LIVINGSTON COUNTY– Deer and bear hunters will be allowed to use high-powered rifles this fall, following the Governor Andrew Cuomo’s signature of new legislation on Tuesday.
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The law crossed the State Senate, Assembly and Governor’s desk in a remarkably quick 13 months. The Livingston County Board of Town Supervisors requested state approval of rifle hunting in June of 2013, and a subsequent bill ran smoothly through the state legislature with little resistance.
“This was what they call a Home Rule Bill, where the State introduces a bill when they get a Home Rule Message from local officials requesting that it go through,” said Assemblyman Bill Nojay. “In this case, the Livingston County Board of Supervisors made the request last year.”
According to Assemblyman Nojay’s office, the only reason the bill was not approved in time for last year’s hunting season was because it was introduced so late in the year. Allegedly, the state House of Representatives was notified on June 17, the week that Legislative Session ended in 2013.
The law does not allow hunting with any autoloading or fully automatic firearms, as defined by current regulations, nor does it authorize long firearms holding more than 6 rounds of ammunition, or firearms equipped with silencers.
Hunting advocacy groups say that in other counties, rifles are responsible for very few hunting accidents. They stress that falling out of tree stands and crashing offroad vehicles injure far more people than rifles do.