§699.5.  Firearm and hunter education requirement

A.(1)  No person born on or after September 1, 1969, shall hunt unless that person has first been issued a certificate of satisfactory completion of a firearm and hunter education course approved by the department.

(2)  However, a person under sixteen years of age may hunt without such certificate if he is accompanied by and is under the direct supervision of a person who was born before September 1, 1969, and has a valid hunting license or who is eighteen years of age or older and has proof of successful completion of a firearm and hunter education course approved by the department.

(3)  However, a person who has not completed the firearm and hunter education course required by Paragraph (1) of this Subsection may be issued a valid hunting license by the department. Such license shall be issued with a restriction that requires that person be accompanied by and under the direct supervision of a person who was born before September 1, 1969, and has a valid hunting license or who is eighteen years of age or older and has proof of successful completion of a firearm and hunter education course approved by the department.

B.  A person who is developmentally disabled and unable to successfully complete a firearm and hunter education course may be issued a restricted firearm and hunter education certificate that permits him to hunt, if he is accompanied by and is under the direct supervision of a person who was born before September 1, 1969, and has a valid hunting license or who is eighteen years of age or older and has proof of successful completion of a firearm and hunter education course approved by the department.  Documentation of the developmental disability from a licensed medical doctor shall be presented prior to the issuance of a restricted hunter education certificate.

C.  For the purposes of this Section, "direct supervision" means that the person being supervised shall be within a normal audible voice proximity and in direct line of sight of the supervising adult at all times while hunting.

D.  The commission may adopt rules to implement the provisions of this Section, including rules to define the circumstances that constitute a person being accompanied by and under the direct supervision of another.

Acts 1995, No. 412, §1; Acts 1997, No. 1282, §1; Acts 2004, No. 100, §1; Acts 2010, No. 292, §1; Acts 2010, No. 335, §1; Acts 2012, No. 364, §1.