NY Airgun Hunting Law Adopted

[longislandhunter]

Well, it's finally "official", the NYS law change went into effect March 10th and air guns are now officially legal for hunting small game in NY.  The announcement is now listed on the DEC website.....

Part 180, Section 3 - Definition of Firearms - Express Terms Adopted March 17, 2010
Express Terms

Section 180.3 of 6 NYCRR is repealed and a new section 180.3 of 6 NYCRR adopted as follows:

Section 180.3. Definition and use of firearms, guns, and airguns.

For the purposes of the Fish and Wildlife Law and this Title:

Subdivision (a) of 6 NYCRR section 180.3 is repealed and a new subdivision (a) and (b) of 6 NYCRR section 180.3 added:

(a) The terms "firearm" or "gun" shall mean any rifle, pistol, shotgun or muzzleloading firearm which by force of gunpowder, or an airgun as defined in subdivision (b), that expels a missile or projectile capable of killing, wounding or otherwise inflicting physical damage upon fish, wildlife or other animals.

(b) The term "airgun" shall mean any implement which by the force of a spring, air or other non-ignited compressed gas expels a missile or projectile and has a rifled or smooth barrel, using ammunition no smaller than .17 caliber, producing projectile velocities of not less than 600 feet per second. For the purposes of the Fish and Wildlife Law, an implement meeting the above specifications shall be considered a firearm or gun, and may be used to take protected wildlife whenever such protected wildlife may legally be taken with a rimfire rifle.

Here's the link.......

http://www.dec.ny.gov/regulations/57971.html

Another nice surprise is that they lowered the FPS requirement from the proposed 800 fps to 600 fps  

Get those air guns warmed up for next small game season Harry     LOL

Jeff

[kp4att]

ooohhh  right..... CONGRATS JEFF.... I KNOW YOU ARE ENJOYING A LOT!!!!.....   WEEEEPEEEE!!!!

/GERALD

[gamo2hammerli]

Congrats to the airgun hunters in N.Y State.

A little over a year ago I'd read in a French hunting magazine that they might allow airgun hunting in Quebec.....then I didn't see or hear anything about it.  Just last week while at the gun range I was talking to another airgun shooter....and he said this year is the year they will start to allow airgun hunting.  Nothing official yet....but I have my fingers crossed.

[crowpopper]

Harry will be happy they Reduced it to 600 fps
I am happy and when in the field with th LD ill carry a few super lite pellets for the "chrony" if they ask

[airiscool]

Thanks Jeff.

Good news to see it in offical print !! I ran off a copy to keep with my hunting lic. just in case not everyone's gotten the word.

Ha - wouldn't ya know it!!! Now that I get a 22 that will easily pass the 800fps limit without having to shoot Craptors, they drop the limit to 600fps.  

I guess  someone in Albany started looking at what airguns are real-world capable of and realized it would exclude alot of 22 and 25 cal that can put out enough foot pounds of energy to kill small game, but can't get over 800fps without using the poor performing PBA pellets.

Paul.

[shadow]

And all is Zen in brother Jeff's hunting world. Ed

[TheKnot]

thats sweet i'am a happy man . good luck up north gamo2 hammer

[longislandhunter]

The only thing I'm concerned about is how the DEC interprets the new law with respect to Long Island.  In the new law  they specifically stated that an air gun meeting the minimum standards could be used to hunt protected game whenever that game can be legally hunted with a rimfire rifle.  The reason they used that specific reference to rimfire rifles  was to clearly rule out any big game hunting with air rifles since only center fire rifles can be used for big game hunting in NY.  That wording is not a problem except if you live on Long Island.  It is illegal to hunt, or even be afield, on Long Island with any rifle.  Now here's where it gets interesting...... technically and legally an air rifle is not a "rifle" under the DEC definition.  They define a "rifle" as a firearm with a barrel length of at least 16 inches that has rifling in the barrel and that uses metallic cartridges.  Since air rifles do not use "metallic cartridges" they are not legally considered "rifles" and it is therefore perfectly legal to be afield and to hunt "unprotected" species such as woodchucks .  I have had this conversation with the DEC officials and they freely admit that an air rifle is not legally a "rifle" and being afield with one does not break any laws.  Now here's the problem as far as Long Island goes.....  even though an air rifle is not legally a "rifle" and therefor does not break the "no rifle" rule for Long Island, the DEC may interpret the new law as meaning that air rifles are legal only in areas that permit rimfire rifles to be used and since rimfire rifles can't be used on Long Island then an air rifle is not permitted.  As I said earlier,,, the "rimfire" rifle wording was intended to rule out big game hunting but if the DEC here on Long Island take the opinion that air rifles can't be used here because rimfire rifles are illegal to hunt with here then myself and the other L.I. hunters are screwed.  

One of my friends who I used to work with periodically when I was still working  is a Lieutenant with the DEC here in Suffolk County, he's also a die hard air gun hunter and enthusiast.  I'm going to give him a call and ask him what the official policy for L.I. is going to be regarding this new law.  I'm hoping that they don't intend to exclude air guns her on the Island but I know my buddy will give me a straight answer.  The funny thing is that even if they do not allow air rifles to be used on the Island for small game they will still be legal to use for the "unprotected" species such as ground hogs, pigeons, starlings etc.   The logic I'm trying to get to is that if they let you use air rifles for the "unprotected" species then they obviously aren't concerned that an air rifle presents the same danger as a powder burner "rifle" otherwise they would've banned air rifles along with regular "rifles".  Logically it just doesn't make sense to me that you can be afield and hunt  woodchucks with an air rifle on long island but you aren't permitted to use the same air rifle on squirrels.  I plan on using this argument with my buddy if I have to.  

I know this is a long, drawn out post, but I didn't know of a shorter way to explain the issue for the benefit of Long Island air gun hunters.  

Jeff

[airiscool]

Jeff,
Let's hope that the same change in Albany DEC attitude that now allows AG's for small game, and more counties now allowed to use rifles for big game, is a new "common sense" attitude that see's the logic of what you said.

Fingers crossed for you Islanders.

Paul.

[CitySniper]

Yeah I do not see how they can be in the same category as firearms since they do not use an explosion for the power. All these stupid gun laws suck! My city.. San Francisco actually has had a ban on airguns for years, but that law has been obsolete since like 2004.

They actually still don't sell airguns anywhere in the city limits, but you travel 5 min. to daly city and Walmart, Big 5,anywhere  sells them. Actually PA is the only airgun store that will ship to me. Airgun Depot has a big sign saying they wont ship to SF.

The california law is airguns are legal as long as you don't branish in public, or don't shoot beyond your property.

[Mebits]

Jeff, I'm thinking that the reference to rimfire is a WHAT not a WHERE reference. So, if a squirrel can be hunted with a rimfire in NY, then it can be hunted with an air gun in NY. That would be ANYWHERE YOU CAN SHOOT AN AIRGUN you can hunt squirrels with it.

That's my read. Of course, I'm no lawyer, though I am an investment guy and I write for a living.

A close reading of the text is probably worth doing, too.

M

[longislandhunter]

Mark, I agree 100% with you, that's how I read it also and I have no doubt that that's what they intended the wording to mean.  I only hope the DEC officials here on the Island understand the true meaning of the wording and the intent of the law.       It only makes sense.  After all, airguns are perfectly legal on the Island so the law shouldn't exclude them due to the "no rifle" rule since it doesn't apply to airguns.   Well, I'll be talking to my buddy in the DEC very soon and I'm sure he'll give me the answer.  

Jeff

Jeff

[only1harry]

Thanks Jeff!

I wonder if the 600fps is a typo, or if it had anything to do with a 4 page e-mail I sent to them explainting that .22 and .25 cal. pellet guns have much more Kinetic Energy (FPE) with way lower velocities than a .177 @ 800fps   Wel typo or not, it's listed as 600fps, so that 's great.

Chris:
I only have 1 air rifle that shoots <800fps and that's the RWS 850 .22 plus the 2240 pistol which is still underpowered at 500fps with the 10.1" barrel.  The 850 is now legal as it pushes  14.3gr pellets @ 640fps.  Other than that, I think I have the most powerful (non big-bore) airguns on this forum, so I didn't mind the 800fps ammendment recommendation before, hehe

[lillysdad621]

awesome!!!!!!!!!

[Rudy]

Why do I get nervous when NY adopts a new law? It seems like my benign pellet rifles have now been elevated to the category of Firearms. Some how,down the road, I bet it comes back to bite me in the ass.

Rudy