1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to game and fish; permitting the use of 
  1.3             silencers for deer management; amending Minnesota 
  1.4             Statutes 2000, sections 97B.031, subdivision 4; 
  1.5             609.66, subdivision 1a. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 97B.031, 
  1.8   subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
  1.9      Subd. 4.  [SILENCERS PROHIBITED.] A person may not own or 
  1.10  possess a silencer for a firearm or a firearm equipped to have a 
  1.11  silencer attached.  This subdivision does not apply to the 
  1.12  possession and use of a silencer by a person who: 
  1.13     (1) is hired by a local government solely to shoot deer 
  1.14  according to an approved deer management control plan; and 
  1.15     (2) has a valid federal permit to possess and use a 
  1.16  silencer. 
  1.17     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 609.66, 
  1.18  subdivision 1a, is amended to read: 
  1.19     Subd. 1a.  [FELONY CRIMES; SILENCERS PROHIBITED; RECKLESS 
  1.20  DISCHARGE.] (a) Whoever does any of the following is guilty of a 
  1.21  felony and may be sentenced as provided in paragraph (b): 
  1.22     (1) sells or has in possession any device designed to 
  1.23  silence or muffle the discharge of a firearm, except as 
  1.24  authorized under section 97B.031, subdivision 4; 
  1.25     (2) intentionally discharges a firearm under circumstances 
  2.1   that endanger the safety of another; or 
  2.2      (3) recklessly discharges a firearm within a municipality. 
  2.3      (b) A person convicted under paragraph (a) may be sentenced 
  2.4   as follows: 
  2.5      (1) if the act was a violation of paragraph (a), clause 
  2.6   (2), or if the act was a violation of paragraph (a), clause (1) 
  2.7   or (3), and was committed in a public housing zone, as defined 
  2.8   in section 152.01, subdivision 19, a school zone, as defined in 
  2.9   section 152.01, subdivision 14a, or a park zone, as defined in 
  2.10  section 152.01, subdivision 12a, to imprisonment for not more 
  2.11  than five years or to payment of a fine of not more than 
  2.12  $10,000, or both; or 
  2.13     (2) otherwise, to imprisonment for not more than two years 
  2.14  or to payment of a fine of not more than $5,000, or both.