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Jury selection finished in Frein trial

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Wilkes holds four-day spring residency

<p>HARRISBURG &#8212; Despite receiving unanimous support from the Pennsylvania Game Commission board in January, the numbers just didn&#8217;t add up when it came to allowing semi-automatic rifles to be used for big game hunting.</p><p>And while the PGC board voted on Tuesday to allow semi-automatic rifles to be used to hunt furbearers, groundhogs and small game, they opted to leave deer, bear, turkey and elk out of the mix.</p><p>Board president Brian Hoover, who made the amendment to pull big game from the proposal, said the move came after the agency received significant feedback from hunters. The agency received thousands of comments from the public and 2,000 more hunter responses to a survey that was conducted on the issue.</p><p>In January, the board unanimously voted to grant preliminary approval for allowing semi-automatic rifles to be used in very hunting season, except spring gobbler. Less than two months later, the board reversed course when it came to big game, mainly due to results of an agency survey released on Monday. When asked if they supported semi-automatic rifles for big game hunting, 64 percent of those surveyed were opposed.</p><p>That convinced the board to hold off on allowing the firearms for big game, at least for now.</p><p>&#8220;We saw the survey numbers and it was pretty cut and dry at that point,&#8221; said commissioner Tim Layton.</p><p>But Layton added that the semi-automatic issue isn&#8217;t going away. He said younger hunters are generally supportive of allowing the rifles for big game, and the agency will continue to gauge overall hunter support.</p><p>&#8220;If it becomes appropriate to bring it back up we&#8217;ll do that,&#8221; Layton said. &#8220;Hunters want (semi-automatic rifles) for small game, coyotes and furbearers. Maybe when people get comfortable with them it might be a bridge to move it to big game.&#8221;</p><p>A major concern with allowing semi-automatic rifles for big game was safety. Commissioner James Daley said the board and agency staff spoke to other states where the rifles are allowed for hunting and learned that safety isn&#8217;t an issue.</p><p>&#8220;We went through an education process. Out hunters aren&#8217;t caught up yet. They haven&#8217;t had that awakening,&#8221; Daley said. &#8220;There are some true benefits of semi-autos - such as reduced recoil. Our hunters don&#8217;t understand that yet.&#8221;</p><p>The agency survey that asked hunters if they support the use of semi-automatic rifles for certain species was sent out in early February, after the board granted preliminary approval of the measure. Responses came in through the first week of March, and while more than half opposed semi-automatics for big game, Daley said the results changed if the question was worded differently. As part of the motion that passed in January, the board included language that limited magazine capacity to five rounds for semi-automatics used for big game. The magazine restriction wasn&#8217;t mentioned in the survey, and Daley felt if it was included more respondents would&#8217;ve been in favor of the concept.</p><p>While the agency survey was a critical factor in the board&#8217;s decision to remove big game, comments submitted directly to the game commission were drastically different, with 850 in favor and 220 against. Those comments came in waves, indicating movement by specific groups to state their position.</p><p>&#8220;We received a lot of well-written comments that carried a lot of weight, but the form letters I deleted,&#8221; said commissioner Dave Putnam.</p><p>Commissioner Charlie Fox added that opinions varied by geographic location as well.</p><p>&#8220;In the rural areas there was not a lot of support for semi-autos,&#8221; Fox said. &#8220;Those are more conservative communities.&#8221;</p><p>Still, the board didn&#8217;t rule out revisiting the issue and will maintain an open dialogue with hunters to see if opinions change.</p><p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think the semi-auto conversation is going away,&#8221; Layton said. &#8220;It will be at the forefront for a while.&#8221;</p><p><ins>For other local news stories, <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/category/local" target="_blank">click here</a>.</ins></p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Hunters can use semi-auto rifles for small game and furbearers, but not deer, bear and turkey</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Tom Venesky</p><p>tvenesky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>Semi-auto rifle timeline:</strong></p><p>Nov. 21, 2016 - Gov. Tom Wolf signed legislation granting the Pennsylvania Game Commission the authority to implement semi-automatic rifles for hunting</p><p>Jan. 31 - PGC board votes unanimously to allow semi-automatic rifles to be used in all seasons, except spring gobbler</p><p>Early February - PGC sends a survey to 4,000 hunters seeking their opinion on allowing semi-automatic rifles for certain hunting seasons</p><p>March 27 - Survey results presented to the PGC board, showing 64 percent of the 2002 respondents oppose using semi-automatics for big game</p><p>March 28 - PGC board votes to allow semi-automatic rifles for furbearers and small game, but not big game such as deer, turkey, bear and elk</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Tom Venesky at 570-991-6395 or on Twitter @TomVenesky</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Game Commission approves the use of semi-auto rifles, but not for deer, bear and turkey hunting