S.B. 975: COMMITTEE SUMMARY - FIREARM TRANSPORT: HUNTING SEASON
Senate Bill 975 (as introduced 3-3-98)
Sponsor: Senator Dianne Byrum
Committee: Hunting, Fishing and Forestry
CONTENT
The bill would amend Part 435 (Hunting and Fishing Licenses) of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act to allow the transportation of firearms without a license and to repeal the Act's provision that prohibits the transportation of firearms during deer or elk hunting season (MCL 324.43511).
(The term "license" means a document or a tag, stamp, plastic card, or other device that may include a stamp or a tag that authorizes the licensee to hunt, fish, trap, or possess wild animals or aquatic species and other identification required by the Department of Natural Resources.)
Currently, a person must not carry or transport a firearm, a slingshot, a bow and arrow, a crossbow, or a trap while in any area frequented by wild animals unless that person possesses a license. The bill would allow the transportation of firearms without a license.
Under current law, a person may carry, transport, or possess a firearm, a bow and arrow, or a crossbow without a hunting license while at or going to and from a recognized rifle or target range, trap, skeet shooting ground, or archery range, if the firearm is unloaded in both barrel and magazine, or the bow or crossbow is unstrung, and the firearm, bow, or crossbow is enclosed in a case or carried in the trunk of a vehicle. The bill specifies that a person could transport a firearm without a hunting license at any time, subject to the same conditions.
MCL 324.43510 & 324.43513 - Legislative Analyst: N. Nagata
FISCAL IMPACT
The bill would have no fiscal impact on State or local government.
S9798\S975SA
This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.