The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the trade association for the firearms, ammunition, hunting and shooting sports industries, is urging North Carolina Govenor Roy Cooper to sign the bipartisan Sunday hunting legislation recently passed by the General Assembly. The legislation, HB 559, Outdoor Heritage Enhanced, improves upon the Outdoor Heritage Act passed in 2015 and would open additional opportunities for North Carolina sportsmen and women.

“Many hard-working hunters without access to private hunting lands will benefit by being able to participate with their children in the precious limited time available during their favorite hunting seasons,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF senior vice president and general counsel. “We are encouraged by the General Assembly’s clear vision of removing barriers to these North Carolina traditions and encourage Governor Cooper to sign this bill into law.”

With Govenor Cooper’s signature, hunters will no longer be prohibited from hunting on Sundays and gain access to more than 2 million acres of public land starting Octotober 1. HB 559, passed the North Carolina Senate 31-11 and the North Carolina House 80-25, would remove prohibitions on hunting within 500 yards of a residence, but not places of worship, create a process by which the state could open public lands for Sunday hunting, allow the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission to conduct a comprehensive study and formulate rules allowing migratory bird hunting on Sunday, remove the blanket prohibition of hunting within counties having a population greater than 700,000 people and require any county wishing to “opt-out” of Sunday hunting do so by a county-wide voter referendum.

The legislation is supported by North Carolina native and life-long hunter Richard Childress, who urged passage of the legislation in a June op-ed. Efforts to remove prohibitions that limited North Carolina hunters were the focus of the N.C. Sunday Hunting Coalition, including NSSF, the National Rifle Association, Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, Delta Waterfowl and Safari Club International. The coalition worked closely with state legislators and the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission to achieve these legislative milestones on behalf of North Carolina sportsmen and women.

Cartoon courtesy cagle.com