The Seimas started considering the proposal to legalize the use of night sights in hunting

62 MPs voted for such an amendment, 37 were against, and three abstained.

Presenting the project, a member of the Rural Affairs Committee, representative of the Democratic Union “Vardan Lietuvos” Kęstutis Mažeika said that searchlights are currently used in hunting, which, like night sights, aim for the same goal – “to hunt the animal in the dark, to end its suffering”.

“In any case, one of the tools is used. It’s just a choice of the last century or the 21st century,” said the MP.

For his part, Social Democrat Linas Jonauskas said he did not approve of the project, calling it scandalous.

“If the question is about bad eyesight, you should go to an oculist, not change the law,” said the MP.

On October 10, the parliament approved an amendment, according to which night sights would be included in the list of prohibited tools and equipment for hunting. However, it could not be fully adopted then, because the required number of parliamentarians – 71 – did not register for the last vote on adoption.

During the vote on this amendment on Tuesday, the effort to ban night sights failed, as 49 members of the Seimas were in favor of it, but 43 were against it, and 16 politicians abstained.

According to the draft accepted for consideration, night sights or their accessories attached to optical sights could be used for hunting hogs, foxes, mongooses, raccoons, minks, nutria and muskrats.

According to the authors of this amendment, the limited use of night vision sights would contribute to more effective enforcement of the principles of animal welfare, and would allow for a more effective fight against African swine fever.

Opponents of legalizing night sights say that allowing these devices to be used in hunting would prevent animals from escaping from hunters, and would also make it impossible to determine whether an animal was hunted using a night sight or not.

The debate over the legalization of night sights in hunting has been going on for many years.

Now, the tools allowed and prohibited for hunting are determined by the Hunting Rules, which are approved by the Minister of the Environment. Both proponents and opponents of the scopes believe those lists should be written into law.