Last week, three bills were introduced that are an outright attack on our outdoor heritage and way of life.
Assembly Bill 3732 requires hunters to provide 24 hour written notice to all property owners and occupants of properties that share a boundary with where the individual is planning on hunting. If this weren’t bad enough, this bill also prohibits even nocking an arrow within 450 feet of an occupied building or a school playground unless the hunter has written permission from such property owners to hunt on adjacent property. These significant barriers will make hunting nearly impossible, because missing even notification will result in a $300 fine for a first offense and a $1,500 fine and loss of their hunting license on any subsequent offense.
Assembly Bill 3409 and its companion legislation, Senate Bill 2409, would outlaw hunting competitions that provide any reward for hunting or “harassing” of certain animals with a noted exception for field trials. The definitions under this bill are entirely too vague and may include trivial and friendly competitions between friends and family members for could take the largest squirrel or rabbit. Any violation of this legislation would result in the individual facing jail time with a disorderly persons offense and a loss of their hunting license for 5 years.
“These bills are a clear attack on sportsmen and women. They are a continuation of the strategy where animal-rights activists erect as many barriers as possible to make hunting difficult, if not impossible, so they can drive more and more individuals from the fold,” said Dillon Barto, Manager of State Services at the Sportsmen’s Alliance.
New Jersey sportsmen should contact their state representatives and senators and voice their opposition to this legislation.
About the Sportsmen’s Alliance: The Sportsmen’s Alliance protects and defends America’s wildlife conservation programs and the pursuits – hunting, fishing and trapping – that generate the money to pay for them. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation is responsible for public education, legal defense and research. Its mission is accomplished through several distinct programs coordinated to provide the most complete defense capability possible. Stay connected to Sportsmen’s Alliance: Online, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
