House and Senate Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus Supports the Right to Hunt, Fish, & Trap in MS

The Mississippi Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus held a press conference Wednesday at the State Capitol to address its support for the constitutional right to hunt, fish, and trap in Mississippi. House Chairman of the Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks (W.F.P.) Committee, C. Scott Bounds, and Co-Chair of the Senate Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus, Angela Hill, were joined in their support by Governor Phil Bryant, Lieutenant Governor Tate Reeves, Speaker of the House Philip Gunn, members of the House and Senate Caucuses, and stakeholders of conservation efforts from around the state.

"The privilege of sportsmen being able to hunt, fish, and trap is being threatened in other states,” said House W.F.P. Chairman Bounds. “As members of the Mississippi Legislature, we believe our citizens should have that privilege protected in Mississippi, enabling citizens to continue to practice sound conservation principles in managing, controlling, and harvesting wildlife.”

During the 2012 Regular Legislative Session, House Concurrent Resolution 30 was adopted. The passage of this measure enables the citizens and sportsmen of Mississippi to vote for Initiative Measure No. 1 on the November 4th ballot. Initiative 1 proposes to insert, into the Mississippi Constitution, language guaranteeing the right for Mississippi citizens to hunt, fish, and harvest wildlife by traditional methods.

“If passed, this Initiative protects the rights of our citizens to hunt, fish, and harvest wildlife, subjecting them only to regulations that promote sound wildlife conservation and management as may be prescribed by general law,” continued House W.F.P. Chairman Bounds. “I want to encourage our citizens, especially the sportsmen and sportswomen of Mississippi, to go vote on November 4th, and vote "yes" for Initiative 1."

The Mississippi Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus is the largest independent, bi-partisan caucus in the Mississippi Legislature. It is comprised of 102 members of the Mississippi Legislature from all areas of the state, whose beliefs align in protecting and preserving the state’s natural resources by implementing, through public policy, sound pro-sportsmen’s legislation. For more information, visit www.sportsmenslink.org.