The gun you see below…
…. was duly taken from its owner for illegal use: shooting fish (though not in a barrel, which is even more unethical). A Finney County Game Warden seized the 9 mm handgun because it was “being used to take fish in Garden City,” Kansas game wardens said.
You would expect officials in Finney County to be protective of fish, wouldn’t you?
The wardens issued written violations, reminding citizens that “firearms are not a legal means to take fish.”
“Nonsport fish may be taken only with fishing pole and line, trotlines, setlines, gig, crossbow or bow and arrow with a line attached,” according to the department’s website. “Nonsport fish” include carp, drum, grass carp, threadfin and gizzard shad, goldfish, gar, suckers, eel, shovelnose sturgeon, goldeye, and bowfin. You well may wonder why it is legal to use a crossbow to catch fish but not a handgun. The distinction is safety: bullets can ricochet off the surface of the water.
Presumably no Second Amendment issues are raised by banning guns from being used to shoot at fish, although Sherriff Brody would have a strong case that this should be an exception:
Ethics Alarms 
I’m confused. Is it legal to take sport fish by firearm?
I couldn’t figure that out either.
/there’s this:
https://www.skillsetmag.com/why-you-should-try-fishing-with-guns/
Sounds as if the answer is shooting fish is illegal (maybe except in Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico?).
Frequently a gun or shotgun is kept handy when fishing for dangerous large fish. In “The Perfect Storm” George Clooney’s character uses one to kill a shark they haul aboard.
Steve-O-
I witnessed this firsthand as a youngster–Muskie and Northern Pike.
It is important to remember not to shoot while the fish is in the boat.
It is grossly careless to pull a live grown shark into a boat. Sharks are usually shot dead when pulled close, and then gaffed aboard. If they are small enough to release, they are pulled close and the line cut. This was the practice when I went shark fishing thirty years ago, anyway.
From a distance, or with a bang stick?
How about harpoon guns? H&R still offered them in their catalogs through the 70’s or so, if I remember correctly. Illustrating the capriciousness of gun laws, if you have one and remove the line canister, it becomes a “short-barreled rifle” and has to be registered as an NFA item. One minute it’s legal, a minute later, it’s not, though still the same functioning firearm (similar to the current pistol brace rule).
The rules for taking alligators in FL are perhaps more interesting than the fishing regulations:
https://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/wildlife/alligator/harvest/hunt-guide/harvest-methods/
I particularly like the recommendation pithing gators to kill them humanely. Holy carolly! We did this with frogs in HS biology class, but a live gator? No thanks.
Correct. The government could regulate firearm hunting on public lands all day long. The Founding Fathers hadn’t just returned from a hunting trip when they had the Second Amendment in mind.
My favorite version is “They didn’t enact the Second Amendment because the deer were coming.” (Yeah, I know it’s not chronologically accurate, but it makes the point.)