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ORANGE: Hunting - Exceeding Authority Update |
COALITION
OF CONNECTICUT
SPORTSMEN
P.O.
Box 2506, Hartford, CT 06146, (203) 245-8076
www.ctsportsmen.com
April 5, 2002 Re: Permit to Discharge Firearms
Town of Orange
First Selectman/Mayor
617 Orange Center Road
Orange, CT 06477
Dear sir:
During a recent DEP Conservation Education/Firearms Safety Course, an instructor was queried on the ability of towns to establish requirements pertaining to hunting in addition to Statutes and Regulations imposed by the State. The instructor answered correctly that towns have no authority to do so and was presented with a Town of Orange Form (OPD Rev 8/93) “Permit to Discharge Firearms” issued and required by the Town of Orange, Department of Police Services.
I contacted the Orange resident and was informed that he had been threatened with arrest previously by not having the Orange required form submitted/in possession, and had then complied with the police procedure. He informed me that he had to submit a copy of a current hunting license, a passport photo, and signed landowner permits. Additionally, the Town Permit requires him to notify Police Headquarters “prior to each hunting trip and approximate duration of hunting trip; make/model and location of where vehicle is parked.”
The Coalition of Connecticut Sportsmen has recently won a court case concerning hunting preemption (Kaluszka v. East Hartford). This is a precedent case concerning the issue of municipal hunting regulations/ordinances, which conflict with state law. This case follows the basic principle that towns only have the powers explicitly given to them by the legislature and that towns cannot regulate or undermine state statutory and agency regulatory legislation concerning hunting. I have enclosed some articles on the case, which were published, in our monthly magazine “Hook ’n Bullet.”
Hunting in the Town of Orange, or any other town, is a matter of statewide concern and can only be regulated by the state. As a resident of Madison, were I to hunt property in Orange, I would not have known/applied for any additional local permit requirement and would not have reported, in any event, my hunting time and duration. Other state hunters face the same problem/decision. It is clear that the Orange ordinance is invalid since it regulates hunting that is otherwise lawful. I have not seen the ordinance, but would suggest a complete review to ascertain if any other restrictions are imposed in conflict with preemptive state law dealing with firearms.
Your immediate attention to this issue would be appreciated. Firearms hunting season begins in November and we would like to see this problem expeditiously resolved.
Thank
you.
Robert T. Crook, Director
cc: Town of Orange, Corporate Counsel
Edward Parker, Chief, Natural Resources Bureau, DEP