1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to natural resources; exempting trappers from 
  1.3             blaze orange requirements; amending Minnesota Statutes 
  1.4             1998, section 97B.071. 
  1.5   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.6      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 97B.071, is 
  1.7   amended to read: 
  1.8      97B.071 [BLAZE ORANGE REQUIREMENTS.] 
  1.9      (a) Except as provided in rules adopted under paragraph 
  1.10  (c), a person may not hunt or trap during the open season where 
  1.11  deer may be taken by firearms under applicable laws and 
  1.12  ordinances, unless the visible portion of the person's cap and 
  1.13  outer clothing above the waist, excluding sleeves and gloves, is 
  1.14  blaze orange.  Blaze orange includes a camouflage pattern of at 
  1.15  least 50 percent blaze orange within each foot square.  This 
  1.16  section does not apply to migratory waterfowl hunters on waters 
  1.17  of this state or in a stationary shooting location or to 
  1.18  trappers. 
  1.19     (b) Except as provided in rules adopted under paragraph 
  1.20  (c), and in addition to the requirement in paragraph (a), a 
  1.21  person may not take small game other than turkey, migratory 
  1.22  birds, raccoons, and predators, except when hunting with 
  1.23  nontoxic shot, unless a visible portion of at least one article 
  1.24  of the person's clothing above the waist is blaze orange. 
  1.25     (c) The commissioner may, by rule, prescribe an alternative 
  2.1   color in cases where paragraph (a) or (b) would violate the 
  2.2   Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, Public Law Number 
  2.3   103-141. 
  2.4      (d) A violation of paragraph (b) shall not result in a 
  2.5   penalty, but is punishable only by a safety warning.