The city of Port Coquitlam is taking steps to prohibit the discharge of crossbows within the municipality after two bears were wounded by the weapons in the Tri-Cities last month.
While the current Firearms Prohibition Bylaw covers most firearms, regulations don't include crossbows or bow and arrows. PoCo's community safety committee voted in favour last week of amending the regulations to include arrow-firing weapons.
"There is authority in the Community Charter for [weapons regulations]," said Dan Scoones, the city's manager of bylaws. "We are just being proactive."
The changes to the city's regulations, Scoones added, mean that the province will no longer be able to issue licences in the municipality for crossbow and bow and arrow hunters.
Last month PoCo Coun. Darrell Penner said the city should prohibit bow-hunting and crossbows in urban areas, after two bears were wounded by arrows in the northeast area of Coquitlam.
In June conservation officers told The Tri-City News that hunters who shot and wounded a bear on a Coquitlam blueberry farm were within the bounds of the law. A $115 fine was issued to one hunter for not cancelling his hunting tag indicating he had shot a bear - a minor offence - but his licence was otherwise in order.
The bear was eventually tracked down by conservation officials who destroyed the 250-lb. male animal.
Another bear that was wounded by bow hunters last week was never found.
But the new rules in Port Coquitlam may not entirely ban the discharge of firearms in the municipality.
The provincial Livestock Act gives a person the authority to discharge a weapon if the person is protecting livestock from attack. That means a person could still hunt on agricultural land, if they had the owners permission and believed their property was in danger.
Coquitlam, where the two bear shootings took place, has had informal discussions on the matter but have not amended their firearms bylaw to include arrows or crossbows.
