LETTER TO SPORTS/OPINION - REASON TO END SUNDAY HUNTING BAN

Photo courtesy of DTP

As published by Altoona Mirror Sports/Opinion, March 3, 2019 
Reasons to end Sunday hunting ban
Written and submitted by:
Bruce L. Tague, Vice President of Government Affairs of the Sportsmen’s Alliance Columbus, Ohio. Reasons to end Sunday hunting ban I found it curious as to why Campbell would attempt to confuse readers by using a federal study to convince your readers that hunting and hunting activities were “well down the list” and that “Other outdoor recreational activities provide as much if not more economic activity than hunting.” Here are some Pennsylvania numbers for your readers to consider, and we hope use to support us in our effort to finally end the ban. Pennsylvania has the most active hunters in the nation, and in 2017 alone, there were 885,632 general licenses sold. The average hunter spends $1200 per year. A recent economic impact study done by one of the nation’s top economic firms, John Dunham and Associates, New York, showed that Sunday hunting in Pennsylvania would create an economic boon of nearly $1 billion in economic activity per year and $310 million in wages from constructions jobs to manufacturing and financial services. Campbell and the PA Grange have every right to be opposed to Sunday hunting. However, I highly doubt that he and the PA Grange’s 7,200 members represent all Pennsylvanians nor all of the 885,632 sportsmen and women who hunted in Pennsylvania in 2017. It was disingenuous, at best, to utilize numbers from a federal study to claim that hunting in this commonwealth is, “well down the list and other outdoor recreational activities provide as much if not more economic activity than hunting.” Lastly, Campbell says “Hunters get six days a week. Other users of the outdoors should get one day where the fear of hunting accidents (ricochets, etc.) does not put a damper on their enjoyment of the outdoors.” Campbell correctly points out that sportsmen and women share the woods six days a week and have been doing so for decades. It is a fact that firearms are discharged in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania every day. It is also a fact that hunting in Pennsylvania is safer than cheerleading. Outdoor enthusiasts have safely enjoyed the wilds of Pennsylvania throughout hunting seasons for generations, and adding Sundays will do nothing to disrupt that history. In today’s economy, many of our hunters are working several jobs to provide for their families. In many cases, Sunday is the only day to go hunting because of their job schedule. We at the Sportsmen’s Alliance will continue the fight to end this economic unfairness. I invite your readers and all Pennsylvanians to join us. Bruce L. Tague

Columbus, Ohio

(The writer is vice of president of government affairs of the Sportsmen’s Alliance). Article Published Link: http://www.altoonamirror.com/sports/local-sports/2019/03/reasons-to-end-sunday-hunting-ban/