. . 

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENEkAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

GROVER SELLERS I ; 

ATTORNEI GENE”*‘ 

i. 

1 

1 

Hanorablo T. J. Tuokor 

County Attorno~ 

liopkfnm Catiiaty 

Sulphur E~ingr, 'hua, 

Opinion No. SW56 

Dear sir: 

~0; con0tmotion or 00 011 

5, Artiele'WQa-5 Pa 

r+ 

. 

rum stotuter it is aIrrye penui8siblo 

end raqufnd that the le&irl~tlre intad bo drterrinad. 

Hono*, the aIn and ob mot of oon8trurtion 18 to l soortdn 

wul mforoo the leglr 3 atit lntont, and not to doSad, 
Honorable y. J. Tuoker - :a/:(1 5: 

nullify or thwart it. .'9 Tax. Jurlp. 167. The intent 

should first be :~ cucht from B reading of the whole stetutes, but If the intent remelnc obeoure after reedlng 

the entire cot, th4 court ~;ay consl.der other lass and 

olroumtanoes 1nCloatlnp the lc~lelatlvc Intent, dud zay 

resort tc Certain eids for construction, suob a?. the history of leglslatlon, and the neceF:lty or ooha:.lon for 

the eneotment of the statute in question. 39 Tsx. Jurle. 

pag,es 177-178. 

:I re6dlnp of mtlole e79a-5 does not give my 

aisistanoe In deterainln~ juet whet type of shotgun 10 

forbidden to be us&. The ect wan orl~lnally psss4d by 

the 45th LegIF:latum, %nd CalLd:;eeslon, on October lF., 

1927. That aot hod the Idmtioal provisions, except that 

ths rord "gun" Is included after the words “magaelna loudlng" . 'bile thet oniar.1011 NBS evlder.tly Y clerloal omisdon, It nalt$rr adds to or takes from the aota prohibit&. 

It IF. well settled that the emergency clause of 

an tict nmy be considered if It sheds light upon ths inquiry rtnC ~~1.1 aid the aourt in ascerthlniog the leprlelative Intent. Inter&et4 Forwarding Co. v. Vineyard, 49 

. . (Cd) 403. 

In looking to the original act PR paS:sed In 1937, 

w4 find in the emergency cl4us4 the following lanruaes: 

"The feot thet :he mourning dove end white-w%nged dove regulatlons ;':>r the year 1927 8:-e In confliot pith the Fadsral 

Bsguletlon4 . . . oroetas en emortpncy . . .* Prom this 

Gnguaee It ie clear that the ieglslature lntendod that the 

aot be In harmony with the Yeder~l ragulatlons thereon. 

It IF i,roper to resch omit end to follow t!m true 

Intent of th4 Legielatura, ancl to adopt that canes whioh 

hac:onlr-es with the content ena :ro3otaci, In the fullsst 
. 

! 

Honorable T. J. Tuokor - I'm. #S 

manner, the apparent polloy nnd object of the X.eelslature. Thompson v. M.&T. Icy. Co., 126 S. ii'. 257. 

On July 30, 1937 the Frealdent approved kroolamatlon No. .?245, found in 2 Pod. Koe. at page lZ.55, 

whloh proVeda amone other thinga that, >lrrt, al@atory 

same birds my not be taken with a ahotgua larger than 

No. 10 gauge; ma, seoond, thny may not be taken by maana 

of any autoamtio-loading or hand operated repeating ?hotgun capable of holding ZIOM than three shells at ona time 

in tha ohambar and magazine. 

:s'hen nsaeaaary to arrive at the legislative intent, it is pemlaalbla t3 oonatrue the cmnjunotion *~llld*' 

aa though it ware the dlsjunotlve *OP. Cllmenqa f;eolproual Aati*n v. Coo, $8 9. :'. (24) 1046-1047. It is, therefore, our opinion that the no* *andw aa use6 in Article 

879a-8, F.C., lauuedlatily after the worbe "larger tbn tengauge* should be,uaed in it8 dfrjunotlve aeqae. 

It is a mahter of ootabon knowled@ that a twelvegauge ehotgim is effialler than a ten-gatige. 

You are, thorrfore, advim th::,t a prsooh who 

hunta with a twelve-gawe shotgun that la not pluggod so 

that it will hold not exoee4Lng threa ahells ie violating 

mtlala R79e-5, P.S. 

Yours very truly, 

Ey: /a/ Xichald !‘. Cotike 

ksalatant 

Approved iieb 14, 1946 

Carlo8 C. Ashley 

Ffrst A66iBtm t 

Attorney General Approved: ciplnion 

Committee