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Kentucky Fish and Wildlife New Carry Regulations

8th ID

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This info from KY Fish & Game, in my opinion, is total BS. So,I guess they can override the KY Constitution? Yeah, right. I will do some research on this and try to contact them myself.

Did this guy give any statutes that give them the authority to arrest, cite, take away weapons? I'm sure he didn't, because as far as I know, there aren't any. So, nowI can't carry a pistol openly in the woods without a CC license.

Well,I will be doing some digging on this...I'll Be Back!


My research isn't complete yet. Tomorrow I'm going to call KY Fish & Game and see what statute they would cite me under ifI were to open carry a pistol while hunting. Also, I will be contacting my Rep.'s in Frankfort.
 

8th ID

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I called Fish & Game this morning. I was connected to Law Enforcement. I went with same question as previous poster. I asked if I could open carry a 9mm pistol while hunting with a .22. There was a long pause. He was very careful in his response, or lack of. I never got an answer. He got off the phone to research it. He said that the rules had just changed. But he did say thatI could carry it concealed if I had a CC permit.

He took my name and number. He said he would call me back with an answer. It's been almost an hour with no return call. As soon as I hear something, I'll post it. But seems to me there is some inconsistency in the information and maybe no one at Fish & Game really know the KY Constitution regarding firearm laws.Surprise!!
 

8th ID

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A guy from KY Fish & Game called me back at some point today while I was out. He left a number, but it was too late to call him today. I will talk with him tomorrow. And depending on what he says,I may contact my Rep. and Senator in Frankfort.
 

hotrod

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8th ID wrote:
A guy from KY Fish & Game called me back at some point today while I was out. He left a number, but it was too late to call him today. I will talk with him tomorrow. And depending on what he says,I may contact my Rep. and Senator in Frankfort.

As soon as you post a response, and if it's not in line with the Commonwealth constitution, I will contact the Attorney General's office. It's black letter law. There is no wobble room. The Commonwealth can NOT regulate open carry.

 

8th ID

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hotrod wrote:
8th ID wrote:
A guy from KY Fish & Game called me back at some point today while I was out. He left a number, but it was too late to call him today. I will talk with him tomorrow. And depending on what he says,I may contact my Rep. and Senator in Frankfort.

As soon as you post a response, and if it's not in line with the Commonwealth constitution, I will contact the Attorney General's office. It's black letter law. There is no wobble room. The Commonwealth can NOT regulate open carry.

hotrod, This morning I was ready to read from KY Constitution, Attorney Generals opinions, and Holland v Commonwealth. I wanted to see if he would commit to regulation of open carry. AfterI asked my question, he paused for almost a minute! I thought he actually hung up on me. He was obviously confused. He refused to really commit to anything.I honestly don't believe they know what the law is. I'll call when their office opens tomorrow and post as soon as I can.
 

8th ID

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OK. I will try to make this as short as possible. I talked with Capt. Mike Fields at KY Fish & Game (Law Enforcement). In short there is NO KRS that prohibits openly carrying a pistol while hunting. Of course we knew that.:banghead: What they are using is a KAR (Kentucky Administrative Regulation). 301 KAR 2.172 Sec. 3. I haven't looked this up yet. Here's the meat: Small game hunting: Open carry any legal firearm (you just can't use it to take game).Large game hunting: No open carry of firearms (pistol). No weapons with more than 10 round capacity, no rimfire, no FMJ ammo.

I repeatedly told him that no organization, etc. can prohibit open carry in KY.He kept saying that they're not prohibiting open carry. It took him several minutes to look up that KAR. If anyone wants to look up the KAR it should be at lrc.ky.gov. I'm going to take a look at it and then contact my Rep. and Senator in Frankfort. They're both Republicans. Sorry to bring politics into this!!!

Capt. Mike Fields & Maj. Larry Estes 502-564-7109 ext. 4517
 

boomer92266

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i just got off the phone as well, it sure is confusing. the guy i spoke with today said i could open carry without a permit only if my handgun met the regulation for the game i'm after. i can open carry while small game hunting if i carry a rimfire ( 22, 17, or a pellet) pistol legal for small game even tho i'm not hunting with the pistol. i can carry my 357 with me when deer hunting with my 308 because its legal for deer. but was told i would be breaking the law if i carried any handgun while turkey hunting unless i have a permit because you can't hunt with a handgun. i keep telling them i'm not hunting just for protection, i don't think they get it or just don't care. i'm gonna contact some people as well, who all should i contact? i have never had to do this before.
 

hotrod

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Section 3. Hunter Restrictions. (1) A deer hunter:
(a) Shall not take deer except during daylight hours;

(b) Shall not use dogs, except leashed tracking dogs to recover wounded deer;

(c) Shall not take swimming deer; and

(d) Shall not take deer from a vehicle, boat, or while on horseback, except that a hunter in possession of a disabled hunting exemption permit issued by the department may use a stationary vehicle as a hunting platform.

(e) Shall not possess or use a decoy or call powered by electricity from any source.

(2) A deer hunter shall not take a deer with any device except a firearm, crossbow, or archery equipment.

(3) Except as authorized by KRS 237.110, a person shall not carry any of the following items while hunting deer:

(a) Rimfire ammunition;

(b) A fully-automatic firearm;

(c) A firearm with a magazine capacity greater than ten (10) rounds;

(d) Full metal jacketed ammunition;

(e) Tracer bullet ammunition;

(f) A shotshell containing larger than number two (2) size shot;

(g) A broadhead smaller than seven-eighths (7/8) inch wide;

(h) A barbed broadhead;

(i) A crossbow without a working safety device;

(j) A chemically-treated arrow; or

(k) An arrow with a chemical attachment.

(4) Except as authorized by KRS 237.110, a person shall not carry a firearm while hunting deer, except when a firearm deer season is open.

(5) A person, including someone authorized to carry a concealed weapon pursuant to KRS 237.110, shall not:

(a) Use any of the items listed in subsection (3) of this section to take deer.

(b) Use any weapon to take deer that is not consistent with the appropriate season established in Section 5

No where is there a provision that open carry is not legal. It just gives authorization for conceal carry, which can be regulated. Open carry, as we all know, is not regulated.
 

langzaiguy

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My SR9 has an 18 round capacity. It seems like it would be illegal to carry this while I hunt. It's still an encroachment on my liberties.



Edit: I do have my CCDW which appears to allow me to OC/CC my SR9. It's still an encroachment.
 

hotrod

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langzaiguy wrote:
My SR9 has an 18 round capacity. It seems like it would be illegal to carry this while I hunt. It's still an encroachment on my liberties.



Edit: I do have my CCDW which appears to allow me to OC/CC my SR9. It's still an encroachment.
I can't find anywhere that the Commonwealthcan limit rounds. I also don't understand who writes the Kentucky Administrative Regulations and who votes on the rule to authorize enactment
 

langzaiguy

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The KAR you just quoted mentions the magazine limitation. From my limited understanding a KAR is voted on by a board, not the general assembly. With my dealings with the firearm ban in SNPs, I contacted the two co-chairs (Combs & Tori) and both responded to me. Dave Nicholas is the on the Committee for KAR review--he'd be an excellent guy to contact.
 

hotrod

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KRS 150.025 authorizes the use of administrative regulation, but does not give authorization to control weapons for self defense or regulate magazine capacity. Only regulations concerning hunting are authorized
 

langzaiguy

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But that's what I'm saying--that KAR is banning the use of me carrying my SR9 if I'm hunting. That seems unconstitutional.
 

8th ID

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You guys sure have been busy. I've spoken with 2 different law enforcement officers from Fish & Game. Both seemed somewhat confused at the open carry question. Like I said before, I believe that in reality the Fish & Game LEO's have no idea of what they enforce. The guy I spoke with yesterday paused so long after I asked him the question I thought he hung up on me.

The inconsisitency in information we're getting just reinforces the fact that they do not know KRS.
 

8th ID

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boomer92266 wrote:
who all should i contact? i have never had to do this before.
I'm going to start with my Rep. and Senator in Frankfort. If I hear back from them, I'll post it here.
 

Stophel

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, Kentucky, USA
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boomer92266 wrote:
, i wanted to go squirrel hunting but along with my 22 for squirrels i wanted to take my 357 with me in case of self defense or to shoot coyote's. .
As far as I know, you can shoot squirrels with whatever you want. Except a slingshot, which doesn't make sense...

It's been a while since I looked at the regulations, though.
 

boomer92266

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the regulations changed a few years ago, you can't use a center fire gun for small game now. but i wasn't using my handgun for hunting just carrying for defense, cause the 22 is a week gun but they said i couldn't carry a center fire and a rimfire at the same time. unless i was coyote hunting which doesn't have gun restrictions.
 

8th ID

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I sent a short email to my Rep. today. Rep. Bill Farmer. Will send one to my Senator (Alice Forgy Kerr) tomorrow. Will post responses as soon as I get them.
 

jaegan

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, Kentucky, USA
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This sounds like an "unintended consequences" situation, where whoever wrote the KAR was concerned with making sure the weapons were appropriate for taking the kind of game being hunted, and didn't consider the possibility of someone carrying another gun for self-defense purposes. Needs to be changed certainly, but doesn't seem malicious in my opinion. I haven't hunted since I was a kid, but was thinking of taking it back up. Hopefully this will get sorted out soon.
 
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