SB67 LETTER TO SENATORS OF THE PENNSYLVANIA GAME AND FISHERIES COMMITTEE

 

Hunters United For Sunday Hunting  

huntersforsundayhunting@gmail.com

717-350-6741

Senators of the Pennsylvania Game and Fisheries Committee as the lead organization along with the 26-group cohort advocating for Repealing Sunday Hunting Prohibition in Pennsylvania, Senate Bill 67 please take a moment to read this correspondence.  As you discuss, consider, and vote take a moment to understand the coherence of this bill.  SB67 simply removes the 341-year-old blue law that prohibits hunting on Sunday.  SB67 plainly provides full regulatory authority to the Pennsylvania Game Commission to set seasons and bag limits seven days a week.

The legislative standard is to be Sunday-inclusive.  There is no bill that makes it through the legislative process of drafting, proposing, voting, and signing into law that excludes Sundays.  Hunting on Sunday deserves to have the same principle and standard applied.

Hunter-citizens of Pennsylvania have been asking for an update to the blue law for over 50 years.  They want the ability, opportunity, and choice to be able to hunt on Sunday.  The past stumbling block of religion is merely a moot point.  All forms of recreation are allowed on Sunday; fishing, ATV, horseback riding, canoeing, hiking, baseball, football, basketball, and all other organized sports without concern of creed.  Businesses are no longer closed on Sunday as they once were under the blue law.  So why shouldn’t the law be changed accordingly to authorize hunting on Sunday? 

The fact is hunting is occurring on Sundays.  Hunting occurs on the three designated Sundays by exemption to the law along with foxes, coyotes, crows, and non-regulated hunting grounds.  The Pennsylvania Game Commission manages and sets the criteria for this.  There is no reason they shouldn’t be provided with full regulatory authority to set seasons and bag limits for all huntable species regardless of the day of the week to coincide with the Agriculture Code set in 2007 which allows for agriculturists and farmers to hunt and harvest animals all days of the week including Sunday.

The time has come to trust the Pennsylvania Game Commission to do as they are charged and manage the wildlife resources for generations now and future.  You as legislators are in a position to provide that path of additional options and opportunities for current and future hunters.  In order to do this it takes the courage to change and remove the archaic blue law that prohibits hunting on Sunday.

There will be nothing lost but much gained with a YEA vote on SB67.  Landowners will still have liability protection under 2007 Act 11.  Sunday only written permission requirement remains.  The purple paint law is unchanged.  The only change is the ability, choice, and opportunity to hunt on Sunday as a person so chooses as set by the limits of the PGC. 

It is truly time to end this 50-year quest and listen to the words of Senator James Brewster from the previous SB147 vote on this very subject; “When we passed the bill and ran the bill my comment was this will be a complete non-event to folks.”  Those words held true then and they will hold true now.  You have an opportunity to effect much-needed, much-asked, and well-deserved change.  It’s time to look to the future and let go of the biases of the past, “If we open a quarrel between past and present, we shall find that we have lost the future,” Winton Churchill.

Thank you for your time and hope you vote favorably on SB67.  

Kevin B. Askew, Executive Director, Hunters United for Sunday Hunting

Senate Bill 67  Repealing Sunday Hunting Prohibition in Pennsylvania 

Supported and endorsed by: Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners, Hunters United for Sunday Hunting, Hunter Nation, Pennsylvania Governor's Youth Council for Hunting Fishing and Conservation, United Bowhunters of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Hunters Sharing the Harvest, Hunting Works for PA, Delta Waterfowl, Safari Club International, Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, National Deer Association, National Shooting Sports Foundation, Cervicide, Meat Eater, HOWL for Wildlife, Sportsmen’s Alliance, Hunt Quietly, Camps4Vets, Hunt Of A Lifetime Foundation, Ruffed Grouse Society/American Woodcock Society, Steel City Bowhunters, Wild Sheep Foundation, Hunters of Color, Harvesting Nature

Grading the Vote - Sunday Hunting & Purple Paint

CONTACT: Hunters United for Sunday Hunting
TELEPHONE: 717-350-6741
EMAIL: huntersforsundayhunting@gmail.com
WEBSITE: facebook.com/HuntersUnitedForSundayHunting


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE & DISTRIBUTION - MAY 20, 2020

Hunters United for Sunday Hunting is issuing the following score cards regarding Senate Bill 147 (Sunday Hunting) and House bill 1772 (Purple Paint.)

Our goal with the scorecard is simple: Drive accountability for politicians regarding wildlife management & conservation legislation in Pennsylvania.

"The truth is in the vote.  The only true system of measurement and accountability is how a politician voted on a particular bill, Yes or No.  What we do as wildlife management conservationists with that data is up to us.  We can either use it to educate and affect legislative change or not."

Scores with detailed information can be found via the link below:

SB147 & HB1772 Grading

For more information about this topic, please contact

Hunters United for Sunday Hunting at 717-350-6741 or

email at huntersforsundayhunting@gmail.com. 

View our Blog - https://huntersforsundayhunting.blogspot.com/

Executive Director Kevin B. Askew

HUNTERS UNITED FOR SUNDAY HUNTING TESTIMONY SUBMITTED TO PA GAME & FISHERIES COMMITTEE, SEPT. 10, 2019 HEARING

Pennsylvania House Representatives, Game and Fisheries Committee:  

Pa. Farm Bureau farmers do not own all the land.  We as hunters own ground as well.

Hunters United for Sunday Hunting welcomes the additional hunting opportunity in Senate Bill 147 and understands the task and decisions ahead of you as state representatives.

The three-day stipulation in SB147 is disappointing. That decision is definitely not based on any scientific evidence, nor what hunting conservation in Pennsylvania deserves. The full complement of Sundays is truly what is needed without question.

Educate yourselves a little bit and understand what Senate Bill 147 does.  The biggest misunderstanding is that it is only a ‘hunting’ bill.  The fact is, trespass is the main portion.  Specifically, the trespass that Pa. Farm Bureau has been wanting.  This is a very simple bill that does everything it needs, provides for landowner rights, strengthen trespass, and provides additional hunting opportunities. The Pa. Farm Bureau has been asking for decades for trespass laws to be updated, the language in this bill is exactly what they have been wanting.  Trespassing while hunting would be a primary offense and enforceable by both game wardens and law enforcement officers.  But yet they are still opposed? Why?  The Pa. Farm Bureau just wants to posture and stand in the way of wildlife conservation progress in this state for no real reason.  The Pa. Farm Bureau knows full well that they are getting stronger hunting trespass laws that benefit both farmers and landowners.  All the while providing additional hunting opportunities to farmers and others. 

It is no secret that the Pa. Farm Bureau wants to hold SB147 up by asking for a ‘written permission’ amendment.  What the PFB is not telling you is that they are working with Representative Dawn Keefer on a “use of paint to designate no-trespass areas”  better known as purple paint laws used in various other states. As written by PFB [purple paint]  “Would allow landowners to identify with purple paint on trees, fences and other structures those areas of the property where entry is prohibited, with paint markings having the same legal protection against unauthorized trespass as posting “no trespassing” signs.

This is very important to understand when it comes to Senate Bill 147.  ‘Purple paint’ negates the need for ‘written permission’ and confirms the PFB only wants to hold SB147 up for no real reason.  If the PFB were to come clean, you would find out their opposition has nothing to do with trespass and has everything to do with religion.

SB 147 is a step forward to correct a 337-year-old antiquated blue law.  If you do some research you will find that the four words ‘Hunting on Sunday Prohibited’ in Pa. Title 34 Game Law dates back to 1682 as a colony under British control.  The laws were enacted for religious reasons designed to drive people to observe Sunday as the Sabbath.  There are over 300 religions currently practiced in this century, not all of them observe Sunday as a Sabbath. As legislators you have a choice; continue to make history and help advance hunting conservation to fit modern times; or, continue a 337-year old outmoded law.

As you make your decision, think about the disdain the PFB displays towards hunters on this subject and ask yourself; is this the way forward?  The York Dispatch printed this from Joel Rotz, Pa. Farm Bureau, Government Affairs and Communications spokesman “hunters who can't go out on Sundays already have an economic impact, such as by going to sports events or eating and drinking at bars and restaurants in their communities.”

We encourage the passing of Senate Bill 147 in its current state. Without any additional amendments or hold-ups.  The quicker SB 147 gets through the legislative process the better.  Only then will we be able to come together on what is truly needed and what is best for the future of hunting conservation in Pa.   

Hunters United for Sunday Hunting and the over 20 supporting organizations remain dedicated to our mission to remove the prohibition of Sunday hunting in PA Title 34 Game Law through education, and influence legislatures to change the law accordingly.

Sincerely;  

Kevin B. Askew

Executive Director, Hunters United for Sunday Hunting