Log on, punch in a credit card number and fire away. New to a computer near you is the ability to fire a gun – and hunt – via a home computer.

It sounds so much like a joke that “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” a fake news show on Comedy Central, featured a segment on the Texas outfit that is bringing real firepower to the virtual world. But it’s real, and not funny. Check it out at www.live-shot.com.

As soon as the game ranch that operates the Web site has its facilities complete, hunters, sitting comfortably at home, can use their mouse to hunt down a variety of real animals. The hit list includes wild hogs, blackbuck antelope and Barbary sheep. If a hunter is looking for something special, the ranch will try to line up the trophy animal of choice.

Hunting is an important part of Maine’s heritage and its economy. Whitetail deer, moose, turkeys and a variety of other birds and animals offer hunters challenging days in the woods. Hunting helps control herd numbers and is a legitimate, honored outdoor activity.

But sitting at a desk and shooting animals thousands of miles away is not sport. It’s not hunting. And it shouldn’t be allowed.

Cyber athletes have a wide range of video games and simulations that allow them to go after make-believe deer, mock terrorists or alien predators. First-person shooter games supply plenty of realism for people with such little commitment to the sport that they can’t get out from behind a computer.

State Rep. Roderick Carr, a Republican from Lincoln, has introduced L.D. 50, a draft concept that challenges the legitimacy of remote-control hunting and looks to outlaw the practice. A ban on online activities would likely have little effect on what people do in their own homes, but the sentiment is right.

The Web site is distasteful and should be shunned by all people who think of themselves as hunters.