Aidan Joly
Fri, May 15, 2026 at 10:40 AM PDT
Erie County Executive vetoes bill allowing 12- and 13-year-olds to hunt deer – AOL
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BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz has vetoed a bill that passed in the county legislature last month that would allow 12- and 13-year-olds to hunt deer with guns in Erie County.
The bill passed in the legislature 7-3 on April 30, with one legislator absent from the vote. The three legislators to vote against the bill were Lawrence Dupre (D-Buffalo), Taisha St. Jean Tard (D-Buffalo) and Jeanne Vinal (D-Amherst).
Poloncarz explained in his veto that children have died across New York State due to accidental shootings. Poloncarz acknowledged that there have not been any incidents involving 12-and 13-year-olds while hunting since the bill passed in the state legislature in 2024, but he cited children as young as nine years old dying in hunting-related accidents in other states.
“I come from a family that hunts. My father hunted, my brother hunts, and other members of my family hunt. This is not about being against hunting,” Poloncarz said. “It is about whether I believe it is appropriate for 12- and 13-year-olds to hunt big game, even with a mentor. Because of the risk, and because of the child fatality reports I have read, I do not believe it is.”
This is not the first time Poloncarz has vetoed a bill regarding children of those ages hunting. He vetoed a similar bill in 2021. Erie County Legislators can override the veto. A spokesperson with the minority caucus said upon the passage of the bill that there are enough votes to override the veto, which there were not in 2021.
The pilot program, first established in New York in February 2024, would allow the minors of those ages to hunt deer “with a crossbow, rifle, shotgun, or muzzleloading firearm,” according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Erie County is the only county in upstate New York that does not allow minors of those ages to obtain licenses.