Earlier today, in a victory for sportsmen throughout the Commonwealth, the Virginia Senate passed legislation to repeal the comprehensive ban on Sunday hunting by a 29 to 11 vote. This bipartisan action will now send Senate Bill 464 to the state House of Delegates for committee assignment and further consideration.
Those Senators who voted to allow Sunday hunting in Virginia voted to preserve Virginia’s treasured hunting heritage, honor essential private property rights and provide an enormous annual economic stimulus without spending a single dollar of taxpayer money. The Senate action is largely consistent with the Sunday hunting Resolution adopted last year by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) Board.
Currently, Virginia is one of only six states in the country that strictly bans hunting on Sunday. This prohibition harms Virginia’s economy and threatens the very future of our hunting heritage by discouraging hunter recruitment and retention.
At a time when the economy is struggling and too many Virginians are out of work, legislators must not continue to refuse the enormous economic benefits associated with allowing hunting on Sundays. Comprehensive research from the National Shooting Sports Foundation shows that allowing hunting on Sundays would generate a total annual economic impact estimated at $296 million and create 3,927 jobs. All of this would be spurred by simply eliminating words from state statute books (the current prohibition), not spending taxpayer dollars on some pie-in-the-sky scheme.
This victory would not have been possible without your support! Thanks to your calls and e-mails, this legislation not only passed by an overwhelming margin in the state Senate, but it focused attention on an issue that has been ignored for far too long in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
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