Take Action! Sportsmen should contact their state Delegate and ask for their support of Senate Bill 345. West Virginia sportsmen can contact their State Delegate by using the Sportsmen’s Alliance’s Legislative Action Center.
A proposal that would greatly expand hunting on Sundays in West Virginia has passed the first chamber, and is now under consideration in the House of Delegates. Senate Bill 345, sponsored by Sen. Mark Maynard (R-Genoa), passed the Senate by an overwhelming 26-6 vote on March 1.
Currently West Virginia sportsmen may only hunt on Sundays on private land in counties if voters in each county approved of the measure. SB 345 would eliminate the confusion of a patchwork system by permitting private landowners across the state to allow hunting on Sundays if they choose.
Forty-one other states permit landowners to decide how to manage their own property, and allow hunters to hunt on Sundays. With busy schedules and six-day work weeks much more common, Sundays have become an important day of opportunity for hunters, and a vital tool for recruitment of the next generation of sportsmen, as well as a means of maintaining the current ranks by providing opportunity.
“There is simply no good reason for a ban on hunting on Sundays,” said Luke Houghton, associate director of state services for the Sportsmen’s Alliance. “Senate Bill 345 is a personal freedom bill for both hunters and private land owners. The Sportsmen’s Alliance and its members call on members of the West Virginia House of Delegates to move quickly on this important bill.”
In 2014, neighboring Virginia approved Sunday hunting, and Ohio has permitted the practice since 1998.
Senate Bill 345 has been sent to the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee for possible hearings.
About the Sportsmen’s Alliance: The Sportsmen’s Alliance protects and defends America’s wildlife conservation programs and the pursuits – hunting, fishing and trapping – that generate the money to pay for them. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation is responsible for public education, legal defense and research. Its mission is accomplished through several distinct programs coordinated to provide the most complete defense capability possible. Stay connected to Sportsmen’s Alliance: Online, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.