Hunting license
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A hunting license is a regulatory or legal mechanism to control recreational and sports hunting.
Hunting may be regulated informally by "unwritten law", "self restraint", or "morality" and by laws "enforced by government authority." [1]
In the United States, Regulation of hunting is primarily performed by the state law; additional regulations are imposed through United States (Federal) environmental law regarding migratory birds (such as ducks and geese) and endangered species.
Like many licenses, a hunting license is considered a privilege granted by the government, rather than a constitutional right under the Second Amendment. [2] [3]
As a general rule, unprotected pest species are not subject to a hunting license. Such so-called vermin may be hunted without a license, or may even be the subject of a bounty paid to the hunter. This is especially true for predatory carnivores such as coyotes and wolves. Also, practice or sport shooting with a clay target does not require a license.[4]
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[edit] History
Hunting licenses are millennia old.
Amongst the first hunting laws in the Common law tradition was from the time of William the Conquerer (reign in England starting 1066). In the Peterborough Chronicle entry of 1087, The Rime of King William reported in verse that:
Whoever killed a hart or a hind
Should be blinded. [5]
This was because "William the Conqueror's moral life lives in the landscape. His control of the forest mirrors his control of the people, and his establishment of hunting laws reveals the dissonance between his love for animals and his contempt for the populace: ... [6]
He loved the wild animals
As if he were their father.
That he loves the animals like a father implies, of course, that he does not love his people like one."[7]
In 1937, the U.S. Congress passed the Pittman-Robertson Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act, which was "strongly supported by hunters" because "this legislation transferred receipts from a 10 percent excise tax on sporting arms and ammunition from the general treasury to state wildlife conservation programs." [8]
Later, "In 1970, again with hunter support, the Dingman-Hart Bill was enacted, making a 10 percent excise tax on handguns available for wildlife restoration and hunter safety training." [9]
[edit] Situation in the United States
[edit] State licenses
Each state has different standards and paperwork requirements for getting a hunting license. These includes the areas, time periods, harvesting techniques, distinctions between species, and a hunting safety course.
Licenses to hunt typically go on sale once a year. [10]
Hunting big game typically requires a tag for each animal harvested. Tags must be purchased in addition to the hunting license, and the number of tags issued to an individual is typically limited. In cases where there are more prospective hunters than the quota for that species, tags are usually assigned by lottery. Tags may be further restricted to a specific area or wildlife management unit. These include Alaska [11], California [12], Florida[13], Georgia [14], Illinois [15], Louisiana [16], Ohio [17], Tennessee [18], Texas [19], and Virginia.[20]
49 of the 50 states require a prospective big game hunter take a several-hour course about safety, often termed sportsman education.[21] [22]
Such jurisdictions also may limit the privilege of getting a hunting license to adults, and to teenagers fourteen years of age or older.[23]
Several United States and Canadian provinces have joined in an Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact (IWVC) to control interstate hunting and to punish violators of differing laws.
[edit] Federal licenses
Federal law requires the purchase of a duck stamp in order to shoot migratory ducks. They are regulated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. [24]
United States law also mandates strict limits on the hunting ("taking") of endangered species.[25] [26] [27] The U.S. is a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). [28] The Bush Administration proposed lifting some restrictions in 2005 (for antelopes), as did the Norwegian Government (for wolves) in the same year.[29]
[edit] Exemptions
Both Federal and State exempt the following:
- Pest species, as noted above.
- Native Americans based on Indian treaties
- Specific statutes, such as the Marine Mammal Protection Act and eagle feather laws (see below}
- Alaskan Native laws
- Active service members of the military often get free licenses [30]
- Sports hunting for targets.
[edit] The Eagle Feather Law
The eagle feather law, (Title 50 Part 22 of the Code of Federal Regulations), stipulates that only individuals of certifiable Native American ancestry enrolled in a federally recognized tribe are legally authorized to obtain eagle feathers for religious or spiritual use. Native Americans and non-Native Americans frequently contest the value and validity of the eagle feather law, charging that the law is laden with discriminatory racial preferences and infringes on tribal sovereignty. The law does not allow Native Americans to give eagle feathers to non-Native Americans, a common modern and traditional practice. Many non-Native Americans have been adopted into Native American families, made tribal members and given eagle feathers.
[edit] Second Amendment issue
Some hunters have challenged hunting licenses, as being in violation of the right to keep and bear arms as guaranteed by Second Amendment to the United States Constitution; the Supreme Court of the US is as of 2008, hearing arguments on the proper standard of review for gun laws or regulations.[31]
[edit] References
- Palmer, Theodore Sherman (1904). Hunting licenses: Their history, objects, and limitations. U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, 72 pp.. ASIN: B00088530Q.
- Potter, Dale R.; Kathryn M. Sharpe, John C. Hendee (1973). Human Behavior Aspects Of Fish And Wildlife Conservation - An Annotated Bibliography. U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, 290 pp..
[edit] Notes
- ^ National Shooting Sports Foundation, The Ethical Hunter, brochure p. 6, March 2003, site at [1]
- ^ See description of # of tag holders in N.Y. state: [2].
- ^ See also Driver's license
- ^ See, e.g., Learning How to Shoot, or Is There a Gay NRA?, by Erik F. vonHausen, Diversity Rules!, May/June 2007.
- ^ Seth Lerner, Inventing English: A Portable History of the English Language", p. 43 (Columbia U. Press 2007), citing Cecily Clark, The Peterborough Chronicle (2nd ed. Clarenden Press 1970).
- ^ Old English text here is removed.
- ^ Seth Lerner, Inventing English: A Portable History of the English Language", p. 44 (Columbia U. Press 2007), citing Cecily Clark, The Peterborough Chronicle (2nd ed. Clarenden Press 1970).
- ^ The National Shooting Sports Foundation, The Hunter and Conservation, brochure, p. 12, December 2002, available at National Shooting Sports Foundation official web site
- ^ The National Shooting Sports Foundation, The Hunter and Conservation, brochure, p. 12, December 2002, available at National Shooting Sports Foundation official web site
- ^ Press, Associated. "2007-08 hunting licenses available Monday", Ch. 9 News, 2007-08-08. Retrieved on 2007-09-21.
- ^ Alaska Online Licensing Home Page. Retrieved on 2007-09-21.
- ^ California Dept. of fish and game. Retrieved on 2007-09-21.
- ^ License and permit requirements. Retrieved on 2007-09-21.
- ^ Georgia DNR, How to get a hunting License. Retrieved on 2007-09-21.
- ^ Illinois DNR, Online services. Retrieved on 2007-09-21.
- ^ Louisiana department of wildlife and fisheries. Retrieved on 2007-09-21.
- ^ Ohio DNR, Hunting Licensing. Retrieved on 2007-09-21.
- ^ TN DNR, Online licensing. Retrieved on 2007-09-21.
- ^ Texas Parks and Wikdlife - Hunting & wildlife. Retrieved on 2007-09-21.
- ^ Virginia Hunting & Fishing Licenses. Retrieved on 2007-09-21.
- ^ See, e.g., New York Environmental Conservation Law section 11-713 (3), found at [3], click on "ENV".
- ^ Hunting Safety Courses and Exams. Retrieved on 2007-09-21.
- ^ See, e.g., New York Environmental Conservation Law section 11-703 (4), found at [4], click on "ENV".
- ^ The Federal duck stamps program. Retrieved on 2007-09-21.
- ^ Endangered Species Act of 1973, Title 16 of the United States Code, §§ 1531-1544
- ^ US CODE: Title 16, 1531. Retrieved on 2007-09-21.
- ^ For a fuller description of the Endangered Species Act, see that article, or [this portal: http://www.llrx.com/features/esa.htm].
- ^ Tiger, (Panthera tigris). Retrieved on 2007-09-21.
- ^ "Permission given to hunt endangered wolves", NewScientist, 2005-01-22. Retrieved on 2007-09-21.
- ^ NY Dept. of environmental conservation. Retrieved on 2007-09-21.
- ^ Joan Biskupic, Do you have a legal right to own a gun?, USA Today, February 27, 2008, p. 1-2.
