Michigan Senate Approves Bill To Lower Hunting Age Restrictions
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Michigan Senate Approves Bill To Lower Hunting Age Restrictions





(Lansing) - Two Michigan bills designed to lower hunting age restrictions advanced out of the Senate today. Both bills are part of Families Afield, a program designed by the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance (USSA), National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) and National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) to recruit young hunters into the sport by lowering or eliminating unnecessary age restrictions.

The Michigan Senate passed SB 1105, sponsored by Sen. Michelle McManus, R-Leelanau, and co-chair of the Michigan State Sportsmen’s Caucus, by a vote of 32-6. The bill creates an apprentice hunting license which allows people to hunt under direct supervision of a licensed adult hunter before completing hunter education training. To become fully licensed and hunt alone, the new hunter must complete a hunter education course. The bill now goes to the House of Representatives for consideration.

“I truly appreciate the help we got from the leaders of the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance, National Shooting Sports Foundation and National Wild Turkey Federation,” commented Sen. McManus. “They provided the research that showed how safe mentored hunters are, and then sent staff and volunteers to the capitol to explain the data so that legislators would be more comfortable with the bill.”

The Senate also passed HB 5192, sponsored by Rep. Scott Hummel, R-DeWitt, by a vote of 29-9. The bill, which passed the House of Representatives 86-17 on March 21, will next be sent back to the House for concurrence on changes made by the Senate. Originally, the bill only reduced the minimum age at which people could hunt big game from 14 to 12 years of age. The bill now also reduces the minimum age for small game hunting from 12 to 10 years of age. Agreement on the changes is expected.

Families Afield legislation has been adopted in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Minnesota, Illinois, Utah and Mississippi. Like these states, Michigan has a rich hunting heritage, yet hunter recruitment is waning due to restrictive regulations placed on the ages at which a person can begin to hunt. Families Afield gives parents the opportunity to decide when their child is ready to hunt, rather than have the government set an arbitrary age minimum.

The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance protects the rights of hunters, anglers and trappers in the courts, legislatures, at the ballot, in Congress and through public education programs. For more information about the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance and its work, call (614) 888-4868 or visit its website, www.ussportsmen.org.
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