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<section article="gnr" article_name="Natural Resources" number="10-423" title_number="10" title_name="Wildlife" subtitle_number="4" subtitle_name="Hunting Restrictions -- in General">
  <level label="a">
    <level label="1">
      <text>Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, any penalty imposed under this section does not apply to an individual who kills or wounds a black bear in defense of the individual’s own life, the lives of other individuals, or the lives of animals, including honey bees in a bee colony managed by the individual, on the individual’s property.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>The exemption for an individual that kills or wounds a black bear in defense of a honey bee under paragraph (1) of this subsection applies only to an individual who has installed and properly maintained an electric fence.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="b">
    <text>If the Secretary adopts any regulation, including an emergency regulation, under § 10–205 of this title or § 10–405 of this subtitle to prohibit the hunting, possessing, selling, purchasing, shipping, carrying, transporting, or exporting of black bears, a person who violates the regulation is subject to the following penalties:</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>For a first offense, a fine not exceeding $1,500, imprisonment not exceeding 6 months, or both; and</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>For a second or subsequent offense, a fine not exceeding $2,000, imprisonment not exceeding 1 year, or both.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
</section>
