Senate Bill No. 427
(By Senators Bailey, Love, Bowman, Sharpe and Schoonover)
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[Introduced February 17, 1995; referred to the Committee
on Natural Resources; and then to the Committee on
Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section thirty-a, article two,
chapter twenty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to hunting
licenses; certificate of training; falsifying, altering,
forging, counterfeiting or uttering a training certificate;
penalties; and hunter education course to be offered at
least four times per year at no cost to participants.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section thirty-a, article two, chapter twenty of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. WILDLIFE RESOURCES.
§20-2-30a. Certificate of training; falsifying, altering,
forging, counterfeiting or uttering training certificate;
penalties.
(a) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this article, no
hunting license may be issued to any person who was born on or
after the first day of January, one thousand nine hundred
seventy-five, unless the person submits to the person authorized
to issue hunting licenses a certificate of training as provided
for in this section or proof of completion of any course which
promotes as a major objective, safety in the handling of firearms
and of bow and arrows and which course is approved by the hunter
education association or the director.
(b) The director shall establish a course in the safe
handling of firearms and of bows and arrows, such as the course
approved by the hunter education association. This course shall
be given at least once four times per year in each county in this
state and shall be taught by instructors certified by the
director. In establishing and conducting this course, the
director may cooperate with any reputable association or
organization which promotes as a major objective, safety in the
handling of firearms and of bows and arrows: Provided, That any person holding a Class A-L or AB-L lifetime resident license
obtained prior to his or her fifteenth birthday shall be required
to obtain a certificate of training as provided for in this
section before hunting or trapping pursuant to said the license.
This course of instruction, including materials or ammunition
consumed, shall be offered without charge. except for materials
or ammunition consumed. Upon satisfactory completion of the
course, each person instructed in the course shall be issued a
certificate of training for the purposes of complying with the
requirements of subsection (a) of this section. The certificate
shall be in the form prescribed by the director and shall be
valid for hunting license application purposes.
(c) (1) Upon satisfactory completion of this course, any
person whose hunting license has been revoked for a violation of
the provisions of this chapter may petition the director for a
reduction of his or her revocation time. However, under no
circumstances may the time be reduced to less than one year.
(2) Successful completion of this course shall be required
to consider the reinstatement of a hunting license of any person
whose license has been revoked due to a conviction for negligent
shooting of a human being or of livestock under the provisions of section fifty-seven of this article or of section eleven, article
seven, chapter sixty-one of this code, and who petitions the
director for an early reinstatement of his or her hunting
privileges. Such a petitioner shall also comply with the other
requirements for consideration of reinstatement contained in
section thirty-eight of this article.
(d) It is unlawful for any person to falsify, alter, forge,
counterfeit or utter a certificate of training. Any person who
violates the provisions of this subsection is guilty of a
misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not
less than five hundred dollars nor more than one thousand
dollars, or confined in the county or regional jail for a period
not to exceed one year, or both fined and imprisoned.
(e) Nothing herein contained shall may be construed as a
mandate that any county school district in the state be
responsible for implementing hunter safety education programs.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require that a hunter
education course be offered at least four times per year in each
county at no charge to participants.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.