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An Act To Create a Local Option for a Sunday Exception Allowing Deer Hunting with Rifles
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 12 MRSA §10501, sub-§9, as amended by PL 2003, c. 511, §1 and affected by §3 and c. 614, §§9 and 10, is further amended to read:
 
9. Possession of hunting equipment on Sunday.   Possession of hunting equipment in the fields or forests or on the waters or ice in the State on Sunday is prima facie evidence of a violation of section 11205, unless:
 
A. The hunting equipment is carried, securely wrapped, in a complete cover;
 
B. The hunting equipment is fastened in a case; or
 
C. The hunting equipment is carried in at least 2 separate pieces in such a manner that it can not be fired, unless the separate pieces are joined together. For the purpose of this subsection, a clip, magazine or cylinder of a firearm may not be considered a piece of the hunting equipment. Bows and arrows must be kept in a case or cover if broadheads or field points are kept attached to the arrows.; or
 
D.  The person in possession of the hunting equipment is carrying the written consent of the property owner to hunt on Sunday on the property pursuant to section 11205, subsection 1-A with a map of the property.
 
This paragraph is repealed December 1, 2021.
Sec. 2.  12 MRSA §11205, sub-§§1-A and 1-B  are enacted to read:
 
1-A.  Exception.     Notwithstanding subsection 1, a person who possesses a valid hunting license may hunt deer during the regular deer hunting season described under section 11401, subsection 1, paragraph A on Sunday on property located in a municipality or a plantation or the unorganized territory of a county that has successfully petitioned the commissioner to allow hunting on Sunday pursuant to subsection 1-B if the person has obtained and is carrying the written consent of the property owner with a map of the property.
 
This subsection is repealed December 1, 2021.
 
1-B.  Municipal petition to allow hunting on Sunday.     A municipality, a plantation or a county with regard to its unorganized territory may petition the commissioner to allow deer hunting on Sunday in the territory of the municipality, the plantation or the unorganized territory of the county during the regular deer hunting season described under section 11401, subsection 1, paragraph A. The commissioner may grant permission to allow hunting on Sunday pursuant to this subsection.
 
This subsection is repealed December 1, 2021.
 
SUMMARY
This bill allows a person who possesses a valid hunting license to possess hunting equipment and to hunt deer during the regular deer hunting season described under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 12, section 11401, subsection 1, paragraph A, when hunters hunt with rifles, on Sunday on property that is located in a municipality, a plantation or the unorganized territory of a county that has successfully petitioned the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to allow hunting on Sunday as long as the person has obtained and is carrying the property owner's written consent to hunt with a map of the property. The bill allows a municipality, plantation or county with regard to its unorganized territory to petition the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to allow hunting on Sunday in its territory. The bill also repeals these provisions on December 1, 2021.