HB715: Archery and crossbow; establishing new combined license.

HOUSE BILL NO. 715

Offered January 8, 2014
Prefiled January 7, 2014
A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 29.1-306, 29.1-310.1, and 29.1-519 of the Code of Virginia and to repeal § 29.1-306.1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to establishing a combined special archery and crossbow license.
Patron-- Wright

Committee Referral Pending

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 29.1-306, 29.1-310.1, and 29.1-519 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 29.1-306. Special archery license and crossbow license.

There shall be a license for hunting with a bow and arrow, excluding crossbows or crossbow, during the special archery seasons, which shall be in addition to the license licenses required to hunt small and big game. The fee for the special license shall be $12 $17 for a resident and $25 $30 for a nonresident. The Board may subsequently revise the cost of licenses set forth in this section pursuant to § 29.1-103.

The special archery license may be obtained from the clerk or agent of any county or city whose duty it is to sell licenses.

§ 29.1-310.1. Sportsman's hunting and fishing license established.

A. Upon implementation of an automated point-of-sale licensing system, any resident individual may apply for and receive from the Department, after payment of the appropriate fee, a sportsman's hunting and fishing license. This license shall serve in lieu of any person having to obtain hunting or fishing licenses provided for under subdivision 2 of § 29.1-303 and §§ 29.1-305, 29.1-306, 29.1-306.1, and 29.1-307, and subdivisions A 2 and B 1 of § 29.1-310.

B. Applications for the license authorized by this section shall be made to the Department. The license shall be valid for the seasons as established by the Board. The form and issuance of the license shall conform to the provisions of this chapter for all licenses.

C. The Board shall establish the fee for this license, which shall not exceed the total cost of purchasing each license separately.

§ 29.1-519. Guns, pistols, revolvers, etc., which may be used; penalty.

A. All wild birds and wild animals may be hunted with the following weapons unless shooting is expressly prohibited:

1. A shotgun or muzzleloading shotgun not larger than 10 gauge;

2. An automatic-loading or hand-operated repeating shotgun capable of holding not more than three shells the magazine of which has been cut off or plugged with a one-piece filler incapable of removal through the loading end, so as to reduce the capacity of the gun to not more than three shells at one time in the magazine and chamber combined, unless otherwise allowed by Board regulations;

3. A rifle, a muzzleloading rifle, or an air rifle;

4. A bow and arrow;

5. [Expired.]

6. A crossbow, which is a type of bow and arrow, in accordance with the provisions of § 29.1-306.1 § 29.1-306.

B. A pistol, muzzle-loading pistol or revolver may be used to hunt nuisance species of birds and animals.

C. In the counties west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and counties east of the Blue Ridge where rifles of a caliber larger than .22 caliber may be used for hunting wild birds and animals, game birds and animals may be hunted with pistols or revolvers firing cartridges rated in manufacturers' tables at 350 foot pounds of energy or greater and under the same restrictions and conditions as apply to rifles, provided that no cartridge shall be used with a bullet of less than .23 caliber. In no event shall pistols or revolvers firing cartridges rated in manufacturers' tables at 350 foot pounds of energy or greater be used if rifles of a caliber larger than .22 caliber are not authorized for hunting purposes.

D. The use of muzzle-loading pistols and .22 caliber rimfire handguns is permitted for hunting small game where .22 caliber rifles are permitted.

E. The hunting of wild birds and wild animals with fully automatic firearms, defined as a machine gun in § 18.2-288, is prohibited.

F. The hunting of wild birds or wild animals with (i) weapons other than those authorized by this section or (ii) weapons that have been prohibited by this section shall be punishable as a Class 3 misdemeanor.

2. That § 29.1-306.1 of the Code of Virginia is repealed.