蘑菇视频

Feb 18, 2019 3 min read

There once was a time when participating in any organized sports on a Sunday was forbidden in Pennsylvania.

And if you wanted to stop at a movie theater on Sunday? Or shoot some pool? Forget about it.

Pennsylvania’s books were once stuffed with laws that were designed to keep anybody from having even the mildest bit of fun on Sunday. It was the Sabbath, the thinking went, and the commonwealth’s residents needed to keep their minds focused on spiritual pursuits when Sunday rolled around, not the more earthy preoccupations that might have engaged them the other six days of the week.

In fact, when Pennsylvania was still a colony in 1682, a law was approved warning that “whoever does or performs any worldly employment or business whatsoever on the Lord’s day, commonly called Sunday, works of necessity and charity only exempted, or uses or practices any game hunting, shooting, sport or diversion whatsoever on the same day not authorized by law” was in a heap of trouble.

The majority of those blue laws have passed into history, with just a couple of exceptions. One that still remains regulates Sunday hunting. With the exceptions of hunting coyotes, crows and foxes, Pennsylvania stands with just Maine and Massachusetts in banning hunting on Sundays. For at least a generation, some lawmakers have been trying to change that, but most efforts have petered out in the face of resistance from farmers, hikers and other outdoor enthusiasts who argue that the peace and quiet of Sunday, as well as their own safety, would be imperiled by gun-wielding hunters stalking their prey.

But 47 other states have found ways to accommodate the wishes of both hunters and the rest of the public when it comes to Sunday hunting. To cite an example close to us, Ohio instituted a three-year trial period for Sunday hunting in 1998, and then made it permanent in 2002. It’s time Pennsylvania joined all of our neighbors and most of the rest of the country in allowing Sunday hunting.

It very well could, and soon. Earlier this month, the Pennsylvania Senate’s game and fisheries committee approved a measure that would give a green light to Sunday hunting. It still has to clear the full Senate and the House, and then be signed by Gov. Tom Wolf. But no other proposal has made it this far in recent years.

Advocates of Sunday hunting say it would make hunting more convenient for families, and provide an overall boost to hunting in the commonwealth. The number of young people who hunt has been spiraling downward in recent years, and the number of hunting licenses being issued has dropped. If the decline of both is reversed, more money would be available for the statewide wildlife programs that are supported by the sale of hunting licenses.

Bob Schwalm, a Lehigh County resident who is a member of the group Hunters United for Sunday Hunting (HUSH), told Allentown’s Morning Call, “We need to get more kids involved. It’s extremely difficult to get young people out and get them involved in hunting. Monday through Friday they have school and sports, and Saturday they have sports. There’s only one day available to them.”

Archaeologists believe humans started hunting close to 2 million years ago. Here in Pennsylvania, it’s time the rules involving hunting were updated for the 21st century.