1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to game and fish; permitting the use of a
1.3 	firearm silencer for deer management; amending
1.4 	Minnesota Statutes 2004, sections 97B.031, subdivision
1.5 	4; 609.66, subdivision 1a.
1.6 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.7 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 97B.031,
1.8 	subdivision 4, is amended to read:
1.9 		Subd. 4.Silencers prohibited. (a) Except as provided in
1.10 	paragraph (b),a person may not own or possess a silencer for a
1.11 	firearm or a firearm equipped to have a silencer attached.
1.12 	(b) Paragraph (a) does not apply to the ownership and
1.13 	possession of a silencer by a person who:
1.14 	(1) is hired by a local government solely to shoot deer
1.15 	according to a deer management control plan approved by the
1.16 	local government and the commissioner of natural resources; and 
1.17 	(2) has a valid federal permit to possess and use a
1.18 	silencer.

1.19 	Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 609.66,
1.20 	subdivision 1a, is amended to read:
1.21 		Subd. 1a.Felony crimes; silencers prohibited; reckless
1.22 	discharge.  (a) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision 1h,
1.23 	whoever does any of the following is guilty of a felony and may
1.24 	be sentenced as provided in paragraph (b):
1.25 	(1) sells or has in possession any device designed to
2.1 	silence or muffle the discharge of a firearm, except when the
2.2 	device is possessed by a person authorized under section
2.3 	97B.031, subdivision 4, paragraph (b);
2.4 	(2) intentionally discharges a firearm under circumstances
2.5 	that endanger the safety of another; or
2.6 	(3) recklessly discharges a firearm within a municipality.
2.7 	(b) A person convicted under paragraph (a) may be sentenced
2.8 	as follows:
2.9 	(1) if the act was a violation of paragraph (a), clause
2.10 	(2), or if the act was a violation of paragraph (a), clause (1)
2.11 	or (3), and was committed in a public housing zone, as defined
2.12 	in section 152.01, subdivision 19, a school zone, as defined in
2.13 	section 152.01, subdivision 14a, or a park zone, as defined in
2.14 	section 152.01, subdivision 12a, to imprisonment for not more
2.15 	than five years or to payment of a fine of not more than
2.16 	$10,000, or both; or
2.17 	(2) otherwise, to imprisonment for not more than two years
2.18 	or to payment of a fine of not more than $5,000, or both.