I am not a hunter, so I have no clue as to how much concentration it takes for a person to properly use a firearm. Therefore, I can only speculate and draw parallels with other acts. Perhaps it should take about as much concentration to accurately shoot a gun as it does to drive a car.
It seems that New York legislators feel about the same. In the state of New York, hunting while drunk is a misdemeanor, leading up to $500 in fines. Currently, the blood alcohol threshold is set a 0.10 percent, higher than the BAC for driving. This allows for a bit more wiggle room with hunting. With the bill under discussion, the BAC for hunting will decrease to 0.08, the same as driving and boating.
The bill was introduced and passed last year in the Assembly, but failed in the Senate. This may have been due to the fact that the Assembly was Democratic-controlled while the Senate was Republican-controlled back then. With the current change in controlling power, the bill passed through both Democratic-controlled houses this time around.
Even though New York doesn’t a have drunk hunting problem, this measure further enforces safe practices for the sport. “An individual who is too intoxicated to drive a car or pilot a boat is also unfit to engage in hunting…” Assemblyman Kenneth Zebrowski wrote about the bill. As one of the bill’s sponsors, he wants to help create a consistent standard for intoxication in New York.
The General Assembly and the Senate voted to instate the law effective September 1.
The post New York Lowers Threshold for Hunting While Intoxicated appeared first on Law Offices of Taylor and Taylor - DUI Central.