MI Rep. Jim Townsend (D-Royal Oak) to Ban Youth Hunting HB 4774

Representative Jim Townsend who we reported on recently (HERE) due to his asinine attempts to require purchase licenses for long guns is at it again.

This time Mr. Townsend the representative from Royal Oak is looking to effectively destroy both out of state hunting revenues and  youth hunting in the great state of Michigan.

He has introduced HIB-4774 (HERE) which will require pistol licenses to be extended to all firearms. Regardless of yoru fealings on registration or purchase legislation let me explain why this is a bad idea.

1. A person may not purchase, carry, possess, or transport a firearm unless they have obtained a license for the firearm.
   
2. One stipulation for obtaining that license is that the person must be 18 years of age or older.
3. This means that any non-resident may not carry, possess, or transport a firearm unless they have a license to carry, possess, or transport that firearm in their state of residency. This virtually eliminates individuals visiting this state for hunting as most states don’t issue firearms licenses.
4.  This bill makes it illegal to carry, possess, or transport a firearm without a license. This eliminates loaning firearms to friends for hunting, whether they are from out-of-state or not. You cannot even loan a rifle to a friend who doesn’t have one and wants to hunt with you.

We recently reported on changes to the Michigan hunting permits (HERE). These changes are expected to bring in over 20 Million Dollars to the DMR. Based on this it is unlikely this legislation will pass but we cannot leave this to chance. The legislation has been sent to the committee at this time and here is the people who are reviewing it:
Kevin Cotter (R) Committee Chair, 99th District