Georgia hunters would be allowed to use gun silencers and terminally ill youngsters who want to hunt could fulfill their last wishes under two bills that the state Senate passed Tuesday.
Sen. John Bulloch, R-Ochlocknee, said he sponsored the silencer-related Senate Bill 301 to help landowners deal with an overpopulation of feral hogs. The silencers, he said, would help them get off more than one shot. Bulloch also said it may help reduce the number of calls to law enforcement by residents who report hearing gunshots from hunters.
The bill would penalize anyone who hunts with a silencer illegally -- such as without a landowner's permission -- with a three-year ban. Silencers are legal in Georgia, but the law currently prohibits their use for hunting. The application process to obtain a silencer is regulated by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
SB 301 passed on a 48-5 vote. It now moves to the House for consideration. The National Rifle Association supports the bill.
Senate Bill 309 was inspired by Taylor Gramling, 18, who succumbed to leukemia in November but not before fulfilling one last wish: to go on a hunt and bag a deer.
The successful outing almost did not happen. The request came out of season, tying state wildlife officials' hands. Only a timely intervention by comedian Jeff Foxworthy, a board member of the Georgia Natural Resources Foundation, made the hunt possible. Foxworthy has a farm that holds a special out-of-season deer hunting permit.
Sen. Rick Jeffares, R-Locust Grove, had been among those helping Gramling. He sponsored SB 309, which would allow state officials to grant special hunting privileges to anyone 21 years or younger with a terminal illness, provided they have proper supervision and follow the usual rules.
Jeffares has proposed to call it "Taylor's Law." It passed the Senate on a 53-1 vote, with Gramling's family watching from the gallery. It now goes to the House for consideration.
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