House Rep Lucas introduces bill to allow semi-autos for hunting small game

http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/...type=B&bn=2230
Great first step! We need to push hard and make calls supporting this.

We also need to know who has been blocking this in the past so we can put the necessary pressure on them and/or vote them out of office in November.

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Originally Posted by Yellowfin

We also need to know who has been blocking this in the past so we can put the necessary pressure on them and/or vote them out of office in November.

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Indeed. We need to support this as we support all of the other pro-gun bills.

If I'm reading this correctly, saying it allows for semi-autos for "small game" is a stretch. I'd almost say it's more for varmint. Or did I miss part of the document? I looked at the PDF.

"(7) A semiautomatic rifle, .223 caliber or less with a
cartridge capacity of not more than six, for the taking of a
coyote, fox or woodchuck."

This would mean you couldn't use, for example, a Ruger 10/22, for squirrel hunting. Which I don't know - pray and spray .22s at squirrels is meh IMO - a bolt or lever should be fine - but I don't think is outlandish either.

This would start to open the door though for other expanded uses in the future. And I wouldn't mind trying predator hunting without having to buy a dedicated rifle. My Stag G3 would suffice at least to test the waters, if this were passed.

It's about time, I've been bugging my local game commission officers about using a semi for coyote and groundhogs. I don't see a valid reason not to be able to.

There are 5 round 10/22 mags out there...

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Originally Posted by redrockin7

This would mean you couldn't use, for example, a Ruger 10/22, for squirrel hunting. Which I don't know - pray and spray .22s at squirrels is meh IMO - a bolt or lever should be fine - but I don't think is outlandish either.

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The point of allowing semi's for hunting isn't to encourage or validate hunters "praying and spraying"


It merely means that you can spend all day Friday at the range with your 10/22, then take a squirrel with it on Saturday.



Allowing semi's is about letting people utilize rifles they already have, not increasing their firepower in the woods.

Spray and pray is very easily accomplished with a lever action or pump action, and almost as much with a smooth bolt and practice. Keeping semi-autos out of hunting based on a fear of spray and pray is not based in reality.

A low recoil, fast follow-up shot could make the difference between a critter crawling down a hole to die a slow death and humanely dispatching it.

I've seen deer running with a shattered leg dangling after hearing volleys of shots along a field from non-semi-auto spraying machines. Keeping semi-autos from hunters isn't accomplishing anything, in my NSHO.

Sorry guys. I for one that hunts public lands will fight this one.

They should not allow semi-auto rifles for hunting. Period.

Though the number of hunter related shootings is decreasing, there are still too many out there with the spray and pray attitude. It happens all the time with every other rifle.

And unfortunately, the WCOs are already over stretched in their areas. So enforcing the magazine limits would be almost impossible.

How about we punish people when they are caught doing irresponsible things with firearms while hunting instead of prohibiting semi-autos?

You just said hunting related shootings are decreasing and with the same breath, tar the semi-auto as encouraging spray and pray.

Why is it that the Fudds make the same asinine argument that the streets will run with blood if semi's are allowed, over and over again?

I have not found any credible data whatever that supports this argument. The folks arguing against semi's should just be honest about it and admit the thought of seeing an ar in the woods offends their sense of red plaid and "fair chase".

The resistance to semi's is a Fudd issue, not a safety issue.