Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Bill that would allow Sunday hunting advances in Virginia's Senate
The Senate amended the bill to prohibit hunting within 250 yards of a place of worship on Sundays. Virginia is one of only 11 states that prohibit or restrict hunting on Sundays.
The state Senate has advanced legislation that would allow Virginians to hunt on private property on Sundays, setting up a Thursday vote on final passage of the bill.
The Senate voted 25-14 to advance the bill (Senate Bill 464), thwarting an amendment that would have left it to localities to decide whether to allow Sunday hunting in their jurisdictions. The Senate did amend the bill to prohibit hunting within 250 yards of a place of worship on Sundays.
Virginia is one of only 11 states that prohibit or restrict hunting on Sundays. Lawmakers have resisted efforts to roll back the ban in previous sessions, but supporters of Sunday hunting have mounted a well-coordinated effort to lift it in the 2012 General Assembly session. Gov. Bob McDonnell has said he would sign legislation allowing Sunday hunting on private property.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Ralph Northam, D-Norfolk, received strong support last week in the Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources Committee. It would allow Sunday hunting on private property, as long as the hunter owns the land or has written permission from the landowner.
But two senators who voted against it last week took the floor today and urged colleagues to adopt a substitute proposal that would make Sunday hunting a local option for city and county governments.
Sen. Richard Stuart, R-Westmoreland County, said Northam’s bill “will create a conflict amongst the rural jurisdictions and the folks from the metropolitan areas that will cause your phones to ring the likes of which you have never seen.”
“It will cause the sheriff’s offices and the state police offices and everybody else’s offices to be so overwhelmed by the complaints about gunfire on Sunday and hunters hunting around churches and other aspects that, quite frankly, I’m not sure we’re going to be able to deal with the issues that it would create,” said Stuart, an avid hunter who proposed the local-option substitute.
Sen. Emmett Hanger, R-Augusta County, said Stuart’s proposal would respect regional and cultural differences across the state.
“The private property interests of those that actually reside in those agricultural areas I think are best addressed by allowing this to be a local decision,” Hanger said.
Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin County, questioned how Stuart’s proposal would affect landowners with property that straddles localities with different Sunday hunting laws. Sen. Frank Wagner, R-Virginia Beach, said some employees at his shipbuilding company join hunt clubs and lease private land to go hunting, but only have Sundays free.
“I can’t believe that this was even on the books, that this entire General Assembly has been telling people what they can and cannot do on their own private property,” Wagner said.
The Senate advanced Northam’s bill, keeping Stuarts’ substitute from coming up for a vote.
The Senate voted 25-14 to advance the bill (Senate Bill 464), thwarting an amendment that would have left it to localities to decide whether to allow Sunday hunting in their jurisdictions. The Senate did amend the bill to prohibit hunting within 250 yards of a place of worship on Sundays.
Virginia is one of only 11 states that prohibit or restrict hunting on Sundays. Lawmakers have resisted efforts to roll back the ban in previous sessions, but supporters of Sunday hunting have mounted a well-coordinated effort to lift it in the 2012 General Assembly session. Gov. Bob McDonnell has said he would sign legislation allowing Sunday hunting on private property.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Ralph Northam, D-Norfolk, received strong support last week in the Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources Committee. It would allow Sunday hunting on private property, as long as the hunter owns the land or has written permission from the landowner.
But two senators who voted against it last week took the floor today and urged colleagues to adopt a substitute proposal that would make Sunday hunting a local option for city and county governments.
Sen. Richard Stuart, R-Westmoreland County, said Northam’s bill “will create a conflict amongst the rural jurisdictions and the folks from the metropolitan areas that will cause your phones to ring the likes of which you have never seen.”
“It will cause the sheriff’s offices and the state police offices and everybody else’s offices to be so overwhelmed by the complaints about gunfire on Sunday and hunters hunting around churches and other aspects that, quite frankly, I’m not sure we’re going to be able to deal with the issues that it would create,” said Stuart, an avid hunter who proposed the local-option substitute.
Sen. Emmett Hanger, R-Augusta County, said Stuart’s proposal would respect regional and cultural differences across the state.
“The private property interests of those that actually reside in those agricultural areas I think are best addressed by allowing this to be a local decision,” Hanger said.
Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin County, questioned how Stuart’s proposal would affect landowners with property that straddles localities with different Sunday hunting laws. Sen. Frank Wagner, R-Virginia Beach, said some employees at his shipbuilding company join hunt clubs and lease private land to go hunting, but only have Sundays free.
“I can’t believe that this was even on the books, that this entire General Assembly has been telling people what they can and cannot do on their own private property,” Wagner said.
The Senate advanced Northam’s bill, keeping Stuarts’ substitute from coming up for a vote.
