Arkansas State Consultant Steve Unger has launched a daring new invoice that marries public security with out of doors recreation. The proposal? Give truckers who assist bust human trafficking operations a lifetime looking and fishing license — as a result of nothing says “thanks for saving lives” fairly like a everlasting cross to bag a buck.
Truckers, who spend lengthy hours crisscrossing the state’s highways, are uniquely positioned to identify suspicious exercise at truck stops and relaxation areas. Unger’s plan turns these highway warriors into potential heroes with a hefty incentive: entry to Arkansas’ nice outside for all times. It’s a transfer that not solely highlights the state’s love of looking but in addition its willpower to fight a deeply troubling crime.
Turning CB Radios Right into a Crime-Preventing Hotline
The proposal builds on present initiatives like “Truckers Towards Trafficking,” a nationwide program that trains drivers to acknowledge indicators of trafficking. Unger’s invoice takes it one step additional, placing boots — and possibly camo — on the bottom by rewarding these whose ideas result in precise arrests or rescues.
The Hunt for Justice
If handed, the laws would grant profitable truckers a lifetime license from the Arkansas Recreation and Fish Fee. Meaning no extra annual charges to hunt, fish, or get pleasure from among the state’s most beloved pastimes. For Arkansas’s outdoors-loving truckers, it’s a deal that’s onerous to beat, particularly on prime of the satisfaction of saving lives.
The method could be tightly managed, with solely verified ideas that end in important outcomes qualifying for the reward. In different phrases, no phony sightings of traffickers will rating free deer tags.
What Precisely Is a Lifetime Looking License?
Some states have chosen to supply a lifetime license for looking and/or angling to residents. What these Lifetime Licenses embrace varies significantly from state to state. For Arkansas, it’s a reasonably all-inclusive cross to get pleasure from nearly every little thing the state has to supply hunters and anglers. The usual charge is $1,000 and it contains:
“… purchasers of any age to the privileges of the Resident Sportsman’s License (looking) and the Resident Fisheries Conservation License (fishing). Charges for trout permits, leased lands permits, alligator permits, elk permits, state waterfowl stamps and wildlife administration space allow hunts are waived with this license. License holders should apply, nonetheless, for WMA hunts, be efficiently drawn and return notification of acceptance earlier than being issued a allow. HIP registration is required to hunt migratory sport birds. To hunt waterfowl, federal waterfowl stamps are required along with HIP. This license is obtainable from the AGFC Little Rock Workplace.”
Are There Hurdles?
The invoice nonetheless has to outlive the legislative jungle, the place critics are prone to query the fee and administrative logistics. It appears this one could also be a comparatively straightforward promote, although. If there’s one factor that appears to unite the larger good, it’s the need to cease human trafficking.
One factor’s for positive: Unger’s objective is to placed on slightly extra of a “hunt” in opposition to human traffickers. Discuss giving truckers a brand new sort of trophy to purpose for.
