Pennsylvania news
SUNDAY HUNTING BILL PASSES HOUSE IN PENNSYVANIA
HARRISBURG — Legislation that would fully repeal Pennsylvania’s Sunday hunting ban passed the state House of Representatives today and now heads to the Senate for consideration.
Introduced by Rep. Mandy Steele, D-Allegheny, House Bill 1431 was approved by the House Game and Fisheries Committee June 3 and sent to the Senate today by a vote of 131-72.
This bill is identical to Senate Bill 67, introduced in March by Sen. Dan Laughlin, R-Erie. The Game Commission supports both bills, either of which would end the state’s prohibition on Sunday hunting and allow the Game Commission to include Sundays when establishing hunting seasons annually.
While there long have been Sunday hunting opportunities for foxes, coyotes and crows, and Act 107 of 2019 cleared the way for additional hunting on three designated Sundays, Sunday hunting otherwise is prohibited in Pennsylvania, one of the last remnants of the state’s “blue laws.”
The initiative to repeal the ban has a broad base of support behind it. Many sportsmen’s groups back the proposal, as does the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau. The Game Commission has been working with this coalition to get the bill across the finish line, an outcome that would benefit hunters and help ensure the future of wildlife management.
Game Commission Executive Director Steve Smith expressed the agency’s support for the proposal.
