“Hunters United for Sunday Hunting, a Lancaster County-based sportsmen’s group, has filed suit in U.S. Middle District Court in Harrisburg,” pennlive.com reports, “HUSH contends that the long-standing Sunday hunting ban violates federal and state protections of the right to bear arms and freedom of religion.” Why so serious? Surely this could be settled in the legislature. The PA Game Commission says don’t call me Shirley. And it’s game for a political solution. Only . . .”[The lawsuit] comes two years after a widely-publicized, but abortive push in the state Legislature to lift the Sunday hunting prohibition. The ban has powerful supporters, however, including the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau.” Although the article fails to present their argument, Google was our friend . . .
There are legitimate reasons for retaining the current restrictions on Sunday hunting. For the overwhelming majority of farm families, Sunday is virtually the only day that is available to them for rest and relaxation. It is usually the day where local friends and relatives are able to get together on the farm to relax and fully enjoy the recreational opportunities the farm has to offer. The current restrictions on Sunday hunting provide safety and security to farm families and friends who are journeying around the farm to enjoy the woods and landscape on that day. Legislation to remove or significantly reduce these restrictions would place farm families and other landowners at far greater safety risk and would discourage them from participating in activities that enhance their personal well-being.
Sundays are also days in which religious beliefs, values and worship are more actively practiced. Many peoples’ religious values direct that Sunday should be dedicated to the worship of God, not the performance of non-religious activities such as hunting or working. Efforts to expand Sunday hunting would impinge on the religious values of residents who believe that only religious activities should be performed on that day.
So, according to the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, hunters hunting on Sunday is bad because A) Keystone State farmers might get shot while they’re tromping around their property (which they never do any other day of the week) and B) no one should work/play/shoot game on The Lord’s Day of Rest.
Seriously?