State Sen. Patrick Joyce, D-Essex, has advanced a bill that would allow for more humane hunting and expand the hunting industry in Illinois.

Senate Bill 2756 would increase the max capacity of centerfire rifles from one to three rounds, putting Illinois on par with all other states. According to a Thursday news release, Illinois is the only state that institutes a single-shot limit on centerfire rifle capacity.

“Many hunters I know tend to pass on using centerfire rifles,” Joyce said. “If we can pass this legislation, we will see a significant increase in the use of this hunting rifle.”

According to the news release, Joyce led the passage of a previous bill that legalized the use of single shot centerfire rifles for deer hunting season.

Single-shot rifles increase the possibility of severely wounding a deer without giving hunters the opportunity to humanely put the deer down with a second shot, according to the news release. Non-resident hunters, and some Illinois hunters, either need to modify existing rifles or buy new ones to hunt in Illinois.

“With this bill we can accomplish two goals at once,” Joyce said. “We can expand the number of hunters visiting our state, and we can hunt deer in a more humane way.”

The bill passed the Senate Agriculture Committee Thursday with bipartisan support.