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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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CONTACT: Steve McMullen Phone: 717-783-5043 |
State Rep. Ed Staback |
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Staback: landowner liability legislation now law in Pennsylvania
HARRISBURG, July 3– State Rep. Ed Staback, D-Lackawanna/Wayne, today said a bill he sponsored that exempts landowners from liability for accidents or injuries that are caused by someone hunting on their land whether the injury happens on or off their property is now law in Pennsylvania, and is known as Act 11 of 2007.
Previous Pennsylvania law, which was passed in 1965, protected landowners who allow others to use their land for a wide variety of recreational purposes, such as hunting, fishing, swimming and hiking. Landowners were free from liability so long as they allowed recreational users access to their land without requiring a fee.
Act 11 closes a loophole in the law that was brought to light recently by a court case in Lehigh County in which a landowner was found partially liable for a shooting accident. In that case, the injured victim was not on the same property as the hunter, but sustained her injury nearly a half-mile from where the bullet was fired. Staback said the new law clearly states that landowners will not be liable for accidents caused by someone using their land for hunting, no matter where the actual injury takes place. In the Lehigh County case, the shooter was found guilty of the crime of negligent shooting.
“Pennsylvania landowners need to know that if they allow hunters on their land, they are fully protected,” Staback said. “Without this law, there was a serious threat to the hunting traditions of our state. If private landowners had shut down their land out of fear of being sued, hundreds of thousands of hunters would have found themselves turned out from property they have hunted on for years.”
The bill was amended in the House Game and Fisheries Committee, on which Staback serves as chairman. The amendment that he co-sponsored changed the original bill, which was a broad rewriting of the original 1965 act, so that the bill specifically addressed the serious problems caused by the Lehigh County case to the outdoors community.
“Quick and decisive action was needed,” Staback said. “I am glad that my colleagues in the House and Senate, and the governor, all agreed on how important it was to get this law enacted. Landowners who let hunters on their land can now all breathe a lot easier.”
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