held in captivity— 

4 ‘‘(A) the majority of the animal’s life; or 

5 ‘‘(B) a continuous period of 1 year; 

6 ‘‘(2) the term ‘captivity’ does not include any 

7 period during which an animal lives as it would in 

8 the wild— 

9 ‘‘(A) surviving primarily by foraging for 

10 naturally occurring food; 

11 ‘‘(B) roaming at will over an open area of 

12 not less than 1,000 acres; and 

13 ‘‘(C) having the opportunity to avoid hunt14 ers; 

15 ‘‘(3) the term ‘computer-assisted remote hunt’ 

16 means any use of a computer or other device, equip17 ment, or software to allow a person remotely to con18 trol the aiming and discharge of a weapon so as to 

19 kill or injure an animal while not in the physical 

20 presence of the targeted animal; and 

21 ‘‘(4) the term ‘instrumentality of interstate 

22 commerce’ means any written, wire, radio, television, 

23 or other form of communication in, or using a facil24 ity of, interstate commerce. 

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1 ‘‘(e) CONSTRUCTION WITH OTHER LAW.—Nothing 

2 in this section limits the power of State and local authori3 ties to enact laws or regulations concerning computer-as4 sisted remote hunting facilities.’’. 

5 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec6 tions at the beginning of chapter 3 of title 18, United 

7 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol8 lowing new item: 

‘‘49. Exotic animals.’’. 

Æ 

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