Support Sunday hunting in Virginia

Status
Not open for further replies.
N

Navy_Guns

Member
Joined
Nov 20, 2006
Messages
511
http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?111+com+S1

This link is to the Virginia state Senate committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources. They are holding a hearing on SB 850 on Monday 31 January which, if the bill passes, would add Virginia to the 44 other states that already allow hunting on Sundays. If you live in Virginia, please take a moment to use the link to call or e-mail the committee members to respectfully express your support for SB 850.

Thank you!
 
For the past few years they have sent out surveys asking if you support Sunday hunting. My dad and I check yes every year, so far no results.
 
pat86323 said:
i was unaware that such a regulation even existed........its very strange to me.
Click to expand...

That is what you get in one of the old 13 colonies....it is a relic just like the Blue Laws...some places even still enforce some of the Blue Laws. Or look at Lynchburg Tennessee where Jack Daniels is made, it is a dry County, you can't even buy Whiskey there.
 
I grew up hunting sunday afternoons with my dad and grandpa, just couldnt imagine any other way to spend my sundays through the winter.
I knew of the no hunting on sunday laws, and am happy to hear that another state may be joining the majority and giving the opportunity for families to enjoy a Sunday afternoon in the field together,
 
That is a shame. It is real hard to get some of those of the new laws and regulations, past some diehard politicians and liberals. Too many of them are living in the past and need to realize this is modern day times and the old blue laws was from the stone ages.
 
For the past few years they have sent out surveys asking if you support Sunday hunting. My dad and I check yes every year, so far no results.

You need to do more that check some little box on a survey.
Get hold of the elected person and tell em what you want. Ask why he/she dont support?

Many here say they will send email on some gun subject. Talking to them is many times more effective.

My two US Senators might send you an answer to a letter. Usually it says they will remember blah blah blah.....and they vote as they wish. Next election-back in??Such short memories we have.
 
My former representative in our State legislature used to be my next door neighbor. We have talked to him about it before. He actually had an incident with a gun in the State Capitol, so I know he is pro RKBA. Current rep gets letters from us as well.

With the Blue laws, I am not so sure it is the liberals who are shooting it down, more like the ultra-Conservatives. I have talked to some other hunters who don't believe in hunting on Sunday. That is fine, if they don't want to, they don't have to, but don't revoke my ability to do it.
 
I received a reply today from one of the State representatives. It reads:

Dear Mr. __________,

Thanks for your contacting my office to advise me of your support for SB850. I would like to hunt on Sundays too, but I feel it would start a revolt on hunting as we know it.

If you have questions or desire to pass along your insight on an additional matter, please don't hesitate to contact me. I do appreciate your thoughts and concerns.

Sincerely,
Richard

To which I replied:

Thanks for your reply - but does this mean you were on the side that killed the measure? When 44 other states allow hunting on Sunday, why do you feel it would start a revolt? Our Commonwealth tolerates such hunting practices as using dogs to drive deer - a practice I find utterly horrific, and yet nobody is grabbing their torches and pitch forks. Our Commonwealth allows modern in-line muzzleloaders with scopes, Pyrodex pellets, and jacketed bullets with polymer tips as long as you buy the muzzleloader license. I'm sure the purists were fit to be tied and yet there was no bloodshed. Nobody took to the streets when the Commonwealth recently moved from allowing use of crossbows during archery season only by disabled hunters to anybody who buys the special crossbow license.

Mr. Stewart, I am no fool. If the Commonwealth figured out a way to sell an additional license to allow hunting on Sunday, I'm sure it would pass with overwhelming support.

Sincerely,
Brian ___________
 
"i was unaware that such a regulation even existed........its very strange to me."

I'm an X-Va resident. The no-Sunday hunting is probably because of the Blue-laws. i.e. No-ANYTHING that you might enjoy on Sunday! Most stores are (were?) not allowed to be open either but they do and they just pay a token fine ($35) for doing so. The state of Virginia seems to be happy with that arrangement and doesn't seem to be interested in actually enforcing the law, at least as long as they get some money out of it! $35/day is nothing to a Best-Buy or a WalMart, they pay more than that on their light bill! I moved to Va on a Saturday on military orders and went to grocery store to get some food early Sunday morning and they were allowed to sell me food but weren't allowed to sell me plastic ware to eat it with or paper plates to eat it off of! Absolute stupidity! Oh, but I COULD buy a paper news-paper! That's just one of the several reasons that I left and moved to the Free State of Florida!

Virginia is a beautiful state but the state government has ruined the living conditions there. I've lived in both Va and Ca for extended periods and frankly I don't know which is worse!
 
The only Blue law type law left in Virginia is no hunting on Sunday. You can buy whatever you want on Sundays now. I'd really like the ability to hunt on Sunday, but I will take Virginia's gun laws over those of places like Illinois, New Jersey and California
 
One other nice thing about VA is that you do not need to buy a hunting license to hunt your own property.

IMHO, the four biggest drawbacks to VA are One Handgun a Month, no Sunday hunting, no "Constitutional" carry, and no Castle Doctrine.

Fortunately, we're working on fixing all four, but it may take 3 more years.
 
dcdreamboat said:
One other nice thing about VA is that you do not need to buy a hunting license to hunt your own property.

IMHO, the four biggest drawbacks to VA are One Handgun a Month, no Sunday hunting, no "Constitutional" carry, and no Castle Doctrine.

Fortunately, we're working on fixing all four, but it may take 3 more years.
Click to expand...
If you have your concealed carry permit, you can buy more than one handgun per month in VA. I don't know about "Constitutional" carry, but you can open carry and it's a "shall issue" state regarding concealed carry permits. But alas, the State Senate has voted down both the Castle Doctrine and Sunday hunting measures in committee in the last month.
 
I received a reply back from State Senator Stewart (kudos to him, he actually read what I sent him). This confirms he voted against the measure, but he did vote to support the Castle Doctrine bill that was defeated last month. Here's what he wrote:

I undertand your frustrations with this. I, too, am frustrated. As a lifelong hunter, I find myself in a situation working everyday of the week and only having Saturday and Sunday to hunt with my son. However, I also understand that there are others who like to use the woods on Sundays, such as the fox hunters and other people. Many of those folks who own large tracts of land that give us permission to hunt, do not want people to hunt on Sundays. Therefore, I am concerned that if we allowed Sunday hunting, many of us would lose prime spots to hunt as these landowners would just place these properties off limits entirely out of frustration. Furthermore, if, for instance, a pack of deer hounds were to run through a church parking lot on Sunday, we would see many folks become upset and we would see significant opposition to hunting in general.

While I would love to hunt on Sunday as much as you would, I am convinced that allowing hunting on Sundays would ultimately injure our ability to hunt in the long run. That is why I believe it is prudent to keep Sunday as a non-hunting day.

Again, I do respect and understand your position and would love to be able to hunt just as much as you would. But, for all of the foregoing reasons, I think we must continue to keep Sundays as a non-hunting day.
 
Typical politico cop out letter that makes little to no sense at all and uses double speak and straw man arguments and slippery slope reactionism.
 
While I would love to hunt on Sunday as much as you would, I am convinced that allowing hunting on Sundays would ultimately injure our ability to hunt in the long run. That is why I believe it is prudent to keep Sunday as a non-hunting day.

I would react with a giant "screw you, the only damage is that you're catering to nutjobs." I work and go to school, with kids and a wife who works as well. For me to take a day off hunting is tough, I have to be ready to wake up at 4 or 4:30 (rather than my luxurious 6 am for weekdays), ensure all my gear is packed the day before, and drive and hike. You really want me to not hunt because your god feels Sunday is special (while Jews and other Christians disagree, and feel it's Saturday).
 
Blue Laws? The failure of the bill didn't have anything to do with Blue Laws. Blue Laws were done away with in the 80s in Virginia. And I doubt that "liberals" had much to do with it in one of the gun-friendliest states in the union.

The simple fact is is that there are limited places to hunt in Virginia and there are more than just hunters that use outdoor spaces. The opposition to the law was very broad - bikers, hikers, horse riders, farmers, homeowners. Even many hunters opposed the bills.

Hunters in Virginia can hunt 6 days a week and have long seasons in most counties. Count ouselves lucky for what we have. We can't have everything.
 
Hunters in Virginia can hunt 6 days a week and have long seasons in most counties. Count ouselves lucky for what we have. We can't have everything.
Click to expand...

MANY hunters in Virginia who work a Monday to Friday job only get one day a week to hunt, and then factor in a day or two of bad weather during the season. Not everyone can take vacation time or other time off to go hunting and that Saturday may be the day the car has to go in for repair or you have to go one of the stores that are open on Saturday and not Sunday.

The bikers, hikers, horse riders and bird watchers all have the entire rest of the year for their hobbies and they can still do it during the hunting season as well if they wish. Blaze orange suits come in their sizes also.

Sunday hunting would work just fine, a lot of states already have it in place and for some reason there is no up-rising going on there.

The only reason not have it in Virginia is political pandering and the political animals coddling their voter base. Telling the lessor number of hunters that they won't change a law that is already in place is much easier to explain to their supporters than going out on a limb and voting to change a law for something like Sunday hunting.

In this case, doing nothing is better for them than doing something.
 
Micro said:
The simple fact is is that there are limited places to hunt in Virginia and there are more than just hunters that use outdoor spaces.
Click to expand...

That can be said of many of the other 40+ States that allow Sunday Hunting.

The fact remains, that only States that were part of the original 13 Colonies have bans on Sunday hunting. That shows it started out as a Blue Law even if it isn't now. The only hunters that I have ever seen oppose it, do so for religious reasons. To that I have to say again, if you don't want to hunt on Sunday you are free to refrain, but to stop others from hunting on Sunday due to your religious beliefs is insane.
 
The only reason not have it in Virginia is political pandering and the political animals coddling their voter base.
Click to expand...

That's what the liberals in Virginia say about our gun laws.

You win some, you lose some. Count yourself lucky this is the fight you lost. It could be worse.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

C
  • Locked
Virginia: Senate Committee to Hear Sunday Hunting Legislation Tomorrow!
Replies
14
Views
709
HOOfan_1
H
C
  • Locked
Virginia: State Senate to Vote on Sunday Hunting Legislation this Wednesday!
Replies
10
Views
552
Art Eatman
A
hso
  • Locked
Northan signs VA bills passed by VA
Replies
14
Views
1K
1KPerDay
1KPerDay
hso
  • Locked
VA Bills Monday 02/24
Replies
7
Views
898
AlexanderA
A
M
  • Locked
Pennsylvania: Sunday Hunting Legislation Gathering Momentum After Senate Committee He
Replies
16
Views
2K
eastbank
eastbank
Back
Top