Why It Matters: On Tuesday, June 17, on the last day of their extended session, the New York Assembly passed New York Assembly Bill 8330 (AB 8330) and Senate Bill 6360 (SB 6360) which will normalize crossbows. Once the governor signs the legislation, crossbows will be permitted during the full archery season and onerous size requirements of width and maximum peak draw weight will be removed from New York statute.
Highlights:
- The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) has been in the fight and advocating for crossbow inclusion for over 15 years. CSF worked directly with legislators in support of AB 8330 and SB 6360.
- Legislation to normalize crossbows and include them in the full archery season has been attempted for over two decades.
- Crossbows were first permitted in 2014 by adding compromise language into the New York Executive Budget to authorize their use for only two weeks of the archery season or during muzzleloader season, both requiring the muzzleloader privilege.
- This victory was a result of CSF working with the New York Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus and the New York Sportsmen’s Advisory Council (NYSAC).
The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation has been on the front lines of including crossbows in hunting since before the original language in 2014 was first adopted. For over a decade, CSF has been working with law makers, NYSAC, other sportsmen’s organizations and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) to normalize crossbows. New York will be added to the growing list of states that permit the unrestricted use of crossbows during archery season.
When crossbows were first approved in New York, they were only permitted for hunting use during the muzzleloader season, the last two weeks of early bowhunting season and had stringent size requirements. Since then, crossbow technology has accelerated quickly and the dated language in statute has made many modern-day crossbows illegal for hunting in New York. Once the governor signs the legislation, the requirements that will be removed include the use of a bolt with the minimum length of 14 inches, a minimum limb width of 17 inches, a minimum length of 24 inches, and a maximum peak draw weight of 200 pounds. Most notable of these size requirements is minimum limb width as modern crossbows have developed to be significantly narrower.
By allowing more opportunities to use crossbows and removing the size requirements of crossbows, hunters will be contributing more to the American System of Conservation Funding (ASCF) when buying new archery equipment. NYSDEC will benefit with the addition of a wildlife management tool and more conservation funding through the ASCF.
For years, due to state politics, legislators have attempted to advance crossbows’ inclusion into the archery season by numerous methods such as specifying use for senior citizens or for those who have a medical necessity that would impede their use of a different “long bow.” This hallmark legislation will permit all licensed hunters to use a crossbow during the archery season. The original language from the 2014 Executive Budget permitted crossbow hunting during the muzzleloader season and the last two weeks of early bowhunting season.
CSF would like to thank our leadership in the New York legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus: Senator Hinchey, Senator Griffo and Assemblyman Smullen, as well as the two sponsors of this legislation, Senator Harckham and Assemblywoman Woerner. CSF would also like to acknowledge the dedicated members of NYSAC who have been advocating alongside CSF for this important change since the Council was formed by CSF in 2012. CSF encourages Governor Hochul to sign this important legislation into law as soon as possible to make crossbows available for the full archery season as soon as this fall.
