Turkeys; localities to prohibit hunting with rifle. (SB365)
Introduced By
Sen. John Watkins (R-Midlothian)
Progress
✓ |
Introduced |
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Passed Committee |
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Passed House |
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Passed Senate |
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Signed by Governor |
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Became Law |
Description
Hunting turkeys. Authorizes localities to prohibit the hunting of turkeys with a rifle. The penalty for violation of the local ordinance is a Class 4 misdemeanor. Read the Bill »
Status
01/21/2008: Awaiting a Vote in the Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources Committee
History
| Date | Action |
|---|---|
| 01/08/2008 | Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/09/08 083929348 |
| 01/08/2008 | Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources |
| 01/18/2008 | Impact statement from DPB (SB365) |
| 01/21/2008 | Stricken at request of Patron in Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources (15-Y 0-N) (see vote tally) |
Comments
Why do you want to do this to me?
DGIF is supposed to be in charge of hunting regulations in Virginia. They have actual experts who know what they are talking about. Every time you create more of these exceptions where counties can decide what the hunting regulations are, you are handing off decisions from people who know what they are talking about to a lot of people who know nothing about hunting. The result is that a certain list of counties will adopt any rules they possibly can to prevent hunting, because those counties have a majority on their BoS that are knee-jerk anti-hunting. This option of banning turkey hunting will not be exercised in a measured, intelligent way. It's going to be classic knee-jerk stuff.
The Constitution of Virginia grants us as individuals the right to hunt and fish. Thus the rights of even a minority of hunters in an County that is majority anti-hunting are intended to be protected. But every time you create another one of these optional exceptions, you are dismantling that Constitutional right. Keep the decisions in the hands of DGIF, which has done a great job of weighing safety, ecology and hunters rights in a reasonable way.