Senate Bill No. 337
(By Senators Love and Schoonover)
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[Introduced February 8, 1996;
referred to the Committee on Natural Resources.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section forty-six-j, article two,
chapter twenty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to eliminating
the requirement that a person hunting deer with a muzzle-
loading firearm must use iron sights.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section forty-six-j, 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.
§20-2-46j. Class V resident and Class VV nonresident muzzle-
loading deer hunting licenses.
There shall be a special season of at least three days each year for the taking of deer with muzzle-loading firearms, either
rifles or pistols, to be set at such time and to be of such
duration as determined by the commission. For a minimum of two
days during this season, deer of either sex may be taken with
muzzle-loading firearms in all counties open for the taking of
antlerless deer as provided in section forty-six-b of this
article. Antlered deer only may be taken in all other counties
open for the taking of deer with firearms.
Only single shot muzzle-loading firearms
with iron sights
having a bore diameter of no less than thirty-eight one-
hundredths inch are legal firearms for the taking of deer during
the special season provided herein.
The special season provided herein shall be concurrent with
all other seasons designated for the taking of game.
Any person wishing to hunt for and kill deer during the
special muzzle-loading season must possess a valid Class V or
Class VV license, except that this requirement does not apply to
a resident of West Virginia who is not required to obtain a
license or permit to hunt as provided in this chapter. A Class
V license shall be a resident muzzle-loading deer hunting
license. A Class VV license shall be a nonresident muzzle-loading deer hunting license. The licenses shall be
issued in a form prescribed by the director, are in addition to
a Class A, Class AB or Class E license and are valid only when
accompanied thereby. The fee for the Class V license shall be
five dollars. The fee for the Class VV license shall be ten
dollars.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to eliminate the
requirement that persons hunting deer with a muzzle-loading
firearm must use iron sights.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.