TRANSPORTING FIREARM/BOW & ARROW H.B. 5408 (H-1): COMMITTEE SUMMARY
House Bill 5408 (Substitute H-1 as passed by the House)
Sponsor: Representative Tim Moore
House Committee: Conservation, Forestry, and Outdoor Recreation
Senate Committee: Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs
Date Completed: 5-1-06
CONTENT
The bill would amend Part 435 (Hunting and Fishing Licensing) of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act to allow a person to carry, transport, or possess a firearm, bow and arrow, or crossbow without a hunting license under conditions that currently apply only to a person who is at or going to or from a shooting or archery range; and make exceptions to various license requirements for a person who is in compliance with those conditions.
The Act allows a person to carry, transport, or possess a firearm, bow and arrow, or crossbow without a hunting license while at or going to and from a recognized rifle or target range, trap, or skeet-shooting ground, or archery range if, while being transported, the firearm is unloaded in both barrel and magazine and either enclosed in a case or carried in the trunk of a vehicle; or the bow or crossbow is unstrung, enclosed in a case, or carried in the trunk.
The bill would delete the reference to being at or going to or from a recognized rifle or target range, trap, or skeet-shooting ground, or archery range. The bill also would permit a person to carry, transport, or possess a slingshot without a hunting license if it were unstrung, enclosed in a case, or carried in the trunk of a vehicle.
Under the Act, during the open season for taking deer or elk with a firearm, other than the muzzle-loading deer season, a person may not transport or possess a shotgun with buckshot, slug load, ball load, or cut shell, or a rifle other than a .22 caliber rim fire, unless he or she has in his or her possession a license to hunt deer or elk with a firearm.
The Act also prohibits a person from carrying or transporting a firearm, slingshot, bow and arrow, crossbow, or trap while in an area frequented by wild animals, unless the person is in possession of a license issued under Part 435 (subject to exceptions for someone who has a license to carry a concealed pistol or is authorized to carry a concealed pistol without a license).
A person who has been issued a hunting, fur harvester's, or fishing license must carry the license and exhibit it upon the demand of a conservation officer, a law enforcement officer, or the owner or occupant of the land, when hunting, fishing, or trapping or in the possession of firearms or other hunting, fishing, or trapping apparatus in an area frequented by wild animals and fish. A person may not carry or possess afield a shotgun with buckshot, slug loads, or ball loads, a bow and arrow, a muzzle-loading rifle or black powder handgun, or a centerfire handgun or rifle during firearm deer season, unless he or she has a valid firearm
deer license, with an unused kill tag, if issued, in his or her name. The person must exhibit an unused kill tag upon the request of a conservation or law enforcement officer, or the owner or occupant of the land.
Under the bill, these provisions would not apply if the person were carrying, transporting, or in possession of a firearm, slingshot, bow and arrow, or crossbow in compliance with the conditions described above.
MCL 324.43510 et al. Legislative Analyst: Julie Koval
FISCAL IMPACT
The bill would have no fiscal impact on State or local government.
Fiscal Analyst: Jessica Runnels
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. hb5408/0506