Virginia: Senate Committee to Hear Sunday Hunting Legislation Tomorrow!

[curtix]

Please let take a moment and email in support of Sunday Hunting (MY RIGHT)

Virginia: Senate Committee to Hear
Sunday Hunting Legislation Tomorrow!

Tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. in Senate Room A of the General Assembly Building, the Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources Committee will consider four bills that would repeal the statewide ban on Sunday hunting in Virginia.

Currently, Virginia is one of only six states in the country that strictly bans hunting on Sundays. This prohibition harms Virginia’s economy and threatens the very future of our hunting heritage by discouraging hunter recruitment and retention. It is time that the decision on this hunting policy, like virtually all others, be delegated to the Virginia Board of Game and Inland Fisheries.

At a time when the economy is struggling and too many Virginians are out of work, legislators must not continue to refuse the enormous economic benefits associated with allowing hunting on Sundays. Comprehensive research from the National Shooting Sports Foundation shows that allowing hunting on Sundays would generate a total annual economic impact estimated at $296 million and create 3,927 jobs. All of this would be spurred by simply eliminating words from state statute books (the current prohibition), not spending taxpayer dollars on some pie-in-the-sky scheme.

Three of the four Sunday hunting bills are essentially identical. Senate Bill 151 (sponsored by state Senator Phillip Puckett (D-38)), Senate Bill 464 (sponsored by state Senator Ralph Northram (D-6)) and Senate Bill 512 (sponsored by state Senator Frank Wagner (R-7)) would repeal the current ban by striking the section of the state code that directly forbids any type of hunting on Sundays. Under Senate Bill 173, sponsored by Chap Petersen (D-34), the ban would be repealed by adding language to allow persons to hunt on their own land, as well as any other private land as long as they have written permission from the property owner.

Please contact members of the Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources Committee TODAY and urge them to support repealing this antiquated ban on Sunday hunting. Their contact information can be found:
http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?121+com+S1

or all of the members of the committee listed below - email them please.

[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]

All of the committee listed above - email them please.

 

[JohnBT]

There are too many dern deer. They're a public danger on the roads. It's hard to believe the state once imported deer. In the '30s iirc.

John

 

[curtix]

Its a liberty issue for me.
My Land my Right to hunt.
Thanks for the support any and all.

 

[HOOfan_1]

It has died in committee every year.

That is the problem. We can e-mail and mail and phone our representatives all we want, if the members in that committee don't see fit to bring it to the floor, we are SOL.

There have been writting campaigns every year to that committee and every year they come up with some political double talk to excuse why they don't even let it out of committee.

Every year the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries also endorses Sunday hunting. Every year there are polls and surveys taken with hunters overwhelmingly calling for Sunday Hunting.

This is a situation of a minority of legislators sitting on a committee keeping these bills from seeing the light of day.

edit: here is an article from the Roanoke Times http://www.roanoke.com/outdoors/billcochran/wb/303616

 

[curtix]

We must prevail!

 

[HOOfan_1]

We must prevail!

Sunday hunting would be perfect for me. I work every other Saturday and college sporting events, which I would like to attend, almost always occur on Saturday.

 

[curtix]

Wonder if the people that don't support it know they don't have to hunt on Sunday if they don't want to. I mean what about my rights I own land!

 

[HOOfan_1]

Wonder if the people that don't support it know they don't have to hunt on Sunday if they don't want to. I mean what about my rights I own land!

The reasons I hear for people opposed to it are usually inane. As my dad says every year..."if you don't want to hunt on Sunday, then don't...but don't tell me I can't"

Reasons I have heard for no Sunday Hunting

"It gives a chance for other people to enjoy the outdoors"

ok...they can enjoy the outdoors 365 days a year, there are no laws against hiking, biking, horse riding, fishing etc. etc. etc. etc. THERE ARE LAWS preventing people from hunting. Not only that, but there are plenty of public lands which allow all those outdoor activities, but not hunting. It is the hunters who are not being allowed to enjoy the outdoors, not the other people. Why shouldn't I be allowed to hunt on private land, that hikers etc. won't even be cose to?

"It gives the game a chance to rest"

The game isn't resting, there are still other predators out there going after them. Why does game in 12% of states need to rest, while the game in the other 88% of the states don't seem to need that?

"Sunday is the Lord's day, you should be in church. or We don't want packs of dogs running through church yards"

Well to some religions Saturday or Friday is the Lord's day...some of us are atheist or don't believe in "the Lord's day"

Let us not also forget the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom

Be it enacted by General Assembly that no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief, but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of Religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge or affect their civil capacities

Why should packs of dogs running through a church yard be any different than them running through a school yard on a weekday or any other place?

"Private land owners want a day to themselves, or don't want hunters using their land every day of the week"

It is their land, they don't have to allow hunting at all, they certainly can tell their guests that they don't want hunting on Sunday....that's pretty darn easy. Why shouldn't I be allowed to hunt on private land where the land owner is willing to let me hunt, or public land that my tax dollars and hunting fees pay for?

I absolutely hate a small group of people telling other people what they can and can't do. Especially when there is a "moral" reason behind it.

 

[lowerunit411]

i am as proactive as i can be, and i cross my fingers each time this comes up....maybe this time reason will prevail.

 

[jsnake]

I had a conservation officer tell me that their harvest goals and other related objectives are based on people not hunting on sunday. So, if they want to kill "more" deer, they have increased things like doe days instead of allowing hunting on Sunday. At the end of this discussion, he agreed that it had more to do with tradition than anything else. But, at least he had an answer and it sort of made sense.

 

[HOOfan_1]

I had a conservation officer tell me that their harvest goals and other related objectives are based on people not hunting on sunday. So, if they want to kill "more" deer, they have increased things like doe days instead of allowing hunting on Sunday. At the end of this discussion, he agreed that it had more to do with tradition than anything else. But, at least he had an answer and it sort of made sense.

But the DGIF supports Sunday Hunting.

http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/news/release.asp?id=298

 

[curtix]

http://hamptonroads.com/2012/01/bill-sunday-hunting-va-makes-it-out-committee

The movement to open Virginia to Sunday hunting gained huge momentum today when the Virginia Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources Committee voted 11-4 to turn a bill over to the full Senate.

Similar bills in years past have failed to make it out of committee.

Virginia is one of only 11 states that prohibit hunting on Sunday......

WOOHOO - Moving Forward

 

[HOOfan_1]

http://hamptonroads.com/2012/01/bill-sunday-hunting-va-makes-it-out-committee

The movement to open Virginia to Sunday hunting gained huge momentum today when the Virginia Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources Committee voted 11-4 to turn a bill over to the full Senate.

Similar bills in years past have failed to make it out of committee.

Virginia is one of only 11 states that prohibit hunting on Sunday......

WOOHOO - Moving Forward

It is the most restrictive one too...only those of us lucky enough to have access to private land will be able to do this. My tax dollars and my dollars spent on hunting licenses pay for those public lands that they will not open. I guess one step at a time is better than none, but Virginia legislators still need to pull their heads out of their behinds and dump these stupid 400 year old blue laws.

The people opposing it are the group I wish would be outlawed during deer season. DOG HUNTERS. I can't even count the number of times people running dogs have ruined the hunts of other hunters...now they are trying to ruin our hunting in the legislature as well as in the field. Even though I dislike the dog hunting, I would never form a campaign against it. Hunters need to stick together.

Again, the absolute BS arguments come out. Religious rural land owners are opposed to it and would not allow it on their land.

1) For 235 years, this state has had a constitution that specifically prohibits legislation from being passed whereby religious morals impede the civil liberties of others. So to specifically impeding the bill due to religious scruples is unconstitutional and should be shot down not only by the Virginia Supreme Court, but the US Supreme Court.

2) The bill that is going to be voted on specifically provides for private land owners to disallow Sunday hunting. Even if 90% of them oppose it, which I think is a rather dubious number, then why should they be allowed to block the 10% of land owners who will allow it? Again, this country's constitution was set up to keep the majority from impeding everyone else.

Hunters impeding other hunters. Hunters telling other hunters they shouldn't be allowed to hunt. It makes me sick and it makes me angry. We have enough opponents from the non-hunters.

 

[WayBeau]

Those 400 year old laws are what's driving a fight right now in civil courts about who owns the river bed on the Jackson river. That's right, not the bank or the land next to the river, but the actual river bed and the water that flows over it. It's a big mess, but it's the same thing that's been happening every year with Sunday hunting. The bureaucrats don't want to deal with it because they don't care and they just 'hide' behind something that was enacted when the state was founded.

Might as well get comfortable, it's gonna be a long ride. :banghead:

 

[HOOfan_1]

Sent a letter to my Delegate and Senator

Every year many Virginia hunters have anticipated legislation which would allow Virginia sportsmen to enjoy the past time of hunting 7 days a week. Every year many of us are disappointed that these bills never see the floor for voting by the legislature as a whole. Finally the committee has seen fit to bring a bill to the legislature as a whole. I strongly urge you and all of your colleagues to vote in favor of this bill.

As I understand it, the one bill out of many concerning Sunday hunting to make it out off committee, only allows Sunday hunting on private land with permission. I feel this bill is still too restrictive, and that Sunday hunting should be allowed on public land as well. My taxes and my hunting license fees pay for those public lands. However, I must support this bill as a step in the right direction.

Virginia is only 1 of 7 states which outright prohibits Sunday hunting. Only 11 of 50 states have regulations against Sunday hunting. All of those states, which currently restrict Sunday hunting, were a part of the original 13 colonies in some form or another. These regulations are ancient blue laws and should have been repealed long ago.

Any and all arguments against allowing Sunday hunting are easily refuted. Virginia has a Statute of Religious Freedom and a Constitution which should forbid laws from being enacted to favor one religion. Sunday hunting should not be disallowed for reasons of a Sabbath. The only day open to many sportsmen and prospective sportsmen in Virginia is Sunday. The bill specifically states that Sunday hunting is only allowed by permission on private land. Private land owners have no obligation to allow hunting on their land on Sunday, and never have had any obligation to allow hunting at all. If we allow the opinion of a few land owners to restrict the activities of those other land owners who desire to hunt and allow others to hunt on their land any day of the week, then we are going against the spirit of the United States and the Virginia Constitutions. Other outdoor activities are allowed 365 days a year, and there are public lands which allow those activities, but do not allow hunting. Every citizen of Virginia should be allowed to enjoy the outdoors every day of the week including hunters. Hikers, bikers and horse back riders always have safe options open to them 365 days a year, why shouldn't hunters be allowed the same courtesy?

The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries has seen fit to endorse Sunday Hunting. This is the agency which the Virginia legislature has seen fit to oversee the management and hunting of Virginia wildlife. They above anyone else should know what is good for the game of Virginia. We should not allow the misgivings of a few to outweigh the desires of the many hunters who desire Sunday hunting.