Senate Passes Hunting and Fishing Constitutional Amendment | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: The author of this post is Will Rierson, who is a contributor for the Carolina Journal, John Hood Publisher.

    The North Carolina Senate passed a bill Wednesday that would let voters enshrine the right to hunt and fish in the state's constitution.

    Senate Bill 677 passed 44-4 with bipartisan support. Four Democrats opposed the amendment.

    The amendment will now go to the House for committee approval and floor votes. It requires the approval of 60 percent of the chamber - 72 members - to pass the House and appear on ballots in November. It will become part of the state constitution if a majority of voters approve it.

    Gov. Roy Cooper cannot veto the amendment if it gets the 60-percent majority vote in each legislative chamber.

    The amendment was introduced in June 2017, sponsored by Sens. Danny Britt, R-Robeson, Tom McInnis, R-Richmond, and Sen. Norm Sanderson, R-Pamlico. It has moved forward in recent days as part of an effort by Republicans to place constitutional amendments on the ballot that could drive conservative voter turnout in November, some political observers have noted.

    Sanderson compared the right to hunt and fish to the right to bear arms and freedom of speech.

    Sen. Paul Lowe, D-Forsyth, said he didn't think the amendment was necessary, but voted for it anyway.

    "I think this is a ploy for something else," Lowe said. "I don't know what it is, but something else."

    A poll sponsored by the Civitas Institute this month found that 72 percent of registered voters who were surveyed would support the amendment. It is supported by a majority of surveyed voters in both parties, though is most popular among Republican and rural voters. The poll's margin of error is 5.1 percent.

    Approximately half of U.S. states have constitutional provisions protecting the right to hunt and fish, according to the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation.