By: Brown, Bernsen S.C.R. No. 28
1-1 SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
1-2 WHEREAS, During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the
1-3 harvesting of migratory game birds for subsequent resale, or
1-4 "market hunting," was widespread, and this wasteful method led to
1-5 federal regulations to eliminate the practice in all 50 states; and
1-6 WHEREAS, One regulation adopted to curtail this practice
1-7 limits the number of shells a shotgun can hold to no more than
1-8 three and requires shotgun magazines to have a plug to effect the
1-9 three-shell limit; and
1-10 WHEREAS, In the ensuing years, additional regulations have
1-11 been enacted to protect migratory game birds, such as the current
1-12 federal and state daily or seasonal bag limits that regulate the
1-13 number of game birds that can be killed or possessed by a hunter,
1-14 making the three-shell limit and the magazine plug requirement
1-15 unnecessary and archaic; and
1-16 WHEREAS, Enforcing outdated regulations wastes limited law
1-17 enforcement resources that could be better utilized enforcing other
1-18 hunting laws, such as bag limits; and
1-19 WHEREAS, A game bird wounded by a third shot that cannot
1-20 subsequently be killed by a fourth shot suffers an inhumane death
1-21 and is a waste of game resources; and
1-22 WHEREAS, The greater frequency of loading a shotgun
1-23 necessitated by the three-shell limit creates a safety hazard for
1-24 the hunter; and
2-1 WHEREAS, Because migratory game birds can be protected by
2-2 other federal and state regulations, the enforcement of the
2-3 three-shell limit and magazine plug requirement is no longer
2-4 necessary and should be discontinued; now, therefore, be it
2-5 RESOLVED, That the 77th Legislature of the State of Texas
2-6 hereby respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to
2-7 repeal the federal regulation relating to the three-shell limit and
2-8 the magazine plug requirement found in 50 C.F.R. Section 20.21;
2-9 and, be it further
2-10 RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
2-11 copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
2-12 the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of
2-13 the senate of the United States Congress, and to all members of the
2-14 Texas delegation to the congress with the request that this
2-15 resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a
2-16 memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.