Why cant you use a semi auto(rifle) in PA?

[CBennett]

Years ago I went to my first(and LAST) public meeting when there was a small push to get semi autos(with 3 or 5 round limits) on as hunting rifles that you could use in PA. This was near Warren Pa at the time and held by the Game Comission.

I had a small stake in it as many of the rifles I had coming from NY and Nevada were semi autos and I had been wanting to hunt with them in PA and found all of a sudden the ONLY gun that I had that was legal in PA was a Remington 870 shotgun I didnt have a single .22LR or rifle that was "legal" in PA(all were semi autos).

So I ended up in the long run(holding out hoping there was enough push finally to get them "legalized" ) selling off 97% of my semi autos and getting bolt actions and a few single shots. and that pretty much pissed me off lol...we got back into this conversation a few days ago at work. With the big push of new AR type hunting rifles..why again is it that you cant use them..any chance for change...??

Oh here is how that meeting went and the LAME excuse I finally got after poking holes in all their other LAME arguments...

I went to a meeting where the game commission tried to say it was because they didnt want people "spraying the woods" with a semi auto shooting at a moving/running deer(they made it sound as if someone was taking a FULLY auto rifle with a 30 round mag and dumping it after a moving deer lol)

I said lets be realistic we would limit it to 3-5 round mags just like many other states with semi autos do for hunting then I asked the room/crowd dont you ALL(this was public so many people in room) know a friend guy at hunting camp that can shoot a pump,lever action just as quick as a semi auto guy could pull a trigger..id say 90% said YES and were talking about people that could...I said then whats the difference with them shooting that lever action or pump as fast as they can dumping all their ammo...just as fast as a semi auto after the deer?

They(the 3 Game commission people at the podium) grumbled a bit at their podium someone said something low enough that I didnt catch it nor did anyone else..and finally the guy said..Because of TRADITION! I just shook my head and sat back down..horrible..just horrible..same deal with flintlock VS percussion caps for muzzle loader season lol...but out of guys spraying the woods with bullets(get shot down by you could do the same with a pump or lever action) now its just because of tradition??

This was years ago has there been any move on this yet or anything?

Id love to have a AR type platform for some nice Varmint hunting...honestly the only reason I dont have a AR is its a range toy only in PA and just cant justify the $$ on a "toy" VS something I could actually hunt with. I know many that would love to use their AR's for Deer in .308 or what ever..think this will ever happen or in PA is it just a dream

Ive noticed PA advancing or trying to in a few other areas like Liquor sales and such..seems people are finally starting to wake up and realize there are other ways of doing things things that can be changed??(PA is the only state ive ever been in that the state runs liquor sales every other state ive lived in you can buy beer at the super market)

[CL3]

The semi-auto issue is under the purvey of the State Legislature (Only they can amend Title 34). Just like Sunday Hunting is. Not the PA Game Commission. Maybe our resident PGC WCO will weigh in on their current thinking with respect to why or why not they support semi-autos for hunting if control on whether or not hunters could use them was given to the PGC?

Legislators should NOT be in the business of dictating wildlife management technique (aka semi-autos), or days in the field (Sundays).

That being said, there will be people who oppose semi-autos strongly just as they oppose Sunday Hunting (and a whole slew of other hot-bed topics) that Legislators feel they they need to meddle in because one or two rich constituents are pulling on their ear. Deer Wars, anyone?! And since there is a certain level of distrust in the PGC (not saying I distrust them, but people do), people tend to view things through that lens or not. Regardless if the PGC supports any given topic or not.

Hunters need to stick together. Period. State legislators need to stick to administration and a bit of oversight, and NOT Legislate wildlife technique or management. Biologists and people in the field of managing wildlife & hunters (just a tool to manage wildlife) should take the lead in this area.

My two cents, respectfully. Haters Will Hate. Complainers Will Complain. Get out and Hunt!

[Joe Demko]

These things can be changed. Once upon a time, crossbows were illegal for hunting in this state too.

[Hokkmike]

Inertia is part of the reason!

[knight0334]

I'm for them as soon as the require every person who hunts to harvest 1 deer with a single shot firearm first. lol

Ought to be the rule for other repeaters as well.

[ChamberedRound]

The issue with semi-auto hunting isn't just the ridiculous "spraying the woods" argument. The real issue is a political one. PA farmers, which collectively own a LOT of land for hunting, are fairly well-represented by special interest groups in Harrisburg. These groups have said that if either Sunday hunting or semi-auto hunting is allowed, their members will prohibit access to their lands by hunters.

The threat of having farmers shut down tens of thousands of acres of hunting grounds has the legislators scared; they see this as a toxic issue that's not worth the risk to champion.

[CBennett]

These things can be changed. Once upon a time, crossbows were illegal for hunting in this state too.

Agreed fingers crossed maybe it WILL!

[CBennett]

The issue with semi-auto hunting isn't just the ridiculous "spraying the woods" argument. The real issue is a political one. PA farmers, which collectively own a LOT of land for hunting, are fairly well-represented by special interest groups in Harrisburg. These groups have said that if either Sunday hunting or semi-auto hunting is allowed, their members will prohibit access to their lands by hunters.

The threat of having farmers shut down tens of thousands of acres of hunting grounds has the legislators scared; they see this as a toxic issue that's not worth the risk to champion.

Been in PA now and im still not used to nor do I understand PA politics heck I didnt even start getting a PA hunting license again till recently when my kid(13 now) started showing interest. I just got my NYS license instead as since i normally have weekends off I can hunt 2X as much lol..

We (kid and I) were watching one of those outdoor shows where they were prairie dog hunting with AR type rifles..Kid said..dad why cant we get one of those to hunt with..I tried to explain but failed miserably lol. Kids always want a easy simple answer that makes sense to them..In this case I could not provide him one...

But your right there is a LOT more posted land in PA than NY...most farmers in NY dont care..some do many dont. and they dont really care one way or another as they have always had Sunday hunting(and never had a farmer say no sunday hunting lol) and they can use semi autos..heck just recently where I used to live in NY it was shotgun only now they can use rifles also. Didnt seem to change anything up there guess I just "dont get it" coming from more of a "free" hunting state to a more restricted state(and im not saying PA isnt a good hunting state im just saying as far as the rules go it IS more restricted..no Sunday hunting, no Hunting with semi autos, they close small game in deer season...stuff like that...just cant make sense of some of it I guess.. So I guess I kinda give up

[Joe Demko]

When crossbows were first made legal for the archery season, it was as a sunset law. Now there is no way, IMO, that we are going to convince the game commissioners to jump in at the deep end of the pool and just okay every self-loader out there. It has to be made palatable to them and give them an out in case the wild carnage they imagine were to actually occur. Magazine limits are, I think, what would sell this idea. 3 or 4 rounds is 3 or 4 rounds, whether they are fired quickly or slowly. Magazine restrictions + a sunset provision = autoloaders on a trial basis. If deer season proceeds pretty much as it always has, just as it did when modern style muzzle loaders and crossbows were respectively legalized, then autoloaders would be here to stay.

[Joe Demko]

If the farmers are an issue, we can consider pressing to have selected state game lands opened to semi-auto use, Sunday hunting, or whatever. Pennsylvania grimly clings to many of their old Blue Laws, but times change and the laws can be changed too. Heck, when I was a kid virtually nothing was open on Sundays. Now, most everything is...even a few of the state-owned liquor stores. We just need to go after a bite of the apple at a time, rather than giving up and sulking because we couldn't have the whole thing all at once.